132 Blades - Dorco Prime Platinum

[Kent Kimmons]

To be honest, shaving with a Dorco blade was not something I was looking forward to, but the time has come. The blade's first shave was a DREAM. Sharp, smooth and nothing short of awesome. Shave 2 was a little work but still a blade I enjoyed. Something happened for shave 3. The start was still a pleasant experience but by the end of the WTG pass, I was feeling a little tugging. No issues, if the blade holds out, I'll likely get a 4 shave experience and that's been my customary cutoff number for many blades. By then end of the ATG pass, the blade was making its presence felt, and not in good ways. It also got bloody. It's 3 shaves and out for this blade that had much promise but not so much consistency.

Next up - Dorco ST-300 Platinum

Standings to date:

Blade	Manufacturer	Country	Coating	Overall Rating
Derby Extra Blue	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	5.86
Diamonds Pro Excel	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	6.29
Abest High Platinum Swiss Steel	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Platinum	6.33
Clifton Classic	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Stainless Steel	6.36
Bic Chrome Platinum	Bic	Greece	Polymeric. Chrome Platinum, Teflon	6.57
Champion Platinum	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Platinum	6.71
Concord	Concord	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.00
Bic Astor Stainless	Bic	Greece	Stainless	7.27
Croma-Diamat	Feintechnik GmbH	Egypt	Chrome, Teflon	7.27
Asco Super Stainless Orange	Lord	Egypt	PTFE	7.33
Big Ben Super Stainless (Purple)	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	7.36
Astra Superior Stainless (Laser Marked)	Gillette	Russia	Stainless	7.38
Polsilver (Vintage)				7.56
Derby Extra	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.62
Bluebird	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.64
Dorco Prime Platinum	Dorco Co. Ltd.	Vietnam	Platinum	7.78
Asco Super Stainless Red	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	7.80
Astra Superior Platinum (Laser Marked)	Gillette	Russia	Platinum	7.87
Crown-Platinum	Lord	Egypt	Platinum	7.89
Viking Sword	Personna	Israel	Polymer	7.91
Derby Premium	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.93
Asco Platinum	Lord	Egypt	Platinum	8.07
Big Ben Classic	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	8.24
Crown Super Stainless	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	8.27
Dollar Platinum	Vidyut Metallics Ltd.	India	Platinum	8.27
Asco Super Stainless	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	8.33
Bolzano Superinox Inossideabile	Feintechnik GmbH	Egypt	Titanium	8.47
Big Ben Super Stainless	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	8.67

 

[Guido75]

Nice write up! And yes our mileages vary. I have not shaved with Primes before, but I have with Titans. Those blades can do 10 shaves for me with the first shave usually the one to dial the blade in (slightly rougher experience).

Keep it up!!

Guido

 

[lasta]

Blades are YMMV as always. But I had two great shaves with the Prime as well.

I also noticed the drop in quality on the 3rd shave and enough to toss on the 4th. Still, 2 excellent shaves, I'm happy with it.

The primes are ground to a more accute angle than Titan, maybe that had something to do with durability.

 

[BigJ]

Great review!

I need to revisit the Primes. My recollection is similar to your experience, surprisingly good out of the wrapper!

 

[TheBigL]

I liked the Primes as well but haven't used one in forever.

 

[Lane101]

To be honest, shaving with a Dorco blade was not something I was looking forward to, but the time has come. The blade's first shave was a DREAM. Sharp, smooth and nothing short of awesome. Shave 2 was a little work but still a blade I enjoyed. Something happened for shave 3. The start was still a pleasant experience but by the end of the WTG pass, I was feeling a little tugging. No issues, if the blade holds out, I'll likely get a 4 shave experience and that's been my customary cutoff number for many blades. By then end of the ATG pass, the blade was making its presence felt, and not in good ways. It also got bloody. It's 3 shaves and out for this blade that had much promise but not so much consistency.

View attachment 1669226

Next up - Dorco ST-300 Platinum

Standings to date:

Blade	Manufacturer	Country	Coating	Overall Rating
Derby Extra Blue	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	5.86
Diamonds Pro Excel	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	6.29
Abest High Platinum Swiss Steel	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Platinum	6.33
Clifton Classic	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Stainless Steel	6.36
Bic Chrome Platinum	Bic	Greece	Polymeric. Chrome Platinum, Teflon	6.57
Champion Platinum	Samah Razor Blades Industries LTD	Bangladesh	Platinum	6.71
Concord	Concord	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.00
Bic Astor Stainless	Bic	Greece	Stainless	7.27
Croma-Diamat	Feintechnik GmbH	Egypt	Chrome, Teflon	7.27
Asco Super Stainless Orange	Lord	Egypt	PTFE	7.33
Big Ben Super Stainless (Purple)	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	7.36
Astra Superior Stainless (Laser Marked)	Gillette	Russia	Stainless	7.38
Polsilver (Vintage)				7.56
Derby Extra	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.62
Bluebird	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.64
Dorco Prime Platinum	Dorco Co. Ltd.	Vietnam	Platinum	7.78
Asco Super Stainless Red	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	7.80
Astra Superior Platinum (Laser Marked)	Gillette	Russia	Platinum	7.87
Crown-Platinum	Lord	Egypt	Platinum	7.89
Viking Sword	Personna	Israel	Polymer	7.91
Derby Premium	Derby	Turkey	Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungesten and Polymer	7.93
Asco Platinum	Lord	Egypt	Platinum	8.07
Big Ben Classic	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	8.24
Crown Super Stainless	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	8.27
Dollar Platinum	Vidyut Metallics Ltd.	India	Platinum	8.27
Asco Super Stainless	Lord	Egypt	Stainless	8.33
Bolzano Superinox Inossideabile	Feintechnik GmbH	Egypt	Titanium	8.47
Big Ben Super Stainless	Big Ben	Egypt	Chrome	8.67

Hi Kent, Thank you again for sharing your test results. Can see how you've leveraged your engineering background to design a well structured evaluation matrix. Definitely a great example of YMMV given the blades that work the best for you. Some comments on your overall results:

1) Any Big Ben blades are manufactured by Lord. It's just another one of Lords brands. Nice almost comprehensive evaluation of the various Lord blades.

2) By Derby Extra Blue are you referring to the blue tucks of Derby Extra with 10 blades versus the green tucks with 5 blades? If so these are the exact same blade so the wide difference in performance is surprising. Could be you just had some bad shaves, a manufacturing defect blade, etc. Vagaries of just testing a single blade of each brand. While my Derby blades are generally consistent (see next comment) there are occasional outliers. I've had a couple bad blades that did not make it through the first shave as well as a few in the other direction including one that went for 23+ excellent shaves. Widest range of variance of any of my three brands. Can see this is not a Derby Bluebird blade as you tested that seperately.

3) Both the Derby Extra Green (my first 100 pack) and Blue blades work well for me. Only difference between them and my other blades is they typically only last around 5-7 shaves, as noted above, per blade versus 10-12 for my top performing Dorco's. Astra SP's in between. Shave quality on all three brands is similar. Looks like the same is true for you given your narrow score range for these that ranges from 7.62 for Derby Extra, 7.78 for Dorco Prime and 7.87 for Astra SP. Commented on your Dorco ST300 test in the separate thread so won't repeat here.

4) Noticed a lot of weepers/cuts during many of your tests that significantly effect blade rankings. Has this always been an issue for you when DE shaving or is this a recent occurrence with your testing? I'll occasionally get one, maybe two weepers and unless I've pushed a blade for too long those have almost always been due to user error that has nothing to do with the blade. Often get many more great shaves with the same blade after that occasional weeper. Are you using the same razor and shave soap/cream for the test shaves? How aggressive is the razor(s) that you are using?

Based on your tests is sounds like you can get your best shaves from the various Lord blades that are some of the most economical brands available. Your top performer, Big Ben super stainless, are under $7 on Amazon.

 

[Goblin]

This is interesting to me. After many years DE shaving last night I put together a spreadsheet on which I intend to rank all the blades I have ever used, and rate some incoming tucks of popular Egyptian and Indian blades. I have realised my experience is really quite limited, as blade samplers weren't a thing when I started.

My spreadsheet is quite similar to yours, although I hadn't included a section for coatings. That's a really good idea and it will be interesting to see if there are any patterns there. I am going to add it. I have also included two columns for "benchmark" razors, which for me are a Gamechanger 0.68 (representing mild) and a Fatip Grande (representing aggressive). I intend to just make a qualitative comment on whether I liked the blade in that razor as an indication of whether I find the blade "versatile".

There's so much variation in tastes that this kind of exercise is really only of maximal usefulness to the individual carrying it out, but it provides a basis to compare notes and, most importantly, it's fun!

My goal is to find some cheaper alternatives to my favourite Russian Gillettes that (along with Feathers) have made up the bulk of my shaving. Of course, when the new Indian versions of the Russian blades hit the market, I can compare these too. Eventually I will buy some 100s of my "winners".

A lot of the blades I have coming in, you have already scored. However, I should ask how many of each blade are you testing to make your score? I feel like it takes a full tuck to get a decent handle on a blade, as you need to allow yourself some time to adjust to the blade, and also to ensure that you get a decent sample and don't base your scores on an individual dud blade.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

Hi Kent, Thank you again for sharing your test results. Can see how you've leveraged your engineering background to design a well structured evaluation matrix. Definitely a great example of YMMV given the blades that work the best for you. Some comments on your overall results:

1) Any Big Ben blades are manufactured by Lord. It's just another one of Lords brands. Nice almost comprehensive evaluation of the various Lord blades.

2) By Derby Extra Blue are you referring to the blue tucks of Derby Extra with 10 blades versus the green tucks with 5 blades? If so these are the exact same blade so the wide difference in performance is surprising. Could be you just had some bad shaves, a manufacturing defect blade, etc. Vagaries of just testing a single blade of each brand. While my Derby blades are generally consistent (see next comment) there are occasional outliers. I've had a couple bad blades that did not make it through the first shave as well as a few in the other direction including one that went for 23+ excellent shaves. Widest range of variance of any of my three brands. Can see this is not a Derby Bluebird blade as you tested that seperately.

3) Both the Derby Extra Green (my first 100 pack) and Blue blades work well for me. Only difference between them and my other blades is they typically only last around 5-7 shaves, as noted above, per blade versus 10-12 for my top performing Dorco's. Astra SP's in between. Shave quality on all three brands is similar. Looks like the same is true for you given your narrow score range for these that ranges from 7.62 for Derby Extra, 7.78 for Dorco Prime and 7.87 for Astra SP. Commented on your Dorco ST300 test in the separate thread so won't repeat here.

4) Noticed a lot of weepers/cuts during many of your tests that significantly effect blade rankings. Has this always been an issue for you when DE shaving or is this a recent occurrence with your testing? I'll occasionally get one, maybe two weepers and unless I've pushed a blade for too long those have almost always been due to user error that has nothing to do with the blade. Often get many more great shaves with the same blade after that occasional weeper. Are you using the same razor and shave soap/cream for the test shaves? How aggressive is the razor(s) that you are using?

Based on your tests is sounds like you can get your best shaves from the various Lord blades that are some of the most economical brands available. Your top performer, Big Ben super stainless, are under $7 on Amazon.

Thanks for the response. I bought single blades and they arrived in clear plastic bags, small versions of the traditional plastic sandwich bags, so I so not know if the Derby Extra and the Extra Blue are the same blade, they may be. I have received some commentary about a single blade test and admit that it has some drawbacks. On the other hand, if a company is shipping blades with "issues" consistently enough that I draw one, then they are generally not someone I would like to buy from. Yes, that runs the risk that I got a golden unicorn bad blade from a very good company, but I view that probability as remote AT BEST.

Before getting these sample blades for Christmas, I was quite happy with my Viking Sword, Feather and Wilkinson Sword go-to blades and weepers were a rarity. Since starting this test, they have become an issue with very few exceptions. I did have a prefect run of shaves with the Asco Super Stainless with the red version coming in highly rated in that category as well. The Big Ben Super Stainless was near perfect as was the Champion Platinum and the Concord. I think the lesson here is that single blade tests do have an aclhilles heel in the area of blood staying on the inside, in that, to achieve consistently bloodless shaves, one needs to get to know the blade as much as the razor it is in.

For the test, it is all the same brush, a modern King C. Gillette razor purchased at Walgreens a bit over 2 years ago and Asco soap. That won't change over the duration of the test which means my tube of Prorozo are sitting neglected.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

This is interesting to me. After many years DE shaving last night I put together a spreadsheet on which I intend to rank all the blades I have ever used, and rate some incoming tucks of popular Egyptian and Indian blades. I have realised my experience is really quite limited, as blade samplers weren't a thing when I started.

My spreadsheet is quite similar to yours, although I hadn't included a section for coatings. That's a really good idea and it will be interesting to see if there are any patterns there. I am going to add it. I have also included two columns for "benchmark" razors, which for me are a Gamechanger 0.68 (representing mild) and a Fatip Grande (representing aggressive). I intend to just make a qualitative comment on whether I liked the blade in that razor as an indication of whether I find the blade "versatile".

There's so much variation in tastes that this kind of exercise is really only of maximal usefulness to the individual carrying it out, but it provides a basis to compare notes and, most importantly, it's fun!

My goal is to find some cheaper alternatives to my favourite Russian Gillettes that (along with Feathers) have made up the bulk of my shaving. Of course, when the new Indian versions of the Russian blades hit the market, I can compare these too. Eventually I will buy some 100s of my "winners".

A lot of the blades I have coming in, you have already scored. However, I should ask how many of each blade are you testing to make your score? I feel like it takes a full tuck to get a decent handle on a blade, as you need to allow yourself some time to adjust to the blade, and also to ensure that you get a decent sample and don't base your scores on an individual dud blade.

I will agree that my approach of single blades for this test has some drawbacks, it is a bit of an acid test for manufacturer quality. If I draw a bad blade, there is a chance that I did get that 1 blade in 10,000 and have an unnecessarily poor opinion of what is a good blade. On the other hand, it is more likely in my opinion that I got the 1 in 100 bad blade that is the result of poor quality control.

I wish you all the best, please post your findings, I'm interested.

 

[Goblin]

On the other hand, it is more likely in my opinion that I got the 1 in 100 bad blade that is the result of poor quality control.

That's a very good point.

Also, I hear you on the weepers. For me they are a rarity - I can typically count on one hand the number I get in a year. Well, I opened a tuck of Derby Extra to begin my blade testing the other day. I got three weepers in one shave! I think that it is probably a personal record and it goes to show that weepers are an occupational hazard if you decide to explore the realm of budget blades!

 

[Lane101]

Thanks for the response. I bought single blades and they arrived in clear plastic bags, small versions of the traditional plastic sandwich bags, so I so not know if the Derby Extra and the Extra Blue are the same blade, they may be. I have received some commentary about a single blade test and admit that it has some drawbacks. On the other hand, if a company is shipping blades with "issues" consistently enough that I draw one, then they are generally not someone I would like to buy from. Yes, that runs the risk that I got a golden unicorn bad blade from a very good company, but I view that probability as remote AT BEST.

Before getting these sample blades for Christmas, I was quite happy with my Viking Sword, Feather and Wilkinson Sword go-to blades and weepers were a rarity. Since starting this test, they have become an issue with very few exceptions. I did have a prefect run of shaves with the Asco Super Stainless with the red version coming in highly rated in that category as well. The Big Ben Super Stainless was near perfect as was the Champion Platinum and the Concord. I think the lesson here is that single blade tests do have an aclhilles heel in the area of blood staying on the inside, in that, to achieve consistently bloodless shaves, one needs to get to know the blade as much as the razor it is in.

For the test, it is all the same brush, a modern King C. Gillette razor purchased at Walgreens a bit over 2 years ago and Asco soap. That won't change over the duration of the test which means my tube of Prorozo are sitting neglected.

I just looked at the Razorbladesclub.com web site where they show the blades with a picture of the tuck they come in. The Derby Extra Blue are the same blade as the Derby Extra you also tested. Per the Derby catalog the only difference is that the Blue is a tuck of 10 while what they list as Derby Extra comes in a green tuck of 5. Otherwise, if both are post 2016 production, these are identical blades. Still, based on my experience using over 100 Derby Extra blades over the past 3 and a half years, your very different results from the two Derby Extras are possible given that, as noted in my earlier post above, they also exhibit the widest range of outlier variance among my three blade brands.

King C. Gillette is a great razor. One of my two primary drivers. Really mild yet able to deliver BBS shaves. It's a very mild razor that some B&Bers have adopted to solve weeper issues. Trade off with my moderately aggressive Weishi Long Handle is that shaving with the King C. Gillette takes about a minute longer with some adjusted techniques, like riding the cap or an extra partial pass in some areas, to get to BBS in some areas.

Wonder if for some of these blade tests you are finding that you need to press more on the razor as you dial in each test blade resulting in weepers? My rare King C. Gillette weepers all occurred via user error when I pressed too much getting used to it being milder than my Weishi.

Looking forward to you continuing reviews.

P.S. What is Asco soap - have seen their blades but not soap? Do you mean Arko?

 

[Kent Kimmons]

P.S. What is Asco soap - have seen their blades but not soap? Do you mean Arko?

Yup, Arko...