132 Blades - Riding the YoYo with Gillette Platinum (Laser Marked)

[Kent Kimmons]

Well, the Nacent was a dream and the Platinum was a nightmare. This blade was the antithesis of the Nacent. I'm not posting the spreadsheet for this one, not even enough respect for it to do that, but I will post my last entry, "For shave #3, by the end it felt like I was shaving with a shard of broken glass." The shave was bloody with 13 weepers from all over. Were there any redeeming qualities? No. Was there something unusual, yes. One side of this blade was markedly worse than the other right out of the wrapper and for the last 1.5 shaves, using that edge was something I could not do because of the discomfort of it. Did I get a bad blade? Possibly, but if the manufacturer can let a blade like this into circulation, then I'm not interested anyway.

It scored a 6.22 placing it third from bottom and moving the Concord into the "common herd". My bottom 10 blades, with scores are now:

Derby Extra Blue 5.86
Gillette Minora 6.11
Gillette Platinum (Laser Marked) 6.22
Diamonds Pro Excel 6.29
Abest High Platinum Swiss Steel 6.33
Clifton Classic 6.36
Bic Chrome Platinum 6.57
Champion Platinum 6.71
Dovo Super Platinum 6.71
Dorco Titan 6.91

Under the alternate system of only 4 shave and out, the blade drops a notch to second worst I've experienced.

 

[Submariner]

Wow! This one surprised me.

 

[BigJ]

Thanks for posting this one!! Long time since I tried a Platinum, and this reinforces why!!

I also agree that the Nacet is a tough act to follow!!

 

[TheBigL]

The "one side better than the other" is something I have really noticed in the last year or two. I used to push a blade to the end, but recently, I've tossed blades after the first shave. If one edge is good and the other rough, I don't feel like keeping track and the blade is done.

 

[psfred]

Lol, exactly the opposite of my experience, Gillette Platniums are superb blades and Nacets feel like the blade has tiny notches ripping the hair out by the roots.

Teasing aside, what you have is a mis-match between razor and blade width. Typically Gillette PPI blades are on the narrow side, I have to crank up my adjustables to 7 or 8 to get good shaves, and I suspect that's why my Nacet was so bad. With a narrow blade in a mild razor (I suspect a Tech, don't remember, it was 2017) the blade isn't making good contact with the skin and it WILL pull like crazy.

Same (or similar) razor with the slightly wider Gillette Platinum was a delightful shave.

When using fixed razors rather than adjustables, it's necessary to match the blade width to the razor. One of the nice things about an adjustable is that it is possible to adjust the razor to the blade.

For example, my current "main" blade is a Gillette Wilkinson Sword made in India. Very sharp, but to keep it from destroying my face I had to crank the Slim down to 1. The first Polsilver I tried was in a Tech, and until I put it in a Slim and opened it up to 8 I could not shave with it due to the pulling.

It would be fun to see how you rated these blades in an adjustable razor where you could control the exposure and gap rather than using a fixed razor -- I suspect your ratings might be somewhat different!

 

[Kent Kimmons]

Lol, exactly the opposite of my experience, Gillette Platniums are superb blades and Nacets feel like the blade has tiny notches ripping the hair out by the roots.

Teasing aside, what you have is a mis-match between razor and blade width. Typically Gillette PPI blades are on the narrow side, I have to crank up my adjustables to 7 or 8 to get good shaves, and I suspect that's why my Nacet was so bad. With a narrow blade in a mild razor (I suspect a Tech, don't remember, it was 2017) the blade isn't making good contact with the skin and it WILL pull like crazy.

Same (or similar) razor with the slightly wider Gillette Platinum was a delightful shave.

When using fixed razors rather than adjustables, it's necessary to match the blade width to the razor. One of the nice things about an adjustable is that it is possible to adjust the razor to the blade.

For example, my current "main" blade is a Gillette Wilkinson Sword made in India. Very sharp, but to keep it from destroying my face I had to crank the Slim down to 1. The first Polsilver I tried was in a Tech, and until I put it in a Slim and opened it up to 8 I could not shave with it due to the pulling.

It would be fun to see how you rated these blades in an adjustable razor where you could control the exposure and gap rather than using a fixed razor -- I suspect your ratings might be somewhat different!

You may well be right. I used to have a fat boy and a slim but sold both. The thickness of the head was darned inconvenient to a good shave for me.

 

[NiOOH]

You got 13 weepers in a single shave?! Something must be really wrong here, could be your technique or the blade/razor are defective.

 

[psfred]

The head doesn't bother me, but then I've not shaved my upper lip since 1976 (literally) and so don't have that issue.

The alternative is to have an array of razors with various blade exposure and gap, and find which ones work best with which blades. And I admit, while I am currently using only FatBoys and Slims, I have a big pile of other razors to play with.

 

[CJB3]

Gillette Platinums are now made in China from what I understand. Are yours from China or Russia?

 

[Kent Kimmons]

Gillette Platinums are now made in China from what I understand. Are yours from China or Russia?

Russia

 

[Keyvan]

The Gillette Platinum that I have used have been much smoother than the Nacet (which I also like). In my case, they last 3 to 5 shaves. Did you use the ones below or the version that comes in the white pack with the blue edges and the blue and gray writing? In my experience, the Nacet starts out great and becomes a bit too sharp after the first shave. These Platinums start out a little sharper than the Nacet, but do not become overly sharp on the second shave. Their smoothness is what really sets them apart from other blades. The only blades that I might like better than these are the PolSiver/ Wizamet and the Gillette Rubie. The Wizamets and the ink marked Rubies are more forgiving and longer lasting, but not necessarily smoother. The laser marked Rubies are sharper than any other Gillette blade that I have tried.

 

[Jay21]

I used a Russian-made Platinum yesterday and it was super smooth. I'd say 3.5/5 in sharpness, 4.5/5 in smoothness. Nice blade.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

The Gillette Platinum that I have used have been much smoother than the Nacet (which I also like). In my case, they last 3 to 5 shaves. Did you use the ones below or the version that comes in the white pack with the blue edges and the blue and gray writing? In my experience, the Nacet starts out great and becomes a bit too sharp after the first shave. These Platinums start out a little sharper than the Nacet, but do not become overly sharp on the second shave. Their smoothness is what really sets them apart from other blades. The only blades that I might like better than these are the PolSiver/ Wizamet and the Gillette Rubie. The Wizamets and the ink marked Rubies are more forgiving and longer lasting, but not necessarily smoother. The laser marked Rubies are sharper than any other Gillette blade that I have tried.


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Wish I knew, it was from a sample pack.