I used a Personna injector blade this morning too. It was in my Schick L and was the 8th shave on that blade. Excellent shave.
Any good recommendation for Injector blades??
- Thread starter Rudy Vey
- Start date
I like injectors now more than DE. I have old Schicks, a PAL adjustable and a Supply 2.0. I mostly use the Supply now, either with the two-dot (medium) plate or with an SE open comb plate that I just got. (The SE plate is great!)
I use vintage Schick blades (Plus Platinum etc), modern Chinese Schicks, white holder Personnas, and White and Black Label Supply blades. To be honest, I find little difference between them -- they all work.
The Personnas have a terrible chintzy holder. I use them either in a Schick E or the Supply, because I can open those razors and just place the blade in them rather than struggling with holding the plastic blade container together long enough to inject them. The blades are fine but sometimes a bit rough on the first shave. Then they smooth out and are fine for a dozen or so shaves.
I think the White Label Supply are just repackaged Personnas in a clunky-looking all-plastic holder that at least doesn't fall apart while I am injecting the first blade.
The Black Label Supply are sharper and smoother. For the first couple shaves. Then they're just like the Personnas. I am not a huge fan of the holder, though it is better than the Personna one.
The Chinese Schicks are sharp and last well. But aren't as good as vintage Schicks IMHO.
Actually, my favourite blades are the late 20th century vintage U.S.-made Schick Plus Platinums. Sharp, smooth, long-lasting blades in a great all-metal injector case.
But the truth is -- they ALL work. Nobody makes an injector equivalent of the Chinese Tiger-brand DE "blades"...
I use vintage Schick blades (Plus Platinum etc), modern Chinese Schicks, white holder Personnas, and White and Black Label Supply blades. To be honest, I find little difference between them -- they all work.
The Personnas have a terrible chintzy holder. I use them either in a Schick E or the Supply, because I can open those razors and just place the blade in them rather than struggling with holding the plastic blade container together long enough to inject them. The blades are fine but sometimes a bit rough on the first shave. Then they smooth out and are fine for a dozen or so shaves.
I think the White Label Supply are just repackaged Personnas in a clunky-looking all-plastic holder that at least doesn't fall apart while I am injecting the first blade.
The Black Label Supply are sharper and smoother. For the first couple shaves. Then they're just like the Personnas. I am not a huge fan of the holder, though it is better than the Personna one.
The Chinese Schicks are sharp and last well. But aren't as good as vintage Schicks IMHO.
Actually, my favourite blades are the late 20th century vintage U.S.-made Schick Plus Platinums. Sharp, smooth, long-lasting blades in a great all-metal injector case.
But the truth is -- they ALL work. Nobody makes an injector equivalent of the Chinese Tiger-brand DE "blades"...
Others have told me that there are really only 3 currently produced injector blades = personna, Schick, and the black-label Supply. Personna makes the white-label Supply, the Ted Pella, and maybe others. Quite different from the hundreds that exist on the DE side.
I too really like my Supply SE!
I too really like my Supply SE!
...oh, and I forgot Parker injector blades, which folks also say are made by Personna. Those are inexpensive and come with a metal injector key/slide.
Yeah, aside from Schick, who make their own (mainly in China now), if it's an injector blade, chances are it comes from the Personna factory. Supply did used to say that the white label blades were sharpened and coated to their own specs, so it's quite possible that Personna does tailor the basic blade to each bulk buyer's requirements.
The new Supply black label blades come from a confidential source in Seki, Japan. There are a lot of knife blade makers in Seki, but I know of only one razor blade factory in Japan, so I am assuming they are coming from Feather. Especially since Feather does already make similar blades in non-keyed holders for AC razors....
garyg
B&B membership has its percs
I have tried & reviewed some of the Black Label blades as noted; while the rumor was around the boards that they were Feathers since they are made in Seki, I wonder why the holes in the blade are of a different pattern from Feathers Injector sized offerings, and also why Feather would cheapen their offering with the plastic injector holder. The Supply Black Label is the most expensive injector presently on the US market but I didn't find them equal to the Feather branded B-20 in either sharpness or longevity.
Well, the holder is easy enough to explain: it's a Supply-branded offering and that is THEIR holder. Since it's not going out under the Feather name (assuming that's who makes them), there would be no issue with Feather diluting its brand with a cheaper holder.
Good point about the different holes though, and that certainly is a strike against Feather being the maker -- since the Supply injector doesn't have any kind of retaining mechanism, unlike the old Schick Hydromagics or the new ACs(?), Supply has no reason to specify any kind of holes in the blade. I have never used the Feather B-20, so I have no way to compare them.
i did hear that Schick had been producing some new blades in Japan now. So maybe now there is some nameless razor blade manufacturer in Japan apart from Feather?
I've only used the Chicks and the Personna blades and both are good, but I find the Personna a bit sharper, while the Chicks seems to be slightly smoother and more comfortable. If the Schick razors were very aggressive with a tons of blade feel, I would have probably liked the Chicks a bit more, but since all my Schick razors feel very mild, I don't mind sacrificing a bit of comfort for some extra sharpness.
The other thing is that the Personna is much cheaper, which is never a bad thing.
The other thing is that the Personna is much cheaper, which is never a bad thing.
The Schick twin injector blades are made in Japan, so could they possibly also be the manufacturer of the Supply Black Label blades?
Patrick wrote about choosing plastic packaging to make the blades more affordable, saying that if he went with a metal case, they would be much, much more expensive.
I got 14 good shaves from a Supply black-label. I have a bunch of Schicks that I have yet to try, but got them when Amazon had a good sale. You're right, Personna/Parker/TedPella are the least expensive.
I got 14 good shaves from a Supply black-label. I have a bunch of Schicks that I have yet to try, but got them when Amazon had a good sale. You're right, Personna/Parker/TedPella are the least expensive.
For me it depends on location. It looks like Chinese Schick blades are pretty affordable in the USA. But here in the UK (where Amazon seems the be the sole regular source) they are usually around £14-£15 for 7 blades. I have tried them and they are great, if very pricey here.
I also really like the Personna Injector blades. The ones I buy in the UK are from the ever-reliable Connaught and they have a metal key/top on a plastic base. I got 100 for £20 recently which is very reasonable as I get 7 shaves per blade. The mechanism can be very hit or miss though. So I manually load them into my now empty Schick metal cartridge and I am good to go! Someone on here mentioned that trick but I forget who it was!
I also really like the Personna Injector blades. The ones I buy in the UK are from the ever-reliable Connaught and they have a metal key/top on a plastic base. I got 100 for £20 recently which is very reasonable as I get 7 shaves per blade. The mechanism can be very hit or miss though. So I manually load them into my now empty Schick metal cartridge and I am good to go! Someone on here mentioned that trick but I forget who it was!
garyg
B&B membership has its percs
That's the way to beat the often nonfunctioning plastic injector cases - if the Personna's work for you than its a great deal.
The Black Label blades I have tried a couple times now have different cutouts in the blades from the Schicks, it was once passed around they were Feathers but probably not.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Get Chinese Schick or the Japanese Schick from connaughtshaving. Well scratch the Japanese blades, they don't carry them anymore they have Personna Injector blades. I don't like the new blades from Supply.
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