Are Kai blades overrated?

[anoop]

Kai is my daily driver. I'm in the middle of my second pack of 180 blades for which I pay about $80.

It works well for me and it doesn't have wax spots that otherwise make the razor head sticky.

I find Feather too harsh for my face. The first pass is OK. The second pass causes razor burn.

 

[shoshani]

I used a Kai this morning. First time ever. This was in a Gillette Slim adjustable, and I set it to 4. (Usually I hover around a 6 for most blades.) It was a very, very nice shave, but I had to ride the cap to get any performance. Well, the doors. (This is a trick I learned with my open comb Leresche - that razor in particular seems designed to be used at a cap-riding angle, especially since the open comb teeth are somewhat sharp and gouge-y...)

I have an early Tech on the way that I'm also going to try with the Kai. Some blades work better for me in guard bar razors, and I have a feeling Kai will be one of those. (Others, like Bolzano and 7 O'Clock Black, work better for me in open comb heads.)

 

[Capisco Capisce]

I used a Kai this morning. First time ever. This was in a Gillette Slim adjustable, and I set it to 4. (Usually I hover around a 6 for most blades.) It was a very, very nice shave, but I had to ride the cap to get any performance. Well, the doors. (This is a trick I learned with my open comb Leresche - that razor in particular seems designed to be used at a cap-riding angle, especially since the open comb teeth are somewhat sharp and gouge-y...)

I have an early Tech on the way that I'm also going to try with the Kai. Some blades work better for me in guard bar razors, and I have a feeling Kai will be one of those. (Others, like Bolzano and 7 O'Clock Black, work better for me in open comb heads.)

I find the bolded an interesting observation. I'm torn on KAI, and recently tended to deride them. But reflecting on your statement, I must admit they do indeed work better for me in safety bar-razors, than open-comb. i never picked-up on that until I read your post, nor did I ever consider it.

Thanks for sharing that.

 

[jay_muc]

I have tried a lot of blades & for me the Kai's & the Gillette 7'0 Clock Blacks have been the top two. I use both a R89 & a R41 depending on the no of days to the last shave and these two blades have been given me a nick free and a smooth shave.

While the Kai's are more expensive than others but they give me 4 - 5 shaves per blade & keeping that in mind the acquisition cost is worth every penny.

 

[Ron R]

I really Enjoy Kai's SS DE blades and I like to use them in certain razors that need a boost in efficentcy & blade feel. They are a wider blade than a Standard Gillette Astra by 4.5/1000 of a inch per side and that is a nice bump up. Also they will eliminate shims and are worth it if you have a nice mild razor that might need better performance IMO.
The blade is Sharp & smooth with excellent longevity(10 shaves is not hard for myself with great results). They are pricey no doubt but still unique for us blade feel keeners.

Have some great shaves!

 

[awk_m4]

I really Enjoy Kai's SS DE blades and I like to use them in certain razors that need a boost in efficentcy & blade feel. They are a wider blade than a Standard Gillette Astra by 4.5/1000 of a inch per side and that is a nice bump up. Also they will eliminate shims and are worth it if you have a nice mild razor that might need better performance IMO.
The blade is Sharp & smooth with excellent longevity(10 shaves is not hard for myself with great results). They are pricey no doubt but still unique for us blade feel keeners.
View attachment 1359980
Have some great shaves!

I shaved using a Kai blade today and was impressed that very few touch ups were required to get my shave to the desired end state. Overall the performance is comparable to Feather. Of course my sample size is very small. I will shave with a fresh Kai blade over the next few days to compare results.

 

[tamahagane]

I don't like them at all. Didn't like them years ago in my Feather Popular, Merkur 15C at the time and didn't like them a couple of days ago in my Rockwell 6S either. Too much pulling to call the shave comfortable, not as close as a shave with a Feather and considering the price and the counterfeits which are difficult to recognize from the original, I don't think I will be ordering this blade a third time.
I can recall that approximately half of all blades I have tried (from the whole DE assortment on RBC) felt like the Kai - no irritation, no weepers but not sharp enough either unless I shave daily. I figure people who like Kai blades will be happy with a variety of other blades, e.g. Israeli/German Personnas, any "platinum" blades from Lord or Treet. Croma Diamant and the other offerings by Feintechnik felt the same for me.

My 2c: after only a year of DE shaving, I found my working combo: very mild razor + sharp blades, Kai are not sharp. Another peculiarity of mine: if I do(n't) like a blade, then changing the razor doesn't change my experience. Kai has disappointed me consistently as described above.

 

[Andris83]

I used up a tuck of 5, and I am not going to get more. Sure I can feel that there is more blade because of the width, but to me they aren't as sharp as everyone claims it to be. Plus you have to adjust the angle, otherwise it isn't smooth. A way better feather lookalike is the BIC platinum. Sharp as f. and in the right razor also smooth. YMMV and all...

 

[Seelector]

I've always had a hard time getting a good shave from a Kai blades. I'm partial to Japanese blades (I'm a manufacturing engineer and the Japanese know how to manufacture stuff) so I really wanted to like them. I gave them a lot of tries but always found them to be really harsh and would leave my face feeling raw. I think it's the extra width that makes them to aggressive for me.

 

[cwright]

Nope!!!

 

[Barbarian80]

For me, the Kai was the worst blade i've ever felt. I could have been shaving with a steak knife and wouldn't have known the difference. It felt so bad that i didn't bother trying one in a different razor. I gave the tuck away to my sister in law for her to shave whatever bits and parts she wishes to mow.

 

[SharpieB]

Overpriced, but not overrated IMO. Great blades but not worth $0.40-0.50 each when there are many other great blades out there for $0.8-0.15 each.

the whole “larger blade exposure” is cool but the reality is that the 0.2mm difference is only a bit wider than a human hair. Very small difference.