Are these IP's?
- Thread starter Shred
- Start date
Those are what is referred to here as "labs". They are made in the USA. IP's are red and made in Israel:
http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Red-Personna-Israeli-Double-Edge-Razor-Blades-100-Blades_p_19.html
http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Red-Personna-Israeli-Double-Edge-Razor-Blades-100-Blades_p_19.html
Oh, and some refer to Crystal blades as IP's as well:
http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Crystal-Double-Edge-Razor-Blades-100-Blades_p_12.html
They are also made by Personna in Israel.
http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Crystal-Double-Edge-Razor-Blades-100-Blades_p_12.html
They are also made by Personna in Israel.
I think Crystals are different blades. And there are two kinds of Crystals. Platinum Chrome and Stainless too. Confusing.
They are different than the labs (the photo in the OP) and the Personna Reds. My point was some refer to Crystals as "Israeli Personnas"
To me, Israeli Personnas are different blades than both Israeli Crystals. Different blade quality. Part marking different as well. They might be made in the same plant but are different blades. Israeli Reds are one of my faves. The Two different Israeli Crystals are a mystery to me.
These being the two different Crystals
Platinum Chrome. These "might" be Isreali Personnas. Part marking similar. Very smooth shave. I got some in Europe a while ago and was very impressed. I think its what West Coast shaving sells as "same as IP."
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Stainless Steel. These I strongly believe are not Israeli Personnas. These in my experience have no part marking (blades have no marking and are in plain white wrapping). I find these blades to be harsh. Not smooth like a IP. These are on eBay quite a bit. Seller in Houston is who I got them from. I BIN mine.
Platinum Chrome. These "might" be Isreali Personnas. Part marking similar. Very smooth shave. I got some in Europe a while ago and was very impressed. I think its what West Coast shaving sells as "same as IP."
View attachment 367209
Stainless Steel. These I strongly believe are not Israeli Personnas. These in my experience have no part marking (blades have no marking and are in plain white wrapping). I find these blades to be harsh. Not smooth like a IP. These are on eBay quite a bit. Seller in Houston is who I got them from. I BIN mine.
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Red Personna, Crystal blades (both kinds) are all made by Personna in Israel. What people call IP's can vary. Some use that term for the Reds, others for one of the Crystals. There is no blade called IP as far as I know.
To confuse things even more, I ordered these from Amazon a while ago:
http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Stain...&sr=8-6&keywords=100+double+edge+razor+blades
And they came in the packaging pictured above (2nd)...all 12 packages said Stainless Steel on the outside, not Platinum Chrome like the Amazon add said they were...so I thought I got the wrong blades. I opened them up, unwrapped a blade and sure as shoot it says super Platinum on it. So, Personna's packaging is all over the map. I still get a bit confused by the whole thing. I still want to try some Red IP's someday, but the Crystal's are really very nice blades. Super SHARP. I really have to be careful with them. I have to find a razor they work well in.
http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Stain...&sr=8-6&keywords=100+double+edge+razor+blades
And they came in the packaging pictured above (2nd)...all 12 packages said Stainless Steel on the outside, not Platinum Chrome like the Amazon add said they were...so I thought I got the wrong blades. I opened them up, unwrapped a blade and sure as shoot it says super Platinum on it. So, Personna's packaging is all over the map. I still get a bit confused by the whole thing. I still want to try some Red IP's someday, but the Crystal's are really very nice blades. Super SHARP. I really have to be careful with them. I have to find a razor they work well in.
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I have those same Crystal blades (Stainless cover, Platinum blades). My initial research (here and on other forums) revealed the cover is different, but the blades are the same--as far as I know, anyway.
I have used the Red Personnas as well as these Crystals. My initial experience was very good with both. But on my revisit, I thought the Red's were a tad harsh. Now this could be due to many factors and may not have been the blade at all. I think I've tried 2-3 of these blades total, and it was only one semi-bad experience.
My subsequent experience with the Crystals blades has been quite good. I have used one in both my Techs, my Merkur 42 and even the pass around 2011 R41. With the exception of a bit of roughness on the 2nd shave in the R41 (par for the course from my experience) they have been given smooth and close shaves.
Below pic shows, on the left the Crystal Blades in the Stainless Steel packaging (I tossed the box). Bought from this seller. Advertised as Israeli Personnas. They are a rough blade. Have visible tooling marks on them too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-CRYSTAL-...t=US_Shaving_Hair_Removal&hash=item4169bc9170
On the right are the "UK Packaging" Israeli Personnas sold by West Coast Shaving et. al. Excellent blade.
On the right are the "UK Packaging" Israeli Personnas sold by West Coast Shaving et. al. Excellent blade.
- Thread starter
- #12
what is so special about the red personas?
A couple years ago this was all a bit clearer. There were Israeli made blades that came in red packs with blades wrapped in red paper. These were clearly the RPs (where RP stands for red Personna). Then there were Israeli made platinum blades not sold in the red packs and most frequently seen in "Crystal" packaging. To differentiate these from the red ones they were referred to as IPs (Israeli Personnas). So RPs and IPs are not the same. But IPs and Crystals are one and the same.
All of this has become more confusing as "reds" are now sold in some packaging that is not red (although I think the wrappers are still red) and it's not at all clear to me what the packaging is, if there is any standard packaging, for Israeli Personnas that are not the "reds".
All of this has become more confusing as "reds" are now sold in some packaging that is not red (although I think the wrappers are still red) and it's not at all clear to me what the packaging is, if there is any standard packaging, for Israeli Personnas that are not the "reds".
Wow this went off track quickly!
Thanks TD - have got 100 on the way
For me, they are very smooth and sharp. I'd say smooth as an Astra SP but shaper. Excellent blade.
