Astra SP, Still a Good Blade?

[naughtilus]

IMHO, Astra SP and Feather provide the same sharpness, but the Feather feels sharper. Gillette Blue are nice. I like a Feather in the PAA Alpha Ecliptic and open comb slants. Of course, I'm a straight razor manly man and not a weak knees DE only shaver.....LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Real men have buzzing razors, boy.

 

[retroman_1979]

I used a new sp for the second time last night. I really enjoyed it. I have some of the stainless and voskhod’s on order and will be excited to give them a rip as well. These seem to be a good value for my use

 

[Umma2gumma]

After using a Personna Blue and then a Derby Premium for 3 shaves each in my Parker Variant (set to 2 with Personna and 3 with other blades) I put a fresh ASP in it and wow... I have forgotten just how comfortable a shave can be.

 

[naughtilus]

After using a Personna Blue and then a Derby Premium for 3 shaves each in my Parker Variant (set to 2 with Personna and 3 with other blades) I put a fresh ASP in it and wow... I have forgotten just how comfortable a shave can be.

IMO that's the best way to test blades, with a swap and instant notice of differences. If you use the same blade brand for a while, you beging to mistakenly ascribe variation in your shaving technique, mood, skin condition, lathering, gear rotation etc. to the blade itself.

People will shave with an Astra SP x3 or more times, then switch to another blade and think wow that one is so much better because it's sharper. Ya think?! It's a new blade! Duh!



Take notice @JoSk @mawashi

 

[naughtilus]

P.S.

I only sound like an Astra fanboy because I am one.

 

[mawashi]

IMO that's the best way to test blades, with a swap and instant notice of differences. If you use the same blade brand for a while, you beging to mistakenly ascribe variation in your shaving technique, mood, skin condition, lathering, gear rotation etc. to the blade itself.

People will shave with an Astra SP x3 or more times, then switch to another blade and think wow that one is so much better because it's sharper. Ya think?! It's a new blade! Duh!



Take notice @JoSk @mawashi

Ahem ahem if you've read some of my blade posts, I never bin a until it starts to tug. Feather 30 shaves, super Nacet 30, Nacet ss 20, the BIC I rotated back to had 5 shaves on it. The astra just doesn't cut it for me.

I have 250 of these asp so I do want them to work. Ahem ahem

 

[naughtilus]

Ahem ahem if you've read some of my blade posts, I never bin a until it starts to tug. Feather 30 shaves, super Nacet 30, Nacet ss 20, the BIC I rotated back to had 5 shaves on it. The astra just doesn't cut it for me.

I have 250 of these asp so I do want them to work. Ahem ahem

That's because at a steep angle you're scraping, not cutting. At shallow and neutral angle all blades end in the bin after 2 uses, but the closeness is great with zero irritation. I'd rather have the blade take the beating, not my skin.

How do you have cactus hard and thick whiskers, yet you manage to do 30 shaves from a blade?

 

[Bogeyman]

IMO that's the best way to test blades, with a swap and instant notice of differences. If you use the same blade brand for a while, you beging to mistakenly ascribe variation in your shaving technique, mood, skin condition, lathering, gear rotation etc. to the blade itself.

People will shave with an Astra SP x3 or more times, then switch to another blade and think wow that one is so much better because it's sharper. Ya think?! It's a new blade! Duh!...

To OBJECTIVELY test a blade a person needs to use the same razor, soap/cream, prep & brush. As well, because either side of a face has variations in beard density it is best to rotate a blade from either side. For example, use one blade on one side of your face and then switch to another blade in the same razor for the other side. The next day repeat this, BUT use the blade you started with yesterday as your 2nd blade to switch to for the other side. That way you are eliminating any bias toward a side that has sat longer while soaped. Remember, you are testing the blade & not the man so all chance of bias must be purged. As a matter of fact, if you have a wife, girlfriend, etc., it would be best if they loaded it "blindly" for you so as not to mentally skew the test.

That's because at a steep angle you're scraping, not cutting. At shallow and neutral angle all blades end in the bin after 2 uses, but the closeness is great with zero irritation. I'd rather have the blade take the beating, not my skin...

I agree with your steep angle analysis.

 

[Komm]

They used to be my best blades, but then i discovered Derby premiums, used the same soap, to test how they fared against the ASPs, i did the following : i shaved normally 3 passes W, X and ATG, then switched out the ASP and put the derby premium, and for one 4th pass i went against the grain, and to my surprise it ACTUALLY shaved even more, and got they super smooth face after it, the only thing i can deduce here is that they were sharper and smoother, few days later, they also felt less tuggy than the ASP and they last more shaves (around 4 vs 2 of the ASP) at least for me

 

[naughtilus]

To OBJECTIVELY test a blade a person needs to use the same razor, soap/cream, prep & brush. As well, because either side of a face has variations in beard density it is best to rotate a blade from either side. For example, use one blade on one side of your face and then switch to another blade in the same razor for the other side. The next day repeat this, BUT use the blade you started with yesterday as your 2nd blade to switch to for the other side. That way you are eliminating any bias toward a side that has sat longer while soaped. Remember, you are testing the blade & not the man so all chance of bias must be purged. As a matter of fact, if you have a wife, girlfriend, etc., it would be best if they loaded it "blindly" for you so as not to mentally skew the test.



I agree with your steep angle analysis.

Here's a hypothesis that's worth testing:

Astra Superior Stainless = Gillette Silver Blue = Gillette Nacet Stainless = Gillette 7 O'clock Stainless

Astra Superior Platinum = Gillette Platinum = Gillette Nacet Platinum = Gillette 7 O'clock Platinum

Two blades, 8 packaging designs.

 

[Komm]

Here's a hypothesis that's worth testing:

Astra Superior Stainless = Gillette Silver Blue = Gillette Nacet Stainless = Gillette 7 O'clock Stainless

Astra Superior Platinum = Gillette Platinum = Gillette Nacet Platinum = Gillette 7 O'clock Platinum

Two blades, 8 packaging designs.

interesting, i only can speak for the second group (Mostly), on a dry face, 1 day growth, i have "tried" sliding the razor with ASP, Gillette Platinum, and 7 oclock Platinum on my facial hair to see with one tugs the most, and even tried doing a dry shave of my side burns with each, my subjective experience was : ASP was the sharpest, but wasn't smooth or comfortable, the blades felt as "biting" into the skin, but the tugging was the least with them. The Gillette Plats were the worst of the bunch, very tuggy and not sharp and not smooth, Gilette 7 oclock plats were a tad less sharper than the ASP (slightly more tugging) but were by far the smoothest, they gave this feeling of (come on i don't wanna hurt you) vibe , as for nacet, i still haven't tried them yet unfortunately

 

[Umma2gumma]

They used to be my best blades, but then i discovered Derby premiums, used the same soap, to test how they fared against the ASPs, i did the following : i shaved normally 3 passes W, X and ATG, then switched out the ASP and put the derby premium, and for one 4th pass i went against the grain, and to my surprise it ACTUALLY shaved even more, and got they super smooth face after it, the only thing i can deduce here is that they were sharper and smoother, few days later, they also felt less tuggy than the ASP and they last more shaves (around 4 vs 2 of the ASP) at least for me

I found Derby Premium to be sharper and rougher than ASP, and overall a less comfortable shave. Mind you. that's a sample size of one blade

Basically, in my Variant, Astra SP on 3 feels like Derby on 1.5 but cuts better.

Derby on 3 is just a tad short of a bloodbath.

Now, I am not dissing Derby Premiums. There's a few blades that I now put into a "to be revisited" category - DP, Astra Superior Stainless, and Personna Blue. All three feel rougher than ASP or tend to cut me, yet at the same time provide a clean smooth shave and should be re-evaluated once my shaving technique improves.

 

[Tostig]

Here's a hypothesis that's worth testing:

Astra Superior Stainless = Gillette Silver Blue = Gillette Nacet Stainless = Gillette 7 O'clock Stainless

Astra Superior Platinum = Gillette Platinum = Gillette Nacet Platinum = Gillette 7 O'clock Platinum

Two blades, 8 packaging designs.

Been sort of doing this test, but with Polsilver, GSB, Nacet, and Astra. Each side of my face with a different blade, changing them out and switching sides day to day and jotting down notes.

They are different. Definitely not the same blade in different packaging.

 

[naughtilus]

Been sort of doing this test, but with Polsilver, GSB, Nacet, and Astra. Each side of my face with a different blade, changing them out and switching sides day to day and jotting down notes.

They are different. Definitely not the same blade in different packaging.

Which Astra? Polsilver is different coating.

 

[Tostig]

Which Astra? Polsilver is different coating.

Astra SP, not SS. You are right, that is not the same coating. My tests weren't really about getting perfect apples-to-apples comparisons, but rather, seeing if I could tell a difference between the blades and, if so, which one(s) I should load up on. I can definitely tell the difference between the blades during and after a shave, though not as much between GSB and Nacet as the other combinations.

 

[naughtilus]

Astra SP, not SS. You are right, that is not the same coating. My tests weren't really about getting perfect apples-to-apples comparisons, but rather, seeing if I could tell a difference between the blades and, if so, which one(s) I should load up on. I can definitely tell the difference between the blades during and after a shave, though not as much between GSB and Nacet as the other combinations.

I can tell a bigger difference between Astra SP and GP than with GSB, which contradicts my hypothesis. But I haven't done objective tests.

 

[mawashi]

That's because at a steep angle you're scraping, not cutting. At shallow and neutral angle all blades end in the bin after 2 uses, but the closeness is great with zero irritation. I'd rather have the blade take the beating, not my skin.

How do you have cactus hard and thick whiskers, yet you manage to do 30 shaves from a blade?

It's how I feel after the shave, I get a burn from astra that I don't from my other blades.

Also I've tried them in many razors with similar results again I have every intention to want them to work and even bought a shavette to test.

So far they leave me w patches of stubble where the other blades don't and they are not smooth to me at all.

I've only tried 3 asps so far I may have to open another pack to see if I've got a dud pack. However, I'm not the only one amongst my friends that feel an astra isn't that smooth or sharp.

 

[Tostig]

^^^ Agree, mostly. With 3 passes and a little touch up, I can get a BBS shave from an Astra, but it always leaves my face burning after the shave and is horrible horrible horrible on my lower neck, post-shave. My Stirling aftershave with menthol burns painfully after I use an Astra, and if I reapply it 4 or 6 hours later it *still* burns. I don't get that same kind of burn from any other blade. Weird.

 

[Bogeyman]

First of all, we don't know what coatings are used on what blades as that is clearly proprietary info and with good reason in a billion $$ market. The hone angles are slightly different on different blades as has been measured over at Wet Shaving – Bolzano, Gillette, Personna Double Edge Razor Blades and I would venture a guess that the hardening process on blade edges are different somewhat. Even that however is just a guess. We don't really know nor will we ever really know until a Gillette person tells us and that ain't likely. I do know now however that the term "sharp" is superfluous & essentially meaningless when describing a blade as it is the smoothness that we treasure and so desire. We are unable to discern the grades of sharpness this fine on our skin.

 

[Whiskey-Man]

Recently discovered Astra SPs after they came with a razor and just love them.

I went online to order more and noticed recent bad reviews of new batches, specifically the new laser etched blades without numbers. A lot of these reviews can be seen on Amazon. It appears to be the same story, not as good as in previous years, they are now duller, pull and are flimsy.

Anyone out there use the ones made before the blade marking change and after that can offer an opinion?

Okay.... here is the low down. And it is a good bad answer
New printing logo is the only difference
That's the good part
The bad part is......
Their quality control has gone to the dumper!!!!!!
I've used Astra SP's for years. Always loved them. So when it was time to re-order I bought 7 sleeves (700) Blades. Okay so no problem at first. The first pack was sharp and smooth. BUT THE SECOND PACK was a disaster! I could have used an ice scraper and it would have been smoother. I tried different blades from the same pack in my 195 fatboy, my 1953 Gillette President and my Merkur Futur. The same result. They SUCKED!
So now I'm wondering what the third pack is going to be like. Smooth? Or a modern Russian torture device
Seriously Gillette...... you have got to get a hold of your quality control issues. I have used these blades for years and never have a pack of blades this bad. A single bad blade can happen to anyone. I get it. But not an entire pack. Face it. Somebody was a sleep on the job and I have the weepers to prove it!