I agree if you can get older batches, with newer laser print blades it appears to be a lottery of some kind several people got decent quality others received blades of poor quality. I don’t think my dad would like to play this game.
Thanks.
Astra SP, Still a Good Blade?
- Thread starter THall
- Start date
Thanks.
I'm not criticising them; the laser-etched ones (bought ~ February) have been absolutely OK so far.
I liked the Personnas better, though.
I liked the Personnas better, though.
I bought the laser-etched Astra's on AUG 2018 and those have been my go-to blades for a long time. Every blade is smooth but sharp enough to shave with. Lovely blades I tell you.
Going through a 100 pack of laser etched Astra SPs I bought back in April.
Getting the best shaves I've ever got, better than the old black letter Astra SPs.
Getting the best shaves I've ever got, better than the old black letter Astra SPs.
They are a good blade. It just made me upset when a couple new blades had problems out of the box. I didn't have that problem with them before. But yesterday I opened an Astra SP and it gave me a wonderful shave
I bought 100 more Astra SPs a month ago , but i found out that there was the new ones with the laser engraved logo.
I thought OK no problem. But for me these are not the Astra SPs that i know (and i have).
They are dull and they gave me a lot of discomfort during shaving no matter what razor i used. Strange thing is that i used it with combos that i really enjoy with (like Parker 97R and Astra SP) and i had always the same bad shave no matter how many times i used them. Then i switch to the Older Version and i had excellent Shaves. That's telling me that the blades are no longer the same at least for me...
I thought OK no problem. But for me these are not the Astra SPs that i know (and i have).
They are dull and they gave me a lot of discomfort during shaving no matter what razor i used. Strange thing is that i used it with combos that i really enjoy with (like Parker 97R and Astra SP) and i had always the same bad shave no matter how many times i used them. Then i switch to the Older Version and i had excellent Shaves. That's telling me that the blades are no longer the same at least for me...
Started with traditional shaving earlier this year and began with the old stock Astra SP blades. Bought 50 blades of the new stock ones later.
From my own experience I cant say that I notice any difference in the shave. The blades cut just as good. I also find the blades to perhaps be a little less forgiving if you do mistakes. But that hasn't really changed either between the two batches. Might have just been lucky with my shippment of blades though.
Done two shaves with a personna platinum (red) blade so far. And I find it to be just as effective as the Astra SP. But I feel they are more forgiving if I do a mistake. Which leaves a smoother result. But to be fair, I have gotten similar results with an Astra SP (new batch) when I was in the zone.
From my own experience I cant say that I notice any difference in the shave. The blades cut just as good. I also find the blades to perhaps be a little less forgiving if you do mistakes. But that hasn't really changed either between the two batches. Might have just been lucky with my shippment of blades though.
Done two shaves with a personna platinum (red) blade so far. And I find it to be just as effective as the Astra SP. But I feel they are more forgiving if I do a mistake. Which leaves a smoother result. But to be fair, I have gotten similar results with an Astra SP (new batch) when I was in the zone.
I just purchased 100 SP blades from an Amazon vendor. I was expecting to receive the new laser etched blades since they have been out for over a year. Instead, I received the older inked blades. So far, they perform like previous SP blades I have used. For my coarse beard, they are just OK; I really like much sharper blades. I used them in a mild razor and did not get a particularly close shave. I will try them in more aggressive razors to see if they work better. I suspect they will end up on a PIF table one day. I much prefer the Astra Superior Stainless, but my beard is tougher than many.
I agree the Astra SP is still a good blade. The problem is quality control. Some of the packs have not lived up to the quality as other packs. It's not a constant problem but it does happen... and I never ran into this problem with the old Astra SP Blades. Having said this, I still like and use the Astra SP's. It's just frustrating when I run into a blade that doesn't measure up. And it's sad because I really loved Astra's in the past. But luckily.... there are so many brands to choose from
I bought 100 Astra SP in about February 2019, and received the laser-etched ones. They worked OK; I'd give them and Israeli Personnas equal billing as my favourites. Marginally better than German Wilkinson, which are not bad.
Time moves on, and so I got another 100 Astra SPs in November, and (lo and behold) they were the ink-printed ones, so I feared the worst.
They worked just as well as the lasered ones, as far as I could tell. Big gasp of relief there; it's not like they cost much, but nobody likes to get burned.
Am I simply un-discerning? How would I even know?
On the other hand, Boots (a UK brand) and Asda were both selling Israeli Personnas, as far as I could work out, Asda by frankly branding them "Personna", and Boots by branding them "Boots".
Both very good and probably equal. So far, so good.
Tesco put out a blade called Xprt (here in the UK), which absolutely looked like a re-branded Israeli Personna, so I was fully set up by cognitive biases to accept it as the same as the others.
I got a rotten, scratchy shave, threw the blade away, and got a rotten shave off blade 2 as well.
What is my conclusion? If you find a good source, buy until you feel comfortable.
Time moves on, and so I got another 100 Astra SPs in November, and (lo and behold) they were the ink-printed ones, so I feared the worst.
They worked just as well as the lasered ones, as far as I could tell. Big gasp of relief there; it's not like they cost much, but nobody likes to get burned.
Am I simply un-discerning? How would I even know?
On the other hand, Boots (a UK brand) and Asda were both selling Israeli Personnas, as far as I could work out, Asda by frankly branding them "Personna", and Boots by branding them "Boots".
Both very good and probably equal. So far, so good.
Tesco put out a blade called Xprt (here in the UK), which absolutely looked like a re-branded Israeli Personna, so I was fully set up by cognitive biases to accept it as the same as the others.
I got a rotten, scratchy shave, threw the blade away, and got a rotten shave off blade 2 as well.
What is my conclusion? If you find a good source, buy until you feel comfortable.
For most of my shaving years, I've always used Wilkinson Sword white pack) but in the last few years the sharpness had gone downhill. They were my go to blade but now Astra SP and Crystal are my favorites, just ordered another 100 0f the Laser etched Astra's and thinking about ordering more Crystals before they end production. I previously had a 100 0f the printed Astras and I found the Laser etched no different. I'll check to see if my new order are any different than the older etched
My surmise was that my latest batch of Astra were old stock, but they were marked (in microscopic letters, on the end of the tuck) 30-01-19, and my previous batch of laser-etched was 17-06-18.
I don't think the printed ones are fakes either; I got a great result, and it didn't need replaced until the 12th use.
Maybe their laser etcher is broken.
They have always been rough and dull for me.
Been exclusively using Feathers for the last 5-6 years. Found a stash of 100 Astra SP's tucked in the back of our linen closet and decided to load one into a Merkur Slant, a razor that always pairs well with Feathers.
Super lathered with Proraso white and a bit of Speick soap and loaded it onto an Omega boar.
Now I remember why they were tucked back into a dark corner of the linen closet. Despite good beard prep, smooth later and soft water, tt felt like I was dragging a dethatching rake across my face.
Super lathered with Proraso white and a bit of Speick soap and loaded it onto an Omega boar.
Now I remember why they were tucked back into a dark corner of the linen closet. Despite good beard prep, smooth later and soft water, tt felt like I was dragging a dethatching rake across my face.
I've been using the Astra SP blades that came with my razor ordered in 12/19 and they are awesome for my Merkur 34c, a great combo for BBS in 2 passes + touch-up.
And about 2 months ago I ordered a sampler pack of mild blades that included Astra SS blades, and they are just as amazing, maybe even a touch better than the SP.
And about 2 months ago I ordered a sampler pack of mild blades that included Astra SS blades, and they are just as amazing, maybe even a touch better than the SP.
The Astra SS is second only to the Gillette Silver Blue in my heart.
- Thread starter
- #119
I have my last Astra SP with the old markings in my Timeless now. Really smooth. Will probably order more but I have a ton of Lab Blues, some Yellows and some Kai I have to get through first.
