Balin's Blade Bonanza

[cranewarrior]

Shave #3 - Shark Super Chrome
Baili BT131
Arko Frankensoap

I usually do not shave on consecutive days, but my stubble reappeared and it was long enough to look unsightly. I guess that means this particular combo of razor and blade is not cutting as finely as some other combination. Not a big deal because I like the opportunity to shave but it's something to note for myself. Yep, Lords aren't as sharp as the ones I have been using.

My skin doesn't like the back-to-back shaving. I really hadn't healed from the weepers yesterday and I reopened one and it wealed up and took a while to stop bleeding. Also my skin underneath the nose definitely is protesting. Twas a decent shave otherwise.

 

[psfred]

I'd love to join in the fun here, but you'd all lose interest before I finished a blade!

My one and only Silver Blue so far lasted four months of daily shaving (121 shaves) and a Shark SuperChrome lasted 75.

I like the Silver Blue more.

A 7am Platinum lasted me 80 days, a very nice blade.

 

[Balin]

Shave 3 with the Shark.

Luckily still no blood!

Todays shave went well with little to no alum feedback. It wasn't quite as sharp for me as it was yesterday. I may try for 4.

@psfred Those are some serious Excalibur numbers!! I appreciate your input. Maybe we should try the Sharp 7am next!

 

[Guido75]

Excellent numbers @psfred !! I am holding slightly back in longevity to keep up with the others, but a Shark Chrome is easy double digits. Not sure if my beard will allow 75 shaves though - is that without stropping or honing? Clean shave or with a goatee?

Thanks for dropping by and feel free to join nonetheless - I think in the end this thread will be up for a long time anyway!

 

[Guido75]

Date	29.03.2024
366 daily shaves	089/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorock Game Changer .84P SB	Shark Chrome (5)	Zenith 502B XSE
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (70)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
9.5/10 (Tiny weeper)	5/10 (Razor Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9/10 (BBS)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes:

Summary. Blissful shave with the Game Changer today and feeling like a million!

For extended shave notes click here.

Nothing much to say about the blade at this point. Simply performing well.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

Shave 4 with the Shark.

I think its my last run with the Shark. Its starting to make me work for it. I found the sharpness has dropped off and I had to do 2 touch ups to get a DFS shave. There was no irritation and the alum and aftershave feed back was quite low, but its just not as effective as a newer blade!

What are we moving on to next? Something from the Sharp family? The Titanium or the 7am?

I am sorry for compressing the timeline @Guido75 but I am expecting a new razor early next week so I may be taking a bit of a hiatus to test it out!

 

[Guido75]

I am sorry for compressing the timeline @Guido75 but I am expecting a new razor early next week so I may be taking a bit of a hiatus to test it out!

No need to feel sorry! I have to get through the pile sometime right. Let’s go for the Titanium commencing Monday? Is that ok? You can go early if you want to - the Shark is likely swimming with me through the weekend.

But all deflection aside - what new goodie are you getting?!?!?

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #4 - Shark Super Chrome
Yaqi Mellon mounted on Muhle R89 clone handle
Barbasol

So you know the drill. Stubble came back too soon, so I gotta kill it. Wary of the wound above my upper lip, I looked in my armory for something mild. I have been using the Baili BT131, a razor I thought was mild, but had some similarities in feel to the Fatip Grande I opened the Shark Super Chrome tryouts with. Re-reading the Amazon listing I bought it from, it says the BT131 is aggressive. Heh. Maybe I should RTFM.

So I fished out my Yaqi Mellon head and mounted the Shark. I knew from reading B&B that members consider it "mild". Looking at the open teeth with an impressive amount of blade exposed, it sure didn't look soft or timid. Oh well, no guts no glory.

I just went slowly with my shave and it worked out great. The Mellon despite appearances is indeed a tame creature, like a mare you pair with new riders. I was able to rid myself of stubble without any cuts or reopening wounds. I'll admit I am impressed. It is not exactly efficient on my face - I had to buff and cleanup more stray stubble than usual, but I did have a nice safe session. Probably a "Socially Acceptable Shave" rather than my usual "Perfectly Fine Shave" or "Damn Fine Shave".

I have sort of followed the truism of matching sharp blades to mild razors and mild blades to aggressive razors, but the Mellon makes me rethink that. The Shark Super Chrome, one of the less sharp razor blades I have tried, works great with the Mellon, even on the 4th usage.

I've mentioned it's uncomfortable for me to shave everyday. Hmm, maybe that changes if I also change my tools. Mild + mild = Comfort ?

I might have to retry the ASCO with this razor head.

 

[Balin]

No need to feel sorry! J have to get through the pile sometime right. Let’s go for the Titanium commencing Monday? Is that ok? You can go early if you want to - the Shark is likely swimming with me through the weekend.

But all deflection aside - what new goodie are you getting?!?!?

I will start with the Titanium tomorrow. I am expecting a WR3 early next week so I will be using GEM blades for a bit!!

I am betting @lasta bails on the Sharp Titanium as he didn't have a great outing with it last time .

 

[cranewarrior]

Superb choice with the Durablade Sharp Titanium, Gentlemen. I believe I have two shaves left through Sunday and I will revisit the ASCO with the Yaqi Mellon and maybe give the Lord Super Chrome a single session just to see if it even feels similar to the Shark Super Chrome.

Then Monday we'll go to Bangladesh.

 

[Guido75]

Date	30.03.2024
366 daily shaves	090/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Lambda Athena	Shark Chrome (6)	Zenith 502B XSE
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (71)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	5/10 (Razor Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9.25/10 (BBS+)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes:

Summary. The final shaves of March and what a shave today. Glorious performance by all parties.

For extended shave notes click here.

Still no sign of fatigue and the blade just keeps on going. I know where this is likely going to end up and I already can hear the cult sharpening their swords

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Guido75]

So with the Shark ending its tour of duty tomorrow an update on our scoring table is in order.

Blade	Sharpness	Comfort	Excalibur potential
Shark Chrome	5	5	Yes
GSB	4	5	Yes
ASCO	4	4	Yes
Sputnik	3	2	No
Racer	3	4	Maybe

The Shark gets current top spot purely based on the first shave with the GSB which were with more mishaps and some discomfort. But the differences are very minor nonetheless. I will revisit GSB later on to verify current scores.

 

[cranewarrior]

Bonus Shave with ASCO (Orange) - New unused blade
Yaqi Mellon
Gillette Foamy

I had an enjoyable if not efficient shave yesterday with the Yaqi Mellon and the Shark Super Chrome, so I thought I would repeat it though using the ASCO that I so thoroughly panned last week.

The good: yet another comfortable shave. I had no real fear of reopening the wound underneath my nose despite feeling the rough bumpy terrain with the blade. I made sure not to press at all and went slowly.

The bad: no razor including the Mellon is capable of making a dull blade cut better. I have a few areas of defiant stubble that the ASCO just cannot conquer and I eventually gave up. It's the weekend here and I don't have to look perfectly. Don't misunderstand, the ASCO does cut the stubble to an extent, but it doesn't get rid of all of it, so I have patches of 9PM (yeah not 5 o'clock) shadow remaining. The incomplete shave is not a killer on the weekends, but it's pretty terrible during the work week especially with a new blade.

I've given away all my ASCOs except for 2 tucks to a few of my friends along with some GSBs (gotta evangelize). May they have better luck with it than me.

Monday will either be a 1-off with the Lord Super Chrome to compare with the Shark Super Chrome, or it could be the beginning of a full week with the Durablade Sharp Titanium from Bangladesh. Honestly I am more excited to play with the Sharp, so I am leaning that way.

 

[blethenstrom]

Bonus Shave with ASCO (Orange) - New unused blade
Yaqi Mellon
Gillette Foamy

I had an enjoyable if not efficient shave yesterday with the Yaqi Mellon and the Shark Super Chrome, so I thought I would repeat it though using the ASCO that I so thoroughly panned last week.

The good: yet another comfortable shave. I had no real fear of reopening the wound underneath my nose despite feeling the rough bumpy terrain with the blade. I made sure not to press at all and went slowly.

The bad: no razor including the Mellon is capable of making a dull blade cut better. I have a few areas of defiant stubble that the ASCO just cannot conquer and I eventually gave up. It's the weekend here and I don't have to look perfectly. Don't misunderstand, the ASCO does cut the stubble to an extent, but it doesn't get rid of all of it, so I have patches of 9PM (yeah not 5 o'clock) shadow remaining. The incomplete shave is not a killer on the weekends, but it's pretty terrible during the work week especially with a new blade.

I've given away all my ASCOs except for 2 tucks to a few of my friends along with some GSBs (gotta evangelize). May they have better luck with it than me.

Monday will either be a 1-off with the Lord Super Chrome to compare with the Shark Super Chrome, or it could be the beginning of a full week with the Durablade Sharp Titanium from Bangladesh. Honestly I am more excited to play with the Sharp, so I am leaning that way.

I'm still so surprised at the issues you all have had with ASCO blades. I would have assumed that all of the blades from Lord were made by the same machines with the same settings. Maybe that is not the case.

 

[Pinto90]

I'm still so surprised at the issues you all have had with ASCO blades. I would have assumed that all of the blades from Lord were made by the same machines with the same settings. Maybe that is not the case.

For as many users who find problems with the orange ASCO, there are just as many who praise these blades and are enthusiastic about them.
I fall into this second category.
I recognize that it may not be my most effective blade but I personally do not find it bad and unusable either.
Always YMMV for blades.

 

[blethenstrom]

For as many users who find problems with the orange Asco, there are just as many who praise these blades and are enthusiastic about them.
I fall into this second category.
I recognize that it may not be my most effective blade but I personally do not find it bad and unusable either.
Always YMMV for blades.

I'm in your camp here. ASCO for me works very well as does Big Ben, Lord Cool, Lord Platinum, and other lord blades. I find them very similar in behavior. However, it is a YMMV world.

 

[Pinto90]

I might have to retry the ASCO with this razor head.

Or just change razors other than the Yaqi Mellon for the Asco.

Then Monday we'll go to Bangladesh.

I am very curious to read you when you try them.

Which Bangladesh Sharp blades are you going to try?

 

[Pinto90]

I'm in your camp here. ASCO for me works very well as does Big Ben, Lord Cool, Lord Platinum, and other lord blades. I find them very similar in behavior. However, it is a YMMV world.

Great on some Lords also work pretty well with me.
Have you tried all the Lord brands yet even the Racer?

 

[blethenstrom]

Great on some Lords also work pretty well with me.
Have you tried all the Lord brands yet even the Racer?

I have not tried all of them. The racer is one I have not yet tried. I have also not tried Lord Classic and some others

 

[cranewarrior]

Or just change razors other than the Yaqi Mellon for the Asco.

I am very curious to read you when you try them.

Which Bangladesh Sharp blades are you going to try?

Already done it with multiple razors. Even used a Fatip Grande which has lots of blade exposure. The ASCO won't perform for me. No biggie, but I'm glad it works for you and Boris.

I believe we'll test the Sharp Titanium and 7AM Platinum.