Blade Wars: Perma-Sharp Super vs. Gillette Rubie Plus

[cw62803]

Blade Wars: Perma-Sharp Super vs. Gillette Rubie Plus

This blade war pits two wonderful blades against one another. Both are manufactured in St. Petersburg, Russia by PPI. Perma-Sharp Super are currently for sale at Maggard Razors for $19 per hundred. Maggard also sells the Gillette Rubie Plus for $39.75 per hundred. I am not certain if Rubies are currently being manufactured. I’ve tried both of these blades before and consider them among the top blades I’ve ever used.

I’ll use two DE89 clones for the test, one with a blue ring around the handle cap. I won’t know which blade is in which razor. I’ll shave half my face with each razor and report on the results. I hope you enjoy following along.

Big thank you to @Jopete for sending me the Rubies!

Do you have a favorite between the two? Time to talk some razor-blade trash.

 

[meanpr]

I've tried Gillette Nacets, Rubies, GSB and 7 o'clock SS (green) and I'd have to rank the Rubies dead last out of those four. Not worth $40/100 IMHO!

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

I paid $19.00 for 100 Rubies which I like. My call is for the Perma-Sharp Super to win this battle. It is one of my top 3 blades.

 

[mata_66]

In my experience i feel the Perma-Sharps very similar to the 7 O'clock SS (green) a tad less smooth than GSB, a tad less sharp than 7 O'clock yellows. More or less they are all in the same ballpark. Never tried the Rubie though, the high price has always kept me away from them.

 

[Ukrainian]

I paid $19.00 for 100 Rubies which I like. My call is for the Perma-Sharp Super to win this battle. It is one of my top 3 blades.

Curious about other two.
Could you please share?

 

[CigarSmoka]

I wasn't very impressed with Rubies at all. Permasharp gave a great shave but were a bit rough for me, but I fully exoect them to take it to the Rubies.

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

Curious about other two.
Could you please share?

Polsilver and Nacet blades along with the Perma-Sharp Super.

 

[BigJ]

Should be a great match!! Love the Russian steel!

 

[SpeedyPC]

@cw62803 I'm told the Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus blade is very similar to Rapira Platinum Lux

I would like to see a blade war review Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus vs Rapira Platinum Lux

 

[guyakaguy]

Rubie Platinums are pretty good blades, and I’d agree with @SpeedyPC about the comparison to Rapira Platinum Lux. In my experience they’ll both take you to DFS territory in an air-ride Lincoln Town Car, 24/7/365(6). If you’re not familiar they’re the kind of blades that you have to check to make sure whiskers are being removed while you’re using them, IMO they’re that smooth. They can deliver BBS shaves, but require patience and pressure to do so. 8-10 shaves max for both.

Permasharp Supers, on the other hand, are somewhere between a GSB and a Polsilver IMO. They felt slightly sharper than GSBs at first and by the end of my 15 shave run with the Permasharp it wasn’t giving any indication of dulling. I got long lasting BBS shaves every time. It also gets bonus points for its old-timey, slightly cheesy, packaging.

If I were a a betting man I’d put my money on Permasharp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jopete]

I love the Rubie's, never tried Permasharp but have heard lots of great things about them, have tried Rapira Platinum Lux and in my experience they tugged and not quite as sharp as the Rubie's, currently I can get the Rubie's and the Permasharp for the same price.
I like the match up from what I've read about the Permasharp and my experience with the Rubie's.
Thanks for doing this, looking forward to it.

 

[cw62803]

Shave 1
blue razor = right side of face, silver razor = left side
face lathered with TOBS lavender

A two-pass shave to get us started. Both passes were great. Both razors cut cleanly and were smooth. No clear advantage.

 

[Ukrainian]

11 USD per 100
100 Rapira Platinum Lux DE Blades, 20 packs of 5 (100 blades) – ItalianBarber

 

[cw62803]

Shave 2
silver=right, blue=left
Face lathered with Arko

Pass 1 - Silver: crisp, clean, smooth pass
Blue: Wonderful feel - like a reel lawn mower vs. a rotary mower - it's like the entire blade is laying flat against my face, cutting.

Pass 2 - silver: smooth and clean
blue: smooth, entire blade feel

At this point, the silver blade feels just a little sharper and the blue feels just a little smoother. I had planned on a three-pass shave today, but my shave is quite close and my face feels great, so I decided not to do a third pass.

Another tie.

 

[weekly]

I predict that the blue razor has the
Rubie in it, and I also predict that the
Rubie will win this contest,I am somewhat
Biased in favor of the Rubies, and would
Love to get my hands on a 100 pack in
The same price range as other St. Pete's
Blades.
This war will have a very interesting
Outcome, I'm on the edge of my seat
In suspense while enjoying this excìting
Matchup.

 

[BigJ]

So close! So smooth! (Terrific match.)

 

[guyakaguy]

Shave 2
silver=right, blue=left
Face lathered with Arko

Pass 1 - Silver: crisp, clean, smooth pass
Blue: Wonderful feel - like a reel lawn mower vs. a rotary mower - it's like the entire blade is laying flat against my face, cutting.

Pass 2 - silver: smooth and clean
blue: smooth, entire blade feel

At this point, the silver blade feels just a little sharper and the blue feels just a little smoother. I had planned on a three-pass shave today, but my shave is quite close and my face feels great, so I decided not to do a third pass.

Another tie.

I’d be shocked if, at the end of this blade war that’ll likely go into double-secret-sudden-death overtime, the silver ISN’T the Permasharp and the blue ISN’T the Rubie.

Place your bets right here!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Esox]

Rubie Platinums are pretty good blades, and I’d agree with @SpeedyPC about the comparison to Rapira Platinum Lux. In my experience they’ll both take you to DFS territory in an air-ride Lincoln Town Car, 24/7/365(6). If you’re not familiar they’re the kind of blades that you have to check to make sure whiskers are being removed while you’re using them, IMO they’re that smooth. They can deliver BBS shaves, but require patience and pressure to do so. 8-10 shaves max for both.

Permasharp Supers, on the other hand, are somewhere between a GSB and a Polsilver IMO. They felt slightly sharper than GSBs at first and by the end of my 15 shave run with the Permasharp it wasn’t giving any indication of dulling. I got long lasting BBS shaves every time. It also gets bonus points for its old-timey, slightly cheesy, packaging.

If I were a a betting man I’d put my money on Permasharp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My exact impressions of both blades you mention.

Perma-Sharp Super are the only blade that goes in my Gillette Regent now. I cant remember how many shaves I had on the first one, but it was over a dozen. Its a fantastic blade for me and at its best in that razor.

I'm also thinking it will win this battle.

 

[md1234]

I think the Perma-sharp super will beat the Rubies. I can get double the shaves from the former compared to the latter before they get rough and tuggy. Both blades are excellent in my opinion.

 

[cw62803]

Shave 3
blue = right, silver = left
face lathered with Soap Commander Respect

Pass 1: Blue felt a little scratchy, silver was smoother.
Pass 2: Both were smooth
Pass 3: Blue felt considerably smoother than silver. Silver had some drag and pull.

Slight advantage: blue