Challenge PIF - Astra Superior Stainless Blades - Then And Now

[LMcC]

Modern Astra 1.2
So this blade felt pretty much the same second time around. Maybe a touch less smooth. I used the same equipment as with the vintage blade yesterday, and by the way, I’ve had this sample of Stirling Spice for just a week or so now and really like it. Results were very good, BBS on my face, not quite on the neck. That all said, if I’m starting to prefer one to the other, I’m leaning towards the vintage blade.

 

[BigJ]

ThunderDome Challenge, ‘Two Blades Enter, One Blade Leaves!’

Purpose: To pick a winner, no ties allowed!

Methods: No blinding. Wolfman WR1 (my ‘daily driver’) will be loaded with the test blade. Then I use my (whatever looks good this AM) rotation of (mostly) ‘tallow’ soaps, badger brushes and assorted splashes.

Each shave will be judged using my ‘10 point’ scale during a week of shaves. Then on to the next blade.

Not exactly ‘scientific’ but this is the best I can do these days!

Results:

Astra SS (Modern Russian) Blade 1
Shave #1: 9.5
Shave #2: 10
Shave #3: 9
Shave #4: 9.5

Discussion: Another very fine shave! This is one NICE blade!

 

[lancre]

Received the blades yesterday afternoon. Thanks to Grundi for organizing and providing the new Astras and thanks to Space Cadet for the vintage Astras. I started today with the vintage Astra (Astra CZE) in an NDC Fat Handle Tech. Tomorrow I'll use the new Astra (Astra RUS) in an I1 Fat Handle Tech. For days 3 & 4 I'll swap the blades between the razors.

Associated gear:

Maggard 22mm 2-band badgers, one original, one in a Whipped Dog handle.
PDP 63
Alum
Thayer's WH Toner
Nivea Men Sensitive PSB

Results:

	Astra CZE	Astra RUS
Shave #1 (NDC Tech)	8.5/10

	Astra CZE	Astra RUS
Shave #2 ( I1 Tech)		8.0

3 passes plus some cleanup buffing gave me a DFS. Afterwards I could feel a little stubble ATG, a tiny bit closer than with the Czech blade. The alum elicited lit up my neck in the area under the left rear corner of my jaw, but didn't leave me with any lingering post-shave irritation. No nicks or weepers. A very nice blade, but round one goes to the Vintage due to its lack of reaction to alum.

On a preliminary basis I would say that either of these two blades blows away the Astra SP.

 

[BradWorld]

Shave #5

I grabbed one more shave from the first Vintage SS blade. I maybe shouldn't have. This was shave #4 for this blade. Since I gave the first modern blade a fourth shave, I thought it fair to reciprocate for the Vintage contender. Fired up the Wolfman WR2 Darwin in 1.25 and some Mogno. The first WTG pass was quite smooth. I thought "so far so good". Upon lathering up for pass two, I noticed a couple of red dots on my neck in the lather. Well that's not a good sign for a "With the Grain" pass. And certainly not typical for me. Pass two XTG was a bit rough and left some irritation. But I pressed on and completed pass three ATG. Again, I was left with a decent shave result. But there was an obvious presence of irritation on my neck, as well as several weepers. Huge sting from the aftershave. This blade is going in the bin. After 5 shaves, the Modern SS blade narrowly edges out the vintage blade due to its slightly better smoothness and similar shave results. Next shave I will use two WWI era Single Ring OLD Types with a fresh set of blades.

 

[AZBronco]

Shave 1 with modern Astra SS.

Setup: Captain's Choice Nor'easter soap, Mamba 70 razor. This is my most used DE razor and I get great results with a Persona Lab Blue or 7 o'clock Yellow.

Result: I've never used this blade before, and it was just OK. Was it the smoothest blade I've ever used? Nope. Was it the closest shave I've ever gotten? Nope. Was it a nice, DFS result with no irritation? Yep. So interesting result--not the closest or most comfortable blade I've ever used, but the result was certainly acceptable. I'll be interested to see how it performs tomorrow on shave 2. Even more, I'm anxious to see how the vintage compares.

 

[emwolf]

Shave #2 with Modern Astra
Setup: Razorock Lupo .95 on a Durham handle, Fendrihan Bay Rum cream, Rudy Vey 2020 group buy brush with a 2 band fan. This blade is smoother than the vintage Astra, but I have to believe that the vintage is sharper. I seem to get a much closer shave with the vintage than the modern. That said, it was an incredibly good shave today. Not as close as yesterday, but darn near. I think that multiple uses of the blade will eventually bring them to a meeting place where they are as smooth and close as each other.

 

[gvw755]

Tonight's shave was the first using the shave off format. I had a vintage Pomco slant loaded with the vintage Astra blade and a Coles slant loaded with the modern Astra. The Pomco shaved the left side of my face and the Coles on the right. WTG pass using the vintage Astra had slightly more blade feel and was a bit louder. The modern Astra which shaved the right side went very smooth and comfortable. Comparing the WTG pass, the left side was slightly closer.

ATG pass was about equal for both blades with slightly less blade feel for the modern Astra. Both sides of my face did require an XTG pass along my jaw line and under my chin. Again, the vintage Astra produced a slightly rougher shave but both sides ended up just as clean. I ended up with a BBS.

After the first shave, I would say that the vintage Astra produced a slightly rougher shave and the modern Astra was as comfortable as I always expected. Both shaved equally close.

Tomorrow, both blades are loaded in my Barbasol clones.

 

[Grundi]

Modern Astra Superior Stainless Blade #1 - Shave #2

TL;DR - blade is settling down a little, still some irritation, achieved a decent shave

Equipment: Merkur 20, modern Astra SS blade (2), PdP 63 shave soap, GrayDog GreyWolf brush

Results: shave #2 was a little better than shave #1, and it does not appear that this is a bad blade, just not awesome or it doesn't agree with my face. I did manage a decent shave SAS+ but had some skin irritation that didn't last too long. I'm one of those that like Astra SP blades, but these modern Astra Superior Stainless are falling short. It's just my first blade so made the next one will be better.

 

[xiletero]

Vintage #2 Head
Current (mine#3) face
Razors
Head : Merkur Progress 510 set at 3.5
Face: Twig
RR orange synthetic
MDC
Proraso Red AS
AQVelva 5-1
Both were 2+ passes
Head, I still get some jumping in the back....one bleeding spot (very unusal in the head for me), some irritation. I guess part is also the pulling of hairs creates certain pain in my scalp.
Shave was close

Face 2+ Twig, smooth drama free w new Astra #3 and will be last.....I am sure it can go more but I am done w it as usual. Smooth no irritation but in certain parts wasn't very close but I am not going to chase the dragon....not today.

Closeness: vintage (probably due to razor)
Smoothness: new (probably due to blade).

I am glad to read that I am not the only one getting bleeding dots w vintage.

 

[BravoNavo]

Decided to go with the 1958 Gillette Adjustable on 6 for the Czech Astra. Did pretty well but really chewed up my neck in my usual sensitive spot. Couple of weepers. Stopped at that point, not sure if I want to go back once more. Good overall shave otherwise.

May just return back to the Rockwell 6C to see if tonight was a fluke.

	Astra CZE	Astra RUS
Shave #1 (Rockwell 6C)	9.0/10	9.5/10
Shave #2 (Gillette Adjustable)	8.0/10

 

[BradWorld]

@Grundi I like Astra SP’s as well. Probably my #5 blade of my top 5. Sharp and always super smooth. I am having a hard time liking either of these Astra SS blades. They are okay. But I have been getting neck irritation with every shave, regardless if it’s a mild or aggressive razor. And the closeness is not as good as my other top shelf blades. I had tried a few of the modern SS’s in the past, and they never made it into the rotation. And as a guy who buys hundred packs of blades on a whim, I never had the urge to get a 100 pack of SS’s. I don’t think this is going to change based on the results thus far. However, I will continue on with the challenge. I am going to pick some pairs of identical vintage razors for my next few shaves, and tone down the aggression a bit. These blades are not fairing very well with Wolfman and Charcoal Goods razors. Also I have noted that this is one of the rare cases where the modern blade seems to be working better for me than its vintage equivalent. It’s an interesting challenge. Thanks for organizing this!

 

[LMcC]

Vintage Astra 1.3
The Czech blade seems still to be going strong on shave 3. Smooth, no tugging. Shave was not quite as close as the last two, so maybe losing a little sharpness. I did get a weeper, which is a rare occurrence for me. I usually toss blades after 3 shaves, sometimes 4 so not sure if it will be retired or not. Guess we’ll find out Saturday. Still, a darn good shave.

 

[AZBronco]

Shave 1 with vintage Astra

Setup: Gillette Fatboy set to 3, Razorock XXX Fresco soap

I was going to put the Vintage blade into the Mamba 70, but decided this morning a vintage blade deserved a vintage razor so I got out the trusty Fatboy. Short review--the vintage Astra in the Fatboy was better than the modern SS in every regard. The shave was smoother, closer, and more comfortable. The blade easily went through the swirly hair patch on my neck with no problem.

Round 1--Vintage

For round 2, I'll put the Vintage in the Mamba and the modern in the Fatboy to see if that changes anything.

 

[fast shaver]

Modern Astra SS Blade #1 Shave #1
Tools used: Lupo razor, Sheep soap & Plissoft brush.
Got an almost BBS shave this A.M. This Modern Astra blade is very sharp but, a 30 year old blade cannot compete with it IMO.
No nicks or irritation noted.
I don't think I will have any trouble with Astra SS in getting seven shaves.

 

[emwolf]

I haven't used a Slim yet, I'll have to give that a spin.
Shave #3 Modern Astra
I kept the same hardware as yesterday as it was a thoroughly pleasant shave. .95 Lupo head on a Durham handle, shave number 3 on a modern Astra SS. Today was Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber (one of my favorites, although I know I used too much cologne because I left a scent trail at work). The blade is beginning to feel a bit rough, particularly on the back of my head, which is where I'll nick myself the easiest. But no nicks or weepers today, still a DFS, but it's getting close to the roughness I get from the vintage blade starting on shave one. So I believe after three it's time to bin the modern. We'll see how the vintage thrives tomorrow.

 

[BigJ]

ThunderDome Challenge, ‘Two Blades Enter, One Blade Leaves!’

Purpose: To pick a winner, no ties allowed!

Methods: No blinding. Wolfman WR1 (my ‘daily driver’) will be loaded with the test blade. Then I use my (whatever looks good this AM) rotation of (mostly) ‘tallow’ soaps, badger brushes and assorted splashes.

Each shave will be judged using my ‘10 point’ scale during a week of shaves. Then on to the next blade.

Not exactly ‘scientific’ but this is the best I can do these days!

Results:

Astra SS (Modern Russian) Blade 1
Shave #1: 9.5
Shave #2: 10
Shave #3: 9
Shave #4: 9.5
Shave #5: 9.5

Discussion: Another very fine shave! This is one NICE blade! Yep, this is getting boring (not to me).

 

[Grundi]

Modern Astra Superior Stainless Blade #1 - Shave #3

TL;DR - finally!! decent shave, very little skin irritation, SAS+/DFS- shave

Equipment: Merkur 20, modern Astra SS blade (3), Modern Williams Mug Shave Soap, GrayDog GreyWolf brush

Results: apparently, for me, 3 time's a charm!! Digging out the Modern Williams, I was finally able to get a decent shave from the modern Astra SS blade!! I still had some irritation on my neck but it quickly went away. The blade is sharp enough to shave me close, and Williams provided the nice, dense, slick lather that pushed this blade up in performance. I was going to bin the blade after yesterday's shave, then decided to give it 1 more try. I think now, I'm going to go for a 4th shave and see what happens.

 

[gvw755]

Today's shave I had both blades loaded into my Barbasol clones. I started the WTG pass on the left side of my face using the modern Astra blade. On the first stroke, there was some blade feel and I immediately thought I mixed the blades up, especially since the WTG pass on the right side of my face using the vintage Astra blade felt very smooth and comfortable. After the WTG pass, the right side of my face felt like more whiskers were removed than the left side. ATG pass was about equal on both sides of my face, although the right side of my face did not feel it needed my usual XTG pass along my jaw line and under my chin. When I unloaded the blades, I found that the modern Astra (that felt a little rougher) did shave my left side as I thought. In the end, the closeness of the shave was equal on both sides, with advantage going to the vintage Astra because it started smoother and gave a closer shave after two passes.

The results were different from the first set of shaves where the vintage Astra felt slightly rougher. I remember some others saying that the first couple of shaves with the vintage Astra took a couple of shaves to settle in. If this is the case, the next couple of shaves will be very interesting.

Tomorrow, I have both blades loaded in my original R41 and my stainless steel R41.

 

[lancre]

Associated gear:

Maggard 22mm 2-band badgers, one original, one in a Whipped Dog handle.
PDP 63
Alum
Thayer's WH Toner
Nivea Men Sensitive PSB

Results:

Shave #1 (NDC Tech) Astra CZE 8.5/10
Shave #2 ( I1 Tech) Astra RUS 8.0/10
Shave #3 (I1 Tech) Astra CZE 8.0/10

Shave #3 was similar to #1 except for a little response to the alum.

 

[Smooth and Sharp]

First shave of the PIF today.
Started with a vintage because I use the new Astra frequently. First impression is the vintage feels lot smoother and maybe less sharp. Great shave overall. Didnt have issues removing 3 days beard.
Soap was Stirling Orange chill.