Challenge PIF - Classic Wilkinsons Vs Modern Wilkinsons

[Grundi]

Our list of judges is set and the blades have been mailed out in today's 3pm post!!

@cwsnc, @Weean, @MilkCrate, @Zig the Pirate, @stone and strop, @jbreakfield, @Chef455, @NicksDad, @Demolition, and @BigJ - run, don't walk, to your mailboxes!! Soon these blades will be in your razors and the Challenge will commence!!

Please Note - to tell the blades apart from each other:

• British-made Wilkinson Blades have a blue dot on the back of the wrapper
• German-made Wilkinson Blades have a red dot on the back of the wrapper

(Rumor has it that Grundi took pity on @FarmerTan - mainly due to that injury that prevents him from cutting and pasting - and I may have slipped a couple of blades over his way)

@lancre has gracious voluteered to provide an independent viewpoint (having several of these blades in his den), and everyone who may have either or both of these blades is welcome to join in!!

@ukobke, thank you for posting the link to @cw62803's thread; that will be a great read while we're waiting for the blades to arrive and the Challenge to begin!!

 

[FarmerTan]

The injury that keeps me from copy and paste comes from eating paste in Art Klass, all the way through my Sophomore year!

 

[BradWorld]

I have both British vintage, and modern German wilkies on hand. I can play along. I have a pack of French wilkies too that I’ve been meaning to try as well.

 

[BigJ]

This should be a great cage match!!

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!!

 

[Weean]

Our list of judges is set and the blades have been mailed out in today's 3pm post!!

@cwsnc, @Weean, @MilkCrate, @Zig the Pirate, @stone and strop, @jbreakfield, @Chef455, @NicksDad, @Demolition, and @BigJ - run, don't walk, to your mailboxes!! Soon these blades will be in your razors and the Challenge will commence!!

Please Note - to tell the blades apart from each other:

• British-made Wilkinson Blades have a blue dot on the back of the wrapper
• German-made Wilkinson Blades have a red dot on the back of the wrapper

(Rumor has it that Grundi took pity on @FarmerTan - mainly due to that injury that prevents him from cutting and pasting - and I may have slipped a couple of blades over his way)

@lancre has gracious voluteered to provide an independent viewpoint (having several of these blades in his den), and everyone who may have either or both of these blades is welcome to join in!!

@ukobke, thank you for posting the link to @cw62803's thread; that will be a great read while we're waiting for the blades to arrive and the Challenge to begin!!

Since I'm over the pond I don't expect to win this particular race, but by happy coincidence I've been using a Schick (rebadged German Wilkie) recently. It should hold out until @Grundi 's package arrives, so I feel like I've actually got a head start on the rest of you

 

[stone and strop]

Our list of judges is set and the blades have been mailed out in today's 3pm post!!

@cwsnc, @Weean, @MilkCrate, @Zig the Pirate, @stone and strop, @jbreakfield, @Chef455, @NicksDad, @Demolition, and @BigJ - run, don't walk, to your mailboxes!! Soon these blades will be in your razors and the Challenge will commence!!

Please Note - to tell the blades apart from each other:

• British-made Wilkinson Blades have a blue dot on the back of the wrapper
• German-made Wilkinson Blades have a red dot on the back of the wrapper

(Rumor has it that Grundi took pity on @FarmerTan - mainly due to that injury that prevents him from cutting and pasting - and I may have slipped a couple of blades over his way)

@lancre has gracious voluteered to provide an independent viewpoint (having several of these blades in his den), and everyone who may have either or both of these blades is welcome to join in!!

@ukobke, thank you for posting the link to @cw62803's thread; that will be a great read while we're waiting for the blades to arrive and the Challenge to begin!!

Thank you Grundi, looking forward to the comparison.

 

[BradWorld]

Good Sunday to all. Since I have these blades on hand, i figured I would get started and share some experiences with you all. If this is not according to protocol, and you need me to wait, feel free to delete this post and let me know to cool my jets!

I have never liked the German Wilkies. Never ever. There have been several carry-on trips where I was somewhat forced to use the German Wilkies because that was what was available locally at my destination. This occurred three times that I can remember... in Europe, Tel Aviv and in Tampa Florida. Each time I bought a pack at the local pharmacy and did what needed doing. All three times, I came away with nicks and irritation. All three times I tossed the pack, and swore I would never use these blades again.

Fast forward a year or two, and I saw a blister pack of German Wilkies at the local dollar store. Well, it was a dollar, so i bought a pack. And they sat in the drawer for a long time. Probably years.

Now this post pops up, and I figure i gotta give it a shot. I made sure to stack the deck so these blades would have a chance to succeed. I really did! I used a Gillette Hybrid Tech head, which as you probably know is one of the smoothest and closest shaving heads. I had it mounted on a marvelous H&S stainless handle, which is perhaps the most well balanced handle I have ever used. I use Don Marco, which is my regular go-to soap, so there would be no surprises. And I used my new Leo Frilot Eagle Scout brush with a Timberwolf knot. I queued up some PAA Samhain for the splash. Poised for success we were!

Well I fire up a super nice lather and hit it with pass #1, with the grain. Super smooth. Felt great!

Pass #2 across the grain also felt super smooth. And it felt like it was cutting very efficiently! During the rinse after this pass I felt like this shave was going amazingly. Was I wrong about this blade? Was the Hybrid Tech the magic combination for this blade? Has my technique improved that much of the course of a couple of years?

Well no... sadly. The "against the grain" pass was miserable. It cut smoothly, but I felt the razor burn heating up. I felt the irritation. I paid super close attention to my pressure, but to no avail. It was just a nasty ride for the whole pass. I was left with a red neck, one small weeper, and huge hit when i threw on the splash. I dared not do any touch ups. The shave result was a low-end DFS... barely. Much below my normal shave result. Especially along the jaw line.

So there you have it. The modern German Wilkie lived up (or down) to my expectations and gave me a not-so-nice shave. If this were not a group exercise, i would toss this blade right now. So what are the parameters of this? How many shaves per blade? Do I go right to the NOS English one in the same razor? Let me know and I will gladly follow the rules, even it means shaving again with this cheese grater of a blade. And of course many people love the German Wilkies, so you mileage may, and probably will, vary. Stay healthy guys!

 

[Grundi]

Good Sunday to all. Since I have these blades on hand, i figured I would get started and share some experiences with you all. If this is not according to protocol, and you need me to wait, feel free to delete this post and let me know to cool my jets!

I have never liked the German Wilkies. Never ever. There have been several carry-on trips where I was somewhat forced to use the German Wilkies because that was what was available locally at my destination. This occurred three times that I can remember... in Europe, Tel Aviv and in Tampa Florida. Each time I bought a pack at the local pharmacy and did what needed doing. All three times, I came away with nicks and irritation. All three times I tossed the pack, and swore I would never use these blades again.

Fast forward a year or two, and I saw a blister pack of German Wilkies at the local dollar store. Well, it was a dollar, so i bought a pack. And they sat in the drawer for a long time. Probably years.

Now this post pops up, and I figure i gotta give it a shot. I made sure to stack the deck so these blades would have a chance to succeed. I really did! I used a Gillette Hybrid Tech head, which as you probably know is one of the smoothest and closest shaving heads. I had it mounted on a marvelous H&S stainless handle, which is perhaps the most well balanced handle I have ever used. I use Don Marco, which is my regular go-to soap, so there would be no surprises. And I used my new Leo Frilot Eagle Scout brush with a Timberwolf knot. I queued up some PAA Samhain for the splash. Poised for success we were!

Well I fire up a super nice lather and hit it with pass #1, with the grain. Super smooth. Felt great!

Pass #2 across the grain also felt super smooth. And it felt like it was cutting very efficiently! During the rinse after this pass I felt like this shave was going amazingly. Was I wrong about this blade? Was the Hybrid Tech the magic combination for this blade? Has my technique improved that much of the course of a couple of years?

Well no... sadly. The "against the grain" pass was miserable. It cut smoothly, but I felt the razor burn heating up. I felt the irritation. I paid super close attention to my pressure, but to no avail. It was just a nasty ride for the whole pass. I was left with a red neck, one small weeper, and huge hit when i threw on the splash. I dared not do any touch ups. The shave result was a low-end DFS... barely. Much below my normal shave result. Especially along the jaw line.

So there you have it. The modern German Wilkie lived up (or down) to my expectations and gave me a not-so-nice shave. If this were not a group exercise, i would toss this blade right now. So what are the parameters of this? How many shaves per blade? Do I go right to the NOS English one in the same razor? Let me know and I will gladly follow the rules, even it means shaving again with this cheese grater of a blade. And of course many people love the German Wilkies, so you mileage may, and probably will, vary. Stay healthy guys!

View attachment 1083031

This is definitely a good post!! And everyone is welcome to begin posting about these blades!! Like you said, many blades get awesome reviews, only to not work well for some, for whatever reason. This is really part of the fun is trying blade (or re-trying them after a while) and finding out if they're awesome or...less awesome!!

Beautiful razor!! And Don Marco is one of my favorite soaps, and mine is almost gone... !!

 

[Grundi]

I have both British vintage, and modern German wilkies on hand. I can play along. I have a pack of French wilkies too that I’ve been meaning to try as well.

I knew about the Indian and Chinese versions, but I didn't know about the French Wilkies!!

 

[BradWorld]

I knew about the Indian and Chinese versions, but I didn't know about the French Wilkies!!

My understanding is that they may be English blades packaged for the French market.

 

[BradWorld]

Beautiful razor!! And Don Marco is one of my favorite soaps, and mine is almost gone... !!

Thank you! Don Marco is great stuff, and has one of the best citrus scents around. Try to pick it up when IB puts them on sale. I bought a bunch of tubs at around $5 each a couple of months back.

 

[TheBigL]

Interested to follow. I *think* I have used a vintage Wilkinson. I don't keep blade notes but I do keep wrappers. I know I have a wrapper anyway.

The other week I tried a Wikinson, pretty sure from WalMart several years ago. It was from a black and metal dispenser. It was rough. Two mediocre shaves and tossed it.

 

[Space_Cadet]

A few years ago I tried the modern German Wilkie blade and did not like it at all.
On the other hand, I've also tried a vintage British Wilkie and it was an AMAZING blade. Very sharp and incredibly durable.

 

[gamestorming]

Would have loved joining this PIF, just found it too late. I have german Wilkinsons, is there a place where I could find some British ones?

 

[BradWorld]

Shave 2 on the modern German Wilkie. Pass 1 and 2 were super smooth like the first shave. However pass 3 ATG was a lot smoother than in the first shave. Much less irritation. No weepers. But the shave result was poor. I even did a bit of buffing around the trouble spots, but no luck. A Few rough patches were left around the jaw line. A very low end DFS. Just barely squeaked into the DFS category. After 2 shaves with this blade, I’m gonna toss it and move on to the vintage English Wilkie. Same hardware setup as the first shave... Hybrid Tech, H&S Model C handle, Leo Frilot brush. Changed the software to PAA Aloha Smackdown CK6 and Ogallala splash.

 

[Grundi]

Would have loved joining this PIF, just found it too late. I have german Wilkinsons, is there a place where I could find some British ones?

The British-made Wilkinson Blades are no longer in production but they may be found on the B&B Great Blade Exchange. Unfortunately their temporarily closed right now. Check as soon as they re-open.

The PIF part was limited due to a limited number of blades to PIF-out; however, since you have the German Wilkinson Blades, please feel free to jump into the CHALLENGE part and a post your experiences with them.

(Just so that you can be watching, rumor on the street is that at the beginning'ish of May, there may be a Participation PIF to Czech Out - hint, hint - Some Blades)

 

[Grundi]

Shave 2 on the modern German Wilkie. Pass 1 and 2 were super smooth like the first shave. However pass 3 ATG was a lot smoother than in the first shave. Much less irritation. No weepers. But the shave result was poor. I even did a bit of buffing around the trouble spots, but no luck. A Few rough patches were left around the jaw line. A very low end DFS. Just barely squeaked into the DFS category. After 2 shaves with this blade, I’m gonna toss it and move on to the vintage English Wilkie. Same hardware setup as the first shave... Hybrid Tech, H&S Model C handle, Leo Frilot brush. Changed the software to PAA Aloha Smackdown CK6 and Ogallala splash.

Sharpness and smoothness are my 2 most important ratings for a blade, but a close 3rd is longevity (for me, 4 - 6 shaves is my target for a blade). Ouch that it was done after 3 shaves.

(I've been waiting a couple of days to let the blades get to their destinations, so this morning, I'll use a German-made Wilkie and post soon)

 

[BradWorld]

Ouch that it was done after 3 shaves.

That would be kicked after 2 shaves. But neither of the 2 shaves were great anyway, so no loss.

 

[Grundi]

Shave #1 with the German Wilkinson Blade

Razor: Gillette Parat
Soap: Tabac Shave Stick
Results: Maybe not the fairest way to start as I haven't used the Parat in several months. (I was going as European as possible.) The shave was definitely close (DFS), but I have a lot of face/skin irritation and some weepers. I usually favor milder razors, and the Parat is a mild razor (maybe a bit more aggressive than my Merkur 3-piece and on par with the new Gillette Heritage). So, close shave but not very comfortable.

Question for anyone in the know - does the Gillette Parat have the 1/4 twist blade seating that the Gillette Slim has? Mine does not seem to have that and I don't want to over-torque the TTO.

 

[BradWorld]

Question for anyone in the know - does the Gillette Parat have the 1/4 twist blade seating that the Gillette Slim has? Mine does not seem to have that and I don't want to over-torque the TTO.

I have a Parat somewhere in the collection. I do not recall it having any sort of extra 1/4 turn. i think only the adjustables have that.