Challenge PIF - Is Your Best Good Enough?!? - Closed!

[mikhou]

Razor: Henson AL13+
Blade: Feather (1)
Soap: Frankensoap (1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, Dove Men+Care 3 in 1 Extra Fresh
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Very nice shave today. The Feather mowed through the tough chin whiskers nicely. Overall a very nice shave. Compares favorably with the Polsilver Stainless, if not better.

 

[BigJ]

Vintage Polsilver blade four, shave #6

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Simpsons 57
Soap: Haslinger’s schafmilch
Splash: Speick

Comment: Outstanding shave today (10/10)!! This is one fine blade!!

 

[fast shaver]

Polsilver Vintage Blade #4 Shave #5
Tools: Yaqi Mercury Razor, Dr. Selby soap & Strike Gold shave brush.
A nice Two pass shave today = DFS.
No nicks or irritation noted with the very protective Dr. Selby Shave Soap.

 

[T Bone]

Challenge PIF Round 3 - Vintage Polsilver Stainless vs. Gillette Nacet Stainless

Vintage Polsilver stainless (4)
Karve AL Overlander
AP Shave Rocket Engine 24mm G5C
Southern Witchcrafts Gravefruit II soap & splash
Stirling unscented menthol ASB

Final shave of the Challenge, and it was another good one. I had my typical 2 days growth today, and the Polsilver seemed to be just starting to slow down. There wasn't any significant pulling, but it was not quite as smooth cutting through my thicker areas. Still, it managed to pull off a DFS+, just short of BBS-, but with 2 tiny weepers on my Adam's apple and mustache. My neck is slightly irritated just under my chin, but it's very mild.

End of Round 3

This ends the third and final round of the Challenge for me. I think the Polsilver has another shave in it, and Nacet probably has a couple, but I'm not testing longevity past 4 shaves, so additional shaves will be off the record.

Overall, Polsilver shaved slightly closer, and the blood drawn was similar, but very slightly favoring Polsilver as well. Nacet seems the clearly sharper blade, though also not by much. It had zero trouble through all 4 shaves; Polsilver was starting to slow down by the fourth. My Nacet shaves also went just a little quicker, I think because I had to go over some areas more with Polsilver. Post-shave was just a little more comfortable with the Nacet.

The judges have submitted their scorecards, and it was very close. The winner of round 3 by a razor-thin margin (haha!) of 0.277 points: Gillette Nacet Stainless!

Team Polsilver will likely be appealing the results for having to shave on 2 days growth, while Nacet never had more than 1 day. They may have a point, but I'm not changing the results. Nacet had to use my travel kit for 4 shaves, while Polsilver only had to for 2. I'm figuring that about evens out.

Thank you to @Space_Cadet for providing the vintage blades, to @Grundi for running the Challenge, and to the other participants for making this a fun challenge. I enjoyed the shaves, the reports, and the banter. Happy shaves!

 

[BigJ]

Vintage Polsilver SI blade four, shave #7

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Simpsons tulip 3 super
Soap: Fine platinum
Splash: Fine platinum

Comment: Comfortable DFS++ (9.5/10), which is simply terrific on day 7 with this blade!!

 

[fast shaver]

RK Stainless Blade #1 Shave #5
Tools EJ DE89 Razor, Dr. Selby soap & Strike Gold brush.
Got a nice two pass shave today = DFS
I did notice that the RK blade is starting to slow down a little but not bad so far.

 

[mikhou]

Razor: Pre-war Gillette Tech
Blade: Polsilver Stainless #4 (2)
Soap: Frankensoap (1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, Dove Men+Care 3 in 1 Extra Fresh
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Another good shave today. Again, the Polsilver Stainless isn't the smoothest blade that I have tried, but it's plenty sharp. I ended up with 1 weeper in that tender space between my chin and my lower lip, but that was my fault for pursuing BBS too hard. End of the day, a nice shave. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the sharpness of the Feather on the next shave which will be #2 for the Feather.

 

[Yuritau]

Battle 1, Round 5, Shave 10
RazoRock Lupo 72 SB, Modern Wizamet Super Iridium, Maggards Travel Synthetic, Canada Shaving Soap

I've come to the conclusion that the Lupo is a very dangerous razor. No matter which plate I put in it, it is always a buttery smooth shave (when using quality blades, at least). So much so that I occasionally catch myself thinking alarming thoughts like "this razor will never cut me", etc.

That is to say that this shave may have been the best of this entire battle so far. Comfort, closeness, efficiency, and all the other words we like to use, all through the roof. I don't like using the acronyms or saying something is "perfect" or the like, but this shave makes it tempting to make an exception. A win for modern Wizamet this round.

 

[BigJ]

Vintage Polsilver SI blade four, shave #8

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Simpsons chubby 1 best
Soap: Cella red
Splash: Fine American blend

Comment: Comfortable 9/10 shave today, just great on day 8!!

 

[mikhou]

Razor: Pre-war Gillette Tech
Blade: Polsilver Stainless #4 (2)
Soap: Frankensoap (1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, Dove Men+Care 3 in 1 Extra Fresh
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Another good shave today. Again, the Polsilver Stainless isn't the smoothest blade that I have tried, but it's plenty sharp. I ended up with 1 weeper in that tender space between my chin and my lower lip, but that was my fault for pursuing BBS too hard. End of the day, a nice shave. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the sharpness of the Feather on the next shave which will be #2 for the Feather.

As I sit here over 8 hours later, I am still very pleased with the shave. It's funny how some shaves immediately impress (or not), but other shaves hours later remind you that, "Yeah, that was a nice shave."

 

[fast shaver]

Polsilver Vintage Blade #4 Shave #6
Tools: EJ DE89 Razor, VDH soap & Strike Gold Brush.
Another nice two pass shave this A.M. = DFS.
Looks like the Vintage Polsilver is starting to pull ahead of the RK Stainless blade in this Horse race.

 

[BigJ]

Vintage Polsilver SI blade four, shave #9

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Graydog palm wood 2-band
Soap: Fine lavender pour homme
Splash: Fine lavender pour homme

Comment: 9/10 shave today; this blade may be slowing down after a fine run.

 

[BigJ]

Vintage Polsilver SI blade four, shave #10: The Verdict!!

First, a huge thank you to @SpaceCadet and @Grundi for a wonderful challenge!!

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Rudy Vey/EverReady 2-band
Soap: Haslinger’s sage
Splash: OS original

Comment: This shave was ‘for science’ as I could easily have stopped after yesterday’s shave. A bit of ‘tugging’ but finished with a DFS (8.5/10) on day 10 with this fine blade.

Verdict: This blade is up there with my ‘top-tier’ blades!! No question!!

Matched against my some of my absolute favorites (Personna lab, GSB, Nacet) it held its own based on sharpness, comfort and longevity. What’s not to like here??

 

[fast shaver]

RK Stainless Blade #1 Shave #6
Tools: EJ DE89 Razor, VDH soap & Strike Gold brush.
A fair two pass shave this A.M.
The RK Stainless blade is starting to tug though.
This is not a good sign for any blade.

 

[Hawkeye_90]

After shaving with the pol silver blade for several shaves I have been impressed with its smooth and close cut. I compared it against a dorco prime and astra so. I have to say the polsilver performed better for me.

Thanks for the awesome PIF!!!

 

[mikhou]

Razor: Pre-war Gillette Tech
Blade: Feather (2)
Soap: Frankensoap (1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, Dove Men+Care 3 in 1 Extra Fresh
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Good shave. A little rough, but a good ending.

I’d say that the Polsilver is ahead.

 

[Yuritau]

May 26, 2023

• Yuritau
• May 27, 2023

Battle 1, Round 6, Shave 11
RazoRock Super Slant L2++, vintage Polsilver, Semogue 620, La Toja...

I originally wasn't going to include the Super Slant in this, as I'm still pretty green with it, but then I figured, meh, I've gone through all my other razors, why not? I'm still getting used to the correct angle to shave with it, so any faults might be at least partially my fault.

Having said that, it was still a good shave. Not quite the silky touch of a Lupo, but I also never felt like it was trying to bite. I thought it might scratch my trouble spots on either side of my throat a little bit, but such concerns were unfounded.

 

[fast shaver]

Polsilver Vintage Blade #4 Shave #7
Tools: EJ DE89 Razor, Arko soap & Strike Gold brush.
Got a very nice Two Pass shave today = DFS
I don't see a need to keep shaving with the RK Stainless as the Vintage Polsilver is shaving much better.
The Vintage Polsilver is the Winner IMO.
A Big Thank You goes to @Grundi & @Space_Cadet for the time & expense of sponsoring this Challenge.!

 

[Hawkeye_90]

These are now discontinued or did the name change?

 

[Grundi]

These are now discontinued or did the name change?

These were originally made in Poland at the Lodz factory. Over time, the factory was acquire, and the blades are now made at the P&G/Gillette factory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Polsilver, Wizamet, and Iridium are somewhat used interchangeably referring to this line of blades. There are different variants with some of them performing phenomenally.