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GIVEAWAY! Challenge PIF - Vikings At The Gate

Crystal blade #1, shaves #2 and #3.

Razor: MingShi 2000
Soap: LEA puck
Brush: Omega boar
Aftershave: alum and STR8 splash

Very good shaves, DFS+ in two passes plus a little buffing. No irritation, no alum feedback. I like this blade!
 
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Blade: Crystal
Razor: Post-war FH Tech
Brush: Semogue 2009 LE Boar
Soap: Maggard Limes & Bergamot

The Crystal is on a roll. Smooth and comfortable, even though I was rushing this morning.

There were no nicks, weepers, or post-shave irritation. The final result was a BBS-.
 
Another Crystal shave today with the Athena and Aveeno combination. It is taking more passes to get DFS level shaves but, nothing extreme. Today was basically 4 passes with a little clean up and no weepers or irritation.

Crystal blade life seems to be ~5 shaves for me with my Athena razor and whiskers.
 
Vikings At The Gate - Viking's Sword #2 - Shave #5

TL;DR -
Changed up the soap, good shave, little tuggy on the WTG pass, smooth on the ATG pass, DFS

Equipment: Gillette Rocket Parat Razor, Viking's Sword (5), AB Mogno Soap

Shave at the Gate: When @fast shaver broke out some AB Mogno Soap, I felt inspired to do the same. To me, Mogno is a world-class soap at a very reasonable price (right about US$9, and I'm currently just over 100 shaves with it). The lather was excellent, the Razor and Blade were ready, and Shave #5 hit right in the DFS range. I did notice that for the past 2 shaves, the Viking's Sword started off a little tuggy on the WTG pass, but smoothed back out for the ATG pass. The Blade has at least one more shave before getting binned.
 
Personna Red Shave #2
Razor - 1969 Super Speed
Blade - Personna Red(2)
Brush - Proraso/Omega Boar
Soap - Palmolive Rinfrescante
A/S - Alum, Thayers Facial Toner, Nivea Balm
Rating - 8.5/10 DFS/DFS+

Blade was a bit smoother for this shave but the results were more or less the same as shave #1.
 
SOTD Tuesday 29 October

  • Razor Gillette Rocket HD
  • Blade Crystal Stainless Steel
  • Pre-Shave Tricare Goats Milk
  • Brush Synthetic
  • Soap Barrister and Mann – Fougere Classique
  • Post Shave Thayers Witch Hazel
  • Aftershave Brut Splash
  • Balm Nivea – Sensitive Pro - Post Shave Cooling Balm
The Morning Shave.
The Crystal Blade was in my Vintage Gillette British Rocket HD today.
The Rocket HD is a great daily razor, often overlooked with other Vintage Gillette’s.
6th use on this blade. Head & face shave with no irritation or drag. No weepers.
This will likely be the last shave of this blade, although no tugs or irritation, I do feel the edge is diminishing.

Soap: Barrister and Mann – Fougere Classique
Scent notes:

Lavender, Oakmoss, Coumarin, Bergamot, Geranium, Jasmine, Patchouli, Musk and Vanilla.
The scent is really nice, 6/10 strength.
I got the forward notes of Bergamot and lavender while whipping the lather.
It is a sophisticated scent as you may guess with the formula ingredients.
Rich floral that stays with you the whole shave.
The lather was as expected, rich, creamy with plenty of slickness.

A little does go a long way.

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Vikings At the Gate - Personna Platinum Blue(1) - Shave (2)

Pre:
Shower, Lukewarm rinse, PAA The Cube 2.0
Razor: '56 Gillette Super Speed (Red Tip)
Blade: Personna Platinum Blue (2)
Brush: Semogue 1305
Soap: PAA Sacre Bleu
Post: Warm water rinse, Thayers
Splash: Aqua Velva Ice Blue Classic

I decided to switch up my equipment today for kicks and wanted something more efficient after skipping the Sat/Sun shave. The SS Red Tip/Personna combo worked a treat and I was rewarded with a clean and easy going DFS+ Monday shave. The Platinum Blue did just fine, no cuts or nicks, mild tugging in the usual places. Still a bit less smooth than the similar SS/Crystal combo from the previous week. Post-shave with this soap is always good and I'm not getting any undue irritation otherwise from this blade.

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ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member


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Vikings at the Gate: Week two Crystal Super Platinum.​

Vikings at the Gate, week two, blade two the, Crystal Super Platinum. Pretty good shave again this morning. No blood was drawn, a little bit of sting when I applied my Alum Block and no noticeable irritation. I don’t mind this blade so far but I am only two shaves in.
 
Razor: Henson+
Blade: Viking Sword #2 (6)
Soap: Stirling Lemon Chill
Brush: Yaqi 24mm synthetic
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Let me preface this by saying that I almost never take a blade past 4 shaves. The fact that this is #6 says something in itself. And I'll rate it as....another excellent shave! I had one small weeper on my neck that I attribute to user error. But other than that, this blade handles so smoothly and if the edge is deteriorating at all, it's only slightly. This is absolutely one of the best PIF blades that I have used in awhile. It definitely has at least one more shave in it.
 
Vikings At The Gate - Viking's Sword #2 - Shave #6

TL;DR -
Back to the Crazy Goat OF soap, shave similar to yesterday, a little tuggy, DFS

Equipment: Gillette Rocket Parat Razor, Viking's Sword (6), Crazy Goat OF Vanilla Oak Soap

Shave at the Gate: Final shave with the Viking's Sword Blade 2. I'm thinking that it pairs ok with the Parat, consistently giving me DFS/DFS+ shaves. Although this might not be my favorite or optimal pairing, receiving 6 DFS/DFS+ from any blade is excellent. Switching back to Crazy Goat OF and taking things slower didn't seem to help with the slight tugging on the WTG pass. ATG was smooth and the shave was mostly close. Had to buff in a couple of usual places.
 
Viking Sword Blade 1 Shave 7

I moved the Viking Sword to my 1969 Gillette SuperSpeed and had a lovely shave. Smooth and easy, and oddly enough very efficient. It doesn't feel like it's dropped off very much in sharpness, but most Personnas get me to about 10 shaves.
 
Blade: Crystal
Razor: Post-war FH Tech
Brush: Semogue 830 Boar
Soap: Haslinger Ringelblumen

The Crystal is holding its own. Smooth and comfortable. As I type this, 10 hours after my shave, My neck has just deteriorated from BBS- to DFS.

There were no nicks, weepers, or post-shave irritation. The final result was a BBS-
 
Three shaves on the blue Personna and I'm ready to call it quits. The blade is still shaving and I'm sure I could get a few more shaves from it, but it's not pleasant. Maybe a different razor/blade combo would be better but the Milord is my choice for this part of the PIF. On to the next
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member


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Vikings at the Gate: Week two blade two Crystal Super Platinum.​

Another pretty good shave this morning. I am quite liking this blade thus far. I would rate it after three shaves as not quite as sharp as the Vikings Sword but not far behind it. I had no blood, very little irritation and hardly any sting when I applied my Alum Block.
 
Challenge PIF - Vikings At The Gate

Your village is hosting a gathering of Barbarians!! The Viking Ships are in the harbor!! Is your blade able to keep them at bay?!? Perhaps now is a good time to find out!! Vikings Sword Blades from the legendary forges of Personna in Israel versus Crystal Blades from the same legendary forges!! Hope rises with the dawn!! Which blade wins the day?!?

A huge thank you to both @Space_Cadet for providing nearly 200 Vikings Sword Stainless Blades, and @mikey, for providing 100 Crystal Stainless Blades, along with 40 Personna Platinum Chrome Super Stainless (Blue label) Blades and 10 Personna Platinum (Red label) Blades!! And all these come from the same blade forge!!

There are enough blades for all participants to receive up to 5 Vikings Sword Stainless Blades and up to 3 Crystal Stainless Blades. The Personna Platinum Chrome Super Stainless (Blue label) Blades and the Personna Platinum (Red label) Blades are limited to 1 per request on a first-come-first-get basis. Even if you've participated in previous Participation or Challenge PIFs, please feel free to Participate in this one, too; there's enough blades to give out!!


This Challenge PIF is open to any and all (International and CONUS B&B'ers)!! No matter where you live, these Blades will fit your razor!!

Now For The Rules:

  • You must have 10 quality posts (if you don't have 10, get posting!!)
  • You're willing to post about your experiences in this thread
  • Have great fun with this Challenge PIF

How to sign up for this Challenge PIF?
  • Post "I'm In!!" or "Yarr, There Be Vikings In My Swimming Pool!!" or "Looking good there, Mr. Barbarian, Sir!!"
  • Don't wait, immediately after posting your intent to Participate, send a PM to me with:
  • . Your Name
  • . Complete Mailing Address (I'm in the US, so if you're international, please include your Country)
  • . This is important ==> How many of each Blade you would like

The PIF Phase will begin NOW and run until I run out of blades or requests stop coming in.

The Challenge Phase begins whenever you receive your Blades!! Please remember to post that you've received the Blades (either in this thread or as a PM to me).
Yar!!! I’m in!
 
Blade: Crystal
Razor: Post-war FH Tech
Brush: Semogue 2009 LE Boar
Soap: Maggard Limes & Bergamot

The Crystal is still hanging in there. Smooth and comfortable. This is the eighth shave on this blade. Time to move on to the second round of shaves on the Personna Blue

There were no nicks, weepers, or post-shave irritation. The final result was a BBS-
 
Vikings At The Gate - Viking's Sword #2 - Shave #7

TL;DR -
I forgot a new blade, so used the Viking's Sword, took some effort, DFS, with some light irritation

Equipment: Gillette Rocket Parat Razor, Viking's Sword (7), PdP 63 Soap

Shave at the Gate: @Swistak started a thread about PdP 63, so naturally I had to pull mine out and use it. Unfortunately, I was lost in the awe and wonder of PdP 63 that I forgot to change the Viking's Sword blade. PdP 63 provides very consistent lather for me which definitely helped and, with a bit of buffing, able to get a close shave. I did notice some residual skin irritation that lasted for a bit. Hopefully nothing else distracts me from loading up a new blade for tomorrow.
 
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