KAI Blade

[JoWolf]

I remember the fellow who did the testing with his neat set up with kown weight pressure before test line breaks from blades he was testing from and is recorded, but I look at it differently then he did. If a DE Blade like the Kia SS lasts me 10 shaves repeatably from excellent to great shaves and other blades generally about 6 excellent to great shaves and tossed it indicates that the grind or heat treatment of the blade or steel used is better than the other brands. A DE Feather at 6 shaves is tuggy because the cutting edge has been blunted or fractured, with me the Astra SP can get 7 great shaves.
It's the edge that Feather puts on their blades and the steel they use is not designed for longevity IMO, I use the Feather FHS10 in my Oneblade razor and it is one of the nicest shaves on only the first shave and #2 use it drops off quickly and becomes scrap and is Binned.
So if I get 10 good shaves from the DE Kia SS blade & then tossed it has to be sharp regardless of a mechanical test indicates, the mechanical test is only telling a person the edge is finite or ground and stropped to a higher angle but is weaker overall for longevity. The tester also head shaves with his test blades to confirm his testing and that is good + he figures 1 head shave is equivalent of 2 regular face shaves and that is fair for total of 4 facial shaves is what I recall.
So the DE Kia SS blade for longevity and smoothness it is a superior blade to others brands but does not grind and strop blade edge for the finite weaker edge like Feather might. Another point of interest that tester might of not know was the Kai SS blade is wider than the other blades he tested with his test razor he used would have felt it more aggressive possibly!

I agree with you Ron. Blades as most of our shave kit is extremely subjective. My gripe is that many dudes state that the Kai is as sharp as a Feather. In my case it is not. It shaved no better than a Merkur which was a very poor blade for me. I also shave face and head each shave. One use and I bin the blade. I found my shave’s deteriorated in comfort when used more than once. Regardless of which blade I used. Multiple uses of a blade does not make it sharper no more than multiple uses of any other blade, scalpel, tomato slicer or any cutting instrument. Each use wears the edge, and that’s physics. Shavers who adapt their shave technique to accommodate this, get great shaves for themselves. That doesn’t make the blade sharper. I also agree that the bevel by the manufacturer, the steels used, coatings etc all come into the mix as to the longevity of a blade for a specific user with a specific whisker growth. There are some serious blade campaigners amongst us. My write up and test comparison of the two blades did agree with the tester’s experience. That does not make it categorically correct for all users. My test was also based on a single shave. Not multiple shaves. I like everything about the Kai, except it’s sharpness for me. I do wish people would stop saying it is as sharp or sharper than a Feather. That’s what irks me.

 

[JoWolf]

I disagree. I imagine you're going by the refinedshave chart, but they're just testing one blade. It's not very definitive. I've only used a dozen blade brands (and only one Kai! Ha!), but I can already tell that the Kai is very far from unsharp. In my judgement, anyway.

Data is better than anecdotal evidence, but when you have only one data point and lots of anecdotal evidence that contradicts it, time to look into things a little more closely. Try a few more; I think you might modify your opinion.

—MtB

My blade journey was in fact many blades before settling on a single use Feather. I also campaigned many blades as well, before settling on a single use blade. Which in fact went against my instincts. In the end my criteria was based on My Shave. Comfort and skin health improved for me. I think lower tier sharpness in blades suit many shavers. That doesn’t make them sharper blades. In the early going my first try outs with Feathers was indeed disastrous. That wasn’t the blade though. It was poorer technique and a heavier touch. It also took a few years to work those adjustments to a refinement that would accommodate sharper blades, such as Nacets and Bic Platinum’s. Using and campaigning blades really is the only way to find a suitable blade. If there were a sharper blade than the Feather, I would be all over it.

 

[usnavydoc]

The KAI is wider than other blades. But the tabs are narrower. Something to keep in mind when using razors heads that clamp on the tabs like those from Wolfman. The blade will not center unless you tighten the handle while keeping the blade centered manually.

 

[Ron R]

Here where some folks who used the Kai SS in a PIF, blades where mailed all over the world if you signed up and they write their user experiences & their thoughts on its performance. Interesting reading for a person thinking about buying a few tucks.

Participation PIF - The Mysterious KAI Blades

Participation PIF - The Mysterious KAI Blades Legend has it that a 1,000 years ago, a mystical meteor crashed to Earth into the Sea of Japan causing the Mighty Godzilla to rise from the murky depth of the ocean. Fishermen from a local island retrieved the meteor, delivering it to a renowned...

www.badgerandblade.com

Have some great shaves!

 

[mozartman]

I got a new old Gillette Tech revamp from Razor Emporium and have been using it every day. I find most blades work in it; expensive, cheap, good, bad, sharp, dull.

Well, I haven't actually tried all that many, and I'm a beginner, so don't attach too much weight to my statements.

I even get a great shave with Silver Stars (super cheap), although I haven't worked out their rate of decline yet—first shave is very good, second shaves seem not as good, although I don't really have enough data yet. I have plenty of time for that, though, because I bought 100 of them! A hundred only costs $7.99.

Anyway I have a lot of blades lying around with just one shave on them, and today I tried a Kai in the Tech. Second shave for the blade. It's the first blade I've tried in the Tech that really seems different from all the rest. Mainly, blade feel. It was easier to feel the correct angle. They say the Kai is slightly wider than most blades and that seemed true.

I have a little bump on my jawline that I shave very carefully in one direction, which usually works. Most blades don't draw blood when I do that. The Kai did, just a little spot. The alum block stopped it.

But the main thing--man, what a great shave. Very, very close. I only did two passes plus touch-up, and the blade didn't feel "dangerous" like it was going to cut me; it felt very smooth as I shaved, and I was confident in it. But it just did a better job than anything else I've yet tried in the Tech.

Not sure how I feel about settling on an expensive blade. I just don't "need" that good a shave--I've found that a one-pass shave that doesn't feel BBS to the touch is actually fine for me--I look fine, and it lasts till evening. I think I'm good with a "GES"--"good enough shave." I'm fine using Astras, and they're almost as cheap as Silver Stars. But I'm a little wary of all this talk about P&G moving DE blade production away from St. Petersburg. Seems like most of the familiar blades might be changing sometime soon, negating any testing-and-choosing I might do now. That's why I was looking into Silver Star (Egypt) and Kai (Japan).

--MtB

P.S. Five hours after shaving and my face still feels unusually smooth. Man!

I like Silver Star and Astra SP. KAI is one of the few blades, maybe the only one, I absolutely cannot use. Because it is wider, it forces me to completely rethink the razor I use, the way I shave, and pretty much everything else from scratch. And I'm not interested in doing any thinking. Tried it once, didn't like it.

 

[DEgeezer]

I agree with you Ron. Blades as most of our shave kit is extremely subjective. My gripe is that many dudes state that the Kai is as sharp as a Feather. In my case it is not. It shaved no better than a Merkur which was a very poor blade for me. I also shave face and head each shave. One use and I bin the blade. I found my shave’s deteriorated in comfort when used more than once. Regardless of which blade I used. Multiple uses of a blade does not make it sharper no more than multiple uses of any other blade, scalpel, tomato slicer or any cutting instrument. Each use wears the edge, and that’s physics. Shavers who adapt their shave technique to accommodate this, get great shaves for themselves. That doesn’t make the blade sharper. I also agree that the bevel by the manufacturer, the steels used, coatings etc all come into the mix as to the longevity of a blade for a specific user with a specific whisker growth. There are some serious blade campaigners amongst us. My write up and test comparison of the two blades did agree with the tester’s experience. That does not make it categorically correct for all users. My test was also based on a single shave. Not multiple shaves. I like everything about the Kai, except it’s sharpness for me. I do wish people would stop saying it is as sharp or sharper than a Feather. That’s what irks me.

I'm afraid that I have to respectfully disagree with you. To me a Kia is every bit as sharp as a Feather. Not sharper, but definitely longer lasting. But of course that is only my opinion, just as your statement is only yours.

 

[Mike the Beginner]

Shave #4 with the Kai (rhymes with "my," "sky," "tie") this morning was perfectly nice. Basically the same as the first shave with a Wizamet or Voskhod, both of which feel very, very good to me. I got away with a one-and-a-half-pass shave--two passes on my neck and parts of my face, one pass on the rest. Shave is very close and feels great, and I look fine.

One problem with the Kai...the last shave lasted so long that even on the second morning I still looked presentable. The night before I think I looked fine (although my eyesight is not as acute as a young person's). So does using a Kai mean I will only have to shave every other day? I kind of like shaving every day.

We shall see. The experiment continues!

MtB

P.S. Say "my sky tie kai" three times fast.