KAI SS VS Gillette Sputnik, DE Blades

[APBinNCA]

You are killing me, give me da blades! Now I have to go on a Blade Safari and find some for myself, but thanks for the pictures so I can find the right ones.

 

[Ron R]

DE SOTD, Tuesday, April 18th 2023, Testing some Older Sputnik blades(extra wide).

Razor : Yaqi Sentinel 1.5mm gap 316L Stainless steel with a Yaqi Chippendale 316 SS Darwin style handle, Mfg 2022>, mild to tame mid range depending on blade used. Machining and Finish QC are great. This Sentinel razor gives me irritation free , yet very close shaves has been my experiences with about 8 shaves in. I have finally found a extra wide blade that is designed for this style of alignment with the 4 corner posts using the blade tabs for blade centering and alignment and it is a older Sputnik Teflon coated SS blade. After some research and buying the different New & Old blades from different online sellers it is obvious the older blades work well in the new 4 corner post alignment with a good old Sputnik Teflon coated blade also. This morning shave was close and comfortable with no drama with my Yaqi Sentinel razor IMO.
Blade : Older Sputnik Teflon coated blade extra wide(1), sharp & smooth with longevity is unknown yet? When Gillette(P&G) took over this brand in St Petersburg they made the new Sputnik line to Gillette blade standards is my conclusion. Kai SS blade extra wide wins as last standing extra wide blade still being MFG today.
Soap : Gillette Pure cream, nice clean scent with excellent lather qualities, makes excellent ubber lather with other soaps also.
Brush : Yaqi "Orbital ring" 24mm boar bristle knot, excellent lather generator, soft split end boar bristle hairs, nice splay scrubber + great lather painter.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Pinaud clubman with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results : or CCS,DFS,BBs + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my Yaqi Sentinel razor with a older Sputnik Teflon coated blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Ron R]

DE SOTD, Wednesday, April 19th 2023, Testing the older Sputnik extra wide blades.

Razor : Yaqi Slope slant, 316L SS- Mfg 2022>, mild razor, well built and finish are adequate for my shaving needs. This is a torsional type slant with a sloping safety bar to keep gap reasonably even . I like to use a extra wide Kai SS blade usually but this morning decided to use a older Sputnik extra wide to see how it performs. The Sputnik is not as sharp as the Kai ss blade but did a nice shave this morning overall. Very close shave this morning to start the day off.
Blade : older Sputnik extra wide(2) sharp & smooth, longevity unknown. The older Sputnik blade is unique because they are a wider blade than the new modern Gillette Sputnik blades I have discovered recently. Both old & new blades are Teflon coated.
Soap : Ach Brito Lavanda cream , nice lavender with a slight mint clean scented cream with excellent lather qualities.
Brush : Yaqi "Dandelion" 24mm Cashmere synthetic knot, excellent lather generator, cloud like soft tips, gentle spay scrubber + excellent lather painter.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Ach Brito AS with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results : or CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my Yaqi Slope slant with a Sputnik extra wide blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Slock]

DE SOTD, Tuesday, April 18th 2023, Testing some Older Sputnik blades(extra wide).

Razor : Yaqi Sentinel 1.5mm gap 316L Stainless steel with a Yaqi Chippendale 316 SS Darwin style handle, Mfg 2022>, mild to tame mid range depending on blade used. Machining and Finish QC are great. This Sentinel razor gives me irritation free , yet very close shaves has been my experiences with about 8 shaves in. I have finally found a extra wide blade that is designed for this style of alignment with the 4 corner posts using the blade tabs for blade centering and alignment and it is a older Sputnik Teflon coated SS blade. After some research and buying the different New & Old blades from different online sellers it is obvious the older blades work well in the new 4 corner post alignment with a good old Sputnik Teflon coated blade also. This morning shave was close and comfortable with no drama with my Yaqi Sentinel razor IMO.
Blade : Older Sputnik Teflon coated blade extra wide(1), sharp & smooth with longevity is unknown yet? When Gillette(P&G) took over this brand in St Petersburg they made the new Sputnik line to Gillette blade standards is my conclusion. Kai SS blade extra wide wins as last standing extra wide blade still being MFG today.
Soap : Gillette Pure cream, nice clean scent with excellent lather qualities, makes excellent ubber lather with other soaps also.
Brush : Yaqi "Orbital ring" 24mm boar bristle knot, excellent lather generator, soft split end boar bristle hairs, nice splay scrubber + great lather painter.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Pinaud clubman with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results : View attachment 1640219 or CCS,DFS,BBs + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my Yaqi Sentinel razor with a older Sputnik Teflon coated blade.
View attachment 1640222
Have some great shaves!

The pure cream is gone from all the brick and mortar stores. I can only find it on Amazon. Is it discontinued?

 

[Ron R]

The pure cream is gone from all the brick and mortar stores. I can only find it on Amazon. Is it discontinued?

I think it could be discontinued I was reading on a thread some where on B & B, I think they came out with another one to take its place ( typical Gillette).

 

[Ron R]

DE SOTD, Thursday, April 20th 2023, Testing the older extra wide Sputnik blades for performance and longevity.

Razor : Razorock game changer.84, Mfg 2018>, tame mid range, well built and designed from 316L SS with excellent machining and finish QC. I like to use the Extra wide blades in this razor for more efficentcy and slight more blade feel but nothing over the top in blade feel. I'm still testing my older Sputnik blades I recently purchased that are extra wide for performance and longevity. Had a close shave this morning with these sputnik extra wide, the newer Gillette Sputnik dimensions blades are sharper as to the older Sputnik extra wide blades IMO. The Kai SS still reigns as my preferred extra wide blade but the older extra wide Sputnik in my RR GC.84 will still crank out a decent shave IMO.
Blade : Older Sputnik extra wide blade(3) sharp & smooth with reasonable longevity, it is not the sharpest blade out there but it does work reasonably well in the 4 corner posts for just blade tab alignment razors that do not use the traditional way of aligning blades in most razors out there today.
Soap : Ach Brito Lavanda, nice Lavender with a slight brightness of mint to me with excellent lather qualities, on second tube of this great cream.
Brush : Yaqi "Coat tails" 24mm synthetic, excellent lather generator, cloud like soft tips, excellent splay scrubber + excellent lather painter. This knot is about as close to getting to a quality silver tip or 2 band badger brush and even looks like one.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Ach Brito Lavanda AS cologne with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results: or CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my RR GC.84 with a extra wide older Sputnik blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Ron R]

I seem to be mentioning old and new sputnik blades so I will leave my measurement findings so you can relate to some of this information mentioned already.

The blade findings compared to my Kai SS VS my Older Sputnik blades has been mentioned on pages 1 & 2 + as shown in Photo below.
The widths are very similar but the Kai SS blade tab width is narrower as shown on page 1 of this thread. The Kai SS blade will fit 99% of most DE razors that can use Gillette standard blades and has been my favorite of the two different extra wide blades used. Longevity of the Kai SS is better and is slightly sharper than the older Sputnik blade also IMO.
The older Sputnik blade will still give great shaves also + the newer Gillette Sputnik are a excellent blade as like many blades manufactured in Saint Petersburg P&G facility.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Slock]

I just received the older and wider Sputnik’s. I will be testing these out soon
Definitely with Modern May coming up.
I am interested in how they will shave in the following
Postwar tech
RR SLOC
EJ De89
Give it a try in a Henson just for giggles. I have this razor dialed in.

 

[Ron R]

I just received the older and wider Sputnik’s. I will be testing these out soon
Definitely with Modern May coming up.
I am interested in how they will shave in the following
Postwar tech
RR SLOC
EJ De89
Give it a try in a Henson just for giggles. I have this razor dialed in.
View attachment 1641447

Enjoy

 

[Slock]

How old do you think the wider Sputnik's are?

 

[Ron R]

How old do you think the wider Sputnik's are?

I did some limited research that was not conclusive of the date that Sputnik blades have been around. Their is no real constructive dates on packaging, the previous Russia company that owned it was called "Factory for Consumer Products (FCP)" that controlled the Sputnik brand and was sold in 1996 to the Saint Petersburgh group(Russian government and P&G).
So these older sputnik blades went through different packing and the reddish orange + blue color packing are the last packing before selling off to the Saint Petersburgh group because Gillette keep the same packing for Russians who used them prior so I'm thinking the blades where made in the 1990's possibly is my reasonable guess. Gillette(P&G) Sputnik brand started production of blades around the year 2000 from the scattered information I kind of gathered on the internet. So I'm thinking 1990's?

 

[Slock]

I did some limited research that was not conclusive of the date that Sputnik blades have been around. Their is no real constructive dates on packaging, the previous Russia company that owned it was called "Factory for Consumer Products (FCP)" that controlled the Sputnik brand and was sold in 1996 to the Saint Petersburgh group(Russian government and P&G).
So these older sputnik blades went through different packing and the reddish orange + blue color packing are the last packing before selling off to the Saint Petersburgh group because Gillette keep the same packing for Russians who used them prior so I'm thinking the blades where made in the 1990's possibly is my reasonable guess. Gillette(P&G) Sputnik brand started production of blades around the year 2000 from the scattered information I kind of gathered on the internet. So I'm thinking 1990's?

Look at this
On the cardboard fold up the tucks came in
You can see Gillette group U.K. LTD

 

[Slock]

The tucks do not say Gillette. I think Gillette inherited them when they bought Sputnik. They repackaged the blades in the cardboard fold up with Gillette printed on them.

 

[Ron R]

The tucks do not say Gillette. I think Gillette inherited them when they bought Sputnik. They repackaged the blades in the cardboard fold up with Gillette printed on them.

My Old Sputnik blades came cellophaned or plastic wrapped in individual tucks of 5pcs, you don't see that very often(seldom see that now). I only bought 50pcs of Old Sputnik blades for now not knowing what I was getting at the time of ordering.
My newer blades of the modern version of Gillette Sputnik blades that came from Saint Petersburgh plant that were laser itched on one side did not come with plastic coated tucks of the 10 pcs (2 tucks)ordered. They took great care back when the older Sputnik blades where made for export and local sales IMO.

 

[Slock]

My Old Sputnik blades came cellophaned or plastic wrapped in individual tucks of 5pcs, you don't see that very often(seldom see that now). I only bought 50pcs of Old Sputnik blades for now not knowing what I was getting at the time of ordering.
My newer blades of the modern version of Gillette Sputnik blades that came from Saint Petersburgh plant that were laser itched on one side did not come with plastic coated tucks of the 10 pcs (2 tucks)ordered. They took great care back when the older Sputnik blades where made for export and local sales IMO.

My are cellophane wrapped as well. I got them from West Coast Shaving.

 

[Ron R]

My are cellophane wrapped as well. I got them from West Coast Shaving.

West coast shaving is about the last on line supplier who has any of the old type Sputnik left and they were on sale the last time I looked. Sputnik is a popular brand in different parts of the world because Sputnik brand goes back into the 1970's I believe. It just not popular at the moment............ but it is a extra wide blade that is important to some of us.

 

[Slock]

I shave with a 1958 tv special super screed with the extra wide Sputnik. It definitely changed it from mild to moderate aggressive. Defiantly more blade feel. These blades can change the way a razor shaves.

 

[Ron R]

I shave with a 1958 tv special super screed with the extra wide Sputnik. It definitely changed it from mild to moderate aggressive. Defiantly more blade feel. These blades can change the way a razor shaves.

It makes it interesting knowing a certain razor you used and how it performed prior using a standard blade and putting in a extra wide blade changes its performance slightly.
I think sometimes folks might not like the extra wide Kai SS or the older extra wide Sputnik blade because they might not know that these 2 blades are wider than standard blades that gives more blade feel or blade exposure so they blame the blade as being rough or very sharp.
A lot of positive reviews from folks who enjoyed their Sputnik shave kind of makes it confusing if they are using new or the older extra wide blade because they where not aware there are 2 different Sputnik blades.
The older blades will eventually be used up and the newer standard Gillette dimension Sputnik blades will dominate the retail market if a person wants to try them. I have used the New Sputnik blade(standard Gillette dimensions) and it is a good blade that is sharp and smooth but not extra wide.
We learn new shaving knowledge as we bump along and measure things and try to make folks aware of advantages they could benefit from.

 

[Slock]

It makes it interesting knowing a certain razor you used and how it performed prior using a standard blade and putting in a extra wide blade changes its performance slightly.
I think sometimes folks might not like the extra wide Kai SS or the older extra wide Sputnik blade because they might not know that these 2 blades are wider than standard blades that gives more blade feel or blade exposure so they blame the blade as being rough or very sharp.
A lot of positive reviews from folks who enjoyed their Sputnik shave kind of makes it confusing if they are using new or the older extra wide blade because they where not aware there are 2 different Sputnik blades.
The older blades will eventually be used up and the newer standard Gillette dimension Sputnik blades will dominate the retail market if a person wants to try them. I have used the New Sputnik blade(standard Gillette dimensions) and it is a good blade that is sharp and smooth but not extra wide.
We learn new shaving knowledge as we bump along and measure things and try to make folks aware of advantages they could benefit from.

Yes I didn't know there were older Sputniks that are wider. You brought this to my attention. I like that there is another option to the Kia blades.

 

[Frito Ray]

Thank you Ron R, I was not aware of the Kai width difference. Gives me an excuse to buy some.

It will be pretty useful to try in different razors to see if an increase in blade exposure is something one likes, without going through the expense of buying a new razor. This inturn can be useful when buying a higher end razor that has multiple baseplates to choose from.

The charts given above also let me see that width has nothing to do with my two personal most disliked blades (German Wilkinson Swords, and Bic Chromes), one is a bit wider than the standard and one is a bit narrower.