King C Gillette blades now made in China

[Theodore]

Traveled by air this week so had to pick up a package of KCG blades at the local Walgreens and they were MIC with the 5/23 date code. Used them for 6 back to back shaves with my KCG razor and was pleasantly surprised with top notch performace. I'm pretty curious if there is a difference - I have a few tucks of PPI KCG's and will do a blind comparison with multiple blades and report back with the results.

Wonderful news, I look forward to your findings!

 

[Theodore]

Hi there @reformedshavr, just wanted to check in and see how you went with this comparison?

I myself just got hands for the first time on the new Chinese KCGs and will be trialing them tomorrow.

I wonder if they will be the same blade as the new Chinese Light Blue, or will we have two new top-spec Gillette blades available to us in 2023?

 

[reformedshavr]

Hi there @reformedshavr, just wanted to check in and see how you went with this comparison?

I myself just got hands for the first time on the new Chinese KCGs and will be trialing them tomorrow.

I wonder if they will be the same blade as the new Chinese Light Blue, or will we have two new top-spec Gillette blades available to us in 2023?

Hey, I haven't done my comparison yet. I wanted to go a month since the last use of either the razor or blade as to start fresh and 'forget' any particulars. I'll begin Saturday as I have a 3 week stretch with no overnight travel for work.

It will be a blind test using King C Gillette razors comparing MIR and MIC King C Gillette blades and will do 4 shaves (which is my normal number of uses for any blade) with the razors unmarked and starting side of face randomly and blindly selected each day.
I'll shave every day at the same time, except shave #3 will be with 48 hrs growth.
Each shave will be a 3 pass - WTG, XTG and XTG
Two simple data points will be noted after a cold rinse and alum block (before aftershave or balm)
(1) - Comfort: A/B or No Preference and (2) Efficiency: A/B or No Difference.
I'll repeat the test again on the KCG razors.
I'll then conduct the same test twice using Gillette Red Tips.
16 shaves should be enough to reveal a trend - if anyone has thoughts please chime in.

In the case of an immediate and drastic difference on the first pass of the first shave I'll restart the test the following day using 2 fresh blades from different tucks as there is always a possibilty of getting a flawed blade.

 

[Theodore]

Hey, I haven't done my comparison yet. I wanted to go a month since the last use of either the razor or blade as to start fresh and 'forget' any particulars. I'll begin Saturday as I have a 3 week stretch with no overnight travel for work.

It will be a blind test using King C Gillette razors and will do 4 shaves (which is my normal number of uses for any blade) with the reazors unmarked and starting side of face randomly and blindly selected each day.
I'll shave every day at the same time, except shave #3 will be with 48 hrs growth.
Each shave will be a 3 pass - WTG, XTG and XTG
Two simple data points will be noted after a cold rinse and alum block (before aftershave or balm)
(1) - Comfort: A/B or No Preference and (2) Efficiency: A/B or No Difference
I'll then conduct the same test using Gillette Red Tips.
16 shaves should be enough to reveal a trend if there's a big enough difference.
In the case of an immediate and drastic difference on the first pass of the first shave I'll restart the test the following day using 2 fresh blades from different tucks as there is always a possibilty of getting a flawed blade.

Excellent methodology! I'm excited

 

[reformedshavr]

So the KCG Russia/China side by side has completed round 1 of 4 shaves each on a King C razor. I had an unepected work trip so round 2 will start Tuesday.... I did the first two shaves one blade each side but realized that method was too hectic and hard to focus on what was happening. I decided simplify and go one blade each day. It's more relaxed and I feel I'll get a better assesment.

 

[John Marston]

I was using the King c Gillette blade hot and heavy when they first hit the market back then. It was one of my favorite blades but then i tried other popular blades like nacet and silver blue so on and so forth, and have been mostly shaving with nacest‘s the last years.

I decided to get a pack of king c blades again and only noticed it when i was already back home that they are now MADE IN CHINA.

Tried them today, completely terrible blade - pure trash. Big time rough and felt like it was rusted already. Had to switch to nacet during the shave. Its so sad that they ruined a wonderful blade.

 

[Bosh Hog]

I honestly don’t understand Gillette’s idea moving production from one problematic country to another. So many countries to choose from. Seems like they are asking for trouble.

 

[geneaut]

I honestly don’t understand Gillette’s idea moving production from one problematic country to another. So many countries to choose from. Seems like they are asking for trouble.

I imagine since this was probably unplanned they moved it to where they had production capacity already set up. That's basically China and India.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

That's basically China and India.

So India it should be.

In the US, we consumers buy little that is manufactured in Russia. As a vintage audio guy, I buy audio tubes that are made in Russia. This is very similar to how razor blades are made there.

I have had good experiences with Indian manufactured blades, pricing included.

I have a great dislike for importing products that are made in China. Fortunately, with DE blades, there are other choices!

 

[reformedshavr]

Round 2 of 4 of KCG Russia/China side by side is complete! 16 shaves on a King C razor.
Round 3 started today on Gillette Red Tip Super Speeds ... 3 passes, doing 1/2 the face each... and once again, blind test format.

 

[reformedshavr]

Ok kids - I've completed 3 rounds of 4 shaves on each blade. I was going to do a 4th round, however there was no need as it became well evident there is no appreciable difference between the two. Obviously Gillette has seen to it the specifications of that blade are met regardless of the country of manufacture.

All of the shaves were 3 pass and delivered mostly DFS+ and a few BBS- shaves on the King C razor and mostly BBS- shaves and a few DFS+ on the Gillette Red Tip. The more time and care I took the better the result. A variety of preshaves, soaps, creams and aftershaves were used.

The only ticks that made it to the scoresheet were that 3 times I noted that the Chinese blade was smoother (more comfortable) than the Russian, and 4 times I noted the Russian blade delivered a closer shave than the Chinese. Neither of these differences were significant and only noted in comparison to the other in that day's shave so I hesitate to identify it as a trend.

So that was fun! ... KCG's aren't my personal favorite, but I am glad to know there is a high quality DE blade available in a store almost anywhere I might travel.

 

[Theodore]

Ok kids - I've completed 3 rounds of 4 shaves on each blade. I was going to do a 4th round, however there was no need as it became well evident there is no appreciable difference between the two. Obviously Gillette has seen to it the specifications of that blade are met regardless of the country of manufacture.

All of the shaves were 3 pass and delivered mostly DFS+ and a few BBS- shaves on the King C razor and mostly BBS- shaves and a few DFS+ on the Gillette Red Tip. The more time and care I took the better the result. A variety of preshaves, soaps, creams and aftershaves were used.

The only ticks that made it to the scoresheet were that 3 times I noted that the Chinese blade was smoother (more comfortable) than the Russian, and 4 times I noted the Russian blade delivered a closer shave than the Chinese. Neither of these differences were significant and only noted in comparison to the other in that day's shave so I hesitate to identify it as a trend.

So that was fun! ... KCG's aren't my personal favorite, but I am glad to know there is a high quality DE blade available in a store almost anywhere I might travel.

Thank you for your careful investigation. I will give another Chinese KCG a go!

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Ok kids - I've completed 3 rounds of 4 shaves on each blade. I was going to do a 4th round, however there was no need as it became well evident there is no appreciable difference between the two. Obviously Gillette has seen to it the specifications of that blade are met regardless of the country of manufacture.

All of the shaves were 3 pass and delivered mostly DFS+ and a few BBS- shaves on the King C razor and mostly BBS- shaves and a few DFS+ on the Gillette Red Tip. The more time and care I took the better the result. A variety of preshaves, soaps, creams and aftershaves were used.

The only ticks that made it to the scoresheet were that 3 times I noted that the Chinese blade was smoother (more comfortable) than the Russian, and 4 times I noted the Russian blade delivered a closer shave than the Chinese. Neither of these differences were significant and only noted in comparison to the other in that day's shave so I hesitate to identify it as a trend.

So that was fun! ... KCG's aren't my personal favorite, but I am glad to know there is a high quality DE blade available in a store almost anywhere I might travel.

Thank you for it, I was afraid that carrying a DE in other parts of the world might became pointless, but it seems I can still rely on KCG (even if they are grossly overpriced).