So i'm back with another monthly review. As before, each blade will be reviewed based on a 2 pass (plus touch up) shave using Van Der Hagen Luxury shave soap and a generic Fento badger brush. Normally, i use a Van Der Hagen long handle razor to keep everything consistant, but the blade i’m reviewing this time is a 3 hole design and doesn’t fit in the Van Der Hagen. So for one review only, i’m using my 1928 Gillette Tuckaway. I run through 2 of each blade and use each 4 times; for a total of 8 shaves per brand. I'll be grading based on sharpness, smoothness, longevity and consistency. Price will be a factor but only of it's very cheap or expensive since most DE blades are pretty cheap comparatively.
So this time i’ll be reviewing the Tiger 3H Carbon Steel blade. This one is coming close on the heels of my Treet Carbon Steel review and it’ll become apparent why as the review progresses.
The Tiger 3 H is an old style, 3 hole blade that cannot be used in any “modern” (read: non 3 hole) DE razor. As I said above, i had to swap out my normal Van Der Hagen razor for the Gillette Tuckaway just to shave with this blade. I enjoy the Tuckaway, and though slightly more agressive than the Van Der Hagen, it’s still a pretty “neutral” razor in my opinion. Anyway, the blade...
The Tiger 3H is made in the Czech Republic and does not have any U.S. website i can find. The blade is non-coated carbon steel and is oval instead if the more normal looking angular blade shape that dominates the DE market. The packaging is a Tiger chomping down on the blade in question and it’s actually one of the cooler wrappers i’ve seen (cool in the same way a space cat shirt is cool anyway).
Finding this blade for purchase is a little difficult. Tryablade has them for .35 cents apiece which translates to $35 per 100 which is pricey. More than likely you’ll have to hunt them down on ebay or here to find them cheaper, but as a disclaimer, i’d highly advise against buying them in bulk. So now, for the review:
After loading the blade and lathering up, the first stroke let me know i was in for a life changing experience. The blade just stuck. Stuck as in hit my stubble and didn’t cut. I spun the razor 180 and tried the other edge...stuck again. I then decided that the only way this blade was cutting was to use buffing strokes and apply more pressure. It began to cut, but each stroke quite literally felt like it was PULLING my hair out and not cutting it. Simply put, this was the dullest razor i’ve ever used. As in worse than some crappy remmington electric i tried in my teens, worse than the 2 blade CVS blue plastic abomination that formerly held the crown for dullest blade, worse than any blade i’ve ever used. Ever. I’m fairly certain that high quality kitchen knife is sharper than this blade. And i’m saying that not to make a joke but because i actually believe it.
Smoothness was...slightly better. I did get two weepers on my neck but i’ve had more irritating shaves from very sharp blades. My theory is that this blade is so dull, it can’t help but be kind of smooth since it’s not sharp enough to take off a layer of skin. But don’t take that as me complimenting the Tiger. It was still not anywhere near what i would consider a “smooth” blade. It’s just to illustrate that i didn’t completely tear my face to shreds like i thougt i was doing during the actual shave.
Now on to longevity. Possibly the WORST attribute of a what is already a truly horrible blade. Despite the horror of the first shave, i was determined to bring the members of Badger and Blade a fair and balanced review. I was going the full 4 shaves with each blade regardless of how much blood was spilled! I had to continue! Shave # 2 was just as horrible. In fact, shave #2 was even worse. I felt an odd, sharp scraping sensation when i was shaving atg under my nose and noticed a tiny red line, a scratch, that didn’t bleed but made me think twice about continuing. I did continue though and after finishing the shave, noticed that the blade had split lengthwise about 1/8 of the blade (See pictures below). This what caused the scrape below my nose as the blade must have pulled apart and scratched me with the exposed metal corner. Needless to say i wasn’t unhappy to see it break but was blown away a razor blade could actually crack like that. The second blade gave me another awful shave and this time, the blade snapped after the 1st shave all the way across the entire length (again, see pictures below). Needless to say, longevity couldn’t get any worse.
Consistency? Well, both blades were consistently awful so maybe that counts for something...
To sum the Tiger 3H up, it is quite possibly the worlds worst razor blade. After shaving with this junk, i was convinced they were never meant for actual shaving. It just couldn’t be. No one on earth could use this blade and think it was good. No one. So i did some digging and found right here on badger and blade a member (malocchio) actually said “all the real CZ stuff is strictly for tailors and seamstresses in Africa and Haiti...”
This makes a lot of sense to me because of the rounded edges, the 3 hole design and the absolutely pathetic shave performance.
So to wrap this up, it was in fact a life changing experience like i initially suspected. Shaves with The Tiger 3H were truly the worst of my life. Overall, this blade earns a solid 1. The lowest possible rating. I actually took the time to email Jason from tryablade and inform him to ditch these things due to all of the factors i described above. Below is his response (by the way, tryablade is awesome and i highly recommend it)
Hi Joe,
Thank you for letting me know about the Tiger blades. I personally haven't used them yet, but I will certainly give them a try for myself soon. I have had those in the store for a while and you are the first person to tell me how awful they are. Then again, nobody has raved about them either. I've only got about 200 blades remaining in stock and if they are absolute garbage, I will remove them or let the remaining stock sell down and not restock them.
Have a great day!
Jason
In conclusion, don’t buy this blade. Even as a novelty. Well, maybe as a novelty. But now you can’t say no one has warned you!
Up next, Shark Super Chrome. Thanks as always for reading and happy shaving!
So this time i’ll be reviewing the Tiger 3H Carbon Steel blade. This one is coming close on the heels of my Treet Carbon Steel review and it’ll become apparent why as the review progresses.
The Tiger 3 H is an old style, 3 hole blade that cannot be used in any “modern” (read: non 3 hole) DE razor. As I said above, i had to swap out my normal Van Der Hagen razor for the Gillette Tuckaway just to shave with this blade. I enjoy the Tuckaway, and though slightly more agressive than the Van Der Hagen, it’s still a pretty “neutral” razor in my opinion. Anyway, the blade...
The Tiger 3H is made in the Czech Republic and does not have any U.S. website i can find. The blade is non-coated carbon steel and is oval instead if the more normal looking angular blade shape that dominates the DE market. The packaging is a Tiger chomping down on the blade in question and it’s actually one of the cooler wrappers i’ve seen (cool in the same way a space cat shirt is cool anyway).
Finding this blade for purchase is a little difficult. Tryablade has them for .35 cents apiece which translates to $35 per 100 which is pricey. More than likely you’ll have to hunt them down on ebay or here to find them cheaper, but as a disclaimer, i’d highly advise against buying them in bulk. So now, for the review:
After loading the blade and lathering up, the first stroke let me know i was in for a life changing experience. The blade just stuck. Stuck as in hit my stubble and didn’t cut. I spun the razor 180 and tried the other edge...stuck again. I then decided that the only way this blade was cutting was to use buffing strokes and apply more pressure. It began to cut, but each stroke quite literally felt like it was PULLING my hair out and not cutting it. Simply put, this was the dullest razor i’ve ever used. As in worse than some crappy remmington electric i tried in my teens, worse than the 2 blade CVS blue plastic abomination that formerly held the crown for dullest blade, worse than any blade i’ve ever used. Ever. I’m fairly certain that high quality kitchen knife is sharper than this blade. And i’m saying that not to make a joke but because i actually believe it.
Smoothness was...slightly better. I did get two weepers on my neck but i’ve had more irritating shaves from very sharp blades. My theory is that this blade is so dull, it can’t help but be kind of smooth since it’s not sharp enough to take off a layer of skin. But don’t take that as me complimenting the Tiger. It was still not anywhere near what i would consider a “smooth” blade. It’s just to illustrate that i didn’t completely tear my face to shreds like i thougt i was doing during the actual shave.
Now on to longevity. Possibly the WORST attribute of a what is already a truly horrible blade. Despite the horror of the first shave, i was determined to bring the members of Badger and Blade a fair and balanced review. I was going the full 4 shaves with each blade regardless of how much blood was spilled! I had to continue! Shave # 2 was just as horrible. In fact, shave #2 was even worse. I felt an odd, sharp scraping sensation when i was shaving atg under my nose and noticed a tiny red line, a scratch, that didn’t bleed but made me think twice about continuing. I did continue though and after finishing the shave, noticed that the blade had split lengthwise about 1/8 of the blade (See pictures below). This what caused the scrape below my nose as the blade must have pulled apart and scratched me with the exposed metal corner. Needless to say i wasn’t unhappy to see it break but was blown away a razor blade could actually crack like that. The second blade gave me another awful shave and this time, the blade snapped after the 1st shave all the way across the entire length (again, see pictures below). Needless to say, longevity couldn’t get any worse.
Consistency? Well, both blades were consistently awful so maybe that counts for something...
To sum the Tiger 3H up, it is quite possibly the worlds worst razor blade. After shaving with this junk, i was convinced they were never meant for actual shaving. It just couldn’t be. No one on earth could use this blade and think it was good. No one. So i did some digging and found right here on badger and blade a member (malocchio) actually said “all the real CZ stuff is strictly for tailors and seamstresses in Africa and Haiti...”
This makes a lot of sense to me because of the rounded edges, the 3 hole design and the absolutely pathetic shave performance.
So to wrap this up, it was in fact a life changing experience like i initially suspected. Shaves with The Tiger 3H were truly the worst of my life. Overall, this blade earns a solid 1. The lowest possible rating. I actually took the time to email Jason from tryablade and inform him to ditch these things due to all of the factors i described above. Below is his response (by the way, tryablade is awesome and i highly recommend it)
Hi Joe,
Thank you for letting me know about the Tiger blades. I personally haven't used them yet, but I will certainly give them a try for myself soon. I have had those in the store for a while and you are the first person to tell me how awful they are. Then again, nobody has raved about them either. I've only got about 200 blades remaining in stock and if they are absolute garbage, I will remove them or let the remaining stock sell down and not restock them.
Have a great day!
Jason
In conclusion, don’t buy this blade. Even as a novelty. Well, maybe as a novelty. But now you can’t say no one has warned you!
Up next, Shark Super Chrome. Thanks as always for reading and happy shaving!
