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New go to (non Russian) blade (non political post)

Since commencing my DE shaving journey my top blade has been the Gillette 7 o'clock yellow with the Gillette Rubie a very close 2nd, both Russian made.

When events in Ukriane kicked off it occured to me that, sooner or later, sanctions etc may lead to shortages so I began looking for a top non Russian blade just in case...

I'd tried Bic's before and was not that impressed but tried again and sadly reaffirmed my opinion.

Wilkinson Swords - no.

Dorco - ok, but not great

Feather - very good, for one or maybe two shaves!

Gillette Black - didn't really do it for me.

Treet - less said the better

Muhle - nope

Shark - *sigh* not for me

Personna Red - also ok, but not great

But then I happened upon another Personna which I believe is referred to as Med Prep and I think I may have found my new top 3 blade. Nicely sharp and smooth from the off and I can get a good number of uses out of one before it requires replacing.

They don't seem to be that prevalent in the UK so I'm hoping that supply doesn't become an issue here, not that it has yet with the Gillettes.
 
Last edited:

lasta

Blade Biter
Hi Al,

Threads about GSB/Wizamet being discontinued seem to pop up once every 3 years, they are still here.

I'm about 60 different varieties into my blade journey and 9 out of my top 10 are/were made by Gillette/PG.

Be thankful that you can still buy 1000 7 O'clocks today if you wanted to. :c1:
 
Since commencing me DE shaving journey my top blade has been the Gillette 7 o'clock yellow with the Gillette Rubie a very close 2nd, both Russian made.

When events in Ukriane kicked off it occured to me that, sooner or later, sanctions etc may lead to shortages so I began looking for a top non Russian blade just in case...

I'd tried Bic's before and was not that impressed but tried again and sadly reaffirmed my opinion.

Wilkinson Swords - no.

Dorco - also ok but not great

Feather - very good, for one or maybe two shaves!

Gillette Black - didn't really do it for me.

Treet - less said the better

Muhle - nope

Shark - *sigh* not for me

Personna Red - ok, but not great

But then I happened upon another Personna which I believe is referred to as Med Prep and I think I may have found my new top 3 blade. Nicely sharp and smooth from the off and I can get a good number of uses out of one before it requires replacing.

They don't seem to be that prevalent in the UK so I'm hoping that supply doesn't become an issue here, not that it has yet with the Gillettes.
I love the Personna Med Prep too. You can also get the Personna Lab Blues (Personna Comfort Coated it says on the bulk box). I think it’s the same as the Med Prep blade but less expensive because it is not sterilised multiple times for medical use.

Your preferences are similar to mine. I think you might also like Kai blades from Japan. For me they are the best of all.
 
Chinese made Gillette's are excellent, but of all the many blades I have tried the blade that I found to be closest to a Russian Gillette is the Indian made Gillette 365.

Again, blades are a weird one. Sometimes they work in one razor and not in another, but I found with Russian made Gillettes is they seem to work well in all my razors but my other blades are generally more razor specific.

I have an enormous stock of Russian made Gillettes but since everything changed I am a little reluctant to use the ones I already have.
 
I, too, felt I should expand my horizons when I noticed that I only had Russian blades (Astra SS, Astra SP, Nacet).

Personna lab blues (comfort coated packaging) seemed the logical first choice, as they’re the only American-made blade, and have a good reputation.

Having tried them now in several razors, they quickly zoomed to the top of my rotation. Sharp, smooth, “razor agnostic”, and no wax dots to deal with.

I could easily live with lab blues as my only blade.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
I, too, felt I should expand my horizons when I noticed that I only had Russian blades (Astra SS, Astra SP, Nacet).

Personna lab blues (comfort coated packaging) seemed the logical first choice, as they’re the only American-made blade, and have a good reputation.

Having tried them now in several razors, they quickly zoomed to the top of my rotation. Sharp, smooth, “razor agnostic”, and no wax dots to deal with.

I could easily live with lab blues as my only blade.
I agree. Lab Blues are my only blades these days. I am not worried about Russian blades disappearing as much as I worry about USA manufacturing. It is good to support a USA product. I am also a big fan of the Lab Blue minimalist packaging. I wish more blades were packaged that way, even though I do not use them. I think of small plastic five pack containers, too small for recycling, adding to landfills. At least the Lab Blue packaging will biodegrade eventually.
 
Hey Al,
If you like Feathers, try Kai! I believe they'll live longer than Feathers, still, same sharp. Also, I'd recommend Bolzano, for example, give it a try. My choice of the month is Fatip Stainless, good blades from the EU!

And I've heard that Tiger Platinum is almost the same as Astra SP (Tigers are made on the same plant as Astra in Czechia)...
 
But then I happened upon another Personna which I believe is referred to as Med Prep and I think I may have found my new top 3 blade. Nicely sharp and smooth from the off and I can get a good number of uses out of one before it requires replacing.
I love the Personna Med Prep too. You can also get the Personna Lab Blues (Personna Comfort Coated it says on the bulk box). I think it’s the same as the Med Prep blade but less expensive because it is not sterilised multiple times for medical use.

Your preferences are similar to mine. I think you might also like Kai blades from Japan. For me they are the best of all.
Where are you sourcing your Lab Blues and Med Preps from guys, please? (I'm in the UK too.)
 
You really should dial up Razors Blades Club and go on an Indian blade Safari! In fact, they have Super-Max blades that are packaged for the UK market so you would be able to buy them somewhere local too. There are number of good options and most are in the middle sharpness range, some are a bitter duller. I don't know what happened to the bad QC reported years ago, but I use like a half dozen different brands(factories) from there. There are some good blades from CN, but some of the recommended ones were a miss for me and some of the lesser known ones were great. Overall, I think you are less likely to get your face chewed up experimenting with Indian blades. US Personnas are too bitey sharp for me, but I use them occasionally.
 
You really should dial up Razors Blades Club and go on an Indian blade Safari! In fact, they have Super-Max blades that are packaged for the UK market so you would be able to buy them somewhere local too. There are number of good options and most are in the middle sharpness range, some are a bitter duller. I don't know what happened to the bad QC reported years ago, but I use like a half dozen different brands(factories) from there. There are some good blades from CN, but some of the recommended ones were a miss for me and some of the lesser known ones were great. Overall, I think you are less likely to get your face chewed up experimenting with Indian blades. US Personnas are too bitey sharp for me, but I use them occasionally.
I'm really happy with the Super Max Diamond Edge, very nice blade for my mug.
 
You really should dial up Razors Blades Club and go on an Indian blade Safari! In fact, they have Super-Max blades that are packaged for the UK market so you would be able to buy them somewhere local too. There are number of good options and most are in the middle sharpness range, some are a bitter duller. I don't know what happened to the bad QC reported years ago, but I use like a half dozen different brands(factories) from there. There are some good blades from CN, but some of the recommended ones were a miss for me and some of the lesser known ones were great. Overall, I think you are less likely to get your face chewed up experimenting with Indian blades. US Personnas are too bitey sharp for me, but I use them occasionally.

I have been tempted to try some Indian blades; thanks for enabling 😉

Interestingly, “bitey” is how I describe Nacets. They seem to be a very razor-dependent blade for me, (I now only use Nacets in my Techs). For me the Lab blues are much smoother than Nacets, regardless of razor.
 
I really liked the Tatra Platinum that I tried. I just received a couple of more from the GBE (thanks @dmshaver ), so that I can give them another run, and if they impress me like they did before, I'll likely order 100.
 
Where are you sourcing your Lab Blues and Med Preps from guys, please? (I'm in the UK too.)
Not sure. I’ve got loads that I bought years ago and I don’t remember where from. Might even have been from the US and I grabbed some boxes when I was buying something else.
 
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