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Participation PIF - An Old Friend Returns

The blades arrived! I'm having the vintage version of @BradWorld 's razor choice problem. The safe bet is to start in the NEW short comb, which has been my Goldilocks porridge between the Old Type and the Slim (which are also contenders). Of course, a sharper razor could also make the Red Tip a contender, even if it doesn't shave as close as the others.

I'll focus on growing my beard and sleep on the decision.
 
Woohoo, my blades arrived! In the UK!!!

It felt like we were ages behind the curve for the Mystery-X blades, so I'm excited to be joining in so ealy this time around.

I have two made-in-England Gillette Super Silver blades from Q1 1968 which would have been near (or exact) contemporaries of these - I'd be more than happy to use one in a head-to-head if anyone would find the results interesting. (I also still have at least one Polsilver Super Stainless, but I think those are a bit later, plus I only have two identical razors for the head to head.)
 
First shave with the returned Old Friend Schick SS

Razor: Rockwell R3
Blade: Schick Super Stainless Steel (1)
Pre-shave: Proraso White
Bowl: Captain’s Choice Copper
Soap: Barrister and Mann 42
Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Bootleggers Perfecto Maduro

On the first shave this blade is really nice. Pleasant, sharp, smooth. DFS+
 
Meme Reaction GIF by Silicon Valley


Still staring at my mailbox in the PNW. 🌲
 
An Old Friend Returns - Schick (3)

TL;DR -
Lather, shave, rinse, and repeat; DFS+; Boom!!

Equipment: Gillette Slim (on 5), Schick Super Stainless(3), Mem Olive Shaving Cream

The Shave: OH NO!! I'm in danger of falling into the trap of amazingly awesome repeatable shaves!! Boringly consistent amazingly awesome repeatable shave!! Mem Olive is a great shaving cream and this Schick blade is just smooth, sharp, and consistent!! 3 shaves in and let down in performance!!
 
Today was the inaugural blood sacrifice shave for the Schick Super Stainless Steel

I chose my vintage Star razor from the early fifties as it is something that might have still been in use when these blades came out. The rest of my gear is modern.

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I really don't like this razor, except it's looks, but I felt I must do this. I started off on my neck S-N, sort of diagonal to the grain. It didn't take long before the familiar "chatter pattern" appeared, AKA red dots all in a row. It wasn't bad, just annoying and predictable. There really isn't any way to shave, other than WTG, with this razor to avoid this. Then it skips over hairs.

The blade felt and performed as expected from my experience with vintage blades. There is some feel to the edge, but it isn't already slicing you if you feel it. Smooth glide was possible in some areas which requires a certain minimum sharpness for me. I can't really comment further about the sharpness nor compare it to my other vintage blades this early.

Overall, it was a fine shave. Hair was removed without tugging and my face isn't irritated. I am looking forward to moving on to razors I more prefer. Will have to wait until tomorrow evening.
 
Schick Krona Blade 1 Shave 3

Winning razor
Vintage Schick Krona blade (Courtesy of @Grundi and @Space_Cadet)
@Graydog brush hand made from maple that grows in his yard. The knot is an AP Full Moon 24mm
M&M Barbershop De Los Muertos (Kodiak base)
Test sample aftershave from @Captain Pre-Capsize (Captains Choice) that was a pre-curser to his Italia aftershave

9.5/10
Another great 3 pass shave today. I did feel a little irritation on one of my trouble spots that I buffed a little too much but when I hit the spot with some aftershave, I didn't feel any burn or soreness, so I don't know what is up with that. I think I might do one more shave with this blade and then use a Personna Red next shave for comparison. The Personna is my smoothest blade and I want to gauge the Krona against my favorite.

Krona Winning BDLM.jpg
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
An old friend returns shave#1
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Razor: King C Gillette
Blade: Schick
Soap: SV Desert Vetiver
Brush: Yaqi Purple Mink

Tonight for my first shave with the vintage Schick I went with my KCG as it's my go to razor with a new blade. I thought for the first shave I would break out the SV as it's my favourite performing soap at the moment, went with my latest, Desert Vetiver.
The first few strokes I wondered if there was a blade in the razor at all, but it seems this razor/blade combo requires a very steep angle and once I had that the blade was just a dream to use. It was smoooooth with a capital oooooh. Normally I reserve judgement on a blade til I get 10 or 20 shaves in, but this blade is great from the outset.
Here's looking forward to tomorrow's shave.
 
Welcome, New/Old Friend -- Blade 1, shaves 6&7

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Tonight was my Luxurious Inexpensive shave. Soap was Col. Williams (Wm. Mug and Col. Conk Lime grated together).

Gillette Tech efficiency was boosted with a Silver Star Duridium shim made from a Vintage PIF Challenge earlier this year.

I was afraid the Schick blade was losing its magic. Turns out all it needed was a more efficient blade holder. I am enjoying the smooth BBS result.
 
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