Participation PIF - Swinging The Legendary Viking's Sword Blade

[lancre]

Viking Sword: Blade 1, edge 2, Shave 4 (17th Overall)

Result: 4.5/5 DFS Shave

Blade: Israeli Personna Viking Sword
Razor: Redtip
Brushes: Silvertip of unknown origin.
Soap: CBL Roasted Oatmeal Stout
Splash: Thayer's Lavender Toner WH
Balm: OneBlade Black Tie PSB

Today's shave wasn't quite as nice as yesterday's was. Borderline DFS/BBS, but with a bit more harshness that the Fatboy had, not bad but a perceptible difference. Still, no nicks, weepers, or irritation, so there's that to be thankful for.

 

[gvw755]

This was my fifteenth shave with the Viking's Sword and because the past couple of shaves not being too efficient, I decided to send this Viking off to the recycle bin after loading it in the razor it's journey began in - the RR GC84. To my complete surprise, I got a very efficient two pass BBS with no blade feel or tugging. This blade is letting me know it has some life left in it and so it is already loaded in my ES Braveheart for Saturday's shave.

 

[Slanterino]

I just got the blades yesterday and used it today.

Razor: Merkur 37C
Brush: Omega boar
Cream: Godrej menthol
Blade: Viking's Sword

This blade is so silky smooth and slices through 2 days worth of hair like it's not even there. It's on par or perhaps a tad more efficient than the Astra SP. But it is more user friendly than the Gillette Platinum and Silver Blues, and it also produced a lot less burn when applying my AS.

Overall it is a good blade. I got a BBS from this blade save for the usual problems spots on my neck area but this isn't the fault of the blade. Depending on the price, this might be a good alternative to the Astra SP.

One downside I can think of is the wrapper isn't glued together resulting in the blade inside being exposed to the elements so I don't know if it'll rust in the long run.

Also, does anyone know what are the other Personna equivalent of this? Since it's made by Personna, I suppose it's going to have it's own doppelganger.

 

[Space_Cadet]

Also, does anyone know what are the other Personna equivalent of this? Since it's made by Personna, I suppose it's going to have it's own doppelganger.

To the best of my knowledge, this particular blade has no doppelgangers among the blades made by Israeli Personna blade factory.

 

[Balthier]

Razor: Vigshaving on MR5 blue handle
Blade: Viking's Sword blade 2 shave #3
Brush: Simpson Special S1 pure
Soap: Stirling Island Man
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Sport
I'm almost sure the head is a merkur clone. It performs very nicely and very close to my merkur 38c except I put it on a slightly shorter handle. It was an easy DFS.

 

[Wogus]

... Aso, does anyone know what are the other Personna equivalent of this? Since it's made by Personna, I suppose it's going to have it's own doppelganger.

I'm not saying it's a clone of the Viking sword, per se, but you might want to try Crystal blades. Made by Persona in the Israeli factory.

 

[hairless wonder]

Shave #4
Soap: AOS Olibanum + Pepper
Brush: Van Der Hagen Night Star 3-band Silvertip
Razor: WCS 88S handle and WCS-Charcoal Goods's Toothsome razor head
Preshave: Shower and hair conditioner during shower, then prior shave's leftover lather mixed with water dripped from brush
Aftershave: Alum block, Pinaud Clubman, and Nivea Sensitive Skin
Passes: WTG, ATG
Result: BBS
Sharpness of blade: Very high and smooth

I guess I should've mentioned this before, but I flip my blade after every shave. I started doing this when I found that I got better results from subsequent shaves on my Astra SP. I've adopted the practice with every blade I've used since.

I got a BBS with a 2 pass shave with touchups, but may have buffed too much. My face felt a little more raw in certain spots compared to the last shave, but not as raw as after the first shave with the Viking Blade.

I started my shave with an WTG pass then relathered and began a ATG pass. After that, I did my a usual touchups but with some more strokes than usual and washed off my face. Then I applied my alum block. There was a slight burn this time. Once the alum dried, I rinsed I off and dried my face before applying some Pinaud Clubman. There was a bit more of the usual alcohol burn than last time. When the PC dried, I applied some Nivea.

The Vikings are fighting back!

 

[xiletero]

Faceshave
Vikings #2 #2
Gillette super speed black handle
Woolfsfat
omega midget
Clubman Bay Rum
Nivea
3 pass shave, was ok but I had 1 weeper.....and a bit irritated. All in all was OK....average

 

[lancre]

Viking Sword: Blade 1, edge 2, Shave 5 (18th Overall)

Result: 4.5/5 DFS Shave

Blade: Israeli Personna Viking Sword
Razor: Progress set on 3.5
Brushes: Simpson T2
Soap: CBL Roasted Oatmeal Stout
Splash: Thayer's Lavender Toner WH
Balm: OneBlade Black Tie PSB

Today's shave was mostly BBS , except for a thumbnail-size spot about 3/4" left of the apple, where I had to either settle for DFS or chase the baby and risk irritation. I was overcome by a fit of discretion and settled.

Random thoughts:

This blade is in that sweet spot where it's smoother than the sharpest and sharper than the smoothest. That makes for a very nice shave in a wide variety of razors. The fact that it's also durable just adds to its charm.

I'm mostly a boar man, with a few 2-band badgers to round out the mix, but the Trafalgar is winning me over. It's the first synthetic I could see in a rotation instead of just as a travel brush.

 

[emwolf]

Blade #2 shave#2 still with the Global Shave Club Fat guy, Stirling Baker Street soap and splash (a favorite of the missus), Rudy Vey horn and made shavemac 2 band fan. Dialed it up to 8 and earn near a BBS, but a bit raw behind the ears and neck. I am really enjoying these blades.

 

[fast shaver]

Vikings Blade #2 Shave #3
Smooth & close shave this A.M. with the FOCS Razor & Arko soap.
No nicks or irritation noted. The blade is holding up fine.

 

[Grundi]

Swinging The Next Leading Brand Blade (Shave #1 with a Derby Premium)

TL;DR: Using a close equivalent blade for contrast, ambushed by Ice Marauders...

Equipment: Merkur 20C, Chiseled Face Cryogen shaving soap, GrayDog synthetic brush, and my cheapy salsa bowl

Results: I can't feel my face!! It might have been a good shave, might have been a horrible experience!! I can't know!! Apparently, extreme mentholated soaps negate any good or bad feel from any blade that I might have otherwise experienced!! WOW!! It was like Ice Marauders from the north sailed into my quiet, unsuspecting village, and leveled it with the ground using Nordic Fire!! However, the ground upon which the village once stood was quite smooth afterwards!!

What Was I Thinking: I took a few days off and then chose a Derby Premium in an attempt to contrast my experience with the Legendary Viking's Sword Blade. I figured that the Derby Premium would have been a similar blade, slightly smoother and sharper but not lasting quite as many shaves. My daughter had given me a sampler pack of Chiseled Face soap which I've set aside for this Participation PIF but went back to...just because. Cryogen kind of fit that Nordic theme of this Participation PIF, so I gave it a try. I've only used Chiseled Face Cryogen once before with similar results (but sometimes we forget and need reminders).

 

[lancre]

Viking Sword: Blade 1, edge 2, Shave 6 (19th Overall)

Result: 4.9/5 BBS Shave

Blade: Israeli Personna Viking Sword
Razor: Fendrihan Mk. II
Brushes: Silvertip of unknown origin.
Soap: CBL Roasted Oatmeal Stout
Splash: Thayer's Lavender Toner WH
Balm: OneBlade Black Tie PSB

Shaved at 8:30, and it's still BBS at 3:30! But it was rough. VS is definitely better suited to a milder razor. OTOH, my skin feels great. (Unlike some people, I can feel my face )

 

[FarmerTan]

Did I report on my second shave yet?

We'll see how good my memory is:

Maybe I'll just post pictures.
This was a very nice shave. I so rarely use that Fatboy (I giggle every time I type that) that I just decided to put it up on 11, or however high it goes.

Amazing close COMFORTABLE shave.

Did another pass (unnecessary) set as low as it could go. A really interesting experience, as I had to REALLY concentrate on angle, or it felt like I didn't have a blade in it!

I had given myself a hair trim and then shaved, and then showered after I could breath again, lol. Don't get old. This was Wednesday night. If I can find a picture I might show you my incredibly handsome face the next day. You can see I should have shaved in the morning too.

I give that blade a 5 of 5.

This shave helped me decide to keep that Fatboy (giggle!) and use him more often. It really does make shaving interesting, like having multiple razors in one.

 

[FarmerTan]

Did I report on my second shave yet?

We'll see how good my memory is:

Maybe I'll just post pictures.View attachment 1188115View attachment 1188116View attachment 1188117
This was a very nice shave. I so rarely use that Fatboy (I giggle every time I type that) that I just decided to put it up on 11, or however high it goes.

Amazing close COMFORTABLE shave.

Did another pass (unnecessary) set as low as it could go. A really interesting experience, as I had to REALLY concentrate on angle, or it felt like I didn't have a blade in it!

I had given myself a hair trim and then shaved, and then showered after I could breath again, lol. Don't get old. This was Wednesday night. If I can find a picture I might show you my incredibly handsome face the next day. You can see I should have shaved in the morning too.

I give that blade a 5 of 5.

This shave helped me decide to keep that Fatboy (giggle!) and use him more often. It really does make shaving interesting, like having multiple razors in one.

@Space_Cadet knows that shave cream!

 

[Balthier]

Razor: Vigshaving on MR5 blue handle
Blade: Viking's Sword blade 2 shave #4
Brush: Simpson Special S1 pure
Soap: Stirling Deep Blue Sea
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Sport
Nearly effortless close shave and very comfortable.

 

[FarmerTan]

Razor: Vigshaving on MR5 blue handle
Blade: Viking's Sword blade 2 shave #4
Brush: Simpson Special S1 pure
Soap: Stirling Deep Blue Sea
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Sport
Nearly effortless close shave and very comfortable.

Lots of "V's" and "S's" in your shave my friend! I sense a theme.

 

[gvw755]

Sixteenth shave tonight with the Viking's Sword. Change of razors at the last minute when my vintage Berkeley Adjustable arrived. I loaded it in the Berkeley even though I never shaved with that razor before tonight and it was semi adjustable. This was more of a learning experience with the razor itself however once I dialed in the razor with the correct angle and adjustment, the blade once again continued to give me a comfortable two pass BBS. Tomorrow night is SE Sunday and so Monday I will return to the Viking's Sword to see how far more it will go.

 

[Slanterino]

I had shave #2 today with the same blade and setup except the cream got changed to Vicco.

Another BBS. But this time the shave felt a little bit rough. I blame it on the cream though since Vicco is super sensitive with water.

Overall, I feel this is a damn good blade. It's easy to use compared to Gillette Platinum and GSB. Yet, it can deliver BBS.

Does anyone know how much 100 cost?

 

[lancre]

Viking Sword: Blade 1, edge 2, Shave 7 (20th Overall)

Result: 4.5/5 DFS Shave

Blade: Israeli Personna Viking Sword
Razor: Gillette Big Fellow
Brushes: Simpson T2
Soap: CBL Roasted Oatmeal Stout
Splash: Thayer's Lavender Toner WH
Balm: OneBlade Black Tie PSB

Pretty solid shave today, but not exceptional. Mostly DFS all around. The blade did its job. but OCs and I don't always see eye-to-eye. That was the case today. While the shave was close, there were a couple of spots around the apple where the blade gave me a sensation similar to the scratchiness of s really cheap badge brush. But mostly the blade behaved itself,