Participation PIF - The Mysterious KAI Blades

[blantyre]

63 shaves is amazing! It would be way beyond adequate for a P74 or Light Brigade (usually about 30 shaves for me). I occasionally use Kai s and typically get about 10 shaves before I replace. They still have some left but seem to have peaked by 6 or 7.

 

[FarmerTan]

Used a Kai again the other day, in a Gillette NEW Long Comb.

Outstanding, as usual, and I was in a hurry.

 

[Ron R]

DE SOTD, Fri, May 14th 2021

Razor: Razorock SLOC- excellent milder>range, carefree shave, excellent results using a Kai SS blade. Great daily driver for some.
One of my favorites when I use to travel, hard to nick yourself IMO, easy on the skin.
Blade: Kai SS (4) excellent blade, wider than a standard Gillette blade by .009 thousands of a inch, Sharp & smooth with great longevity. Great blade for milder razors that need a boost.
Soap: Razorock Santa Marie del Fiore- nice mild tobacco and vanilla scent, excellent lather qualities.
I like the soap scent more than the A.S IMO.
Brush: Yaqi Moka 24 mm synthetic- excellent lather creator, heavenly cloud like soft tips+ gentle scrubber + great lather painter.
Pre shave: Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on the cleaned beard area.
Prep: Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave: Razorock Sant Marie del Fiore aftershave with witch hazel+ a dollop of AVON true gent balm.
Results: CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers = excellent shave with my RR SLOC razor with a Kai SS DE blade.

Have some great shaves! Stay & think safe in these times, light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[JAHE]

Razor: Gillette New Long Comb

Blade #3 / Shave #8

My third KAI has significantly started to fade. I don't think I can quench out a lot more shaves out of it. Maybe one or two more.

Today's shave was okay (the Mistura was the star of the show), it took me three passes plus touchups to get to the DFS level.

Once this blade is ready to bin my journey with the mysterious Kai blade will be over... but that's not the case yet.

Enjoy your Sunday, y'all!

 

[Chaucer]

Sorry hit the wrong key.
Anyway, my shaves with this blade started to decline in quality since about shave 12. Still smooth, but efficiency and ultimate closeness haven't been the same. For me, life's too short to continue with a suboptimal blade even if it's still pretty good. Overall, though, my experience with this Kai blade were superb in every way. Smoothness, lack of blood and irritation, efficiency and closeness all were as good as it gets. I'll be glad to try another one, but next time I'll try a different razor and see how that goes.

18th shave with my 2nd Kai blade this morning. A record for me with any blade. Still sharp and smooth.

 

[JAHE]

Razor: Fatip Open Comb Slant

BLADE #3 / SHAVE #9

This has been the last shave with the third and last KAI. I had to change blades between passes. What a difference the fresh blade made... Three passes, some touchups, but still not a bbs shave result (overall: DFS).

I will provide my personal verdict in course of the upcoming weekend, but I already can say it's been a great joy to participate in this participation PIF.

Have some great shaves, y'all!

 

[JAHE]

As announced I may share my final thoughts after having completed the "Mysterious KAI participating PIF".

Overall, KAI really is a very nice blade that provided upper medium sharpness and upper medium smoothness during the shaves. The sharpness lasted for a very good amount of shaves, too. Personally, I don't have issues with extended blade feel, so the shave with KAI didn't bother me in this respect.

The blade worked effortless and efficient in almost every razor in my den (the shaves with Mühle's R89 were suboptimal though).

Notwithstanding all these positive remarks it's not a blade I'd buy in bulk: despite being a very good performer KAI doesn't outperform other blades I can buy for a fraction of KAI's price (say Nacet, Gillette Wilkinson Sword China, BIC Platinum Chrome). However, it's a blade absolutely worth a try.

As stated yesterday, it's been a great pleasure to join this group activity and to discover a new to me blade in detail.

Thanks again to @Grundi and @AnimalCatcher for hosting this PIF.

 

[Chaucer]

18th shave with my 2nd Kai blade this morning. A record for me with any blade. Still sharp and smooth.

20th shave yesterday am. The blade was losing sharpness, and shaves were taking longer. I could have squeezed out a few more, but I “left them laughing” and let that shave be the last one with that blade. Still, 20 shaves on a blade is a record for me. Kai blades rock!

 

[xiletero]

I tried a used Kai (do no remember # uses) in a shavette.
One side Kai, the other used Lord Platinum used (4-5 times)
Kai side had more irritation and two small bleeders.
I am not a typical shavette shaver, but these were out and staring at me. I don't particularly like Lord Platinum, these are pre cut and the Kai I had to cut myself.
Advantage Lord in this comparison. The Kai was very irritating, and I think it was the same in DE razors.

 

[Ron R]

DE SOTD, Sat, May 29th 2021, A day late

Razor: Gillette Golden Tech- Mfg 1940's, mild razor, nice handling, always liked the Gillette fat handle, like to use a extra wide Kai SS blade to give it a boost with a little extra blade feel.
Blade: Kai SS (5) excellent blade, extra wide compared to a Gillette standard blade by .009" thousands of a inch, or .0045 per side.
Sharp & smooth with great longevity. A bit pricy but having a tuck in the den for those mild razors is nice.
Soap: Razorock Lavender, nice scent + excellent lather qualities.
Brush: Yaqi Moka express 26mm 2band badger- excellent lather generator, pillow like soft tips, nice scrub, great lather painter.
Pre shave: Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on cleaned beard area.
Prep: Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave: Razorock King Louis Lavender with witch hazel + a dollop of Nivea balm.
Results: CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers= excellent shave with my Gillette golden tech with a wide Kai SS Blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[mistercindy]

I'm not part of this trial, but I've been using Kai blades for years. Sharp as a Feather but smoother. Accompanying the Kai blades:

• Razor: Timeless SS, .68 SB, 85mm
• Brush: Simpson Commodore X3 Best Badger for creams, Semogue Owners Club for soaps
• Pre-Shave: Truefitt & Hill Ultimate Comfort pre-shave oil
• Soaps: Usually Mitchell's Wool Fat. Also several D.R. Harris soaps, Cold River Limenthol, Cold River Schapenmelk, a couple others
• Creams: One of several TOBS, Truefitt & Hill 1815
• Post-Shave: My favorite, Truefitt & Hill Classic Aftershave Balm is no longer made, so I use it sparingly. D.R. Harris Aftershave Milk

 

[Jesu27]

I just used this blade for the first time 20 minutes ago...It was such an amazing shave...I'm still buzzing off of how good it was.

 

[Jesu27]

I'm not in the pif fun but I did just have a 2nd shave with the kai blade. All I can say is this is a contender for my #1.
Pre: hot water + magic shave
Soap: Tabac
Brush: omega #48 boar brush
Razor: ikon short comb
Post: alum, lucky tiger face tonic, tabac af, Nivea sensitive balm
Three pass no touch up perfect bbs. Smooth, No irritation and no redness. Perfect shave... I'm pretty sure I'm going to by a sleeve of these blades.

 

[Ron R]

One last comparison to a standard Gillette 7oClock SS to a Kai SS extra wide blade(.009 inch or .23mm wider) the pictures explain the advantage if a fellow wants a little more blade exposure by just changing blades instead of shimming.
Some times a fellow wants a little more blade feel but not alarming amount.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Tanuki]

Sixty-third shave with the Mysterious Kai blade #2

Bravo!
I checked back in to see how far Demolition's Kai went. I have my current Kai parked in my Wunderbar. Now that OCtober is over I gave it shave 25. No issues, very close shave.

 

[FarmerTan]

Bravo!
I checked back in to see how far Demolition's Kai went. I have my current Kai parked in my Wunderbar. Now that OCtober is over I gave it shave 25. No issues, very close shave.
View attachment 1356793

My first one is going strong.....but I doubt if I have half a dozen shaves on it....

 

[mikhou]

Is this still going? Just curious as it was recently recommended to me. Thanks.

 

[Grundi]

Is this still going? Just curious as it was recently recommended to me. Thanks.

Unfortunately, this one was over a while ago. Most found the KAI blades to be excellent, long lasting blades; definitely recommend trying a KAI blade.

There is a new Mysteree-X Blade Participation PIF that is just starting up and you can get in on.

 

[mikhou]

Unfortunately, this one was over a while ago. Most found the KAI blades to be excellent, long lasting blades; definitely recommend trying a KAI blade.

There is a new Mysteree-X Blade Participation PIF that is just starting up and you can get in on.

Thanks. I was referred here in another thread, and I get I just assumed that it might still be going. But if I was sharper, I would have seen that the last post was in Nov 2021.

I'll check out the other PIF.

 

[Ron R]

A few months ago I was doing some research into another wide blade that is not manufactured any more & it was the Sputnik razor blade(absolite now) that was made and it has a similar width to the Kai SS extra wide blade. I was measuring some razor blades with a very fine feel because they are so thin with my Machinist micrometer and thought maybe I should share while I'm thinking about it. The Kai SS blade is a great blade and use it in razor that need a slight boost efficentcy or a increase in blade feel. Very hard to measure accurately IMO but the measurements are the best I could come up with.
Some old archived photo's of blade comparisons with other known common that are still used. (Click photo to enlarge!)

(click photo to enlarge)

Some testing I was doing months ago on the old Sputnik old VS newer Generation Sputnik blades made to Gillette specs!

Have some great shaves!