Review from 20 Blade PIF

[lancre]

I decided to start with the Treet Carbon Steel blade because I've never tried a modern blade that wasn't stainless.

This blade was tested in a Ball End Tech, with Nivea Men Sensitive Shave Cream (one of my favourites) applied with an Omega 11574 boar brush.

On the first day, Treet Carbon Steel blades gave a satisfactory 3-pass CCS shave,with more blade feel than I'm used to. There was minimal post-shave irritation, the tiniest tingle from my alum block. I had tried a Treet Platinum Super Stainless in the past and found it quite satisfactory, giving me a 3-pass DFS. The carbon steel isn't in the same class.

Second day, it was more of the same, maybe a little rougher with a little more irritation.

So I decided to push my luck and try for a third day. That was a mistake. The shave was SAS, looked OK, but with enough hidden stubble to make my neck feel like 120 grit sandpaper. The alum block definitely made itself known. In retrospect, I should have quit after day 2.

I'm a little disappointed in them. Rewinding my memory 55-60 years, I seem to remember that the big advantage that CS knife blades had over SS was that the CS was capable of a sharper edge than SS. It wouldn't hold that edge for as long as the SS, and it would corrode, but it could be sharper to start. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Sharpness 6/10
Smoothness 4/10
Overall 5/10

 

[Graybeard57]

Thanks for the review. What is your favorite blade?

 

[lancre]

Thanks for the review. What is your favorite blade?

I don't know if I can pick out just one.
The closest shave I've ever had was a Feather in a 1940's BET.
The smoothest was a Voskhod - after the first stroke I stopped to make sure I hadn't put the baseplate in upside-down.
I also love the US Personnas. And for me the one blade that seems to work in any razor I can find is a Derby.

This PIF will seriously broaden my experience with Asian blades.

 

[Demidog]

I used the same blade for the first time a few days ago. I thought that the first shave was great but the second left me questioning whether I should pursue a third. I was told that since they're carbon steel, they need to be carefully wiped off or sprayed with alcohol after every shave in order to prevent corrosion, but that's way more time and effort than I'm willing to invest after every shave.

 

[lancre]

2nd pif review: Shark Super Stainless

I've used Shark Super Chromes before, so I was interested to see how the SS compared toy the chrome.

This blade was tested in a Ball End Tech, with Nivea Men Sensitive Shave Cream (one of my favourites) applied with an Semogue 830 boar brush. I normally bin a blade after four uses. This Shark probably could have gone for more but I decided not to chance it.

On day 1 the Shark Super Stainless Blade was an easy 3-pass DFS in BET. It was sharp and reasonably smooth, but not as smooth as Voskhod or Personna Lab Blues. The closeness of the shave was comparable to a Voskhod and not quite as close as a Lab. So BBS on my face and DFS on my neck.

Day 2 in a Black Tip SS with L'Occitane Cade soap - Wow. I don't know if it was the SS or the Cade, or just the 2nd day, but it was BBS all the way.

Day 3 in a V3A with AOS Tallow was also BBS but with a little more blade feel.

Day 4 in a Slim back with the Nivea cream. The shave quality dropped back to a DFS. Pretty much the end of the line for this blade. Still no nicks weepers or irritation, just a dropoff in performance. Since I routinely bin a Blade after 4 shaves, this is average longevity for me.

I would recommend this blade to anyone to try.

Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 8/10
Overall 8/10

 

[Grundi]

2nd pif review: Shark Super Stainless

I've used Shark Super Chromes before, so I was interested to see how the SS compared toy the chrome.

This blade was tested in a Ball End Tech, with Nivea Men Sensitive Shave Cream (one of my favourites) applied with an Semogue 830 boar brush. I normally bin a blade after four uses. This Shark probably could have gone for more but I decided not to chance it.

On day 1 the Shark Super Stainless Blade was an easy 3-pass DFS in BET. It was sharp and reasonably smooth, but not as smooth as Voskhod or Personna Lab Blues. The closeness of the shave was comparable to a Voskhod and not quite as close as a Lab. So BBS on my face and DFS on my neck.

Day 2 in a Black Tip SS with L'Occitane Cade soap - Wow. I don't know if it was the SS or the Cade, or just the 2nd day, but it was BBS all the way.

Day 3 in a V3A with AOS Tallow was also BBS but with a little more blade feel.

Day 4 in a Slim back with the Nivea cream. The shave quality dropped back to a DFS. Pretty much the end of the line for this blade. Still no nicks weepers or irritation, just a dropoff in performance. Since I routinely bin a Blade after 4 shaves, this is average longevity for me.

I would recommend this blade to anyone to try.

Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 8/10
Overall 8/10

Great reviews! I like Shark blades and have had similar experiences that you've had. After 4 shaves, it's time to replace the blade; but that's 4 decent shaves!

 

[lancre]

3rd PIF review: Flying Eagle



/rantmodeon/
I used to think I could get a decent shave out of any blade, at least in a Tech. This blade has shown me that I was wrong. This is absolutely the worst blade I have ever tried. I'm not 100% sure that it cut anything in two and a half passes, just tried to pull the whiskers out by the roots. After that I gave up. Its only saving grace is that it's so dull that it wasn't even capable of causing nicks and weepers.

When I say it's the worst I've ever tried, you have to realize that includes ancient ASR carbon steel med prep blades. The ASR's felt harsh, but I managed to get a CCS out of them. No such luck with Flying Eagle. Longevity won't figure into my evaluation of this blade because I binned it after just the one shave. And I'm a cheap SOB so what does that tell you?
/rantmodeoff/

This is a blade I can recommend to people who **** me off. Maybe I should recommend it to my brother?

Sharpness 1/10
Smoothness 1/10
Overall 1/10

 

[BSAGuy]

Keep 'em coming.

 

[Demidog]

A lot of people say technique trumps tools but there are some blades that just don't work.

 

[lancre]

A lot of people say technique trumps tools but there are some blades that just don't work.

As a general rule I believe that technique trumps tools. I've typically seen much less variation in the results I get than forum comments would lead me to expect, but for the first time, this blade absolutely stymied me. I know I'm still a novice and other more experienced shavers may have better results. That's why a rant like that is unusual for me.

 

[Grundi]

3rd PIF review: Flying Eagle

View attachment 785720

/rantmodeon/
I used to think I could get a decent shave out of any blade, at least in a Tech. This blade has shown me that I was wrong. This is absolutely the worst blade I have ever tried. I'm not 100% sure that it cut anything in two and a half passes, just tried to pull the whiskers out by the roots. After that I gave up. Its only saving grace is that it's so dull that it wasn't even capable of causing nicks and weepers.

When I say it's the worst I've ever tried, you have to realize that includes ancient ASR carbon steel med prep blades. The ASR's felt harsh, but I managed to get a CCS out of them. No such luck with Flying Eagle. Longevity won't figure into my evaluation of this blade because I binned it after just the one shave. And I'm a cheap SOB so what does that tell you?
/rantmodeoff/

This is a blade I can recommend to people who **** me off. Maybe I should recommend it to my brother?

Sharpness 1/10
Smoothness 1/10
Overall 1/10

YES!! I just received my allotment of 20 blades and picked the Flying Eagle before reading your review...now I'm double excited to try a really bad blade!! This clinches it; I love trying the -EST of blades - best/worst!!

Maybe we can start a Flying Eagle Survivors Club?!?!

 

[lancre]

Good luck! And if you can get it to work: A. You're a better shaver than I.
B. HOW!?!?!


Is that anything like that other blade survival club?

 

[Grundi]

Good luck! And if you can get it to work:
A. You're a better shaver than I.
B. HOW!?!?!

Is that anything like that other blade survival club?

I did it!! Now we can both say that we're Flying Eagle Survivors!!

I'll be doing a full review later, but this blade is full of contradictions...great name, great looking blade (what's more awesome than a black blade), great packaging, but dull, dull, dull, did I mention that it's dull; however no razor burn, seriously, no razor burn (smooth but dull, can a blade be both?!?). It gave me a lousy 2-pass shave (I gritted it out, and didn't spill the secret code as the blade pulled each and every hair), 6 hours later and I need to shave again. But it didn't take the worst blade prize (in my mind, that's still firmly the Graham Field).

 

[lancre]

I did it!! Now we can both say that we're Flying Eagle Survivors!!

I'll be doing a full review later, but this blade is full of contradictions...great name, great looking blade (what's more awesome than a black blade), great packaging, but dull, dull, dull, did I mention that it's dull; however no razor burn, seriously, no razor burn (smooth but dull, can a blade be both?!?). It gave me a lousy 2-pass shave (I gritted it out, and didn't spill the secret code as the blade pulled each and every hair), 6 hours later and I need to shave again. But it didn't take the worst blade prize (in my mind, that's still firmly the Graham Field).

I never ran up against the Graham Field but if it's worse than the Flying Eagle....
Getting back to Flying Eagle, as I applied the PS Balm, it felt like I needed a shave then. I only waited until the next day to let my neck recover.

 

[lancre]

Super Platinum


Day 1: In a BET, Nivea Shave Cream, Omega 11574 brush
Life is back to normal after the Flying Eagle fiasco. I got an effortless 3-pass plus touch-up DFS near the adam's apple, BBS everywhere else.

Day 2: In a Red Tip, Razorock Acqua, Omega 10049 Brush
Same as day 1 even though I changed everything BUT the blade. Perhaps a little more blade feel, but that's about it.

Day 3: In a Maggard V3A, Razorock Acqua, Maggard 24mm synth
Still humming along. Again, just a little more blade feel, but no nicks or weepers. At dinner my commentedthat my neck looked a little red.

Day 4: Shifted back to a mild razor, Black Handle SS, L'Occitane Cade, Omega 10049
It looks like my wife's observation was a harbinger. This shave was significantly worse than the previous. It was a sudden dropoff in shave quality. So it appears that the Super Platinum is sweet for the first couple of shaves, it's a 3-strikes-and-you're-out blade or maybe even 2-and-you're-through.

Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 7/10
Overall 7/10

 

[Grundi]

Good looking blade, and great day-by-day summary. (To get more shaves out of a blade, maybe your wife shouldn't comment until day 4, just saying )

 

[lancre]

Good looking blade, and great day-by-day summary. (To get more shaves out of a blade, maybe your wife shouldn't comment until day 4, just saying )

Well, she didn't say anything about the Flying Eagle. And she's out of town through Sunday, so she can't affect the next blade.

 

[lancre]

Sharp Durablade

Day 1: In a BET, L'Occitane Cade, #162 Ever-Ready Travel brush, re-knotted with a black badger knot. Well, it's not bad, but not very impressive either. I wouldn't say that it lived up to its name. But it was reasonably smooth, and sharp enough that it didn't do a lot of tugging. After 3 passes, I had a CCS on my neck and DFS on my cheeks. By comparison, a Derby Extra gives me a BBS on my cheeks and DFS on my neck. No nicks or weepers, and the alum didn't light me up, so it gets a passing grade.

Day 2: In a 1948 SS, Stirling Clubman, Strong Boar Brush. This is unusual for me. The second shave on this blade was significantly better than the first. Today was an irritation free DFS around my adam's apple and BBS everywhere else. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

Day 3: In a 1948 SS, Nivea Sensitive Shave Cream, Semogue 830. Same as yesterday, except 5 o'**** shadow showed up about two hours earlier. Still better than day 1.

Day 4: In a 1948 SS, Catie's Bubbles Midnight Dreary, Omega 11574. Pretty much back to day 1, DFS everywhere, but no BBS anywhere.

A middle of the road blade, it's worth a try.

Sharpness 7/10
Smoothness 7/10
Overall 7/10

 

[lancre]

BIC Chrome Platinum (blade 6/20)

This blade was tested for two shaves in a Ball End Tech, with Nivea Men Sensitive Shave Cream (one of my favourites) applied with an Omega 11574 boar brush. Also one shaver each in a Merkur 25C & a Slim. I normally bin a blade after four uses. The Bic probably could have gone for more but I decided not to chance it.

Bic Stainless Blade was kind of rough in the 25C, but an easy 3-pass DFS in BET and Slim. It was sharp and reasonably smooth, but not as smooth as Voskhod or Personna Lab Blues. The closeness of the shave was comparable to a Voskhod and not quite as close as a Lab. So BBS on my face and DFS on my neck.

Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 6/10
Overall 7/10

 

[Grundi]

BIC Chrome Platinum (blade 6/20)

This blade was tested for two shaves in a Ball End Tech, with Nivea Men Sensitive Shave Cream (one of my favourites) applied with an Omega 11574 boar brush. Also one shaver each in a Merkur 25C & a Slim. I normally bin a blade after four uses. The Bic probably could have gone for more but I decided not to chance it.

Bic Stainless Blade was kind of rough in the 25C, but an easy 3-pass DFS in BET and Slim. It was sharp and reasonably smooth, but not as smooth as Voskhod or Personna Lab Blues. The closeness of the shave was comparable to a Voskhod and not quite as close as a Lab. So BBS on my face and DFS on my neck.

Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 6/10
Overall 7/10

Very good reviews!!

I'm having a similar experience where some blades perform better in certain razors than others; that's part of the adventure with these blades. I'm learning a lot, too, about the blades, the manufacturers, and all.