RK Chromium

[CANES]

I received a box of these with a recent package from Pete Hendrix of HCC. I had never heard of them before but am not a "blade guy". I'll try whatever is given to me in orders, etc. but I stick with Astra Greens for the most part and don't go out of my way to try other things. The last three blades I've tried were so bad I said I was done with trying new things. I'm usually disappointed when comparing new stuff to what I normally use.

On a whim, I opened these up. 10 blades to a pack which is nice. They seemed really thin compared to my other blades, but that may be my imagination. I loaded one up in my favorite razor- the SCS A1- and started the shave. Call me impressed. They seem to be a nice combo of pretty sharp and smooth. Seemed to be sharper than my Astra blades. It resulted in an extremely close and comfortable shave. Same thing with shave #2 this morning. No difference at all. Very nice.

A little bit of research shows that Henson razors has partnered with this company to provide blades for them and they're available on auction sites, etc. for a decent price (12 USD or so) per 100. Made in India.

I like them. Anybody else have any comments?

 

[T Bone]

I got some RK stainless with my Henson, never seen the chromium before. The stainless ones seem polarizing, people who have gotten them with their Henson either love them or hate them. I really like them, I’d be curious to try a chromium if I ever came across it.

 

[CANES]

I got some RK stainless with my Henson, never seen the chromium before. The stainless ones seem polarizing, people who have gotten them with their Henson either love them or hate them. I really like them, I’d be curious to try a chromium if I ever came across it.

Shoot me a PM with your address and I'll throw a couple your way if you'd like.

 

[APBinNCA]

They are on my to try list, but I have forgotten where I found them. I was going to add some to an order, it's one of the know retailers, not ebay. They are going to have a tough time topping all my favourite Indian blades such as Super-Max, Laser, etc. Most of these Indian blades fall between Gillette Platinum and Voskhod in sharpness and smoothness, which suites me perfectly!

 

[CANES]

They are on my to try list, but I have forgotten where I found them. I was going to add some to an order, it's one of the know retailers, not ebay. They are going to have a tough time topping all my favourite Indian blades such as Super-Max, Laser, etc. Most of these Indian blades fall between Gillette Platinum and Voskhod in sharpness and smoothness, which suites me perfectly!

Same offer to you, buddy. Shoot me a PM and I'll drop a couple in an envelope if you'd like to try it.

 

[T Bone]

Shoot me a PM with your address and I'll throw a couple your way if you'd like.

Really? Yeah, I'm interested in testing a couple, thank you, sir!

 

[FarmerTan]

@CANES has just won "Knight of the Month" in the Kingdom of Arkoland!

Congratulations.

That and a nickel used to get you a cup of coffee, but seriously, well done my friend!

 

[CANES]

@CANES has just won "Knight of the Month" in the Kingdom of Arkoland!

Congratulations.

That and a nickel used to get you a cup of coffee, but seriously, well done my friend!

Sweet. I'm already a Knights of Columbus and now a Knight in Arkoland, too? I better get that stick out again. It's been a while.

 

[TheBigL]

I have some RK blades, both chrome and stainless. It's been a while since I used them, but I don't remember them being bad. I also have some Pro500 blades that I'm pretty sure came from the same factory.

 

[T Bone]

Gave the RK Chromium a run this morning courtesy of @CANES. Got a nice BBS-, just 1 tiny weeper at very end (didn't notice until I went to apply aftershave a couple minutes later), pretty much no irritation. Neither the sharpest blade nor the dullest, it handled my completely average beard without tugging, just a little difficulty getting through the tougher goatee area.

So far I like it, I'll see how it lasts the week. Since it's coated, it might be sharper the next shave or 2. But based the first shave, I think if you like the RK Stainless that comes with Henson razors (or other middle-sharpness blades), you'll probably like this; if you find the stainless too dull and tuggy, you probably won't.

 

[fast shaver]

Got my blades this A.M. courtesy of @CANES
I put the Strangelet blade in my Lupo Razor & after two swipes on my cheek I replaced it with a Statum blade.
The Strangelet blade was awful tuggy & rough.
The Statum blade was as smooth as a Rolls Royce at mowing down my stubble.
I will try the RK Chromium blade tomorrow in my Yaqi Tile razor.. A Henson clone that is medium sharpness ++
I will also re visit the strangelet blade later on but I don't give it much hope unlike The Statum blade which gave me an almost BBS shave.

 

[APBinNCA]

Props to @CANES for sharing some these blades with others here, sorry that I haven't taken up the offer myself! If you find that you have too many, remember that you can trade them over at the great blade exchange. I am severely behind on testing and can't bring myself to binning any blade before 4 shaves so I need to work on what I have. The problem is every time I find something that I like, I end up buying several hundred along with more un-tried blades to test!

 

[fast shaver]

RK Chromium blade, yaqi Tile razor & Captains Choice Sandalwood Cream soap.
The RK Chromium blade did not disappoint for this A.M.s shave.
It was a little less smooth on the first shave like the Statum blade was but not by a whole lot. Both these blades shave very much alike IMO.
I do prefer the Statum blade so far though.
Captains Choice Sandalwood cream soap offered plenty of protection during the shave.
Many Thanks to @CANES for his kindness in sending me these wonderful blades.

 

[T Bone]

Finished my RK Chromium week. Shave 2 on Saturday was similar to #1, seemed neither sharper nor duller to me. Monday’s felt like it was starting to tug some though, and it limped to the finish line tonight. I don’t care much about longevity as long as a blade lasts me a week (usually 4 shaves), but if I were testing longevity, I’d probably bin it after tonight anyways.

Results got progressively worse: DFS+ Saturday, DFS Monday and tonight. No blood on Monday, a couple of small weepers Saturday and today, but nothing that lasted past the shave. That’s actually a pretty good outcome for me. Very little irritation from any of the 4 shaves. (Well, I just finished tonight. I don’t think what little irritation I’m feeling would linger, but I’m going to sleep shortly.)

So overall a mixed bag. It’s been a couple months since I used an RK Stainless, but I feel like I preferred the Stainless. My other Chromium I’ll compare with a Stainless in back to back weeks to test that theory, but I have a few other blades I want to get to first.

Thanks again @CANES for the blades to try out! I’ll resurrect this thread in a few weeks when i get to my back-to-back RK weeks. I’m curious if you notice much difference / had a preference.

 

[CANES]

Finished my RK Chromium week. Shave 2 on Saturday was similar to #1, seemed neither sharper nor duller to me. Monday’s felt like it was starting to tug some though, and it limped to the finish line tonight. I don’t care much about longevity as long as a blade lasts me a week (usually 4 shaves), but if I were testing longevity, I’d probably bin it after tonight anyways.

Results got progressively worse: DFS+ Saturday, DFS Monday and tonight. No blood on Monday, a couple of small weepers Saturday and today, but nothing that lasted past the shave. That’s actually a pretty good outcome for me. Very little irritation from any of the 4 shaves. (Well, I just finished tonight. I don’t think what little irritation I’m feeling would linger, but I’m going to sleep shortly.)

So overall a mixed bag. It’s been a couple months since I used an RK Stainless, but I feel like I preferred the Stainless. My other Chromium I’ll compare with a Stainless in back to back weeks to test that theory, but I have a few other blades I want to get to first.

Thanks again @CANES for the blades to try out! I’ll resurrect this thread in a few weeks when i get to my back-to-back RK weeks. I’m curious if you notice much difference / had a preference.

My preference is Astra Greens. Longevity is better. I can easily get 7-10 shaves on a blade without going ATG.

Both are serviceable to me. Better than some in the same price range. I thought that the Chromium was a bit sharper than the Stainless but they're really pretty equal in all regards. I would have no qualms in buying either of them if my regular rotation of blades disappeared...which they probably won't any time in the next few years.

 

[mikhou]

I keep wanting to try the RK Stainless that came with my Henson, but I keep getting involved in @Grundi's PIFs so I keep putting the RK off! This post reminds me that I need to try them. Ha!

 

[rodrigaj]

RK Stainless and Henson AL13 mild.

Both brand new to me. Taking a break from my Feather AC DX and SS. I thought the combination of the two was perfect and found out that the blade and the Henson AL13 razor were designed for each other. I was able to get a two pass shave with no nicks, weepers, or irritation first shave around.

So I ordered 100 from Henson for the very reasonable price of $10. No need to experiment further.

 

[jaro 101969]

Never heard of these blades. Of course I have never tried a/n Henson or a Yaqi Tile so that may be why I haven't.... I will have to look into these at some future point.....

 

[fast shaver]

Got a Henson Razor V2 ++ from my son as an early Christmas present so I am Officially a Henson guy.
Will use it tomorrow with an Eddison blade for a Discovery thread shave. @T Bone will be Happy that I'm on Team Henson.!

 

[APBinNCA]

So it looks like the 100 packs aren't available stateside right now, the retailers are overpricing the tucks if people want to try them. They are currently about 10-11USD per 100 if you order direct from India. I was surprised by this as I have seen the RK Henson blades as cheap as $7, I think, last year. I decided to start with these Chromium blades first out of my Indian blade sample because I never got around to it when this thread was started.

I have only done one shave so far, but I like them well enough. I am not going to go so far as to say I was impressed, that would be silly. The blade started out almost exactly like a Rapira or Ladas(all the same) sharpness wise, noticeable resistance to cutting. Better than Tatras or Shark Stainless which won't shave my face. As long as you have a razor with positive exposure and are comfortable giving the blade a firm nudge, they are capable of good per pass efficiency. What surprised me was that the blade did sharpen up right about half way through my shave, using only one edge. Whereas with Sharks and even Swedish Super Steel, which I actually like, the blade was doing the exact opposite(becoming duller). I almost forgot to mention, the feel is sufficiently smooth. That one earns a surprising as I was genuinely surprised to even get through one shave without the blade growing fangs!

I was expecting to only get two shaves out of this blade, partly based on what I thought they would cost. Considering that it actually sharpened up, it earns a second shave on the same edge. As long as it doesn't go south and I have to switch edges, I anticipate doing four shaves, even if I need to push it a bit. It's doubtful that I am going to be willing to do more, but who knows! I will only make one more post in a few days summarising how things went since these don't get much discussion.