The 2023: 1-Blade, 1-Week, Daily Shaving Adventure

[Frag_Out]

The coronation shave on the Treet King was nothing short of majestic. Standard 3 pass for me of XTG NE/SW and back. ATG where I take care of any j hooking and buffing and a ceremonial WTG final pass. This blade cut through each pass smoothly with no weepers and very little pickups around my chin. The only blood came from a decapitated blemish that I never felt. BBS.
Light feedback from the alum block and just a hint of sting from the aftershaves. The Pear's Menthol mixed with the ARKO provided a pleasant tingle throughout that lingered just long enough after. I know that Afta isn't considered a balm but I use it as such and my skin felt amazing after this shave.
This razor and blade combo performed so well tonight that I may just call it good and marry these two together. The last I checked 100 of these blades was around $20 which puts it in Bic CP cost territory. Should this blade make it through the week and maintain anywhere near tonight's performance I will have 1 or 2 hundred inbound hot. This shave was one for my record books.

 

[APBinNCA]

Should this blade make it through the week and maintain anywhere near tonight's performance I will have 1 or 2 hundred inbound hot.

This is one of the few Treets(snicker) that I haven't tried, but I would wait before pulling the trigger on 200, you still have 9 left in the pack. Then again, I did buy 200 Falcons so I am not one to talk!

 

[Frag_Out]

This is one of the few Treets(snicker) that I haven't tried, but I would wait before pulling the trigger on 200, you still have 9 left in the pack. Then again, I did buy 200 Falcons so I am not one to talk!

I don't know if they ship as 1 or 2 hundred being 10 per tuck. That said, all I need is 2 more repeats of tonight to guide my purchase. The challenge is a week but I typically bin em after 3. Btw I didn't get along with the falcon like I did the classic or silver. You know my plans for the carbons so never a loss even if the shaves aren't spectacular.

 

[Frag_Out]

This is one of the few Treets(snicker) that I haven't tried, but I would wait before pulling the trigger on 200, you still have 9 left in the pack. Then again, I did buy 200 Falcons so I am not one to talk!

Actually 7 left in there but never with this razor

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Thanks for the heads-up, buddy. Is this gonna be another week when I don't finish the blade? I need to quit trying new stuff and go to my old favorites.

No, do both! What I hope to accomplish by this thread is what blades can make the week and which ones crap out early.

Anyone who happens to read this can get an fair idea anyway. Maybe I get seven days from a blade on a regular basis. Maybe you get six shaves out of the same blades I have used.

Another person happens upon this thread and tries one of these same blades. That individual may get six or seven shaves. They will then have a good idea how many days they might get with the other blades in this thread.

The more blades the better. Sometimes we will have common well known blades. Other weeks we may get some rare ones, who knows?

Two blades that have already aroused my curiosity are:

Have not previously heard of these blades. These Statum look interesting? So do these Treet Kings?

• 
  
• 

Who knows what treasures may be unearthed in this Adventure?

 

[CANES]

Hey guys,

Another fail for this week. Did 5 shaves with the Rockwell blade this week and tore up my face tonight with how rough it had become. Something new on the agenda for Sunday but not sure what yet.

@APBinNCA want to tell me who makes these blades or where they're from now?

 

[APBinNCA]

Hey guys,

Another fail for this week. Did 5 shaves with the Rockwell blade this week and tore up my face tonight with how rough it had become. Something new on the agenda for Sunday but not sure what yet.

@APBinNCA want to tell me who makes these blades or where they're from now?

Sorry to hear about that! The blade is from some Chinese manufacturer, someone was going to try to match up the tabs and other clues to pinpoint which one. That fell through and I forgot about it, sorry. There really isn't any excuse as there are actually decent blades from CN, just like any moderately advanced manufacturing economy. Choosing a country that is palatable is another matter for some, just blades for others.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Another fail for this week. Did 5 shaves with the Rockwell blade this week and tore up my face tonight with how rough it had become.

Wow... sorry to hear that!...

Please don't soldier on with a dull or damaged blade! If you have to legitimately cut your adventure short, so be it! There are things that you have control over and things you don't!

Saving face is important. As specially as if it is your face! There is always another blade battle to be fought...

 

[CANES]

There really isn't any excuse as there are actually decent blades from CN, just like any moderately advanced manufacturing economy.

Thanks! Yeah, it's almost surprising to me that they can be the leader of many products in the world today but there are a lot of blades made in third world countries that routinely beat them. I guess their priorities are focused in other directions.

 

[CANES]

Please don't soldier on with a dull or damaged blade!

You don't have to worry about that, buddy. It's already been trashed. I'll find another "serviceable" blade to kill these last few days and start over again.

I'm glad you started this thread- it gave me incentive to try some of these odd blades that I've accumulated and never had reason to use.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

there are a lot of blades made in third world countries that routinely beat them.

Consider that, in smaller, less affluent countries, people take their jobs seriously. Dorco has a state-of-the-art plant in Vietnam that makes some wonderful blades.

When we consider DE blades, they may not only be manufactured in less economically developed countries, but they are sold for use in these countries too.

Which generally means that not only are they often good products but they represent a good value for the dollar.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

I'm glad you started this thread- it gave me incentive to try some of these odd blades that I've accumulated and never had reason to use.

I have five blades left over from the end of last year with a few shaves left out of the possible 8-shaves.

I will use these for any misc. days that I may have.

I have a small box under the sink labeled 2nd half of 2022, where they will go after I have finished with them.

I have them marked as either "P" meaning "pulled" or "OK", in case I wish to use them for any other extra days I may have.

I always have some extra blades laying around...

 

[APBinNCA]

Polsilver Super Iridium 8 shaves

After nearly two weeks in this razor, I have finally finished off this blade. I use blades one edge at a time, mostly so I can detect changes in a blade by switching to a fresh side if it's condition is in doubt. I usually only get four to five shaves out of modern blades and don't try to push things. I can do six on a Kai. Here is how things went.

On the first edge I had three excellent, nearly equal quality shaves right out of the wrapper. This is what I expect out of a blade and rarely receive. This also highlights how far PPI has fallen and, sorry to say it, good riddance to them. These are from shortly after they moved the production from Poland and clearly wanted to demonstrate that the blades are the same quality as previously. The only blade that even remotely comes close to this quality is a Silver Blue, but I have some duds of those. I would replace these discontinued blades with those blades if I was going to stick with PPI, they are the closest alternative.

I then took a break to use another razor for several shaves. Once I came back to this razor and blade, I was once again rewarded with three more identical shaves on the opposite edge. I might have binned the blade after this except that my supply of these is dwindling and finding genuine ones is difficult.

Now the seventh shave gets interesting, it started out well enough, but things were going down hill subtly. Still plenty sharp at first, but once I hit the goatee forrest, the blade made it clear that this wasn't going to go as expected. This is where I normally flip the edge around and finish with the second side. But I persisted and honestly it didn't really add any extra time to my shave and whiskers were still appearing in the lather. This is the problem with stainless blades in that they go bad instead of go dull. But this blade really held up well and only produced a little heat toward the end of the shave and after. Had I flipped it, this would have been seven shaves without irritation.

On the eighth shave, knowing what to expect from the blade, I adjusted my prep and lather quality. I thought I was going to get away with this one better than the last, which wasn't that bad, but once again at the same spot in the shave things went down hill. My face was slightly red from the alcohol based aftershave, but better than yesterday so no long term consequences. I gave the blade a Viking funeral by shaving the back of my neck.

So that's it, this is a seven shave blade for me. No less, no more, no different for six shaves. I will say that the seventh and eights shaves also resulted in a less close shave which is further evidence that it was time to retire this blade. But a perfectly passable shave, just barely BBS according to my rating system.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

So that's it, this is a seven shave blade for me. No less, no more, no different for six shaves. I will say that the seventh and eights shaves also resulted in a less close shave

Sounds like you have a definite method to your shaves. I have never shaved with the Polsilver.

As they were ending production I was returning to DE shaving. The blades were naturally going sky high in price.

I was not going to pay a premium for them. Besides, I didn't have any interest in going after a blade that was no longer in production. If something was not going to be available now or in the future at normal pricing, what is the point?

I am shaving with a Wizamet blade this week. Today is shave #5, still going strong.

Maybe you can shave with a Wizamet yourself for a comparison?

I can send a tuck your way if needed.

But please, let's keep it to no more than 1-Week of daily shaving. More shaves daily are fine. Some people will shave again in the evening before going out.

Overall blade longetivity of more than 1-Week is beyond the scope of this thread. What we're looking at here is, can a modern blade last a week before changing to a new blade for the following week?

I started my year/week on Sunday, January 1st. My 7th day/shave is the following Saturday, changing again on Sunday.

I am now on week / blade #3, shave #5, with two days / shaves remaining...

 

[APBinNCA]

Maybe you can shave with a Wizamet yourself for a comparison?

It's next up on the agenda... after returning to my new razor for awhile. It showed up unexpectedly mid week while using the Polsilver and there was no way that I was going to wait. This time, I won't be starting up the Wizamet until I have a full week free. My final report will probably be mid to late February, let's see if I pull that off!

FYI, production on those may have ceased or at least paused and several retailers are listing them as discontinued. The current cost of a full pillar is not yet ridiculous so if you want them, grab them soon. It's part of the reason I am going back to re-evaluate them.

 

[Jayson74]

1-19-23 Thur. PM

SWS: 3 of 52
365: 20 of 365
01 GRUME: 20 of 31

Razor: Lupo aluminum
Blade: TreeT platinum (7)
Soap: Blue Barbershop
Brush: RR Bruce bowl lather
Post: Alum, RR Green label splash

3 passes, N-S, N-S, and S-N. Tried something different tonight. Worked very well. DFS+++ and very little Alum feedback! Lupo for all three passes works fine as long as I keep it shallow. The Treet is still smooth after 7 shaves, impressed.

Be well
Jay

 

[ShavingPrimate]

The Treet Platinum was one of the first Treet blades that I am looking forward to trying.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 3 Ends: Blade is a Wizamet Super Iridium.

Yes, made it through all 7-daily shaves.

Did seem to tug a bit on the final shave earlier today. Still the shave came off close and smooth, with zero irritation.

Could go another shave but I feel that seven is enough.

As a comment, Wizamet's seem like perfectly fine blades. However, I don't find them to be markedly sharper or smoother than my other better blades. They don't seem to last any longer either.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 4 Begins: Blade is a Nacet.

 

[CANES]

Not sure what I'm going to do this week. The weather changed and some irritation came back from that among other things. Something I deal with constantly and the only way it gets better is using an electric or not shaving. I always go for the electric and shave wet so I still get to play with my soaps and brushes, etc.

May have to skip this week because I know I won't be able to attempt all 7 days. Oddly enough, my choice was going to be a Nacet too. I've tried it once before and really enjoyed it.