Tiger DE Blade Experience

[Toddster64]

Tried a Tiger blade (ordered off the 'Bay) for the first time last night, in my trusty Black Standard. The shave was nothing short of brutal - the blade struggled and pulled through only 36 hours of growth, only the second time in my two years of DE shaving that I've experience this from a blade (a Shanghai-made Gillette Super Blue being my other disaster). The shave was so uncomfortable and inefficient, I ended up abandoning the blade quickly and finishing with my disposable Permatik.

Wonder if others here have any recent experiences with the Tiger. Certainly an exotic-looking blade and the box looks like NOS, but I can't really tell. I'll give it one more go with a blade from another package (I have 10 sets of 10) and try another razor before giving up.



Todd R.

 

[malocchio]

I'm not surprised at all.These are good blades,and your variety is the 3 hole carbon.Obviously these have been subjected to moisture and are rusted and worthless.These are Czech blades,although Russia has contract to manufacture as well...Don't risk lock-jaw,toss the blades,maybe save the nice carton...Buy Tigers from a reputable dealer,they are nice blades.http://www.czechblades.cz/en/products-list

 

[Toddster64]

I'm not surprised at all.These are good blades,and your variety is the 3 hole carbon.Obviously these have been subjected to moisture and are rusted and worthless.These are Czech blades,although Russia has contract to manufacture as well...Don't risk lock-jaw,toss the blades,maybe save the nice carton...Buy Tigers from a reputable dealer,they are nice blades.http://www.czechblades.cz/en/products-list

Malocchio:

As always, I appreciate your feedback - you have a great deal of experience with a wide variety of blades around the globe, so I'll check out your link and run a comparison. Thanks for taking the time to respond!


Todd

 

[Witterm]

I contacted Czech blades looking for someplace to buy the 3-hole blades and was given the following reply:

Dear Matt,
We have no distribution in U.S.A. for our products. Just our industrial blades is possible to buy by TGW International from Wilder.

Our shaving blades are not determinate for the europia nor amarican market, but especially for Africa. They are made from carbon steel, not from stainless, without any coating.

But we prepare new shaving blades - stainless with platinum coating - for this year. Brand LEON PLATINUM. It will be more convenient for europian or american market, because of smoothly and more comfortable shaving.

Thank you

Jan Richter

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Witter
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 2:01 PM
To: Jan Richter
Subject: Re: Where to buy?

I am from the USA.

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Regards,
-matt

On Jul 14, 2014, at 12:54 AM, Jan Richter wrote:

And where are you from?

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Witter
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 4:25 AM
To: info
Subject: Where to buy?

Please help me to find a retail location to buy your blades for shaving.

Regards,
-matt

 

[Avincenty]

I just returned from a central europe vacation and purchased a couple of packs while in the czech republic. Tried one today on my 2013 R41. Had to stop after just a few strokes, painfull tugging. Mind you the I normally do a steep shave. These blades are thicker and stiffer and visually the blade bent less than usuall, maybe too horizontal for my current technique.

I think i will try it in a gillette old or single ring, which for me feel very mild.

 

[Witterm]

I just returned from a central europe vacation and purchased a couple of packs while in the czech republic. Tried one today on my 2013 R41. Had to stop after just a few strokes, painfull tugging. Mind you the I normally do a steep shave. These blades are thicker and stiffer and visually the blade bent less than usuall, maybe too horizontal for my current technique.

I think i will try it in a gillette old or single ring, which for me feel very mild.

Any chance I could buy a couple to try them out? PM if willing.

If not, then could you spare a used one? I'd like to make a shim out of it.

Regards,

-matt

 

[malocchio]

Well,about the wiki...The original yellow wrapper CZ blades were discontinued,but CZ blade co. replaced it with the red wrapper....I do know that CZ blades did ship a load to Haiti,which is far from Africa...I originally discovered the blades in Tanzania,but never again anywhere.I think some of their blades are made more for African seamtresses and tailors ,who use them in their work.CZ blades is really missing the boat by not exporting to the U.S.,but maybe the new Leon blade will end up here soon.

 

[malocchio]

http://www.importgenius.com/suppliers/gillette-czech-s-r-o

 

[wazza]

I also had an extremely bad shave with these too. I couldn't even finish off the cheek that I started with, maybe I didnt even get through a full stroke coming to think about it.
The blades I got didnt have any rust on but maybe they had been subjected to moisture too, not sure but I definately wouldnt try them again either way. They seemed to be really thick blades compared to other blades, not sure if that would cause a problem.

 

[malocchio]

Most are "thick" @ 13mm.Notice both Tiger blades are 13mm now,and both carbon ,is Russia producing the stainless ?...However,thickness may not always be the culprit in a nasty shave,as you can see ,several of their industrial blades are also cut at 10mm,but useless for shaving.I would venture to guess the Leon Superfine ,at 10mm is currently their best shaving blade,although in the past I used their carbons,and they shaved just fine.Oxidation is a huge problem with carbons.Even if the box is securely shrink wrapped,moisture can still get to the blades.

 

[malocchio]

Industrial,but cut to a thin 10mm...the machine honing of the edge is what counts..

 

[Avincenty]

I tried again today on my razorock slant. I tested the new blade on my arm, it barely cut straight out from the wrapper. I stropped it on a twinplex stropper for almost 1 minute. Tested again on my arm and this time it did cut much easier. However on the face it is no good. This are not for face shaving.

 

[burntraven]

I know this is a fairly old thread but I thought I could help a little. Those blades still have the astra diu company name on them. So they were produced before Gillette bought astra and sold the carbon line back to Czech blades.
Also I have contacted Czech blades and have been working with them on an order. They are willing to sell direct to people. And I shall update this once I am able to finish the purchase and make a short review in this thread of the new blades

 

[SantaEena]

Holy mother of Pearl!

I just got an order of these (Tiger, non-3hole version) off of Ebay after a month wait and was so excited to try. Love the packaging.

Showered, placed in my '53 Gillette TTO and ran a pass on each of my very flat cheeks. I've never experienced a more painful shave. I quickly took it out and wrote the 100 pack off. Thankfully they're dirt cheap.

I tried an ASCO (orange pack) immediately afterwards to finish up and got the smooth, comfortable shave I'm used to.

BTW, this isn't a plug for ASCO (they came in the mail same time as the Tigers). I've gotten great shaves from Personna (Blue), Gillette Blue, Voskhod, Sputnik, Astra, Gillette PP, and even Dorco's. I just tried the ASCO's and found myself pleasantly surprised, especially after a Tiger nearly clawed off my face. I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who has no choice but to shave with these.

 

[Dkfyu]

Is the stereotype for n00bs to just stay away from blades named after animals? Tigers.and Sharks seems to be more miss than hit.

Sorry to hear that you got mauled by the Tiger. I thank your cheeks for the sacrifice.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

 

[malocchio]

CZ Blade Co. stated they were coming out with a new LEON blade , made for shaving...They never did , they don't have the funds to retool and upgrade...Any good yellow box Tigers are Russian , all the real CZ stuff is strictly for tailors and seamstresses in Africa and Haiti...Whoever is selling these 3 holers should state that in his ad....

 

[BigJ]

I'm not surprised at all.These are good blades,and your variety is the 3 hole carbon.Obviously these have been subjected to moisture and are rusted and worthless.These are Czech blades,although Russia has contract to manufacture as well...Don't risk lock-jaw,toss the blades,maybe save the nice carton...Buy Tigers from a reputable dealer,they are nice blades.Czech Blades - CHYTRÉ A OSTRÉ

Excellent advice! Old thread, but the advice is current. Very important to deal with a reputable dealer.

 

[SGWB]

I got a few of these by mistake from Try a Blade. They were quick to send me replacements, so nothing to complain about there, but I took the Tiger for a test run anyway. One stroke down one cheek and I chucked it into the blade bank.

 

[Smirky McStumbletongue]

I first tried the Tiger Platinum and was amazed at how similar they were to the old Astra Superior Platinum (White/Green) and Astra Super Stainless (White/Blue). In fact, the Tiger Platinum seems to be somewhere between the two Astra varieties in terms of sharpness and smoothness. My go-go are the Astra SPs, but I was so enamored of the new Tiger Platinums that I ordered a 100-count pack along with the TATRA Platinum 100-count. Both Tiger and Platinum are produced by Czech Blades, S.R.O. following the expiration of the non-compete contract with Gillette in 2019. The company still had the machinery for the stainless shaving blades and they were still intact and fully functional. I ordered a 10-count tuck of the Tiger carbon steel safety blades, which I got off of an independent retail shop (I was also able to get a tuck of ink-stamped Astra SPs). After finishing off my last Gillette Nacet today, I opened up the tuck of Tiger carbon blades and loaded one into my Merkur 42 for tomorrow's shave. I'll report back after I've given it a go.

 

[TinkersDam]

today, I opened up the tuck of Tiger carbon blades and loaded one into my Merkur 42 for tomorrow's shave. I'll report back after I've given it a go.

DON'T DO IT!
Tiger/Tatra carbon blades are not for shaving.