Top blades

[Luc]

I have a box where I keep all those blade sample packs that I bought over the years to get free shipping. I also put my Single Edge blades in there since they were loose.


The end is near. So I checked what I have left when I run out of samples.


It looks like this: 7o’clock green (Russian), astra superior platinum (Russian), lord super stainless, Derby premium and feathers. All my boxes have a few packs missing.

A while ago, I read that having 4 blades that you like is a must. Usually, some blades are better in some razors. The astra sp is my go to blade for most shaves (and razors). Seeing that it’s now probably discontinued in Russia, I will need to find something else.

Astra Superior Stainless PPI vs India

5 days ago I received 2 packs of Indian made Astra Superior Stainless. So here is another comparison. The pack on the left is Russian, manufactured 21/01/2022. The one on the right is Indian made. Has 3054 on the pack which means 23/02/2023. As usual only the blade has been changed with all...

www.badgerandblade.com

New Astra SP from India.

So, recently I thought I got lucky and ordered 6 packs of a hundred Astra SP blades that to my knowledge were made in Russia. When I got the blades the boxes said made in India. Gave the new blades a try but to me they were not as smooth as the Russian ones. By the time the third shave came on...

www.badgerandblade.com

Astra Superior Platinum Russian vs Indian

I finally got my hands on a pack of Indian Astra Superior Platinum. So a few days ago I did the comparison with the Russian. Comparisons like this will be done with every P&G blade model that becomes Indian or Chinese (when they reach me, of course.) On the left is a Russian made pack...

www.badgerandblade.com

So, I may need to jump back on the sampler pack by the end of 2024. I’m not sure that my sampler blades are all in production.

I mainly use a Merkur 38c. I love the Gillette Tech/Feather combo. Other than that, I find the Lord and Derby to be good but not as sharp as Astra. I do not rotate my razors that much. I have a Muhle somewhere and a few loose DE heads in the same drawer…

What are your best picks? Or your main stash(bonus if you name the razor/blade combo)?

 

[cranewarrior]

You might try the Indian Astra SPs. A few members here said it works much the same as the Russian ones and they could use them in substitute just fine.

My biggest stash is 1000 qty of Gillette 7 o'clock Permasharps made in India. I bought these off eBay from an Indian seller. They charged me about 7.5 USA cents per blade shipped. It only took about 3 weeks to arrrive. I find these to be very sharp. Sharper in my opinion than Astra SP and in the vicinity of Gillette Perma-Sharp and Gillette Nacet. All three of these Gillette models are still easy to find and buy.

 

[Eben Stone]

Suneko for the Yaqi Knight Helmet, and Nacet for everything else.

I'm currently evaluating LOI to see if they will make the cut.

I have other blades, such as Feather and London Bridge, but those are collecting dust.

 

[md1234]

The Dorco Prime Platinum made in Vietnam is a nice blade worth looking at. I find them a touch sharper than the Astra SP.

I find the Gillette Winner Platinum from India similar to Astra SP.

Another one that I don't see you have is the Gillette Wilkinson Sword made in India, very similar to Astra SP.

 

[Luc]

Thanks for the recommendations, I'm taking notes. Looks like I will be ordering more sampler packs...

I tried Nacet years ago (10+) and they did not leave an impression. I will get some more to try again.

I tried the Korean Dorco (300 and 301) and found them too rough. The ones in Vietnam could be a whole different story. As for the Wilkinson, I believe that I had some that were made in England and Egypt (years ago), they were good.

It's like the whole shaving soap thing. after 2 years, production moves somewhere and I'm back to square 1!

 

[SeaDiving]

If you have not already, maybe you could try the sharp titanium, the tiger platinum or the silver star.

 

[Luc]

So...

being the type of person who wants to fix the situation quickly and not think about it anymore, I bought a bunch of blades (110 blades total) in packs (5 or 10) which includes some recommendations above but not all.

I have a Merkur 38C that's my main razor. I also use on occasion a Gillette Tech, Gillette 7 o'Clock (made in England), and a Muhle R89.

I believe that I could probably make a spreadsheet to try the razors/blades and report back (That will take a while).

This is what I got:

• ASTRA - Superior Platinum (India)blades:5
• ASTRA - Superior Stainless (India)blades:5
• BIC - Astor Stainlessblades:5
• BIC - Chrome Platinumblades:5
• Dorco - ST-300 Platinum (Vietnam)blades:10
• Dorco - ST-300 Platinumblades:10
• Dorco - ST-301 Stainlessblades:10
• Dorco - Titan (Vietnam)
• Dorco - Titanblades:10
• Gillette - 7 0'Clock - Permasharp Stainlessblades:10
• Gillette - Minora Stainlessblades:5
• Gillette - Nacet Stainlessblades:5
• Kyoneblades:10
• Perma-Sharp - Superblades:5
• Personna - Lab Blueblades:5

 

[md1234]

Looks like a nice sampler. You should be able to find a couple that you enjoy. I believe the Dorco Primes (Vietnam) are STP 301 if I remember correctly. They are the cream of the crop IMO.
If you would like a tuck to try out, PM me your address

 

[Luc]

thank you but I will start with that pack first. All the dorco are marked made in India.

 

[Luc]

I probably should do a control group using the ASTRA SP (Russia) while I wait for the parcel. Since the blades are coming from Europe, it will take a bit to get to me.

 

[Frito Ray]

The Czech made Tiger Platinum…the first blade where I finally understood what folks meant when they used the word “smooth” to describe a blade. That was after trying about a dozen popular brands over the past ten years.

They also have a plain stainless version which I have yet to try.

It has been reported that Tiger blades are the same as Tatra blades.

 

[Luc]

The Czech made Tiger Platinum…the first blade where I finally understood what folks meant when they used the word “smooth” to describe a blade. That was after trying about a dozen popular brands over the past ten years.

They also have a plain stainless version which I have yet to try.

It has been reported that Tiger blades are the same as Tatra blades.

I rechecked my sampler box as I'm 99% sure that I had tiger blades in there. I'm not able to find a pack which means that I used them. If I don't recall them like the Astra or the LORD it means that I probably found them average. But that's me... I will try to include some of my existing sampler in the whole testing of the blades spreadsheet.

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Luc]

I started my control blade (astra sp Russia). I will work my way with what I have that is still in production. I will repost when I get the blade parcel (1-2 weeks from now, maybe).

I guesstimate this to take a while to be completed unless I get a lot of 1 shave blades (I.e. blade is no good).

To make things more entertaining (and longer), I added another razor.

 

[Luc]

So, I have time to kill until I get something that I can measure(and I'm a number guy). I was thinking about that thread that I posted in 2021 : Average use per blade - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/average-use-per-blade.602746/

So, if I get an average of 9.41 shave per blade (let's round down to 9 to make it easy).

I bought 110 blades (+ maybe, 25 for my existing stash and the Astra SP that I already own). So 135 total.

It should take me (on average) 9*135=1215 shaves to complete the journey. (3 years and 4 months, on average).

See yall in 2027!

 

[BigJ]

My ‘top tier’ for what it is worth:
Personna lab (or med prep, and they have changed names)
Personna red (Israeli, and they moved to Germany)
Astra SP (Russian, again production has moved)
GSB (Russian, stock up while you can!)
Wizamet SI (or Polsilver, again not in current production to my knowledge)

This list shows that I have somehow become an antique!!

Bottom line: find a blade you like then stock up!!

 

[cranewarrior]

It should take me (on average) 9*135=1215 shaves to complete the journey. (3 years and 4 months, on average).

See yall in 2027!

I completed the one blade challenge last month and used a single razor blade with no problems. It would take me 10 years at that rate just to use up a single 100 pack!

I don't feel too badly for having a hoard of razor blades I won't be able to use up by myself. I figure at least I'm helping to keep DE shaving alive.

 

[Pinto90]

All the dorco are marked made in India.

Are there any Dorco blades made in India?

 

[Luc]

Are there any Dorco blades made in India?

Apologies, my mistake, the origin is Vietnam

 

[Luc]

Package 1/2 arrived, pending package 2/2. I will post a link here to a new thread for the experiment + a wiki page for the updates

 

[Luc]

I bought the blades from razor blade club. They had both Dorco - Titan listed and I bought both. The packaging is different but I believe it's the same blade.

from rbc website for both:

• Manufacturer: Dorco Co., Ltd.
• Country: Vietnam
• Coating: PTFE
• Add 10 blades to receive a full pack

Box of 10 - front


Back of the box - Bar code is the same


Blades - Front


Blades - back


Blades unpacked


So, did I buy twice the same thing?