I stuck to modern, accessible blades in my original post. But, I do agree with the sentiment on the NOS blades. I have slowly stockpiled, but nowhere near enough. So I can't really recommend them to most, because the time and money involved can get well above the modern blades mentioned in this thread.
Top tier blades
- Thread starter stovepipe699
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I stuck to modern, accessible blades in my original post. But, I do agree with the sentiment on the NOS blades. I have slowly stockpiled, but nowhere near enough. So I can't really recommend them to most, because the time and money involved can get well above the modern blades mentioned in this thread.
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I've heard that some blades of the past are a step above anything in current production. I may try some NOS blades as a treat sometime, so go ahead and include them if you like. Modern production blades are more what I have in mind since they are readily available
My current best in class (taking into account consistency across different razors as a virtue) includes GSB, 7 O'Clock Blue, and Nacet. Just narrowly behind would be Polsilver, 7 O'Clock Black, Rubie Platinum, Rapira Swedish SS, Rapira Plat Lux, and Feather (which was rough in some razors and first overall in others). Lots of others are decent, but these are the ones I'd return to consistently for a nice shave.
For vintage I like Spoilers and Schick Super Chromium and (I think) Wilkinson.
For vintage I like Spoilers and Schick Super Chromium and (I think) Wilkinson.
My favorite sharp blade is easily Gillette Nacet. It's smooth enough and also long-lasting.
Super Iridium and Med Prep Personna are at the top of the heap for me.
+1. These days I find that a number of blades I did not like in the old days are performing well when I give them a second try. Perhaps, I am better at my prep or lathering. More likely that I am doing a better job while shaving!
I use a Merkur Progress adjustable as my daily driver, and my favs are:
1. Gillette Silver Blue
2. Gillette 7 O Clock Black (India)
3. Voskhods
I also like Treet carbons from time to time. Feather and Astras (either variety) require too much attention for my taste, and even when I'm careful, I don't like the feel of my face after.
1. Gillette Silver Blue
2. Gillette 7 O Clock Black (India)
3. Voskhods
I also like Treet carbons from time to time. Feather and Astras (either variety) require too much attention for my taste, and even when I'm careful, I don't like the feel of my face after.
Gillette Platinum (blue box, Russian) are very sharp yet smooth and work well in my Super Speeds. They are as close to the vintage NOS Platinum Plus blades as I've found.
Kai are exceptional blades. Pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Personna Labs are the best combo of quality and price/value. Work well in any razor, especially the Weber.
Kai are exceptional blades. Pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Personna Labs are the best combo of quality and price/value. Work well in any razor, especially the Weber.
Voskhod or Gillette 7 o'clock blacks
I agree. The Feather may have a reputation of being the sharpest blade, but in the wrong razor will do absolutely nothing to give a decent shave.
My favorite blades among the sharpest that I've used are Feather, Polsilver Super Iridium, Gillette Silver Blue, Gillette Black, and even the humble Personna Lab. So long as they make these blades, I'll keep them in rotation and use them with pride and pleasure.
I tend to use mild razors (Feather AS-D2 and Razorock Baby Smooth, with Schick Krona for travel) and my favorite blades are PolSilver SI and Perma-Sharp Super (with Gillette Platinum a notch below those, except with the Krona). Others may be as sharp or slightly sharper, but I value smoothness a lot as well.
My top-tier blades are:
- Gillette 7OC Blacks: perfect 50/50 balance of sharpness and smoothness!
- GSB: nice and sharp and ultra smooth! The balance tips very slightly towards smoothness. 45/55 sharpness to smoothness.
- Polsilver SI: opposite to GSB...balance tips slightly towards sharpness. Even thought I don't get any irritation from these, I can "feel" the edge on my skin more than the above two. But I get super awesome shaves with no irritation! 55/45 sharpness to smoothness.
- Indian 7OC Greens: these do the job quite well. The balance tips towards smoothness. Feel fantastic on the skin and give a DFS every time! 40/60 sharpness to smoothness.
- I also like Timor blades. They are not as sharp as the above but they are unique in that they are very tough and feel more like an injector blade. I use them sometimes when I feel like a change up (only have about 250 of them).
- I used just 1 Nacet Stainless blade a couple of months ago. I've got a hundred pack on the way to try and if they are like I remember, I'll bulk order them too.
Some recent blades (in the last ~2 years) I didn't get along with: Personna Labs/Meds, Rapira (all of them), Bolzano, Voshkod (smooth but still very tuggy as they weren't sharp enough), I also didn't like the other non-PPI Russian blades (Ladas, Sputnik etc). There are more but I can't think of them right now.
- Gillette 7OC Blacks: perfect 50/50 balance of sharpness and smoothness!
- GSB: nice and sharp and ultra smooth! The balance tips very slightly towards smoothness. 45/55 sharpness to smoothness.
- Polsilver SI: opposite to GSB...balance tips slightly towards sharpness. Even thought I don't get any irritation from these, I can "feel" the edge on my skin more than the above two. But I get super awesome shaves with no irritation! 55/45 sharpness to smoothness.
- Indian 7OC Greens: these do the job quite well. The balance tips towards smoothness. Feel fantastic on the skin and give a DFS every time! 40/60 sharpness to smoothness.
- I also like Timor blades. They are not as sharp as the above but they are unique in that they are very tough and feel more like an injector blade. I use them sometimes when I feel like a change up (only have about 250 of them).
- I used just 1 Nacet Stainless blade a couple of months ago. I've got a hundred pack on the way to try and if they are like I remember, I'll bulk order them too.
Some recent blades (in the last ~2 years) I didn't get along with: Personna Labs/Meds, Rapira (all of them), Bolzano, Voshkod (smooth but still very tuggy as they weren't sharp enough), I also didn't like the other non-PPI Russian blades (Ladas, Sputnik etc). There are more but I can't think of them right now.
Polsilver SI
Feathers in a mild razor
Feathers in a mild razor
My favorites are:
Personna Med Prep
7OC Yellow
Wilkinson Sword
Others I've tried that I liked (just not as well):
Gillette Silver Blue
Polsilver Super Iridium (this one might actually belong in the top list)
Astra SP
Feather New
Personna Red
Dorco 301
Rapira Lux
Ones that I have tried that I will definitely not be buying more of:
Bic Chrome Platinum
Super Max Super Stainless
Ones I have queued up to try include:
Gillette Nacet
Gillette Rubie
Gillette Super Thin
Tiger
Voshkod
Shark Stainless
Shark Platinum
Derby
7OC Black
Kai
Super Max Super Platinum(?)
Personna Blue
Lord
Treet
Dorco 300
Crystal
Merkur Super
Bolzano Superinoz
It's definitely interesting how different the blades are, yet how consistent they are among themselves. Meaning, two GSBs really seem to work and feel virtually identical. But, a GSB compared to a S-M SS is night and day.
Personna Med Prep
7OC Yellow
Wilkinson Sword
Others I've tried that I liked (just not as well):
Gillette Silver Blue
Polsilver Super Iridium (this one might actually belong in the top list)
Astra SP
Feather New
Personna Red
Dorco 301
Rapira Lux
Ones that I have tried that I will definitely not be buying more of:
Bic Chrome Platinum
Super Max Super Stainless
Ones I have queued up to try include:
Gillette Nacet
Gillette Rubie
Gillette Super Thin
Tiger
Voshkod
Shark Stainless
Shark Platinum
Derby
7OC Black
Kai
Super Max Super Platinum(?)
Personna Blue
Lord
Treet
Dorco 300
Crystal
Merkur Super
Bolzano Superinoz
It's definitely interesting how different the blades are, yet how consistent they are among themselves. Meaning, two GSBs really seem to work and feel virtually identical. But, a GSB compared to a S-M SS is night and day.
Yeah, the Timor's are a very unique blade indeed!
I don't think I've had another blade that quite feels like a Timor.
