Reviews
Product summary
Product price
$3.59
Product URL
General thoughts
Kai blades are not as sharp as Feathers, but they are longer lasting. They are a thicker blade, and not as flexible. This is noticeable in the Blackbird and in some slant razors. They do not have any soft sticky wax on them, to gum up your razor. I like Kai blades, but I like Feathers better.
Sharpness
More than reasonably sharp, but not as sharp as Feather.
Longevity
Long lasting. A thicker blade than Feather or Astra.
Shaving Smoothness
Smooth shaving.
Value
More expensive than Feather, and harder to come by outside of Japan. There are other equally good blades available at lower prices.
Quality
Very good quality.
Packaging
Very good packaging. No sticky wax on the blades, like Feather and Astra have.
Product price
$4
Product URL
General thoughts
I tried the Kai as all reviews were glowing. It's said the blade is thicker and if that is true a guy would need a micrometer to show it. I found it very similar in flex to the Feather. It is said to be wider than the norm but again, I found it to be pretty standard when compared to feather, Voskhod, Personna, and Polsilver. I have grey whiskers and it seems to be the opinion of many that grey is harder to cut than colored whiskers. I don't know if that is true but I do know that I seem to favor the sharper blades. Feather, PolSilver, Nacet, Permasharp are some favorites. In my experience, the Kai doesn't hang with that crowd. Hey, it's a razor blade sure enough so it's very sharp but on my chin I found it to perform similarly to the Dorco; not tuggy but not efficient either. My shaves have been comfortable but far from easy. It takes me 4 passes with a massive clean-up to get where a Feather takes me in two passes. I tried it in a Rockwell (4 and 5), Jagger DE89, Mamba, Gillette Fat Boy (4, 5, 6). I sure don't hate the blade like I do the Merkur but I'm sure underwhelmed. Giventhe price, and the lack of performance, I see exactly zero reasons to ever have Kai in my kit again.
Sharpness
middle range sharpness
Longevity
Seems to last similar to others. I get three shaves before noticeable drop in performance.
Shaving Smoothness
Very smooth
Value
Expensive.
Quality
Seem to be made of quality steel
Packaging
They don't have wax dots but many of my favorites do
Comments
Marko · 01-18-2018, 04:37 PM · in reply to #110
I like Kai blades second only to Feathers. I find them sharp and long lasting. When I initially tried them in a EJ DE-89 I found them to be really unpleasant and dangerous. This might have had something to do with my lack of experience and developing technique at the time. I've since found them to be awesome in the Rockwell 6s. I find them to be a bit pricey and sometimes dicey to buy. By dicey I mean depending on the vendor they might not be actual Kai blades. I bought 50 from Amazon and the vendor said they'd be loose, i.e., not in the boxes of 5 - why? They showed up loose wrapped in plain white paper and as you know Kai have no markings on the blade to indicate brand. These particular "Kai" blades were rough and I believe they were counterfeit . I now will only buy Kai from trusted vendors in branded boxes even if I have to pay a little more. I have 49 paint scraper blades on hand now.
AKBKR23 · 05-09-2018, 02:46 PM · in reply to #110
Tried the Kai blades several times, but they don't work well for ME ...
wingdo · 07-31-2018, 10:12 PM · in reply to #120
I really like the Kai blades, probably my second or third favorite after Personna Red and Feather. I am with you on the wax dots; can't stand them.
Scorpion508 · 11-01-2018, 01:47 AM · in reply to #110
Very good packaging. No sticky wax on the blades, like Feather and Astra have.