RayClem's Blade Evaluations

metal_shavings 

If you do not mind naming names, which more affordable blades have you found that can give overall results similar to Feather, even if they are not quite as sharp?

RayClem I didn't necessarily mean similar to the Feather, I meant I can get the results I prefer form other blades. I may have worded that not too clearly, my apologies. That said, the only blade that did give me the same surprised reaction to the results a Feather gave me was a Rapira Platinum Lux. As for the smooth, close results I like to achieve, depending on the razor sometimes, it is:

Gillette Nacets
Lord Silver Star
Personna Red (German Made)
Rapira Platinum Lux

And so far performing great for me:

Parker Platinum
Zorrik Super Stainless
Gillette 7 o'clock Yellow Sharpedge
(Granted these 3 were all use so far in various OC razors)

metal_shavings 

No, I did not misunderstand you. Nothing is like a Feather blade, but some blades can give surprisingly good results.

I have already reviewed Lord Silver Star, Personna Platinum (Germany), and Zorrik.
I do plan to review Gillette Nacet Stainless and Parker. 

I was not necessarily planning on reviewing Rapira Platinum Lux since it is made in Moscow, Russia by JSC Mostochlegmash.
Although these and other brands from Mostochlegmash are still available, pricing is all over the place. 
I guess inventory in the supply channels is limited and some are taking advantage of this to raise prices.
For example, Amazon lists 100 RPL blades for $29. While Amazon is normally a good place to purchase blades, many others have lower prices.  

One of the reasons I am doing this evaluation series is to allow those who want to avoid Russian blades in the current global situation can find suitable alternatives to the Russian blades they have learned to love.

metal_shavings 

No, I did not misunderstand you. Nothing is like a Feather blade, but some blades can give surprisingly good results.

I have already reviewed Lord Silver Star, Personna Platinum (Germany), and Zorrik.
I do plan to review Gillette Nacet Stainless and Parker. 

I was not necessarily planning on reviewing Rapira Platinum Lux since it is made in Moscow, Russia by JSC Mostochlegmash.
Although these and other brands from Mostochlegmash are still available, pricing is all over the place. 
I guess inventory in the supply channels is limited and some are taking advantage of this to raise prices.
For example, Amazon lists 100 RPL blades for $29. While Amazon is normally a good place to purchase blades, many others have lower prices.  

One of the reasons I am doing this evaluation series is to allow those who want to avoid Russian blades in the current global situation can find suitable alternatives to the Russian blades they have learned to love.

Gillette Nacet was my first "favorite" blade. I would have sworn you did Parker already, partly why I grabbed them. Even if they didn't perform quite so well for me, they would still be worth the .80¢ price I paid for a tuck of 5. I don't buy blades by the 100, but per tuck the RPL blades ran me just a hair under the Amazon price for 100 you mentioned. I have to try the Feather blades again it has been a while. I do remember pairing the Feather with some milder razors was always a good pairing. I am a little hesitant to put them in some the quite aggressive razors I have now.

metal_shavings 

I have not evaluated Parker blades, but I did mention them when I reviewed the Derby Premium blades. I rated Derby Premium as 4.5 sharpness and 4.5 smoothness. Based on my experience with Parker blades, they should have a similar rating, but I want to actually rate them to be thorough. I suspect they might be the same blade in different packaging.

For many of the blades I evaluated, I purchased a single tuck as I already have enough blades in my stash to last the rest of my life. However, some of the blades I tested were so good that I purchased a 100 pack of Minora, Silver Star and 7 a.m. Hi Platinum. I also plan on ordering more Wizamets, even though they are more expensive. They are PPI blades, so they won't be available forever.

Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 – Vietnam

Dorco is a manufacturer based in South Korea. I have seen many reviews of Dorco blades that said something to the effect that “Dorco blades are garbage”. Thus, I was reluctant to try Dorco blades since I am quite fussy about blade quality. However, a few years ago a few years ago, Dorco built a state of the art manufacturing facility in Vietnam to produce razor blades. A fellow shaver sent me a couple of Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 blades to test and they quickly became one of my favorite blades. These blades dispel the "garbage" reputation once held by Dorco.

The nomenclature of Dorco blades can be somewhat confusing as they also make ST300 and ST301 blades. It is my understanding that the difference between these two brands is only in the packaging, but I have not tried either of them, so I cannot confirm this by personal experience. The Dorco blades manufactured in Vietnam are labeled as HQ, presumably for high quality. Look for the HQ label. The STP301 Prime Platinum blades are HQ blades made in Vietnam. They are more expensive than the other blades. Be sure to look for the STP301 blades if you want the best Dorco has to offer.

I have found the Prime Platinum blades to be suitable for use in a variety of DE razors, so I am anticipating a great shave.

I started today’s evaluation with a Feather Hi-Stainless blade in the razor on its 3rd use. I took a few strokes with that blade before replacing it with the Dorco STP301. The Feather blade was still sharp. Whether I could have completed the shave with the Feather blade is a question for another day.

For this shave the STP301 blade sliced through my two-day beard with minimal resistance. It is not quite as sharp as a Feather blade on its first use, but it is considerably smoother and a joy to use. I was able to get a near BBS shave with minimal irritation. I got minimal feedback when applying witch hazel after the shave.

Base on the results of this shave as well as previous usage, I rate the sharpness as 4.5 and the smoothness as 4.5. Since these blades can be purchased for under $10 per 100 blades, they represent an excellent value. The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

Although I do not plan to evaluate the longevity of the Dorco blade during this series, from prior experience with the blade, I find that it maintains its sharpness and smoothness for several shaves. That is why Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 blades are among my favorites. I recommend them highly for those who want a very sharp, smooth blade at an affordable price. If you have never tried them, consider doing so.

For Sunday’s shave, I plan to use the Personna Comfort Coated lab blue blade. This blade is made by AccuTec Blades in Verona, VA, USA under license from Edgewell Personal Care. AccuTec is the only remaining blade manufacturer in the USA. So if you favor “Made in USA”, these might be for you.

Personna Comfort Coated (Lab Blue) – AccuTec Blades - USA

Personna is one of the brand names used by Edgewell Personal Care. We have already reviewed the Personna Platinum Chrome blades currently being manufactured in Germany. However, there are two Personna blades that are still being manufactured in the USA by AccuTec Blades based in Verona, VA. This facility was once part of American Safety Razor and was spun off from the other blade manufacturing facilities when Edgewell acquired the company. The Verona plant primarily produces blades for medical, scientific, and industrial uses. The Personna branded blades are produced under license. While razor blade manufacturing used to be widespread in the USA, AccuTec blades is the sole major producer remaining.

Two of the AccuTec DE blades have become popular among shavers. One is the Personna Comfort Coated blades that are sold for laboratory use. They are affectionately known as Lab Blues. The other are Personna blades produced for medical/hospital use. They are known as Med Preps.
I have tried only the Lab Blues. The Med Preps blades are far more expensive than the Lab Blues. Some say the Med Preps are superior to Lab Blues and are well worth the premium price. Others say the only difference is that the medical use blades go through extra cleaning and sanitizing steps. If anyone has used both these blades and wants to comment on this controversy, please do so.

The primary design feature of the Lab Blue blades is the “Comfort Coated” polymer coating. While this coating does make the blades quite smooth out of the wrapper, the thick coating also impedes the cutting performance of the blade. For those who do not have tough beards, this might not be an issue. The blades get significantly sharper as the coating wears off, but this is at the expense of smoothness. This makes these blades difficult to evaluate.

I started this morning’s shave with a Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 blade in the Karve C-plate razor. That blade was on its second use. I took a few strokes and found the blade to still be sharp and smooth. At that point, I replaced the Dorco blade with the Personna Lab Blue and completed my shave.
The first few strokes with the Lab Blue blade revealed some tugging on the 1st pass WTG with my two-day beard. The blades were similar in sharpness to a new Astra SP blade. By the 2nd pass, the blade no longer tugged. During the course of the shave, I could tell the blade was getting sharper and less smooth as the coating wore off. By the time I got to my clean-up pass, I even got a weeper, something that has occurred only one other time during this evaluation series. By this time, the blade was sharp enough to get a near-BBS shave, but at the expense of irritation.

When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got significant stinging. I needed to use an aftershave balm to soothe my skin. I normally do not need a balm except when temperatures fall below 10F and the humidity is low.

During the shave, the sharpness started at 3 and increased to 4.5. At the same time, the smoothness decreased from 4.5 to 3. I feel compelled to rate the blade 3 on sharpness and 3 on smoothness as I got some tugging on the 1st pass and significant irritation during my ATG and clean-up passes. Had I been content with a DFS rather than pursuing a near-BBS shave, the irritation would have been less, but I would not have been happy with a DFS since I am only shaving every two days.

I have added the Lab Blues to the spreadsheet.

I was initially planning to use the blade for a 2nd shave, but due to the irritation experienced on the first shave, I decided to end the evaluation. I know from previous experience with these Lab Blue blades that on the 2nd shave they will be similar in sharpness to the Personna Platinum Chrome blade (4.5). However, the Platinum coated blades are significantly smoother. Unfortunately, due to the significant change in sharpness and smoothness of the Lab Blue blades as the coating wears off, I cannot recommend these blades. However, I know there are those who love them. I suspect they do not have a beard as tough, nor skin as sensitive as mine. I do recommend the Personna Platinum Chrome blades whether they are the older Israeli Reds or the current German Golds.

The Wilkinson Sword Classic blades made in Germany tend to exhibit similar characteristics of the Personna lab blues. I might try to evaluate them later in the series, but I tend to avoid them because I do not like the significant change in sharpness as the coating wears off. If you are not careful, you can end up with weepers and irritation as I did during today’s shave.

The next blade to be evaluated is one of my all time favorites, the BIC Chrome Platinum. However, some people hate it as it can be too sharp for use in some razors.

Hello RayClem,
We could be related!..been DE shaving for over 40 years and about 10 months ago purchased a Karve brass with SB C plate and a OC D plate,getting these same results as you are,used almost every DE blade out there and about a month back I went to restock on some clubman aftershaves,at the cash they had some tucks and I noticed a grey pack of Jaguar R1 blades,German steel made in Egypt…to make a long story short,these are without doubt the best most comfortable 16-20 shaves per blade blades ever made,no nicks,BBS shaves period.usually get 3 -4 shaves from the others,they just keep going and going,when they’re done I know because they shave like all the others when new.

Karveme

I am not familiar with the Jaguar razor blades. It looks like they are primarily designed to be snapped in half for use in the Jaguar "cut-throat" style shavette razor used by barbers. 
Of course, you do not have to snap them in half, so they should work in DE razors. There is even one USA web site that will only sell the blades to professional barbers and cosmetologists who provide professional license information.  I am not certain what good that does since they are also available on Amazon. 

I believe Jaguar is a German company based in Solingen. However, their products can come from around the world. You indicated the blades you purchased were made in Eqypt (presumably by Lord). Another Amazon review indicated that the blades came from Czech Republic, so I am not certain where they originate or if Jaguar sources the blades wherever they can.  

The Jaguar Solingen web site does not provide information about the type of steel, the type of coating (if any), or the origin of the Jaguar R1 blades. Thus, I am not inclined to try them. The other strange thing is that blades designed for "professional use" are often sold in bulk packs of 100 blades or more. It looks like the Jaguar blades are only sold in packs of 10 blades. That surprises me. 

I am glad that you are in agreement with most of my blade ratings. That says that I am not the only one who likes sharp, smooth blades.

The first Karve CB razor I purchased was a D-plate SB. I then purchased a C-plate OC in stainless. I found the teeth of the OC base plate to be too chunky, so I purchased a C-plate SB base plate only to use with the handle and cap I already had. That is the razor I am now using for the blade evaluations. If I used a less aggressive razor, it might work better with sharper blades. If I used a more aggressive razor, it might work best with less sharp blades. The C-plate is  mid-aggressive and works with a variety of blades. I believe it was a good choice for the evaluations.

The ones I have are R1 8095 platinum-fluoro carbon,the snappers are R1 8094.
I don’t think they just source wherever they can on account these are a different animal,could be they just work with this particular razor,the Astras were recommended by Karve and I have 3 versions and they’re just the most horrible blades ever made in my opinion,I’d rather shave with a rabid raccoon,Kai’s,feathers?what the,they’re horrible also,razor burn plenty,these R1 are so smooth it’s like splashing warm milk aftershave,.Going to purchase all the R1’up next time I’m in the area,just a brilliant blade.
My OC D plate is perfect if I skip a day or two shaving.

Karveme

Since the blades themselves have absolutely zero markings, how do you know which blades you have?

The Jaguar Solingen web site only lists one blade (#8094). I do find reference to the #8095 on some worldwide vendor sites, but nowhere is the blade adequately described.

The Jaguar web site indicates that some Jaguar products have been counterfeited in China. Gillette PPI changed to laser etched blade markings to make counterfeiting more difficult. Since Jaguar has no marking whatsoever on the blades, they would be easy to counterfeit.

Many razors either come with Astra SP blades or the blades are recommended. I presume that is because Astra SP blades are the most popular DE blade sold. Especially for many younger men (yes, women can and do shave as well), Astra blades can work well as beards tend to get tougher with age. However, for many men, Astra blades just are not sharp enough.

If the Jaguar blades work for you, then use them. Since the manufacturer does not adequately describe the blade, I am not inclined to try them.