RayClem's Blade Evaluations

********** DE Blade PIF **********.

After completing the evaluation of many brands of DE blades I find myself in possession of more blades than I am likely to ever use. I plan to keep all blades that have a combined sharpness and smoothness rating greater than 8. Many blades rating 8 or below are available for PIF. Because I will be funding not only the cost of the blades but also the cost of postage, this PIF is open to CONUS only.

I will give preference to those who have been active participants in the evaluation thread. If you are interested in any of the blades, please send me a PM with your top five preferences listed in order. Please do not send your contact information at this time. I will request that information once I see the degree of interest in the PIF.

Since there are significant quantities of some blades, I would prefer to see those blades going to those who are more likely to use them. When sending your request, please provide a rough estimate of the number of blades you currently have in your blade stash. If you are a fan of one or more of these blades, indicate that as it might help guide my matching blades with users more likely to enjoy using them.

Nine blades scored with a combined rating of 8. Although I could use them in more aggressive razors, I have decided to part with following blades:

SuperMax Blue Diamond - 84 blades
Rapira Platinum Lux- 29 blades
Gillette Platinum- old blades in white boxes with blue lettering. 17 blades
Gillette Silver Blue- 17 blades
Voskhod- 4 blades
Tiger Superior Stainless – 4 blades

The following blades rated below eight. These are blades I do not enjoy using:

Astra Superior Platinum – 190 blades with half from an older lot and half newer, but similar performance
Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India)- 85 blades
Derby Extra Green –28 blades
Personna Lab Blue made in USA- 25 blades
Kai Stainless –15 blades
Polsilver Super iridium- 14 blades

I have small quantities of the following blades. I can either mail them separately or include them with other blades:

ASCO Super Stainless - 4 blades
Zorrik Super Platinum -3 blades
Lord Cool Super Stainless - 3 blades
BIC Astor Stainless - 4 blades
Gillette Rubie Plus - 4 blades

Please let me know your interest soon as I hope to get them mailed sometime next week.

I did not know rbc was in Sweden.
I got a notice that my order from TRC has shipped.

I will surely not run out of blades before my order shows up, but I would have thought shipping in 24 hrs would mean more than just making a label

Im just a little disappointed in the company.

Good for you Ray for sharing your blades. I know some folks more in need than i should get some so i will bow out. Thanks for the fine PIF.

I did not know rbc was in Sweden.
I got a notice that my order from TRC has shipped.

I will surely not run out of blades before my order shows up, but I would have thought shipping in 24 hrs would mean more than just making a label

Im just a little disappointed in the company.

Good for you Ray for sharing your blades. I know some folks more in need than i should get some so i will bow out. Thanks for the fine PIF.

RBC is in Sweden, but I know they do sell some blades through Amazon, so in some cases you can get quicker delivery. I guess they hold some stocks on this side of the pond, but if you want a sampler of various blades, it will ship from Sweden. 

I forget which carrier The Razor Company uses for the 1st leg of the journey. They are located in Michigan north of Detroit, so for my location in Chicagoland, delivery is pretty quick. Sometimes shipments reach the Chicago area in a day or two, but then sit for a few more days before the carrier sees fit to take them to my post office for final delivery. With some really nasty weather from Michigan through Nebraska and Interstate 80 having so many accidents due to snow, I can understand why it is taking a while to get from the Detroit area to Colorado Springs over 1300 miles away.

**********DE Blade PIF*********'

So far, only a couple of forum members have expressed interest in the PIF. I can divide the 17 brands of blades among them, but if others are interested in participating, please let me know via PM.

**********DE Blade PIF************

At this time, the following blades remain unclaimed. If anyone is interested, please send my a PM expressing your interest. If the blades are still available, I will request your address information at that time. Just tell me which blades you would like. I am surprised that some of these blades have not been claimed.

Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India)- 85 blades
SuperMax Blue Diamond - 84 blades
Derby Extra Green –28 blades
Personna Lab Blue made in USA- 25 blades
Gillette Platinum- old blades in white boxes with blue lettering. 17 blades
Gillette Silver Blue- 17 blades
ASCO Super Stainless - 4 blades
BIC Astor Stainless - 4 blades
Lord Cool Super Stainless - 3 blades


UPDATE*******************

I did receive an additional request for blades offered during the PIF. Since no additional interest has been expressed, the PIF is now closed and I will try to get the blades mailed in the next few days.

Update on Timeless Razor shaves

On Saturday afternoon, I did a third shave using the Timeless TI 0.95 equipped with a SharpEdge yellow blade for my WTG and XTG passes. I used the Timeless TI 0.68 equipped with a BIC Chrome Platinum blade for the ATG and clean-up passes. I still received a very close shave with minimal irritation, but I am starting to feel some decline in the performance of the blades. Since the SharpEdge is marginal for my beard, I suspect the 4th shave on Monday will be the last one for that blade. The BIC should last a few more shaves.

These are new arrivals at TRC:

Update on shave with Timeless razors.

On Monday afternoon, I completed my 4th shave with my two Timeless razors. The WTG and XTG passes were completed using the TI 0.95 equipped with a SharpEdg4e yellow blade. This blade is nearing end of life. I started to feel more resistance, especially on the WTG pass and slightly more irritation. For the ATG and clean-up passes, I used athe TI 0.68 razor and a BIC Chrome Platinum blade. While it is still sharp, it was not quite as comfortable as previous shaves. Overall, I still was able to achieve a near-BBS shave. However, when applying witch hazel after the shave, I got moderate feedback rather than the minimal feedback from the previous shave. Although I could continue to use these blades at the risk of a less close shave or more skin irritation during subsequent uses, for me, it is not worth the risk. Most blades are inexpensive if purchased in bulk so purchasing the life of a blade or blades is not something I do or recommend.

I realize that many shavers do not have a beard as tough as mine nor skin as sensitive as mine. Thus, for them, it might have been possible to get several more shaves from these blades, but I find it prudent to discontinue at this point.

********************Additional evaluations planned.****************

I have found a few more blades at The Razor Company that I am interested in trying. They are:

Derby Extra orange pack and Derby Extra blue pack , How do they compare to the green packs?
Filoso Platinum
Rockwell
Gillette Super Nacet Platinum made in China- are these as good as the Nacet Platinums previously made in Russia?
Gillette 365 Platinum blades made in India. These are more expensive than most. As they as good as 7 O'Clock Super Platinum black?
EuroMax made in India. These are inexpensive blades. Are they any good?
Merkur Super Platinum made in Czech Republic. I am hoping they will be better than Merkur blades from years ago made in Germany.

********************Update******************
When placing my order, I also ordered:

Gillette Sper Stajnless
Gillette Goal
Derby USTA
Berby Bluebird
Treet 7 Days Platinum

The new blades should arrive in a few days.

I realize that there are many more blade brands available that have not been evaluated. With these additions, I will have covered most of the more popular blades as well as many lesser known ones. With these additional blade evaluations, hopefully, you can find a blade that works well for you.

Quotes aren’t working and still I have to type fast or these pages reload!and I start all over.
Had an idea using my Karve OC-D plate along with the Rex envoy razor..
Using a Rockwell blade in both…shaving half my face with the karve and the other with rex,thought these blades were made in the US,then I find out they’re Canadian,now Chinese made…anyways,just finished my 6th shave,the Rex I did my routine of rinsing,loosening,blowing hard 3x and placing on paper towel,the karve just rinsing,well today the karve is much rougher and didn’t get a BBS shave,the Rex was BBS and no aftershave burn…the “Rex is officially a Karve OC-E plate from the first shave”this reminds me of my white steel knives,same thing,most that own white steel or blue steel are always on stones sharpening,all you need is leather strop,..I have a takeda  blue steel knife that if not stropped will prevent me from slicing a garlic clove into. 1000 pieces that melts into my cutting board,seriously,a radish I can make disappear melted away into a puddle of liquid,if I don’t leather strop then there’s no way this could be done.I’ll keep going and see what happens with these 2 blades..then I’ll try 2 different blades.