RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Are you using PAA Strangelets?

I have them but have not used one since September of '23. I got bit every time I used them. I want to try them again.

I believe you have razors ranging over a wide variety of aggression levels. Perhaps you were just trying to use them in too aggressive a razor. Try the Strangelet blade in a less aggressive razor and see if you still get bit. If you do , the blades might have a rough edge, sort of like trying to shave with a serrated knife.

Yes, back then I was not paying much attention to blade/razor combinations. When I get around to trying them again, I will likely start with the Overlander as it seems like a pretty forgiving razor to start with. If that goes well, I’ll work my way up the aggression scale razor wise and see what happens this round. My last use was with the Karve Copper CB w/ SB-E plate.

I have them but have not used one since September of '23. I got bit every time I used them. I want to try them again.

I believe you have razors ranging over a wide variety of aggression levels. Perhaps you were just trying to use them in too aggressive a razor. Try the Strangelet blade in a less aggressive razor and see if you still get bit. If you do , the blades might have a rough edge, sort of like trying to shave with a serrated knife.

Yes, back then I was not paying much attention to blade/razor combinations. When I get around to trying them again, I will likely start with the Overlander as it seems like a pretty forgiving razor to start with. If that goes well, I’ll work my way up the aggression scale razor wise and see what happens this round. My last use was with the Karve Copper CB w/ SB-E plate.

Th eKarve E plate has a bit of aggression. Although I do not have the Overlander, based on the blade gap and blade exposure, it should be slightly less aggressive than the Karve C-Plate which I have used with a wide range of blades. I would think that you could use the Stranglet in the Overlander without "getting bit".

I believe you have razors ranging over a wide variety of aggression levels. Perhaps you were just trying to use them in too aggressive a razor. Try the Strangelet blade in a less aggressive razor and see if you still get bit. If you do , the blades might have a rough edge, sort of like trying to shave with a serrated knife.

Yes, back then I was not paying much attention to blade/razor combinations. When I get around to trying them again, I will likely start with the Overlander as it seems like a pretty forgiving razor to start with. If that goes well, I’ll work my way up the aggression scale razor wise and see what happens this round. My last use was with the Karve Copper CB w/ SB-E plate.

Th eKarve E plate has a bit of aggression. Although I do not have the Overlander, based on the blade gap and blade exposure, it should be slightly less aggressive than the Karve C-Plate which I have used with a wide range of blades. I would think that you could use the Stranglet in the Overlander without "getting bit".

That is my thought on the Overlander. I have the Karve C plate somewhere, I started with it. I think the Overlander will go well with anything. Haven't been bit by it yet regardless of blade. The E plate has been a good fit for me with a combo of efficiency and smoothness. I find it comfortable. It does bite though if you're not careful.

Easter Sunday Shave- Face-off between FlyDear and Matgicol blades

Happy Easter to all!

This is the very last evaluation planned. Because this is a face-off shave, it might take a few shaves to properly evaluate the Matgicol blade. Some have speculated that the Matgicol and FlyDear blades are the same blade in different wrappers. By doing face-off shaves, I hope to determine whether the performance is the same, but that still does not prove they are the same blade.

Initially, I thought there was some credence to the speculation that these were the same blades. The inner and outer wrappers of the blades were made with the same type of paper for both blades. The caliper, brightness, opacity and smoothness were the same. This is an indication that the blades are likely made by the same manufacturer.
I started the shave on Easter Sunday morning with a little more than 1 ½ days of beard growth. I loaded the Matgicol blade into my Karve stainless razor with a C-plate. This is the razor used for nearly all the evaluations. I loaded the FlyDear blade into my Karve brass razor, also with a C-plate. After a shower, I lathered my face and got to shaving.

When the Matgicol blade first touched my face, I was surprised that it was not quite as sharp, nor as smooth as I expected. It did become sharper and smoother during the shave. However, since I was only shaving ½ my face with the blade, it was not until the ATG pass that it seemed sharp enough to do its job. By the end of the clean-up pass, I had a near-BBS shave, but not quite as close as some. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got only minimal feedback.

The FlyDear blade was significantly sharper and smoother out of the wrapper than the Matgicol. However, by the time I got to my clean-up pass, the overall quality of the shave was the same as the Matgicol. When applying witch hazel, the feedback was minimal.

Although the Matgicol started less sharp and rougher than the FlyDear, when the shave was completed, the two blades were similar in performance. Before rating the blades, I want to use them for a few more shaves. When evaluating the FlyDear blades, they did not begin to achieve their full potential until the 2nd full shave. These blades now have the equivalent of ½ shave each. Thus, in spite off the difference in sharpness at the start of the shave, these might indeed be the same blade in different wrappers.

     And the 8th shave on my Astra SP Green. How did it go, you ask? I have to say, very well. Once again paired it with my Karve SB-E plate and got smooth, close, and comfortable. Easily BBS, even a bit closer than with the Lupo 95OC. Feedback from the alcohol based aftershave was a slight burn, nothing objectionable for me and the same as shave #7. I am honestly stunned at the longevity and performance I am getting over a small range of different razors. Overlander, Fatip Grande OC, Timeless Ti95OC, Karve SB-E, Carbon ++ web plate. Granted most are probably over the border of medium to definitely aggressive.

     On a separate note but kind of the same, I see TRC now has the Astra SP Green blades made in India. They are .69¢ a tuck vs. .89¢ for the Russian made. Were you aware of this switch RayClem ?

     And the 8th shave on my Astra SP Green. How did it go, you ask? I have to say, very well. Once again paired it with my Karve SB-E plate and got smooth, close, and comfortable. Easily BBS, even a bit closer than with the Lupo 95OC. Feedback from the alcohol based aftershave was a slight burn, nothing objectionable for me and the same as shave #7. I am honestly stunned at the longevity and performance I am getting over a small range of different razors. Overlander, Fatip Grande OC, Timeless Ti95OC, Karve SB-E, Carbon ++ web plate. Granted most are probably over the border of medium to definitely aggressive.

     On a separate note but kind of the same, I see TRC now has the Astra SP Green blades made in India. They are .69¢ a tuck vs. .89¢ for the Russian made. Were you aware of this switch RayClem ?

Because Astra SP blades are some of the most popular blades that Gillette sells, they were one of the first blades to be transitioned to India. When I purchased the Astra SP blades for the trial, the listing said they were from India, but when I received the blades, the outer packaging still said Russia, but I thought the blades themselves might have come from India. That is why I listed them as India, but with question marks. From my perspective, I did not see any significant difference between them and ones I had used previously from Russia. Thus, I am uncertain of their origin. In the PIF I included both the older and newer lots of blades. 

Because the Astra SP blades do not work well for my beard, I will leave the evaluation of them to you. I am glad you are getting good use from the blades. It is apparent that many shavers love them, but I am not one of them.

     And the 8th shave on my Astra SP Green. How did it go, you ask? I have to say, very well. Once again paired it with my Karve SB-E plate and got smooth, close, and comfortable. Easily BBS, even a bit closer than with the Lupo 95OC. Feedback from the alcohol based aftershave was a slight burn, nothing objectionable for me and the same as shave #7. I am honestly stunned at the longevity and performance I am getting over a small range of different razors. Overlander, Fatip Grande OC, Timeless Ti95OC, Karve SB-E, Carbon ++ web plate. Granted most are probably over the border of medium to definitely aggressive.

     On a separate note but kind of the same, I see TRC now has the Astra SP Green blades made in India. They are .69¢ a tuck vs. .89¢ for the Russian made. Were you aware of this switch RayClem ?

Because Astra SP blades are some of the most popular blades that Gillette sells, they were one of the first blades to be transitioned to India. When I purchased the Astra SP blades for the trial, the listing said they were from India, but when I received the blades, the outer packaging still said Russia, but I thought the blades themselves might have come from India. That is why I listed them as India, but with question marks. From my perspective, I did not see any significant difference between them and ones I had used previously from Russia. Thus, I am uncertain of their origin. In the PIF I included both the older and newer lots of blades. 

Because the Astra SP blades do not work well for my beard, I will leave the evaluation of them to you. I am glad you are getting good use from the blades. It is apparent that many shavers love them, but I am not one of them.

Yes, they definitely are popular. I have to see which one I am using then. I'm glad they are working for me also, they never did before. I guess it never hurts to revisit things that haven't worked in the past.

I would recommend the stainless Mellon over the zamac. The zamac is quite mild and likely not up to your precision requirements. Having now used both my stainless Tile and Soloedge, the zamac Mellon trails both by a large margin.

Tuesday Shave- Face-off between FlyDear and Matgicol blades- 2nd Use\

Today, I shaved again with the two Chinese blades. I got decent shaves on Sunday, but the Matgicol blade felt a little rough on my face today. I was unable to achieve a near-BBS shave, but got a DFS. In contrast, the FlyDear felt smooth and sharp on my face and achieved a near-BBS shave. In spite of the roughness of the Matgicol blade, I did not get significant feedback when applying witch hazel. If I had pursued a near-BBS shave, I suspect the feedback would have been different. I am going to have to penalize that blade due to the poor face feel. I did not enjoy the shave using the Matgicol whereas I did get a nice shave with the FlyDear. While the two blades might be made by the same manufacturer, these two samples did not perform the same way

Based on the results of these two face-off shaves, I am rating the Matgicol blade 3.5 sharpness and 4 smoothness. The FlyDear (Take 2) still receives a rating of 4.25 sharpness, 4.25 smoothness. Since the Matgicol blades are more expensive than the FlyDear blades and the FlyDear seem to be better, the latter blade are the ones I recommend. I purchased a 100 pack of the FlyDear blades, so they will go into my rotation. On a razor that is more aggressive than the Karve C-plate, they might be an excellent choice.

The DE blade evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

With the evaluation of the Matgicol blade, no further blade evaluations are planned. If any members have blades they would like me to evaluate, let me know. I will provide my contact info via private message so you can mail them to me.

Over the course of my shaves in the coming weeks, if I use a blade that has been evaluated previously, but the performance differs significantly from the previous results, I will post those differences.

Over the past 7+ months nearly 80 different razor blades have been evaluated with a few being evaluated more than once. Between what I have contributed and the contributions of other forum members, more than 64 pages of posts and 640 posts have been generated. I want to thank all of you who have participated in this thread.

A special thanks goes out to several members who sent me blades for evaluation. While not every blade submitted was a winner, most performed quite well. I would name these individuals, but I am afraid I might leave someone out.

Blades like BIC Chrome Platinum, Gillette Nacet Platinum, and 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) remain my top choices for personal use. I have discovered some new favorites including: Gillette Minora Stainless (Russia), Wizamet Super Iridium (Russia), Bolzano Superinox (Egypt), Filoso Barbers Blade (China), Gillette 365 Platinum (India), Gillette Super Thin for Vietnamese market (China), and Derby Usta (Turkey). Some of these blades have already been added to my collections. Others will in the future.

This series started with the premise that Gillette is no longer making blades in Russia for distribution to many Western countries. However, I am glad to report that there are a large number of blades produced in other countries that are suitable replacements for the Russian blades, no matter what your preference of sharpness level might be.