RayClem's Blade Evaluations

I am back from a long weekend away.

Next up is the Treet Super Platinum blade. I had never used Treet blades before, unless I might have used a carbon blade back in the early 1960s. Treet were part of the Pal Blade group which includes Pal, Treet, and Personna when that manufacturer was purchased in 1953 by American Safety Razor Company. Now the brand is produced independently by Treet Corporation which is one of the largest conglomerates in Pakistan. Treet is one of the few manufacturers that still offers carbon steel blades. However, the ones I purchased are stainless blades with a platinum coating.

The first shave with the Treet platinum blade was very good. I got a near BBS shave with zero irritation. Thus, I was pleased with the performance of these blades. They were mid-sharp and reasonably smooth. For those who like mid-sharp blades, these might be a great option. While I could easily use these blades, I prefer even sharper blade.. They are available for $8/ 100 from Amazon, so they are a good value.

I will used the Treet blades again on Wednesday to see if the performance differs.

Thank for keeping this thread going. Against by better judgment I picked up 100 of the Gillette Platinum Light Blue "Swedes" this weekend. They are well regarded by many, and they are often compared to the King C Gillette blade. Since you gave the KCG a passing grade and the "Swedes" may or may not be a limited product I pulled the trigger.

The Vietnam Gillette Super Thin Platinums made with Japanese steel (Japanese flag) are very nice. Tip top sharpness and very smooth as well. Maybe a little too smooth. If you like, I can PIF some to you. Ivan on the other board has hoarded 600 as well.

My blade bank is hovering around 1500 DEs and 600 1/2 DEs plus some injectors and ACs. Bring on the coming bladepocalyse upon us! I am prepared.

Thank for keeping this thread going.  Against by better judgment I picked up 100 of the Gillette Platinum Light Blue "Swedes" this weekend.  They are well regarded by many, and they are often compared to the King C Gillette blade.  Since you gave the KCG a passing grade and the "Swedes" may or may not be a limited product I pulled the trigger. 

The Vietnam Gillette Super Thin Platinums made with Japanese steel (Japanese flag) are very nice.  Tip top sharpness and very smooth as well.  Maybe a little too smooth. If you like, I can PIF some to you.  Ivan on the other board has hoarded 600 as well. 

My blade bank is hovering around 1500 DEs and 600 1/2 DEs plus some injectors and ACs.  Bring on the coming bladepocalyse upon us!  I am prepared.

There are still quite a few blades to go.

I have used Gillette Platinums, but I know there are purported to be various versions. I do not know which ones I have used as I have not used them in several years. My recollection is that they are mid-sharp, reasonably smooth blades, sort of like the Treet Platinum blades that can be had for less money. I know many people have speculated that the King C Gillette blades are the same as the Gillette Platinums, but I have heard that is not the case. Personally, I prefer the KCG blades to the Platinums. I find them to be both sharper and smoother. To me, the KCG blades are among the best that Gillette makes. Since these are supposed to be flagship products, that does not surprise me. If they were available in bulk packs, I would purchase them, but I am not going to pay $7 for 10 blades if I can get similar blades in bulk for a fraction of the price.  Since both Gillette Platinums and King C Gillette blades were made in the PPI plant in Russia, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for these brands.

There is a lot of confusion regarding the Gillette Thin and Super Thin blades. Although they are sold as Vietnam and Thailand, it is my understanding that they are made in Gillette China in Shanghai, but I cannot confirm that information. Due to this confusion, I do not plan to include these blades in my evaluation, but if you wish to post your own review of the Thin blades here, feel free to do so.

Update on Treet Super Platinum.

On the 2nd use of these blades I got another nice shave: no tugging, near BBS, and zero irritation. I would have preferred the blades to be slightly sharper, but they were quite satisfactory. The performance of the blades was very consistent from the 1st to 2nd use. For newer shavers who might have difficulty adapting to some blades that become significantly sharper after the 1st use, this is an advantage. For those looking for mid-sharp blades that can be purchased for an attractive price, the Treet Super Platinum blades are a great option.

Next up is the Laser Ultra Triple Coated blade. This blade is produced in India by Malhotra Shaving. There are other blades sold under the Laser label as well.

I have never seen a review of these blades, so I was not quite sure what to expect. However, since the blades are labeled triple-coated, I suspected that they might perform similar to the Personna Comfort Coated lab blues. It turn out that my suspicions were well founded.

On the first shave with the Laser blades, I did experience some slight tugging with my two-day beard growth. However, the blades were quite smooth. Because the blades were not quite sharp enough for my beard, I did not quite get to a near-BBS experience, but I experienced zero irritation when applying witch hazel after the shave. This is quite similar to the performance of Personna lab blues on the 1st shave. Thus, on the 1st shave, the blade gets a 3.5 on sharpness and a 5 on smoothness.

If the parallel to the Personna lab blue blades holds true, the Laser blades should be significantly sharper on the next shave as the coating wears off. We will test this hypothesis on Sunday morning.


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RayClem

Do you have a rough guess on how long the coating on the blade will last? or overall opinion of it. I wonder i I am tossing my blades too soon at 2-3 use and switch new blade.

RayClem

Do you have a rough guess on how long the coating on the blade will last? or overall opinion of it. I wonder i I am tossing my blades too soon at 2-3 use and switch new blade.

It seems like some forum members are obsessed with the number of shaves they get from a razor blade. I have never quite figured out why.

I can normally get about 4 shaves from most blades if I use the blade for an entire shave. The exception is Feather Hi-Stainless that becomes harsh part way through the 3rd shave. Technically, iridium, platinum and titanium coated blades should last longer than PTFE coated stainless blades, but you might or might not find that to be true for you.

My advice to others is that you should continue to use blades until they are either too dull for your beard or too harsh/rough for your skin. For those with a fine beard who shave daily, you might get a week or more from a blade. For those with tough beards who shave a couple of times a week, you might only get two good shaves. There are those who claim to be able to use a blade for 100 shaves; but I presume they either have very fine beards or very tough skin. So keep using a blade until it no longer provides you with a satisfactory shave. With some blades I have used, I could not even make it through the 1st pass of the 1st shave before I had to change blades.

With my typical shaving routine, I do a four pass shave with a different razor and blade for each pass. The blade used for the 1st pass suffers the most damage. I would be lucky to get 7 good WTG passes from any blade. The blade I use for my clean up pass takes minimal damage. I might be able to get 20-30 clean-up passes from a blade. Someone who does a 2 pass shave might get more shaves from a blade than I do with my 4 pass shaves.  

If you think you might be tossing blades too soon, try to extend your blade for another shave. There is no rule that says you have to use the blade. If you try an extra shave and find it no longer performs as you expect, put a new blade in the razor and continue your shave.

There are some shavers who want to use a fresh blade for every shave. I do not like doing that as I find that many blades become sharper after the 1st shave. I am hoping the Laser Ultra is one of those blades.

Update on Laser Ultra blade.

As expected, as the thick coating wore off, the blade became slightly sharper and slightly smoother, but the difference was not dramatic. The increase in sharpness allowed me to get a near-BBS shave. However, the decrease in smoothness meant that I got slight irritation when applying witch hazel. However, the irritation was minor, even with my sensitive skin.

On the first shave, I would have given the blade a 3.5 on sharpness and a 5 on smoothness. On the second shave, I would have given it a 4 on sharpness and a 4 on smoothness. Thus, overall, I rate the blade as 4 on sharpness and 4.5 on smoothness. Personally, I prefer even sharper blades, but this would be a great option for someone who does not need super sharp blades. This might have been a perfect blade in a more aggressive razor than the Karve SB C-plate that I used for the evaluation.

If you do decide to purchase the Laser Ultra blades, be sure to purchase from a reliable source. I understand that India Customs seized a large stash of counterfeit Laser blades.

There are still five more blades to go from my original list. The next two blades to be evaluated are the Lord Silver Star and the Personna Platinum Chrome blade in the blue and gold packaging from Germany. Although the Personna Israeli reds are no longer being produced, I have a stash of them and will compare the German blades to the former Israeli blades during my evaluation. That will then leave: Lord Cool, Zorrik Super Platinum, and Asco Super Stainless in the red packaging.

After completing the original list of blades, I will continue the evaluation by reviewing a selection of blades that I have used previously. However, since I have used them previously, I will only use them for one shave so that I can get through them a more quickly. I will use my previous experience with those blade to indicate how they perform in subsequent shaves. The evaluation will include some of my favorite blades like: BIC Chrome Platinum, Gillette Nacet, Gillette PermaSharp Super, 7 O'Clock Super Platinum Black, Dorco Prime Platinum, Durablade Sharp Titanium, and SuperMax Blue Diamond. However, I will also include blades like: Feather, Wilkinson Sword Classic (Germany), Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India), Astra Superior Stainless, Personna Crystals (Israel), Personna Comfort Coated lab blues, Lord Platinum Class, Rapira Platinum Lux and Voskhod (Russia), Gillette Platinum and Gillette Silver Blue (PPI), 7 O'Clock SharpEdge yellow, Parker Premium Platinum, Gillette Rubie Plus, and Astra Superior Platinum.

There are some blades I have in my inventory that were not sharp enough for my beard and tug painfully, so I do not plan on evaluating them. They include: Shark Super Chrome, Derby Extra, Merkur ice tempered, and Van der Hagen ice tempered.

Hopefully, the expanded list of blades will most of them of interest to readers. However, I am willing to consider other blades.

One blade I have not used is Derby Premium. I believe the Parker Premium Platinum blades are made by Derby as they are made in Turkey and have the same Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungsten-Polymer coated edges as the Derby blades. If someone would be willing to contribute a couple of Derby Premium blades to the cause, send me a PM and I will provide my address.

If anyone sees former Gillette/PPI blades that are now being made in India, please let me know as I would love to try them to see how they compare to the PPI blades.

Next up is the Silver Star Super Stainless blade made by Lord in Egypt. I had never tried this blade, but I have heard many positive reviews from other shavers, so I was looking forward to using the blade.

As usual, I had two days of beard growth to challenge the blade. While the Silver Star did not glide through my beard with no resistance, there was no tugging. Although there was some blade feel, I did not get any feedback when applying witch hazel. Thus, this was an excellent shave: near BBS with zero irritation. For now I am calling the sharpness a 4 and the smoothness a 4.5. If the blade becomes slightly sharper, but slightly less smooth as the coating wears off, those numbers might reverse. However, it should still end up on the recommended blade list. The price of these blades is only $8 per 100, so these are a great value.