RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Saturday Shave- Face-off between Derby Extra Blue and Orange

Derby sells a variety of blades. There are three offerings sold under the Derby Extra brand. The original Extra blades come in a green pack and are sold in tucks of 5 blades. There is another version that comes in blue pack with 10 blades per tuck. Then there is an orange package that appears to be designed for retail sale that also come in a 10 blade tuck. The Extra Green version prominently advertises that they have Derby's complex chromium-ceramic-platinum-tungsten- and polymer coating used on most of the Derby blades, including Derby Premium and USTA as well as the private label blades for Parker and Bluebird. The Extra Blue version lists the coating on the side of the bulk package. The Derby Orange version has a Platinum label on the front of the package and only lists the other coatings in fine print on the back of the package. Furthermore, the coatings are listed in a different order: chrome, ceramic, polymer, tungsten and platinum. I have no idea why the marketing is different.

The objective of today's shave is to determine if these three Extra blades are the same or different.

I began the shave with a Derby Premium blade in the Karve brass razor that had been used previously. My Karve stainless was loaded with a fresh Derby Green. Both razors had similar C-plates. I took only a few strokes with each razor before replacing the Premium blade with the Derby Extra Orange and the Green blade with a Derby Extra Blue. As expected, the Derby Premium blade continued to be significantly sharper and smoother than the Derby Extra Green. When I replaced the initial blades with the Blue and Orange pack blades, I did not notice a significant difference in either sharpness nor smoothness. All three of the Extra blades performed in a similar manner and similar to the original evaluation of the Extra Green blade earlier in the series.

The blades were sharp enough to achieve a DFS, but I need sharper blades to achieve the near-BBS shave I desire. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, there was significant feedback. Thus, based on the results of this shave, I am rating both the Blue and Orange packed blades as sharpness 3, smoothness 3. This is the same as the original evaluation of the Derby Extra greens. Thus, as far as I can tell, the Derby Extra Greens, Blues, and Orange are the same blade with the exception of packaging.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated:

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

If the Derby Extra blades work for you, the least expensive way to purchase them in in the Blue packaging with 200 blades per bulk pack. They cost $15 per 200 blades or 0.075 per blade. The Derby Extra greens can be purchase for just slightly more at $8 per 100 blades. Because the Derby Extra Orange blades seem to be packaged for retail sale, they are only available in 10 packs for $2.19.

Because Gillette is in the process of moving production from Russia to China and India, I plan to evaluate a series of Gillette blades from Asia. The first blade in the list is the Gillette Super Stainless blade packaged in Thailand. I am not certain where this blade is manufactured. It will be used for Monday's shave.

Sorry for the delay on the Vietnam blades. Lunar new years wrecks everything in Asia.

Sorry for the delay on the Vietnam blades. Lunar new years wrecks everything in Asia.

No problem. I still have a few blades to go. I will test them whenever they get here. I appreciate your efforts. Enjoy the New Year's celebration.

Monday Shave- Gillette Super Stainless (with platinum)

Gillette made a variety of blades under different brands. When the brand Super Stainless is mentioned, I immediately think of the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless green blades formerly produced in Russia, but these blade are produced in Asia for sale in Thailand. The Razor Company web site from which I purchased these blades indicates that they are made in Thailand. While that might be the case, I suspect they might have been made in China and packaged in Thailand. Most of the writing on the package is in characters I cannot translate. However, Gillette Super Stainless is clearly readable. When I opened the blade wrapper, I was surprised to find the words "with platinum" stamped on the blade itself. Here is the link to the blades.

https://www.therazorcompany.com/products...f-6-blades

I had been less than 48 hours since my last shave with the Derby Extra blades. Because that was not an ideal shave, I had the equivalent of 2 day's beard growth several hours early. 

I started the shave with the Derby Extra blue from the previous shave still in the Karve razor. There will still significant drag with the blade, so I quickly replaced it with a fresh Super Stainless. That blade was significantly sharper, but there was still some blade resistance. The blade did sharpen up some during the shave such that I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave. However, that was at the expense of some irritation. I got significant feedback when applying witch hazel after the shave. I was much happier with this shave than with the Derby Extra blades.

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating the Gillette Super Stainless blades with platinum as sharpness 4, smoothness 4. That places them in the same category as several other Gillette blades such as Gillette Platinum (older production) and Gillette Silver Blue. However, I prefer the performance of the Gillette Platinum (new). Because the Super Stainless blades are produced for sale in Thailand, they are not readily available in other parts of the world. They are rather expensive if you purchase a 6 blade tuck and I have not seen them for sale in bulk packs. Thus, I would recommend other blades with similar or better performance. 

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

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

I plan to use a Gillette Goal Super Platinum blade for Wednesday's shave.

That one looks very much like the super thin blades i have but printing a little differently ..

Gasman

Jerry, the Super Thins are also sold in the Thailand market, but ErkRusselReserve says they are made in Vietnam. He is supposed to be sending me a couple for evaluations, but I do not know when they might arrive. It is a long journey from that part of the world.

Just finished a 45th shave with a Jaguar blade in my rex razor……….i dug out the karve OC plate 30 shave blade from my blade bank…..the last 5-6 shaves I’ve been skipping the WTG pass,,just XTG and ATG…BBS+ perfection!

Well if you have some coming ill jold of on sending you one.

Monday Shave- Gillette Super Stainless (with platinum)

Gillette made a variety of blades under different brands. When the brand Super Stainless is mentioned, I immediately think of the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless green blades formerly produced in Russia, but these blade are produced in Asia for sale in Thailand. The Razor Company web site from which I purchased these blades indicates that they are made in Thailand. While that might be the case, I suspect they might have been made in China and packaged in Thailand. Most of the writing on the package is in characters I cannot translate. However, Gillette Super Stainless is clearly readable. When I opened the blade wrapper, I was surprised to find the words "with platinum" stamped on the blade itself. Here is the link to the blades.

https://www.therazorcompany.com/products...f-6-blades

I had been less than 48 hours since my last shave with the Derby Extra blades. Because that was not an ideal shave, I had the equivalent of 2 day's beard growth several hours early. 

I started the shave with the Derby Extra blue from the previous shave still in the Karve razor. There will still significant drag with the blade, so I quickly replaced it with a fresh Super Stainless. That blade was significantly sharper, but there was still some blade resistance. The blade did sharpen up some during the shave such that I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave. However, that was at the expense of some irritation. I got significant feedback when applying witch hazel after the shave. I was much happier with this shave than with the Derby Extra blades.

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating the Gillette Super Stainless blades with platinum as sharpness 4, smoothness 4. That places them in the same category as several other Gillette blades such as Gillette Platinum (older production) and Gillette Silver Blue. However, I prefer the performance of the Gillette Platinum (new). Because the Super Stainless blades are produced for sale in Thailand, they are not readily available in other parts of the world. They are rather expensive if you purchase a 6 blade tuck and I have not seen them for sale in bulk packs. Thus, I would recommend other blades with similar or better performance. 

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

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

I plan to use a Gillette Goal Super Platinum blade for Wednesday's shave.

I also prefer the performance of the new version of Gillette Platinum over the older versions.  In fact, this is one of my go-to blades.  On the blade itself the label is laser etched and shows two arrow heads on the top and bottom pointing in opposite directions.  This is my shave today using this blade:

Southsider

I never quite found the old Gillette Platinum blades to be quite sharp enough for my beard. I am sure they worked well for many shavers. However, the Platinums in the new blue packaging like you used were a step up in both sharpness and smoothness making them a blade I can easily use to achieve a great shave. Those blades were made by PPI in Russia. Thus, my concern is whether the brand will be relocated to China or India and still maintain that level of performance. That is why I am currently evaluating some Gillette blades made elsewhere. I am hoping blades like Gillette Goal Platinum, Gillette Super Nacet, and Gillette 365 (India) might be suitable replacements.

BTW: I hope you like the Grooming Dept Eau de Magnolia soap. While not quite as good as the more recent Maxima formulation, I love both the performance and the scent.