RayClem's Blade Evaluations

I also didn’t care for the PolSilver I tried last month. I’ve been testing out a lot of blades here lately in my .84p and was surprised by the PolSilver after all the positive reviews. They are real and not fakes.

They were fairly sharp for me but not what I’d call smooth. Very bottom tier for smoothness out of about 50 blades I’ve tried. I imagine there is some variation from batch to batch like every other blade. I’ve noticed a large variation with certain blades like Astra SP and very little variation with others like GSB.

I just took delivery of two boxes of Gillette London Bridge for the Indonesian Market. It seems the orange box made in China ones are in the 9+ range, but the ones I got are made in India. If I feel they are up to snuff, I'll send some over. If they are middling like Wilkinson Sword, well, I'll save everyone some time.

The Indian made ones used to be in a blue box for the MIddle East market, but now there are Orange Box Indian made ones for Indonesian market. It was a bait and switch! Will the story have a happy ending or will the $13 for 2 boxes shipped go to waste?

Hey Erk, I was just curious where you were finding these London Bridges for so cheap? Im guessing you probably aren’t from the states? I have a couple shaves with a pack I got of the Chinese ones and they were very good blades but if I remember correctly they seemed to dull a little faster then my normal blades. More testing would have to be done to confirm that of course.

And I believe it was you I was talking to about the Rubies on the other site and you were asking about the older Rubie Plus version and I forgot to get back with you after taking a few days break from there.

It’s been a long time since I used the Rubie Plus version but I remember them being almost identical to my regular Rubies. Just a slight variation - possibly better but hard to say. They are probably the same exact blades and what I felt was from date/batch differences. I notice slight differences in many blades from batch to batch. I still have 1-2 blades of the Plus laying around I’ve been hoarding for future use so maybe in the next few months I’ll update you if I get around to using one again.

Cool. Apparently Rubies are still being made, but rather hard to get these days. New make Wiz and Nacet have been spotted out in the wild though.

Cool. Apparently Rubies are still being made, but rather hard to get these days. New make Wiz and Nacet have been spotted out in the wild though.

They may still be made but I won’t hold my breath on getting anymore until I see them for sale.  And I would still be worried the newer ones won’t be as good as the older ones until I got to test them out.  

Was the Rubie your favorite overall, and did you still have some left? 

I like the 2021-2022ish Wizamet I tested but it wasn’t anything special.  I’ll probably buy a couple boxes in case they get hard to find.  I have more Nacets then anything so am well stocked on those.  My new ones seem great so far.  My latest date is 09/23.  Not sure if I’ve seen anyone post newer then that but I’d love to hear about them.

I picked up the India London Bridges from a vendor in Vietnam.  They were very inexpensive, but not for me.  I have a few Rubies left in the one tuck I picked up from RBC last year.  They remind me of Nacet/Permasharp/Minora, but I didn't do a thorough head to head.  To me those blades are in a similar tier (looks like Ray has em all at 9.5, so it seems they are).  I think I like the Vietnam Super Thins (Japan Flag) a bit more, they are cheap and easier to get here anyway.  It could be the Japanese steel works for me a touch more. I took a flyer on them awhile ago and was delighted to be surprised. I was not expecting much. In fact, I doubted my opinion, but Ray validated it for me Just ordered 300 more for ~$24 shipped!

The only other "flyer" blade that also such delighted me has been Durasharps. I PIF my milder blades, so at least someone gets to enjoy them.

I too have Wizaments that didn't knock my socks off.  They are from 2022.  Apparently, June 2020 is the cutoff for magic Wizamet blades.

The Rubies are just special for me. They work amazingly well in every razor and some razors that were mediocre really produced some good shaves with the blade change to a Rubie. But I don’t think they are that much better then many other blades, they’re just my favorite.

I’ve ordered a few single blades/tucks here lately from RBC and elsewhere trying to test most blades out and was eyeing the Super Thins but wasn’t sure which version to get. It looks like RBC offers Super Thins from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. I’m assuming the Chinese ones are probably the right ones?

Strangely the Russian Perma-Sharp, & Minora didn’t make my top 20 list but the Nacet is top 3. The couple batches of Perma-Sharps I’ve tried weren’t close to as sharp as Nacet/Rubies and I’d classify them as mid level sharpness at best but they were still great shaving blades.

I’ve only tried 1 Minora blade and it was so rough I haven’t tried another for the last couple years. I still have the same tuck and plan to try them again next week. I find it hard to believe they can be that bad with all the praise so either way I plan on ordering 100 in a new batch and hope they work out.

I think I have more fun testing new blades then I do testing new razors. Both are fun but 9 times out of 10 a blade is good but when testing razors my odds aren’t as high.

I forgot to ask, I’ve seen Treet DuraSharps in both blue and yellow wrappers/tucks. Are they the same blade? I’ve yet to try a Treet since I always figured they would be mediocre at best. I do have a tuck of Trigs I’ll try out here soon.

I also didn’t care for the PolSilver I tried last month.  I’ve been testing out a lot of blades here lately in my .84p and was surprised by the PolSilver after all the positive reviews.  They are real and not fakes. 

They were fairly sharp for me but not what I’d call smooth.  Very bottom tier for smoothness out of about 50 blades I’ve tried.  I imagine there is some variation from batch to batch like every other blade.  I’ve noticed a large variation with certain blades like Astra SP and very little variation with others like GSB.

Many people love the PolSilver blades. They are a cult classic. However, my experience with them is similar to yours. I found them to be decent, but nothing to rave about. I certainly would not pay a premium for them. Iridium is significantly more expensive than platinum and other metals used in blade coatings. Iridium is super hard, so the blade longevity should be good if they blades work for you.

I forgot to ask, I’ve seen Treet DuraSharps in both blue and yellow wrappers/tucks.  Are they the same blade?  I’ve yet to try a Treet since I always figured they would be mediocre at best.  I do have a tuck of Trigs I’ll try out here soon.

Like you, I always made the assumption that Treet blades would be inferior to other blades. However, once I started to try some Treet blades, I was surprised at how good some of them were. They may be the only manufacturer still making blades from carbon steel. However, they also use stainless. I do not know how long the DuraSharp blades will last in the long run, but they are a pleasure to use. They are so inexpensive, that they are still viable even if they only last a couple of shaves.

I too have Wizaments that didn't knock my socks off.  They are from 2022.  Apparently, June 2020 is the cutoff for magic Wizamet blades.

Sounds about right to me.

Same with PolSilver. Those used to be great but the last batch I got a few years ago was nowhere near as good.

Same thing with the newer Gillette Platinum... used to be great for 4 shaves, now they are good for one shave then they are done.