Captain CS by Lord, first impressions

Yes, the air here is both damp and salty. Examining the blade edge with a 30x loupe I saw no corrosion on the edge itself, but some on the bevel. I also noticed rust deposits on the cap and guard: those came off easily with an old toothbrush. All in all the rust was not terrible. I think it mostly came from the interface between the coating on the unsharpened steel and the coatings on the bevel and edge. Still it was worse than anything I have seen on a blade, outside of used blades that sat in vintage razors for years and years. I should have taken a picture, but cleaning it up was the main thing on my mind.

For now I will retire this blade and load up an old favorite, the Schick Plus Platinum. After reminding myself of its behavior I will probably return to the Captain. The first two shaves were good enough that a little more cleanup work could make sense, so I will probably try a little mineral oil or an isopropyl spray.

Super research by the sleuths here, thanks for sharing the information! As to the Captain I get 8 shaves out of it without rust.

I just finished my third shave with another Captain CS blade: no rust yet. This time around I carefully dabbed mineral oil onto the blade before the first shave. I have also been giving the blade a final rinse with the cap loosened and the faucet set at its hottest, which may help the blade dry out.

As mentioned above I used a vintage Schick Plus Platinum for five shaves in between. The SPP leaves me with marginally closer shaves than the Captain, and generally lasts 5-7 shaves. But I really enjoy shaving with the Captains and they are kind to my skin. If both blades were available at a similar price, I would struggle to choose between them.

Five and out, with some rust visible after the fourth shave. So the extra work with mineral oil and loosening the razor was marginal, only extending the blade by one shave.

Here is a quick shot of the rust: not terrible, and mostly seems to come from the interior and unsharpened edges of the blade. Perhaps coatings on the edge and the unsharpened metal normally prevent rust, but cutting the blade from the strip and punching out the interior exposes some uncoated surfaces? I might be able to get away with simply oiling those bits.

I am two shaves in with my penultimate Captain, after four shaves with a GSB. The GSB was frankly disappointing after the Schick PP and the Captains. It cut very well for the first two or three shaves, but I could not go ATG at the bottom of my throat without irritation. No doubt some of that is due to blade angle, but the Captain is much more forgiving.

The first two shaves were excellent. But despite applying a coat of mineral oil before the first shave, the latest Captain began rusting immediately. The edges still look fine, though. If the rust is coming from the steel exposed by cutting the blade from the strip and punching out the interior, I suppose it will vary from blade to blade.

And I am already thinking about which blade to use after this one is done: maybe a Spoiler, or I could try a Feather or an Iridium.

mblakele said:

I am two shaves in with my penultimate Captain, after four shaves with a GSB. The GSB was frankly disappointing after the Schick PP and the Captains.

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Yes, I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. After using Schick Plus Platinum for a couple of weeks, I switched over to GSB and noticed it was inferior to the SPP. There was a faint tug and pull with the GSB that was just at the threshold of perceptibility. Curious as to where these Captain CS blades are sold.

The third shave was a bit rougher: possibly my lather was off. I brought out my La Toja stick for the http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/333369-Item-of-the-Week thread. Meanwhile a new toy arrived: a USB microscope (Aven 26700-300 ZipScope). I thought it would be interesting to take some pictures of the Captain blade after three shaves. The scope is supposed to do 10-50x, but I am still learning to use it. For scale, that word "Quality" is about 6-mm wide and the whole image is about 11-12 mm. The image appears reddish because I have not figured out how to set the white balance yet.



As noted there is a single cut hair visible in the layer of mineral oil I applied to the blade. I think the smaller particles visible in the oil layer are also shaving debris. There may be some visible damage to the coatings or to the edge itself, but it is tricky to get a good image of those details.

This second image seems to show some discoloration on the edge, possibly rust. The rounding at the corner presumably reduces the chance of nicks from the corner of the blade.

The fourth shave went better than the third: likely much of the problem yesterday was my lather, although today I also took great care to use short strokes and go slow. The results are very good, but not quite as smooth as the first two shaves.

I am fairly sure this image shows the same edge as yesterday: the "Quality" on the other side is much bolder. The lighting and white balance are different, though: I was trying to get a clearer look at the edge rather than the grind. I also rinsed the blade thoroughly and sprayed it with isopropyl, to remove debris. As a result the layer of mineral oil is not as prominent. Anyway I believe I can make out some of the previously-noted blade or coating damage under the Q and the y, plus some new areas. The notch shape directly below the a-l gap seems to be new.



If I were very careful I think I could get another comfortable shave or two from this blade, but I think I will move on tomorrow. I still have to decide which blade will be next....

Early Morning said:

Curious as to where these Captain CS blades are sold.

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That is a problem; as I wrote before I could buy them from the Hungarian Lord-importer but that is the only place I ever found them. No (web-) shop that I know off carries them.

mblakele said:

The fourth shave went better than the third: likely much of the problem yesterday was my lather, although today I also took great care to use short strokes and go slow. The results are very good, but not quite as smooth as the first two shaves.

I am fairly sure this image shows the same edge as yesterday: the "Quality" on the other side is much bolder. The lighting and white balance are different, though: I was trying to get a clearer look at the edge rather than the grind. I also rinsed the blade thoroughly and sprayed it with isopropyl, to remove debris. As a result the layer of mineral oil is not as prominent. Anyway I believe I can make out some of the previously-noted blade or coating damage under the Q and the y, plus some new areas. The notch shape directly below the a-l gap seems to be new.



If I were very careful I think I could get another comfortable shave or two from this blade, but I think I will move on tomorrow. I still have to decide which blade will be next....

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Nice work mblakele! Nothing better than pics when talking about blades. I am not sure that any extra coating is used, apart from PTFE, and some lacquer (but not on the edge) to hold off corosion. The funny thing with the Captain, which makes it very different from stainless blades for me, is that even when the blade starts to feel uncomfortable it still delivers without any harm done. No discomfort after the shave, no red skin, not even more AS-burn; it only feels rougher to the skin but that is all.

I agree, these blades seems to age much more gracefully than stainless blades do. Too bad we have not found a source for any more.

One of my local international food stores sell them, I bought one green pack of 10 today...

Test4echo said:

One of my local international food stores sell them, I bought one green pack of 10 today...

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Very interesting; is there a barcode on it and a website mentioned? If there is no url on the package it is NOS and made in 1986 at the latest. If it is new production I am even more puzzled (which is a good thing ).

Can you post a pic?

Awesome! Let us hear what you think of them!

These Captain carbon steel blades were one of the very first blades that Lord produced after Wilkinson Sword completed the factory in Alexandria in 1978. The other was the Lord variant of London Bridge in stainless. I wonder if these are just informally intended for the domestic market or the brand was always a private label.

Early Morning said:

These Captain carbon steel blades were one of the very first blades that Lord produced after Wilkinson Sword completed the factory in Alexandria in 1978. The other was the Lord variant of London Bridge in stainless. I wonder if these are just informally intended for the domestic market or the brand was always a private label.

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Lord ended production of the Captain blades in 1986 (as stated on their website) but these are much more recent production. I have no clue as for what market they intended these and I also don't know if they are still in production now.

I am curious though, after Test4echo's find, if there are even more varieties around.

I'm curious as well and like to be updated on the varieties and places where you can lay your hand on them.

My green Captains arrived from Norway some time ago and I have had my first chance on using them.

First thing you notice is the lack of lacquer on them; they look like any other blade. I used them in my Lord LP1822; my beloved red Captains do well in there (just not as good as in my Gladweg) and deliver a dozen good shaves, six 2-pass and six 3-pass ones.

The green Captain feels good right away but a tad less sharp and smooth as the red ones and I need a 3-pass shave to get the results I am looking for. Still a nice result and the 'green' blade stays constant for 3 shaves. On the 4th shave it started tugging a bit but was still nice; the 5th one was pushing it a bit too much. If the blade would have been a SS-blade I would have tossed it after first skincontact on the 5th shave but knowing carbon steel is much more forgiving I went on. No irritation after 3 passes on that last shave and I looked fine but I could feel quit a bit of stubble left on my neck and jawline. No extra sting from the AS either so no harm done but 4 shaves really is enough with this blade for me.

The green Captains are also more prone to corrosion than the red ones; I dried the green ones after every shave but after the 2nd shave all contact-areas with the razor had turned black and some rust showed up around the punched holes. The red Captains stay in the razor for over 3 weeks without extra measures and they get hardly any rust on them so the lacquer really does make a difference.

So all in all the green Captain is the lesser brother in the Captain family for sure but it still is a really nice carbon steel blade; I like them better as the Treet Durasharps and those are nice enough too for me.

When you find them anywhere buy them and give them a go! Not as sharp and durable as the red version but still worth to try out!

Test4echo, thanks again for making this little test possible!