Swedes --> Iridium --> ???

[orpheus]

When the Swedish Gillettes went the way of all flesh, I turned to Iridium (as did many), and laid in a good supply. Now that they too are gone, what to do? I know that nothing can replace them, but...what can replace them?

I need the usual things in a blade: smooth first and foremost; sharp, and able to deal with heavy coarse beard and sensitive skin. Feathers are too harsh for me. I've had decent shaves from Lord Platinum Class and Bluebird, and ok shaves from the yellow 7 o'clock. But nothing compares to the Iridiums (and certainly not to the Swedes).

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Michael

[xillion]

Have you tried both the black and blue Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum blades? The black are made in India, the blue are made in St. Petersburg Russia. I find them both to be sharp and smooth.

Gillette Silver Blue are also nice and sharp but for me they are not as smooth as Iridium or Swedes. Personna Med preps are another sharp and smooth blade that works well for me. As always with blades, YMMV.

[MichiganRob]

Buy more Super Iridiums from Emilio in the Vendor forum maybe.

[Blondie]

Have you tried perma sharps?

[xraygun]

Buy more Super Iridiums from Emilio in the Vendor forum maybe.

+1

[QuantumX]

Have you tried perma sharps?

+2

[Chester]

...what can replace them?

Souplex, I'd say. Love that souplex blade.
Myself, I just picked up some of the brown-box polsilvers to give them a spin, but I'm still looking for a bar-none replacement for iridiums.
One thing I did discover in my sear was that the treet durasharp classic silver edge was a great blade - perhaps not quite in league with the IS, but very good, and cheap.
-- Chet

[Mitsimonsta]

Have you tried both the black and blue Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum blades? The black are made in India, the blue are made in St. Petersburg Russia. I find them both to be sharp and smooth.

Some of the 7OC Blues were Czech made also, I think these may be of better quality than the St. Petersburg produced blades. Either way, definitely worth a shot with both of them.

Gillette Silver Blue are also nice and sharp but for me they are not as smooth as Iridium or Swedes.

Yes, I think for sharpness then the Silver Blues are the way to go.

I think you could also look at the Thai Gillette Superthins also. Very underrated blade, great pricing. The other two Gillette's I would recommend are the Dark/Maltese Platinums and the Gillette Bleue Extra (GBE) although they are hard to find now (they all live under my bed - hehehe).

I saw Souplex mentioned below, I don't find them sharp enough. 3 days growth and they tug and pull, but on a single day's whiskers they do okay. They are a very mild and comfortable blade, and if you have issues shaving every day with most sharp Gillette Blades as I do, then the Souplex are a good choice as I can shave every day with no irritation with them. I can also do that with Red IP's.

[xillion]

I think you could also look at the Thai Gillette Superthins also. Very underrated blade, great pricing.

I forgot Super Thins. I agree that they are a great underrated blade. The ones in the link above are the Vietnamese version.

The Thai version look like this.



I've never tried the Vietnamese version, but the Thai version has always been good to my face.

I believe they are both made in Shanghai.

[Mitsimonsta]

I can't read Thai or Viet so I can't tell the difference. Both blades are good, the Thai's for me were a tiny bit better. My original source of the Thai's are now gone.

[texaninkc]

Another vote for perma sharps. I did a blind test with iridiums personna meds permasharps and polsilvers and the perma sharps were the ones I had the most trouble telling apart from iridiums. First shave was not as smooth but broke in great.

[jwilock]

SIs are one of my favorits. I too find Perma-Sharp Supers close in almost all ways.

[JeffE]

Polsilvers are virtually identical to SIs. I also love the SuperMax Titanium and Platinum blades, but they don't get much love on this forum. Kai blades are out of this world, but also kind of pricey.

[pipskicks]

Perma-Sharps seem as sharp as feathers but smoother. Haven't tried SI's though.

[Mitsimonsta]

Permasharps via Bestshave.net are a favourite of mine in rotation. Need to pick up some more soon.

It's such a shame that we have to go back to the lamentation of SI's now out of production. They truly were a great combination of just enough sharpness and good longevity, while producing smooth and irritation-free shaves. I'm on my last pack

[orpheus]

Hmm. Permasharps seem to be getting a lot of approval here. Are those the green 7 o'clocks?

Also, I picked up some blue 7 o'clocks at Pasteur. This was an odd and confusing experience. The first surprise was that I asked for blacks and was told there were no more blacks; the blacks were now blues.

Second surprise: all the blue boxes looked the same - they said "Super Platinum", and were Czech. I bought a box, but now I see that the one I bought says made in St. Petersburg. (I'm pretty sure the packaging is identical to the Czechs in every other way, though.)

Anyway, I tried these yesterday. First blade may have been a bad one; it wasn't that smooth and left me with some nicks. I switched it out; the second blade was better. If my face has healed well enough, I'll try again today.

I also bought some Trigs, just to try those as well. Haven't tried those yet.

They also had some Bolzanos, though the box said they were made in Germany. A bit expensive - $2.50 for 5 blades. Any opinions on these? I may go back and buy a box.

[jwilock]

Hmm. Permasharps seem to be getting a lot of approval here. Are those the green 7 o'clocks?

Also, I picked up some blue 7 o'clocks at Pasteur. This was an odd and confusing experience. The first surprise was that I asked for blacks and was told there were no more blacks; the blacks were now blues.

Second surprise: all the blue boxes looked the same - they said "Super Platinum", and were Czech. I bought a box, but now I see that the one I bought says made in St. Petersburg. (I'm pretty sure the packaging is identical to the Czechs in every other way, though.)

Anyway, I tried these yesterday. First blade may have been a bad one; it wasn't that smooth and left me with some nicks. I switched it out; the second blade was better. If my face has healed well enough, I'll try again today.

I also bought some Trigs, just to try those as well. Haven't tried those yet.

They also had some Bolzanos, though the box said they were made in Germany. A bit expensive - $2.50 for 5 blades. Any opinions on these? I may go back and buy a box.

I'm pretty sure that all the comments here are about Perma-Sharp Supers, the blades sold in Turkey and available online from bestshave, NOT the 7 O'Clocks.

[pipskicks]

I'm pretty sure that all the comments here are about Perma-Sharp Supers, the blades sold in Turkey and available online from bestshave, NOT the 7 O'Clocks.

These are NOT Gillette Greens, let me see if I can get a link. It is SOLD in Turkey by BestShave.net, but it is made in St. Petersburg, same PLACE the Greens are made in, yet they are not Gillette 7 o'clock nor part of their 7 o'clock line, just made in St. Petersburg as well as the Greens. I happen to think the Greens are one of the sharpest roughest blades I've ever tried and it was terrible, nothing like Perma-Sharps.

Picture from BestShave of Perma-Sharp box:
http://shop.bestshave.net/10-permash...lades-p-3.html


5-pack

[MichiganRob]

These are NOT Gillette Greens, let me see if I can get a link. It is SOLD in Turkey by BestShave.net, but it is made in St. Petersburg, same PLACE the Greens are made in, yet they are not Gillette 7 o'clock nor part of their 7 o'clock line, just made in St. Petersburg as well as the Greens. I happen to think the Greens are one of the sharpest roughest blades I've ever tried and it was terrible, nothing like Perma-Sharps.

Picture from BestShave of Perma-Sharp box:
http://shop.bestshave.net/10-permash...lades-p-3.html


5-pack

The Permasharps in the plastic case are made in Turkey and are nowhere near as good as the Russian Perms in the cardboard 5-pack. Just an FYI.

[Blondie]

The Permasharps in the plastic case are made in Turkey and are nowhere near as good as the Russian Perms in the cardboard 5-pack. Just an FYI.

Definitely get the cardboard box.