Carbon SE Blade Shave Off - The Truth At Last!

I've been wondering if all the carbon SE blades are actually the same blade with different spines, packaging and blueing.
PAL Blues, Treets, Blue Star 2008, Blue Star 2014 and CVS...
...so let's find out!

For every shave I'll use exactly the same set up: ER 1912, Plisson L'Occitane Synthetic and the truly awesome KFBR Frostbite soap and compare the different blades...

Round One:
PAL Blue vs Blue Star 2008

On their first shaves, the Blue Star was considerably sharper and smoother than the PAL Blue.

Although they are made in the same factory, these are definitely NOT the same blade in disguise.

I expect the PAL will settle in on subsequent shaves.

I've marked the spine of the Blue Star so as not to confuse it with the Treet, CVS and Blue Star 2014 to come and I'm storing all the blades in oil between shaves.

But why would ASR even make different SE blades in the same factory?

Great idea, Marcus. I look forward to reading your research. Cheers!!

mjclark said:

On their first shaves, the Blue Star was considerably sharper and smoother than the PAL Blue.

Although they are made in the same factory, these are definitely NOT the same blade in disguise.

Click to expand...

I feel the same as you do concerning these two blades, the Blue Stars are sharper and smoother. I have tried all of the blades on your list, to me they don't perform the same.

I'm looking forward to read what you think about all of them.

Round 2: Blue Star 2008 vs Treet
On their first shaves, the Blue Star is considerably sharper and smoother than the Treet.
The Treet still gave a very nice and extremely comfortable shave, and it felt very similar to the PAL though perhaps slightly smoother.

I could easily believe that the PAL and the Treet are essentially the same blade, and I'll give them a shave off to test this later on.

But the Blue Star 2008 stands head and shoulders above both of them.

And Joe, what's your favourite carbon SE blade?

Marcus, the Gem Blue Star is my favorite. The Blue Stars are smooth and sharp just like you had mentioned. I see that you also feel the same way about the Treets as I do. I wish the Blue Stars could be gotten for a low sum in high quantities.

The Treet is the only SE blade I've used. I'll be happy to see the results.

Interesting thread! Need to keep checking in on this.

Round 3: Treet vs CVS
The CVS blade on its first shave was MUCH sharper than the Treet but also much harsher, in fact the harshest blade so far and I came away with a few weepers.

These are definitely not the same blade. The CVS is as sharp or possibly sharper than the Blue Star 08, but much harsher than any of the other blades.
Who knew?

I'll be interested in reading your observations, too.

Coincidentally, just yesterday I sent of an order to Pella which will include 100 of the Blue Carbon Steel PAL Blades PN 121-20. Of course there is no way to know if these are the same as PAL Blues or any of the others above.

I really don't have much of a "feel" for different blades, admittedly. One blade seems pretty much the same as the other to me. That being said, I really think I do notice the difference between a Treet and the Gem Blue Star..the Gem being much nicer. I like the Treet DE blades just fine, but for some reason not the Treet SE's. One of only a couple of blades that I wasn't able to work with.

I've only used two. GEM blue star and cvs. What a difference, I really liked the they blues. The cvs I gave away, those babies are harsh.

How about the Feather black carbon SE blade ??...Any feedback ?

malocchio said:

How about the Feather black carbon SE blade ??...Any feedback ?

Click to expand...

I like those Feather Seikans though they are a bit rough.

Good question though, so I'll include Feather Seikan and NOS Valet (one of the best blades of all time methinks!) in this shave off too

The only contemporary blades missing are Blue Star 2010s and Dorcos but we all know about them eh?

Great Thread! Subscribed and looking forward to more results! Thank you for doing this, I personally have only tried the CVS. Question, how do I tell if the Blue star are 2008 or not?

Boared said:

Great Thread! Subscribed and looking forward to more results! Thank you for doing this, I personally have only tried the CVS. Question, how do I tell if the Blue star are 2008 or not?

Click to expand...

The Blue Stars are dated on the back of the larger cardboard sheet that the pack of blades is attached to.
I have 2008 and 2014, and I hear tales of a 2010 as well and a suggestion that they shave differently.

For me there is DEFINITELY a difference between the 2008 Blue Stars and the Treets/PALs. The CVS is also DEFINITELY rougher than any of the other blades...

...but HOLD THE PHONE!! The next round reveals another shocker -

Round 4: CVS vs Blue Star 2014
The Blue Star 2014 was duller than the CVS and only marginally smoother.

I can happily believe that the Blue Star 2014, Treet and PAL are the same blade but the Blue Star 2008 is far superior, sharper and smoother whilst the CVS is also sharper but initially very harsh.

Perhaps the CVS and Blue Star 2008 begin life as the same blade but the Blue Star is factory stropped.

Perhaps they all begin life as industrial blades then are rebevelled and finished slightly differently.
If only a production manager for ASR was on this forum!

And now a lateral manouvre...

Round 5: Blue Star 2014 vs Feather Seikan
I've had good results with the Feather Seikans in Valet razors but perhaps the geometry of the ER 1912 does not agree with it because the shave was almost unbearably tuggy and not particularly sharp.

I was tempted to abandon the carbon Feather but perservered - it would seem to be the worst blade so far in terms of performance, about the same sharpness as the PAL or Treet but so so rough.

But my face afterwards felt absolutely superb which must be something to do with the Japanese steel.
If the Seikan settles in this could actually turn out to be very nice, but we'll find out in the second phase of the shave off later on...

Thanks I thought I was going nutts since all my Blue Star are at least 5 years old and give great shaves but the 2014 one I used at my parents pulled and tugged.

Deltaboy said:

Thanks I thought I was going nutts since all my Blue Star are at least 5 years old and give great shaves but the 2014 one I used at my parents pulled and tugged.

Click to expand...

A-ha! It's starting to make sense now