Shark surprise

I just shaved with Shark Stainless after using one a few years ago as a newb, and the shave was incredibly smooth, almost smoother than Personna Red. Are they really that good? And is the Shark Chrome even smoother?

In the Reviews section I see they have a rating just higher than that of Derby, in the 6-7 range, though some people rate them as high as all 10's. For whatever reason they seem to suffer poor ratings though some people swear by them. I have some in my rotation. They seem to work as well as any other blade for my beard and shaving habits. Like others, I was lured by the almost retro-style packaging. One of my reserve 100-packs is Shark Chrome, but so far I have tried only the Stainless from sampler packs. I, like you, would rate them as "smooth", since I do not recall any particular bad experiences with cuts or burn.

I am personally not a huge fan of either Shark blade. That said I think the stainless is the better of the 2 for my skin and beard type. Blades are very much a YMMV thing and that is why there are so many different ones out there. I personally think that is a great thing.

Sharks work very well for me.

The comments for Sharks seem to be so widely varied it makes me wonder if it's more of a quality control issue from batch to batch? Some people report a sharp smooth blade while others report a poor quality blade. Sure everybody's got a different beard and shaving technique so YMMV, but maybe inconsistent manufacturing has something to do with it?

Shark SS is my favorite blade.

I love the way it starts with the buttery edge in my Aristocrats. It's not the sharpest blade around but IMHO it is for me the smoothest. It's not the most long lasting either, I only get about 7 weeks of daily BBS shaves out of each, but the shaves are all very comfortable.

Regarding the QC of this blade I seem to remember that the issue has been discussed some years ago on these pages. Given the political turmoil in Egypt during the past few years I would not be surprised at all if there are some QC issues. All of my 1200 blades are from two batches bought in 2012 and so far I have not noted any inconsistencies at all.

At least it was a nice surprise...

I find the Shark SS a great sleeper! They're relatively cheap to boot!

bosseb said:

Shark SS is my favorite blade.
It's not the most long lasting either, I only get about 7 weeks of daily BBS shaves out of each.

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7 weeks?? Or did you mean 7 days? Either way I'd call that lasting. Many blades give only 2-3 days at best, and some are 'one and done'.

dimeotane said:

7 weeks?? Or did you mean 7 days? Either way I'd call that lasting. Many blades give only 2-3 days at best, and some are 'one and done'.

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I did mean 49 daily BBS shaves. Blade longevity is IMHO a metric for enjoyable shaves driven by good technique.

You should really check out the Excalibur Club: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...vity-DE-SE-and-Injector?p=7688171#post7688171 .

I was comparing the 49 shaves to the really long runs of 100+ shaves : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/448783-128-shaves-on-a-NOS-Wilkinson-blade .

Because of its properties from the first shave the Shark SS is still my favorite blade.

BSAGuy said:

Sharks work very well for me.

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Me too, I love them!

7 weeks on a single blade?!
those strategies must get a decade out of a soap puck!

mike_the_kraken said:

7 weeks on a single blade?!
those strategies must get a decade out of a soap puck!

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Nah, pucks I load like I hate them...

mike_the_kraken said:

7 weeks on a single blade?!
those strategies must get a decade out of a soap puck! [emoji23]

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I never tire of seeing the reactions from Boss's posts. I read the Excalibur thread from start to finish and tried out it out. What Those boys preach had merit.

dimeotane said:

The comments for Sharks seem to be so widely varied it makes me wonder if it's more of a quality control issue from batch to batch? Some people report a sharp smooth blade while others report a poor quality blade. Sure everybody's got a different beard and shaving technique so YMMV, but maybe inconsistent manufacturing has something to do with it?

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The exact same thing could be said about Derbys, which seem to have the longest running love em/hate em argument going around these parts. I personally don't chalk it up to manufacturing variances, as I've always had good results from Derbys, but I do chalk it up to the fact that DE blades exhibit the biggest YMMV product in wetshaving.

Oh, and by the way, I get great shaves from both of the offerings from Shark, and can't really discern a whole lot of difference between the two. But if memory serves , the stainless seemed just a touch smoother to me. Of course, YMMV, and all that...

I had a good cheek/jawline shave from shark super chrome...and a lot of neck irritation. I have a few left, but no hurry to get back to them.

I've had three very good shaves with the super chrome and will give a whirl to see if I can get number four out of it.

I'm waiting for my try a blade order to arrive so I currently only have these and the Astra SS on hand.

My understanding is that,as a barber blade, Sharks are good as a once (maybe twice) and done blade. I don't usually push a blade more than two shaves...so I like them.