First time with an Astra Superior Stainless

Hey, that's a nice sharp blade!

Ever since using a GEM Stainless in my Shovelhead, I've had trouble finding a double edge blade that felt sharp enough! I guess SE shaving is hard to compete with! But this Astra Superior Stainless just bumped Kai to third place on my list, with Feather just barely holding on to first!

Any other SHARP blades out there guys?


Don't offer me any Graham Field blades!!!

Gillette 7'o'clock Yellow. Much sharper and smoother than Astra Green or any other blade I tried. Never tried Astra Stainless but of the many Russians I tried the yellows are the best.

You won't believe me, but ... Bic Chrome Platinum.

7 o'clock Black from India.

I also prefer the Astra Stainless over the Platinum. Although that's not saying much because I'm not a fan of the Platinum at all. But really, the stainless variety actually aren't bad.

+1 on Bic Chrome Platinum - guaranteed 4 good shaves per blade

I can get 4 good shaves from a Feather, but I found these to be sharper and smoother :

Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Green, Personna Platinum (Mercadona, Spain), Racer Super Class Platinum, German Wilkinson Sword, Zaza Super Stainless.

I can always get 4 good shaves per blade from any of the above,

I'm still searching for the "Holy Grail" blade that I can get 5 or more good shaves from and still enjoy it every time.

Thanks fellas, gotta make a list!

I do like the German Wilkinson Sword blades, I always keep some around because I know I can rely on those.

Bic Chrome Platinum... the name kept me from trying those, on my list now!

Got a couple of Zaza blades from @1Cal, thought they were kinda dull. View attachment 676318


Good stuff fellas!

Astra SPs are my favorite blades. I don't find the Astra SS better or worse. I believe the blades are sharpened the same, it just takes a shave or two to get the SPs going. I'm still on my first SS and it's going great. Polsilver SI blades are right up there with the Astra's. I don't think they're worth the extra cost though.

I don't find the GEM SS blades all that sharp. They're sharp enough though. I love them in the G bar, I don't like to feel the blade so much anymore.

My 3 favorites are Astra SP, GSB, and Feather. I'm really not sure if that is the order, but if I take cost into it I think that is it. I've hit 35 head, neck and Cheeks shaves on a Astra SP and 33 on a GSB. I still haven't taken a feather to the end since I've started really pushing them to the end.

I have a 5 pack of the SS, I may try them next, or maybe revisit a Feather. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

I find Gem Stainless to be great for 5 maybe 6 shaves, but by 10 they just don't seem to take to much work to hit a DFS. Interesting enough I find Lab Blues to be similar, about 10 -12 great shaves then done by 15.

Nacet, Silver Blue, 7 O'Clock Black

JoeG said:

Gillette 7'o'clock Yellow. Much sharper and smoother than Astra Green or any other blade I tried. Never tried Astra Stainless but of the many Russians I tried the yellows are the best.

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I second the Gillette 7OC yellows (sharp edge). Very sharp blade. Below feather but sharp. Haven't tried Kai.

Cash_Stronomer said:

Nacet, Silver Blue, 7 O'Clock Black

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Nacet stainless, or platinum, or does it matter?

kluber said:

I second the Gillette 7OC yellows (sharp edge). Very sharp blade. Below feather but sharp. Haven't tried Kai.

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Cool!

Kai is a great blade, but very $$$!

rabidus said:

Astra SPs are my favorite blades. I don't find the Astra SS better or worse. I believe the blades are sharpened the same, it just takes a shave or two to get the SPs going. I'm still on my first SS and it's going great. Polsilver SI blades are right up there with the Astra's. I don't think they're worth the extra cost though.

I don't find the GEM SS blades all that sharp. They're sharp enough though. I love them in the G bar, I don't like to feel the blade so much anymore.

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troy said:

My 3 favorites are Astra SP, GSB, and Feather. I'm really not sure if that is the order, but if I take cost into it I think that is it. I've hit 35 head, neck and Cheeks shaves on a Astra SP and 33 on a GSB. I still haven't taken a feather to the end since I've started really pushing them to the end.

I have a 5 pack of the SS, I may try them next, or maybe revisit a Feather. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

I find Gem Stainless to be great for 5 maybe 6 shaves, but by 10 they just don't seem to take to much work to hit a DFS. Interesting enough I find Lab Blues to be similar, about 10 -12 great shaves then done by 15.

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The Gem SS works great for me, but yes, 10 is all they're good for.

I need to try a GSB, folks keep talking about those.

They're cheap, they're sharp, they're smooth. Small wonder they're on many members' short list of inexpensive all purpose blades.

Is this all of them, I assume all are stainless?

TobyC said:

Nacet stainless, or platinum, or does it matter?

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The ones I enjoy are just stainless.

I just finished a tuck of Astra SS, but found they only lasted a couple of shaves.

Top for me is the Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow. Astra SP, PolSilver SI and Personna Reds are the others in my rotation.

I completely agree with Gillette 7 o'clock Black, Gillette Silver Blue, Polsilver Super Iridium, Feather, and for me, Treet Blue Special carbon steel blades.

TobyC said:

7 O'Clock Yellow, Green, and Black, is there a big difference between them?

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It's all a ymmv thing. But yeah I believe they all have a slight difference. Yellows are my mainstay as I mentioned before. Highspeedlane and cw62803 are both big fans of the greens and I find their blade experience/preference similar to my own. In fact, you should check out cw62803 thread on blade wars with these gillettes (I believe he did one between the black/greens or yellow/greens).

i know GSBs have lots of love (as they should, being a nice blade) but I personally prefer sharpness of yellows over GSBs. And they usually are a few bucks cheaper in bulk.

For context, my beard is not overly thick but medium coarseness and I tend to use more aggressive DE razors (ATT R1 plate). I also don't pay much attention to longevity since I pitch blades after 1-2 uses. The yellows do seem to crap out sooner than GSBs and greens IIRC from other forum members.

Have fun comparing them! Look forward to reading your thoughts on the Russian Gillette blades!