Blind test #9 - Personna Med vs Lab

[Oscroft]

Test #12 is ready to start - here are links to all tests...

Blind test #1 - Feather vs 7 O'clock Yellow
Blind test #2 - Astra SP vs Derby
Blind test #3 - Shark SS vs Dorco ST301
Blind test #4 - Personna "Red" vs Astra SP
Blind test #5 - Feather vs Personna Med Prep
Blind test #6 - Gillette 7 O'clock, Yellow vs Black
Blind test #7 - Med Prep vs Iridium Super
Blind test #8 - 7 O'Clock, Black vs Blue
Blind test #9 - Personna, Med vs Lab
Blind test #10 - Timor vs Sputnik
Blind test #11 - Med vs Lab, round 2
Blind test #12 - Iridium Super vs Polsilver Super Iridium

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

I have used the med preps & lab blues. I used to think they were the same. I don't share this felling anymore. The meds are way ahead with me. I hope some here can get enough information to put this situation to bed. I have both & am willing to donate if someone smarter than I wish to take this on. Thanks. Grayson

 

[Oscroft]

I have used the med preps & lab blues. I used to think they were the same. I don't share this felling anymore. The meds are way ahead with me. I hope some here can get enough information to put this situation to bed. I have both & am willing to donate if someone smarter than I wish to take this on. Thanks. Grayson

Hi. In case you haven't seen it, I've compared these two blades a second time - here.

 

[Bumpy Johnson]

Thats easily the most logical stance on this whole situation of labs vs meds that I've ever read. It would make sense that both blades might be made on the same machine, in the same manner, using the same materials but the med is held to a higher level of QC. Running the machines slower, ditching blades that don't measure up to the highest level of scrutiny, sterility, etc. All that leads to less product and thus a higher cost.

Unless ASR decides to give us a reason, I'm going to believe that. I wish I could get through to them, my office is walking distance to the plant.

+1

I too work for a manufacturer and it makes sense that labs are less expensive than meds because of the cost of quality (a metric our plant is graded on) involved with meds.

 

[rsilvers]

I don't think we know that. I have a problem believing that Personna is selling the same Blade as the Med Prep for half price just to make people happy, and I don't think an extra wash step doubles the production cost. Still, if the Labs can hang with the Meds, I'll be ordering some, and be thanking Oscroft for the savings.

I too work for a manufacturer and it makes sense that labs are less expensive than meds because of the cost of quality (a metric our plant is graded on) involved with meds.

It also makes sense that the difference is just based on the intended market rather than any physical difference.

Anyone is going to charge as much as possible, and the medical market is less price sensitive so they would want to create a different SKU that they can run a higher profit margin on, and it would make a hospital feel good to have it marked for their specific use. It is one blade that I am not going to bother to try as it makes sense that the difference is going to be limited to the oil coating. Besides, several people claim to have spoken to Personna and reported that they said they are the same blade. What motivation would the company have to say that their lower-cost blade is just as good other than it being true? Maybe I will call them tomorrow.

 

[musicman1951]

They are certainly very similar. If you can't feel a difference you don't want to pay a difference.

The Med Preps have a different angle honed onto the edge. There is a thread somewhere on the forum with impressive magnified images if you'd like to see it.

I find the quality control on the Med Preps a little better. I am almost at the end of a box of 100 and have not had a bad edge yet, but others have reported some - so I won't be flabbergasted if I eventually find one. I had about 5 bad edges in my Lab box - not a huge difference.

I'm ordering more Med Preps soon, the difference is big enough that I'm happy to pay the difference. There are certainly a lot of happy Lab users.

 

[rgraham]

I've been using the Med Preps exclusively for the past year or so. I've gone through a box of 100 I bought, and I'm now going through my second. This second box does not seem to be up to the standards of the first.
I decided to see after all this time how a different blade would compare. My first was to use a Astra SP. Felt like I was shaving with a very used blade. Then I put in a Feather. What a difference between the other two. Best shave I've had since buying the new box of PMPs. I will go ahead and keep going between the PMPs and the Feathers and see how they stack up, but I'm pretty disappointed in the new box of Med Preps. This doesn't seem like just a bad blade here and there, but the whole box so far.

 

[Boge]

...The Med Preps have a different angle honed onto the edge. There is a thread somewhere on the forum with impressive magnified images if you'd like to see it...

Then why would Personna state that these & the Labs are the same blades, only made at different plants and what you see are merely lot variations? After all, would it not benefit Personna to say "yes, they are made on NASA grade eqpmt. by Keebler elves & sprinkled with Pixie dust" ? Think about it.

 

[rsilvers]

The microscopic photos are not compelling evidence of a difference unless there were many photos made over time. Probably you could get two different med prep blades made a month apart and find variation between them. Many people are susceptible to the placebo effect. The fact that they are marketing the "now 25% sharper" on the blue box is evidence that they want it to be as good as possible. If they purposely held the blue blade back so that they could justify a higher price on the med prep blade, then they would want to market why the med prep blade was better - but they have no marketing saying it is their best blade nor will they say it is better in any way.

 

[musicman1951]

I have a few blades left from a box of 100 Labs and 100 Med Preps. I have found the Med Preps to be slightly better - mostly in quality control. I am lucky enough to be able to afford the difference in price with no lowering of my standard of living. I really don't care if it's a better edge or just better workers in the other factory. I've shaved enough times to know what I like.

I have absolutely no problem with someone else thinking they are exactly the same and I am wasting money. Nobody should ever pay for something they don't see or feel. They're just razor blades - use what you like.

 

[rsilvers]

If they are not from the same factory then that helps the argument that they are not the same blade. I read an earlier post where someone said that they came off the same machine.

 

[NavyShave]

Would American Safety Razor really need or gave two plants? Didn't think the DE market was big enough. Plus, look at comes out of one plant in St. Petersburg!

 

[Tom Slick]

I am not an expert on American Safety Razor, but I know they have a plant here in Virginia and one in Knoxville, TN. A quick read about the Knoxville plant said they had moved some operations to a plant in Mexico. They also have one in Israel. Of course, ASR produces a lot more products than DE blades, including a lot of blades for non-shaving uses. I don't have any idea if their DE blades that are made in the USA are made in Verona, VA or Knoxville or in both plants.

I have been vacillating between going with the Labs or the Med Preps, so I have read everything I can about the difference between them. The best that I can make out is that the Labs have some kind of oil on them that the Med Preps lack and that the Med Preps go through some extra cleaning process. Don't know what that cleaning process is. Don't know if they are made in the same plant or by the same machines. Anecdotally, it appears that whatever process the Med Preps go through makes them more consistent in quality and smoother. I believe that I will give them a try.

 

[rsilvers]

Anecdotally, it appears that whatever process the Med Preps go through makes them more consistent in quality and smoother. I believe that I will give them a try.

There are people who say they an tell a difference but they were not blind tests. I have found two blind tests and neither could tell them apart.

 

[NavyShave]

Both excellent regardless! Thank you all for the excellent info!

 

[Boge]

I am not an expert on American Safety Razor, but I know they have a plant here in Virginia and one in Knoxville, TN...

Yes, & the Med Preps are made in one & Labs in the other to the same specs. The only difference is lot variation. This has been beat to death here a million times. A simple Search will uncover countless threads with answers.

 

[Bladeforum]

where do you all buy the med prep blades from?