Tuck at a Time (TaaT)

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 12/30/24
Shave Number: 423
Passes: 3
Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed TTO (Black handle S-2)
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (1)
Soap: Proraso Red
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Cremo Heritage Red After Shave Balm
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 8/10 (DFS)
Shave Rating: 9/10
Pleasant shave, but it seemed quite inefficient. I know that the SuperSpeed is not known for it's efficiency, but I have had closer shaves than this from it. Still nice and comfortable.

Morning Shave - 12/31/24
Shave Number: 424
Passes: 3
Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed TTO (Black handle S-2)
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (2)
Soap: BSS #4 (Lard)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Cremo Heritage Red After Shave Balm
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 10/10 (BBS)
Shave Rating: 10/10
Wow a BBS! I think the key to this razor is shallow shaving. I switched it up from yesterday's shave and rode the cap for the entire shave and what a difference. Nice close comfortable. Fantastic lather. Very creamy and pleasant.

 

[m949]

Razor: Gillette Superspeed Flaretip (Q1, 1955) (A1)
Blade: FlyDear SP (8/10)
Brush: Zenith synthetic
Soap: Aussie Tallow (kangaroo tallow soap) / Smoking Monster - Golden Dragon (tallow)
A/S: Twoface Brothers - Original Aftershave Lotion
EdP: Armani Privée - Thé Yulong

It seems it's the Superspeed time of the year. I swear it's totally uncoordinated and pure coincidence that @blethenstrom and I have been using Gillette Superspeeds these days. I just got this razor a couple of days ago and I wanted to give it a try as soon as my next shave came up, and what better day than New Year's Day to give this beauty a spin. I guess there's some value in comparing notes even though the razors might not be shaving exactly the same and of course all the other YMMV variables apply.

The brush and the Aussie Tallow soap are also new to me and I did have some issues with lathering the soap. I couldn't get the bubbles out of the lather and probably had way too much water in there, so my lather did a partial Houdini for the first two passes. I then switched to the tallow soap from Smoking Monster which whipped up in seconds and was just amazing. The Zenith brush is also new, a bit too rigid and scratchy for me, but maybe it will mellow out.

I did four (!!!) passes with the Flaretip today. The first two passes WTG with Aussie Tallow, the third WTG with Golden Dragon and the fourth ATG/XTG also with Golden Dragon. DFS; no nick, no weepers, no irritation.

I had the same experience as @blethenstrom . With a steep angle, the razor didn't feel quite efficient. But as soon as I went more shallow, especially during the ATG/XTG pass, it all came together. The Superspeed is a great razor though. I don't think I could make four passes without major regret with any of my more aggressive razors, but with the Flaretip that was not a problem at all. I'm sure the next shave with it will be much better.

The FlyDear is still a pretty good blade exhibiting a good balance of sharpness / smoothness. There's still two blades in the tuck and both will be used in much more aggressive razors; Yates 921 EH and R41.

 

[blethenstrom]

View attachment 1968862
Razor: Gillette Superspeed Flaretip (Q1, 1955) (A1)
Blade: FlyDear SP (8/10)
Brush: Zenith synthetic
Soap: Aussie Tallow (kangaroo tallow soap) / Smoking Monster - Golden Dragon (tallow)
A/S: Twoface Brothers - Original Aftershave Lotion
EdP: Armani Privée - Thé Yulong

It seems it's the Superspeed time of the year. I swear it's totally uncoordinated and pure coincidence that @blethenstrom and I have been using Gillette Superspeeds these days. I just got this razor a couple of days ago and I wanted to give it a try as soon as my next shave came up, and what better day than New Year's Day to give this beauty a spin. I guess there's some value in comparing notes even though the razors might not be shaving exactly the same and of course all the other YMMV variables apply.

The brush and the Aussie Tallow soap are also new to me and I did have some issues with lathering the soap. I couldn't get the bubbles out of the lather and probably had way too much water in there, so my lather did a partial Houdini for the first two passes. I then switched to the tallow soap from Smoking Monster which whipped up in seconds and was just amazing. The Zenith brush is also new, a bit too rigid and scratchy for me, but maybe it will mellow out.

I did four (!!!) passes with the Flaretip today. The first two passes WTG with Aussie Tallow, the third WTG with Golden Dragon and the fourth ATG/XTG also with Golden Dragon. DFS; no nick, no weepers, no irritation.

I had the same experience as @blethenstrom . With a steep angle, the razor didn't feel quite efficient. But as soon as I went more shallow, especially during the ATG/XTG pass, it all came together. The Superspeed is a great razor though. I don't think I could make four passes without major regret with any of my more aggressive razors, but with the Flaretip that was not a problem at all. I'm sure the next shave with it will be much better.

The FlyDear is still a pretty good blade exhibiting a good balance of sharpness / smoothness. There's still two blades in the tuck and both will be used in much more aggressive razors; Yates 921 EH and R41.

The Super Speed does take a while to get the hang of. I'm still not quite there, but a few more shave with it ought to do it.

 

[blethenstrom]

Evening Shave - 01/01/25
Shave Number: 425
Passes: 3
Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed TTO (Black handle S-2)
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (3)
Soap: BSS #4 (Lard)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Lustray Blue Spice
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
New Year's shave and it was a good one. Not quite as close as the previous one, but plenty good. This new soap that I made is performing splendid. Nice and rich lather. Good start to a new year.

 

[m949]

Razor: Yates 921-EH (solid bar)
Blade: FlyDear SP (9/10)
Brush: Arno 26mm, Mulan-1, 2-band badger, heliotrope stone
Soap: Shavologist - Baddie (India)
A/S: Barrister and Mann - Seville Aftershave Splash
EdT: Zino Davidoff

Fantastic DFS++ shave with the FlyDear in the Yates 921. I had two weepers on the neck, but I used too much pressure there so that's on me. Otherwise it was an easy WTG, WTG, ATG/XTG shave and the FlyDear did great in this razor.

I have one more blade to go and I'll conclude this tuck with a bang: Mühle R41 / Mellon SLOC on Monday.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 01/03/25
Shave Number: 426
Passes: 2
Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed TTO (Black handle S-2)
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (4)
Soap: BSS #4 (Lard)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Citrus Musk
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9/10 (DFS+)
Shave Rating: 9.5/10
Changed things up a bit this morning by just doing a two pass shave to save some time and it was a mighty fine shave. Plenty close for today and not a hint of irritation.

 

[Guido75]

I am working my way through a tuck of 7 O’Clock Yellow. At the rate I am going this tuck will take until February before it’s gone.

Liking this way of cleaning up my stock.

Cheers,

Guido

 

[blethenstrom]

I am working my way through a tuck of 7 O’Clock Yellow. At the rate I am going this tuck will take until February before it’s gone.

Liking this way of cleaning up my stock.

Cheers,

Guido

You use each blade more than a week or do you change every week?

 

[Guido75]

You use each blade more than a week or do you change every week?

My average is a week, but at the moment I am using a sort of going until gone approach. However, most blades tend to go for a week and then their performance drops.

And currently I am using two blades in one go as I am shaving with two razors each shave.

 

[Leverspro]

Joining Taat. Tired of the messy drawer from opened packages.
Today I finished this pack of Astra SS which I'm really enjoying.
Probably open something Chinese tomorrow.

 

[blethenstrom]

Joining Taat. Tired of the messy drawer from opened packages.
Today I finished this pack of Astra SS which I'm really enjoying.
Probably open something Chinese tomorrow. View attachment 1970421

Welcome to TaaT! Where tucks come to be eliminated! I understand the mess completely and it drives me crazy too. Also it means not having to keep track of opened and laying about blades and tucks. We are so glad to have you.

 

[blethenstrom]

Evening Shave - 01/04/25
Shave Number: 427
Passes: 3
Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed TTO (Black handle S-2)
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (5)
Soap: BSS #3 (Tallow)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Jeris Osage Rub
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Another new soap and another fantastic shave! The newly made soap lathered very easily. The shave was plenty close and super comfortable.

 

[m949]

Razor: Mühle R41 / Yaqi Mellon on DSC Destroyer Ti handle
Blade: FlyDear SP (10/10)
Brush: Mühle Purist, Silvertip Badger, Ebonite
Soap: Razorock - Emperor
A/S: Twoface Brothers - Original After Shave Lotion
EdP: Terre D'Hermes - Eau Intense Vetiver

Tuck completed!

Today's shave concludes the FlyDear Super Platinum tuck. This was a 10 blade tuck which worked very well in a variety of razors including OC's, a Slant and a few vintage razors. The FlyDear wasn't a blade with which I could regularly achieve BBS shaves, but DFS ++ and DFS+ (such as today) were possible.

For me the FlyDear was a middle-of-the-road blade with good results and good comfort. It's not a bad blade at all, but it isn't in the top league either. I liked the Gillette London Bridge blades better.

So, is the FlyDear a 100-blade buy recommendation? Yes and No. It's a good blade for sure, but it isn't one where BBS is achieved easily. Then again comfort is quite good. My recommendation: get a pack of 5 tucks, that's 50 blades and that will be sufficient to give this blade a thorough try-out.

 

[blethenstrom]

View attachment 1971863
Razor: Mühle R41 / Yaqi Mellon on DSC Destroyer Ti handle
Blade: FlyDear SP (10/10)
Brush: Mühle Purist, Silvertip Badger, Ebonite
Soap: Razorock - Emperor
A/S: Twoface Brothers - Original After Shave Lotion
EdP: Terre D'Hermes - Eau Intense Vetiver

Tuck completed!

Today's shave concludes the FlyDear Super Platinum tuck. This was a 10 blade tuck which worked very well in a variety of razors including OC's, a Slant and a few vintage razors. The FlyDear wasn't a blade with which I could regularly achieve BBS shaves, but DFS ++ and DFS+ (such as today) were possible.

For me the FlyDear was a middle-of-the-road blade with good results and good comfort. It's not a bad blade at all, but it isn't in the top league either. I liked the Gillette London Bridge blades better.

So, is the FlyDear a 100-blade buy recommendation? Yes and No. It's a good blade for sure, but it isn't one where BBS is achieved easily. Then again comfort is quite good. My recommendation: get a pack of 5 tucks, that's 50 blades and that will be sufficient to give this blade a thorough try-out.

Thank you for the review. I do have 200 of these blades but I have not tried them yet. Probably will be a fine blade for me.

Even better another tuck bites the dust!

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 01/06/25
Shave Number: 428
Passes: 3
Razor: Yintal Liveben V7 316L
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (1)
Soap: BSS #3 (Tallow)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Pinaud
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 10/10 (BBS)
Shave Rating: 10/10
Brand new razor and it did that! It was a very comfortable and peaceful shave this morning. Razor not overly aggressive, but plenty efficient for me. Not a inkling of irritation or issue. Very nice indeed.

Last blade of the tuck! Almost finished with another one.

 

[Leverspro]

Working on this pack this week.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 01/07/25
Shave Number: 429
Passes: 2
Razor: Yintal Liveben V7 316L
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (2)
Soap: BSS #3 (Tallow)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Brut After Shave
Shave Comfort: 9/10 (Tightness)
Shave Quality: 9/10 (DFS+)
Shave Rating: 9/10
A bit less close shave than yesterday's, but still quite good. Certainly good enough for today's work day. I did have a little bit of skin tightness due to me adding too much pressure on the razor. At the end it still was a solid shave.

 

[Hawkweber]

Finish tuck - Astra Superior Platinum (India)

The first 3 blades went into the usual Progress, Weber SS, and Tech. The first shave of each gave a nice DFS+ shave with very slight irritation as the blade coating was worn down. The second and third shaves were exceptional, DFS++, and very comfortable. Normally I would stop using the blade at 3, but I was feeling gracious and decided to go for a 4th with each. I still was able to obtain DFS/DFS+ with them, but the comfort level started to go down and the irritation level notched up. Could I go for a 5th? Probably, but no point with the diminishing returns.

Now, here's where things went "tricky" - it wasn't a full tuck of Indian Astras. I was wondering when I took out the tuck why it was open, and it was because I had used one a while back to test how the Indian blades were when I first got the 100 blades and see if I needed to return/ditch them and go searching for Russian blades. However, when I received my Tech from GPJoe, he included a Russian Astra SP and I had put it in this tuck. So now I had an Indian and Russian blade left. Time for a "Shave-Off".

I don't have two of the same razors and I didn't want to have to keep moving the blades back and forth (could cut myself or damage the blade accidently) so for this the Indian blade went into the Progress and the Russian blade went into the Weber SS. I have the Progress dialed in close to the Weber. I made sure that for each shave the brush and soap used were the same for both razors. I did four shaves with each.

And the results? Exactly the same shave results as the first three blades. Are there differences between the blades? Probably, but so slight that I couldn't really tell or quantify. So, for me it doesn't matter where the Astra SPs come from. Great shaves either way.

 

[m949]

Razor: Blackland - Blackbird SB stainless steel, machined
Blade: BIC Astor (1/5) (1)
Brush: Arno 26mm, Manchurian, 2-band badger, Jade Palace
Cream: Vicco - turmeric-S
A/S: Pinaud Clubman - Special Reserve (decant)
EdP: Boss - The Scent Intense

To be honest I don't really know how to start this post. I'm very impressed with this blade. I never used BIC Astor's before, and I never had such a good first impression from a blade. I'm tempted to give out a BUY recommendation for 100 blades just from this first shave, but maybe it's a better idea to go through this tuck before rushing into things.

It already starts with packaging. The Astor blades are packed individually in a nice colored foil wrapper, a nice change from the sandwich paper other blades come in. Also, no wax dots - I love that in a blade. The printing on the blade is very crisp and clear; it's just looks but makes for a good impression.

Now for the shave. I don't know whether I can attribute this solely to the blade, but this must have been one of the most comfortable BBS shaves I ever got. I honestly felt like I'm using a cartridge razor not a DE razor. And I did three whole passes, the last one ATG and XTG on the neck and a bit of WTG/ATG cleanup on the neck and the jawline. I had no weepers, no nicks and zero irritation...and of course, no aftershave sting.

I'm beginning to understand why Lambda razors are delivered with a tuck of Astor's. It's not only because they are Greek blades, they are very good Greek blades.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 01/08/25
Shave Number: 430
Passes: 2
Razor: Yintal Liveben V7 316L
Blade: Super-Max Super Stainless (Green) (3)
Soap: BSS #3 (Tallow)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman VIBR
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Solid shave this morning. I can tell that my skin will have to adjust a bit to these new 2-pass shaves. I am on the verge of skin tightness and tenderness. Over time my skin will get used to my new routine and it will be fine, but until then...Very close to BBS this morning.