Let's Hear Some Opinions On Ladas Blades...

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Christopher Powell, Nov 4, 2016.

  1. Christopher Powell

    Christopher Powell Well-Known Member

    Do you like them? Do you hate them? They don't get mentioned much.
     
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  2. CamberwellCarrot

    CamberwellCarrot New Member

    I've only used a couple, but I think they're actually really nice, so far.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
     
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  3. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    They are some of the sharpest blades you can find. Made by the same plant that produces the classic Rapira family, and it's possible that Ladas is a Voskhod with a different coating. All blades from Moscow, and Russia in general, pretty much are great.
     
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  4. Christopher Powell

    Christopher Powell Well-Known Member



    I read that Ladas were stainless blades (no coating). That's what prompted this thread because I'm a stainless fan !!!
     
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  5. jimjo1031

    jimjo1031 never bloomed myself

    Sharp, but delivers really smooth shaves.
     
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  6. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    When blades are referred to as "stainless", it generally means stainless blank, diiferent high chromium steel undercoat, almost always Teflon over the top. Almost all blades are Teflon coated. Do platinum coatings bother you?
     
  7. Christopher Powell

    Christopher Powell Well-Known Member


    No they don't bother me but I find that blades labelled STAINLESS give me better shaves. So Astra Superior Stainless and Rapira Super Stainless are coated with teflon?
     
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  8. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    It's my understanding that almost all Russian blades are Teflon on top, in varying thicknesses. From your examples, I'd say you prefer sharp over smooth. It's a balancing act each individual must decide alone, though blades don't matter nearly as much as people like to think. You'll find that as time goes on, the range of blades you'll find acceptable will widen greatly.

    Platinum alloy has been known to irritate some skin types.
     
  9. SpeedyPC

    SpeedyPC Well-Known Member

    I can only get 3 shaves max. no more and it pretty much like a Derby Extra otherwise the Ladas aren't too bad either.
     
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  10. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    Aren't they supposed to be sharp? :D

    And yes, they deliver smooth shaves!
     
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  11. david of central florida

    david of central florida Rhubarb Rubber

    Sharp and smooth, nicely priced.
     
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  12. RaZorBurn123

    RaZorBurn123 waiting hardily...............

    Ladas are one of my favorites, I will normally use a Ladas with a new razor.
     
  13. Col C

    Col C Well-Known Member

    I've come to believe that all blades have a coating. I just received samples of three types of Rapira blades (Stainless, Swedish Supersteel, and the Lux). On the back of each individual package it says "Do not wipe blade". Supposedly - per a number of sites - wiping the blade will remove the Teflon coating. Even the platinum and chrome coated blades appear to also have Teflon added.
     
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  14. jimjo1031

    jimjo1031 never bloomed myself

    I saw some blades a while ago, forgot the brand, and there was a description to the effect that wiping the blade can lead to dulling the edge.
     
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  15. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    Every time that I have tried to hand strop a blade I ended up rounding the edge and making it unusable.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2016
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  16. Demidog

    Demidog Well-Known Member

    Good thing this thread popped up. I think that Jim and Linuxguile are right - the warning isn't meant to stop the user from stripping the coating, but rather to stop them from dulling the edge since these blades aren't designed to be stropped.

    I've seen many people say that every blade has a Teflon coating and just before I came to this thread, I started wondering if it's much thicker on some blades versus others. I will say that the few blades I've used that market the Teflon coating are very distinguishable from those that don't, with the exception of one brand that has a super thick coating despite not mentioning Teflon anywhere on the packaging. I can clearly see the coating on these blades too. I picked up a Sputnik today and it looks like there is a rubberized film over the entire blade, which I can also noticeably feel while shaving.

    Of the blades that I have tried thus far, only the Teflon coated ones and the absolute sharpest of the bunch (i.e. Feathers) have given me very comfortable shaves. I disagree on one point however: the longer I continue using safety razors, the more I feel like the choice of blade is the most crucial aspect. Some people make a big deal about soaps, saying they're not slick enough or they don't lather well, and while I have noticed differences between soaps, I haven't had trouble shaving with any of them. To me, a razor is just a tool for holding the blade so I don't think that the razor itself it a huge deal either. Therefore, it all comes down to the blade choice for me.

    A lot of blades are remarkably similar though. I can't tell the difference between an Astra and a Personna blue, but I can see a huge difference between Feathers and Sharks. Testing a lot of different blades has been an eye opener but it has also left me with a lot more questions.
     
  17. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    my general views on the Mostochlegmash blade offering fall into 3 tiers,, Don't hate me Neal @NCoxSTL :

    1 Super sharp and a little less smooth
    Rapira PL

    2: Good balance of smoothness and sharpness:
    Rapira Swede
    Ladas
    Rapira Super Stainless (Black & Pink wrapper)

    3: more smooth than sharp
    Voskhod

    I don't really like the Rapira Super stainless in the red and blue tuck, but I have found that they work decently in my Ikon x3 slant. And I haven't tried the Sharp Stars
     
  18. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    I'm dispatching a couple of the boys to have a further "discussion" with you about this. Actually I don't necessarily disagree with you other than your thinking the Voskhod isn't as sharp as the others. However, as always, any blade preferences are based on individual traits like skin type/moisture/etc. And I do agree with you that the Super Stainless, or "Chrome" in the red and blue tuck, is the weakest blade of the lot. Still better than 95% of the non-Russians if not more, but it's bottom on the pile here. My personal ranking would be: (These interchange from time to time)

    1. Voskhod
    2. Sharp Star
    3. Rapira Super Stainless
    4. Rapira PL
    5. Ladas
    6. Rapira Swedish
    7. Rapira Chrome

    And, I will say that at times I find myself leaning toward putting Sharp Star over the Voskhod. Since it's a NOS blade only made for one year the supply will eventually run out on it. Which is why I have almost 400 in my inventory and am going to keep ordering as I can to stay ahead. The price is a but higher than the rest too due to its status but man it's one fine blade.
     
  19. Demidog

    Demidog Well-Known Member

    I'm glad to read some more thoughts about these blades. I have all of them ready to test out in my sample pack, but I almost settled on Voskhods or the yellow 7 O'Clock SharpEdge blades because my face can't handle the abuse anymore. I really enjoyed how smooth the Voskhods were but I agree that I felt like they were a bit lacking in sharpness. Now a blade like the Feather or SharpEdge with the same coating as a Voskhod might be so good that I would never look at another blade ever again.

    I will give the Ladas and all of the Rapira variations a try before ordering my next blade pack. My sliced up face grows weary of blades that aren't working out for me but I have faith in Mostochlegmash because the Voskhods were so nice despite having a pretty average sharpness.
     
  20. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    Ladas are okay, Sputnik and Voskhod are better for me. I am still working through the 1600 or so Voskhod that I acquired several years ago.
     
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