Until Sparky gets the reviews section back to normal and accessible, I'll post this here... Now of course loving me some Voskhod blades, I've neglected to try this pack of Rapira Swedish Supersteel blades that's been sitting in my blade drawer since the 2011 TSD Grab Bag - Round 1. But I figure if I'm going to start up a Russian-shaving-products business, I need to know my products. These are made by the same company that makes Voskhod blades as well as the other Rapira blades and Ladas blades. So a few days ago, I loaded up a new Rapira Swedish Supersteel blade in my 1934 open-comb twist-to-open Gillette Aristocrat. It was a rough shave. Several weepers and lots of irritation. Needless to say, I was not impressed at all. But knowing several people swear by these blades, I rinsed it well and saved it for the next shave. Brave man, I am. That "next shave" was last night. And it was night and day different. For this second go with this blade, everything was as smooth as butter. No weepers, no irritation... baby butt smooth shave. I even continued using it after my face shave, on my dome (I keep my head shaved bald in the summer) and had no issues whatsoever. My dome matched my mug - baby butt smooth. It's not uncommon for a blade to be horrible its first use and then be great afterwards so there's no surprise really but still, documenting my experience with this blade for future reference. On my next shave, I'll start with another new Rapira Swedish Supersteel blade to see if I just had a bad blade or if this is just the way these blades work - rough first shave, great afterwards. Then when I'm done with these blades, I've got on hand a pack of Rapira Super Stainless to try out: And if anyone wants to donate some Rapira Platinum Lux, Rapira Stainless Chrome, Ladas Super Stainless, Sputnik Teflon, Sputnik Super Platinum, Gillette Rubie and Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge blades, I'll be able to test out even more made-in-Russia blades. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I have used the Rapira Platnium lux and they were smooth one the first shave. Beat the Voskhods on that front but the voschods gave me a better over all shave.
Hand strop the Rapira's and the first shave isn't so bad, they do smooth up around shave 2-3 and are almost on par with an Iridium.... I really wish the Dark Blue 7 O'clock's were sharper, I'd order 1000, but I'll settle for a 100 in the near future.
I might still have a pack of Sputniks at home that I could send your way. I can look later today after work. Tried a Rapira Platinum Lux the other day and it wasn't bad at all. I think I only had one of them as a sample.
I'll definitely give that a try on the next blade. Haven't had to palm strop a blade in a while. Thanks Dale!
I had the same problem with the super stainless, rough first shave so I gave up on it, maybe I should go back to the drawing board and follow some of the directions listed here.
I had a rough first shave with same blade . the raspira lux was good from the 1st shave equal to the voskhod though the voskhod lasts longer
