Week 1, day 1 Well, I finished up my @Bama Samurai inspired Derby Challenge two weeks ago. Last week I pampered myself with an Astra SP. Now it is time to move on to my @Linuxguile inspired Voskhod Challenge. My last experience with Voskhod was about three years ago. Not a bad blade, but couldn't bring myself to go along with all the hype, especially when I had the Astra SP in my den. Oh, and Andrew, thanks again for providing the blades for this challenge. You're a true gentleman. I'll be using Voskhod blades exclusively for the next six weeks, swapping every day, Monday through Friday, from razor to razor, a 3-pass shave every day. Here's the lineup: Late 40s SS Sheraton Y4 Ball End Tech Merkur 34G W4 Black Tip OLD Type Merkur Futur @3 G1 Fatboy @6 D3 TV SS Aristocrat Z1 Ball End Tech Merkur 34C A1 Blue Tip Merkur Travel Late 70s Super Adjustable H3 Slim @6 D1 SS (not the TV) NEW Type long comb Fat Handle Tech Merkur 11C A4 Red Tip L3 Travel Tech Parker 80R R1 Black Beauty S2 Black Handle SS Grafco OC (a rebranded Merkur) H4 Blue Lady Star Gillette Merkur 34C w/ red mallee burl handle Stahly* M3 English Gillette Knack *the Stahly has the working wind up vibrating handle, but 1) I don't think it does anything to improve the shave and B) I find it (the handle) too large for my liking. I'll put the Stahly head on my Fat Handle Tech handle. The head is fantastic! This morning went as follows: Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Late 40s SS Blade: Voskhod, day 1, 3 passes Brush: Best Badger set in @gssixgun elk antler (love the brush, Glen!) Soap: AoS Lavendar Post: Cold water rinse, Dickenson's WH, C&E West Indian Lime cologne 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax Pretty darn near BBS, no irritation. So far, so good! We'll see how it holds up for the rest of the week. It MUST give me at least five good 3-pass shaves like my Astra SP, or the Voskhod doesn't make the grade.
I don't think I could do six weeks with only Voskhod blades, but I'll at least use them today. Blade: Voskhod, day one, three passes Razor: British No. 58 Aristocrat Junior Brush: New Forest 2001 Two-Band Soap: Saponifico Veresino Felce Aromatica Post Shave: Witch Hazel EdT: Farina Gegenüber Eau de Cologne Originale (Kölnisch Wasser) Nice shave. Probably could have done without the third pass. I'd forgotten how smooth Voskhod blades are in a moderately aggressive razor.
My goal is to see how they perform in all my DEs. I know the Astra SP has given me BBS in every DE I own. Granted, some razors more often than others, but I still get at least DFS with an Astra every time, regardless of the DE.
My go to blades are Ladas, Astra SP, and Polsilver SI's. But I bought 200 Voskhod blades in the great Shave Den group buy years ago, so I figure I might as well use some of them up. I'm pretty sure I already know how they perform in my various razors, but I have a few new ones to try them in.
Yes Five shaves per blade, 3 passes each shave. Fresh blade in on Monday, toss after Friday's shave. 30 razors, different razor every day except weekends (Saturdays are for my str8s, Sundays are for my SEs), means six weeks of Voskhod shaves.
Swarden, Andrew gave me some Voskhods, I tried it in my Merkur 180 I need to try them in something else my Merker 1904 or the Edwin 89 or a vintage Gillette, any ideas ?
Try 'em in every razor you have. Why limit yourself? For me, a blade that doesn't work in every razor I have is not a blade worth having. I'm not about to start making charts and graphs to make sure blade X makes it into razor Y. But that's me.
Yeah your right I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, well I have a Voskhod loaded from this mornings shave I will try it a little more, it may not be the blade for me. I can't wait for your post on your challenge
Voskhods are/were my GOTO blades for DE -exclusively with ATT R1 and WR1 SB for almost 3 yrs. Maximum of 3 shaves per blade ( including dome buster). Having tried many, even the premium $$ stuff. Voskhod rules supreme...until the DE was supplanted...
Maybe I am expecting to much from them I tried to more than 3 per blade, blades are a very strange animal
Voskhods and Ladas are my supreme blades - I do 4 pass shaves and they last me 2 shaves (I have a demanding beard ) I believe they cost at the moment half the price of Astras - so in my books if they give you 3 x 3 pass shaves, they are already superior
Week 1, day 2 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Sheraton Blade: Voskhod, day 2, 3 passes Brush: Vulfix Burlington Soap: C&E Nomad Post: Cold water rinse, Dickenson's WH, B&BW Noir 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax Not bad. The blade doesn't feel quite as smooth as my Astra SPs. Probably why I thought they were only so-so last time I tried 'em.
I have just finished my last round of Voskhods and they are an essential tool in my armoury but can sometimes feel a little dull. I get a lovely soft shave and post shave with no or little to no burn or irritation. I find this blade for me is a bit hit and miss though. Some days I can have a lovely smooth comfortable shave with them and other days it can be somewhat of a challenge. I don't find I ever cut myself with this blade at all but it does have a tendency to drag and feel dull from time to time. I don't know if that's down to an inconsistency in manufacturing or myself. It's definitely not as sharp as some of my others but it does have a nice soft feel to it compared to sharper blades that can feel scratchy. When I can get a good shave from them, they perform very well but other times it can feel like hard work. I can't seem to get more than 2 full 3 pass shaves out of one before I throw it. I definitely think this is a two and done to be honest. My beard is very coarse though so blades rarely last more than 2 shaves on me now. When I first started DE shaving I was a very infrequent shaver and my blades would cut through my stubble like a knife through butter and I'd get 3 or 4 shaves from a blade. Since shaving every day it's become very tough and I seem to be able to dull a blade just after one shave then have to move on.