The Voskhod Challenge

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by swarden43, Apr 25, 2016.

  1. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    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.
     
  2. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    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.
     
  3. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    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.
     
    macaronus and PLANofMAN like this.
  4. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    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.
     
  5. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    Sounds like fun.
     
    swarden43 likes this.
  6. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    Gonna be a good run of shaves.
     
  7. Herm2502

    Herm2502 off to elf practice

    Wow. At 3 shaves per blade, one blade per razor you're almost at 3 months of testing aren't you?
     
    whiteboy_cannon likes this.
  8. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    He's swapping out razors daily if I read the opening post right.
     
  9. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Yes :happy088:
    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.
     
  10. waffen

    waffen Well-Known Member

    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 ?
     
  11. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    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.
     
  12. waffen

    waffen Well-Known Member

    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
     
  13. targa88

    targa88 Well-Known Member

    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...
     
    Tdmsu likes this.
  14. waffen

    waffen Well-Known Member

    Maybe I am expecting to much from them I tried to more than 3 per blade, blades are a very strange animal
     
  15. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Indeed, they are.
     
  16. Herm2502

    Herm2502 off to elf practice

    My apologies for not reading correctly. I'm an accountant all this math has me confused.
     
    ob1page, swarden43 and Robyflexx like this.
  17. waffen

    waffen Well-Known Member

    Me too Herm goodnight all, Mike
     
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  18. alfredus

    alfredus Well-Known Member

    Voskhods and Ladas are my supreme blades - I do 4 pass shaves and they last me 2 shaves (I have a demanding beard :D)

    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 ;)
     
  19. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    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.
     
  20. The Wizard

    The Wizard Active Member

    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.
     

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