August 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Hmm... so we have a company which is either so badly run that employees have no motivation to take pride in their product OR run in such a heavy-handed manner that pointing out a mistake which potentially costs the company money is grounds for punishment/firing/death OR one in which English is not only not a second language, but not even a third or fourth.

Sounds like something out of a Dilbert comic.

 

An email to MD Barber provided a little insight into the blades. I asked if they could provide any information regarding the manufacture of the blades because I could find done. A reply from Amy at MD Barber stated: "We are actually the manufacturers of the Royal Red brand of blades, both single and double edge. The blades are platinum coated. Let me know if you have any other questions!" I then asked where they were made. I also pointed out the typographical issue with their wrappers. I have heard nothing since. I will update if she provides any further information.

 

You the man! I was looking at MD Barber and thinking of trying an email as well. Normally emails to blade manufacturers goes totally ignored (until the 13th or 14th try) so kudos on the response. It will be interesting to see if there is a second.

 

There has been a response. I am going to cut and paste it exactly how it was sent. I am going to try not to read between the lines but I am pretty sure I know what the response means as far as where the blades are manufactured. Response below:

I'm actually not authorized to divulge where our products are manufactured. Thank you for pointing out the typo. I will pass it along to our design team so they can correct it before we start production on more blades.



---

 

FWIW, I decided to look up "Baldes" to see if it was a real word. I ended up on a dictionary page which mentioned "en balde" meaning "in vain" or "useless".

You can't make this stuff up.

 

So I'm thinking in my write up I can provisionally call them a Chinese blade.

 

That was pretty much my conclusion . . . Especially after shaving with it.

 

It does follow the pattern. Unknown origin, shaves better than the local Chinese company blades meaning the company that's contracting it has their own specs and QC for them to deal with. The misspelling is classic, though. Having just put together an office chair made in China and a cabinet not long ago, those kinds of transpositional spelling errors do look familiar.

 

And if they were manufactured in Germany or Russia or the US or pretty much anywhere other than China they would have likely been happy to point it out.

 

No you can't, but that seems to be quite an accurate statement at this point. Well, ok, not as useless as a Tiger, but close.

 

Yeah you would assume so. I've been digging into their website and they do mention them as "our blades" or "our Royal Red" so it's clear they want to identify them as being their own product rather than something made elsewhere and stamped with their name and a misspelled wrapper.

 

Royal Red Information for those interested.

Still digging a bit but, thanks to a breakthrough from @wmbjr we can say with certainty that they are distributed by MD Barber Company in Hayden, Idaho. Wait, Idaho?!?! Yep, that's the address on their webpage. MD stands for Martin and Dave, the two founders and owners. Martin is the old guy, Dave the younger and from an aside remark on a video on their site they are apparently both barbers. Well, Dave anyway. I'm assuming that's how they met.

They claim that many of the products they have were developed based on what barbers told them they needed. Interesting, and I haven't looked at every product they offer but I can say that they have a lot of products that are made by other companies including on of our personal favorite on this thread.......Marvy. They have a hair brush from Marvy. The shaving brush they sell is called the MD American Elite and is said to be American made.

The Royal Red blade is apparently their brand, according to an email received by William. However, their response to its manufacturing origin was to claim they don't divulge that info. China, apparently. And I say that because, as has been pointed out above, no reason to hide it if American made, or German, or Russian etc. In fact, if they were American made I would think they would shout it from the rooftops. Royal Red appears to be geared toward barbers as the blades are sold in packs that are pre-scored for breaking in half for use in shavettes. They also have them already halved in packages to ship as well. I don't see the DE blades we have on their website.

Their array of other merchandise is a bit interesting. How about a light up barber pole necklace anyone? And when it comes to blade selection they do sell Derby blades designed for barber use and some Lords, along with a Personna Mini Hair Shaper blade in a 20 pack. It looks suspiciously like an Artist Club blade. Could it be? Need to confirm that it would fit. But at $5.99/20 blades, or baldes in their world, it would be one I'd want to try. Well, I'd try it anyway but that price is really low for AC blades. Finally they also offer the Dorco ST-300 and 301's for sale.

A couple of interesting items they carry - Lucky Tiger after shaves including the bay rum version and....they have quite the selection of straight razors. Which one of you intrepid straight experts is willing to give one a go? They say they are shave ready and they have Black Ops, Gold Rush and Steel Edition razors, as they call them. Just go to their website, www.mdbarber.com and click the straight razor link. Hey @Drygulch I dare you to give one a go without any touch up on the blade......shave ready, right?

Oh, the blade is platinum coated. That is established as well.

Sorry this rambled a bit but there's a lot more about MD Barber than Royal Red out there to work with. It appears to me they are more of a supply house than a manufacturer. Branding your own blade obviously gives you some prestige and a bit of leverage if you supply barbers. Or at least adds an option you can speak to as being "customized".

 

OK here are aimed better pics.

 

Well hello beautiful.

 

Very nice summary! I definitely hope the rest of their equipment is better than these "baldes." Adam, think twice before taking the bet . . . Of course what's the worst that can happen.

 

I'd never put Adam in harm's way any more than he would me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

The only reason I mentioned Germany as a possible country of origin, is that on the Tryablade site, under the shavette list, the Royal Red blades are listed as being German. Perhaps an Email to Tryablade would garner further info.

 

I'll shoot Jason an email. Duh! Clearly my mind is on too many things today. I missed the country of origin on the shavette side. There isn't a country listed on the DE page. Need to learn to read better. LOL

 

Adjustable August Rule!

Barbasol Arctic Chill / Omega 98 boar
'59 Gillette #195 @7 / Derby Extra Super
Alum block / Barbasol Pacific Rush AS



Adjustable Rule Day One. I like the idea of using my favorite razor all month. I'm going to try every blade I posses to see which does me best, with the exception of following Grand Blade Trial protocol. Anyone recall were Neal posted the list?
Second time using Barbasol from the can. I shot some into a bowl & mashed the fluffy out of it. Adding a bit of water helped the slickness, but I needed a bit more from the can to get three passes. It's nice not fretting over how to tune a lather, even if it's something new to me. The razor & blade work well together for me. Maybe a little harsh ATG on my neck but I'm sticking with setting 7 and working on adjusting my angle of attack. Three passes, rinse, and the alum sang like the bass line from a Bangles tune. Splashed on a new to me AS to compliment the lather. An acceptable shave, but not without issues. There's always room for improvement.

 

I know where it is.....right below this! Currently day one on the Royal Red. Well, tomorrow is day two.

1. Sharp Star
   
   
2. Dorco ST-300
   
   
3. Dorco Prime
   
   
4. Zorrik SS
   
   
5. Shark Spr Stainless
   
   
6. Rapira Swedish
   
   
7. Royal Red
   
   
8. Gillette Stainless
   
   
9. Silver Star Stnlss
   
   
10. Timor
    
    
11. Rockwell Razors
    
    
12. Treet Double Edge
    
    
13. Royal Stainless
    
    
14. Treet Falcon
    
    
15. Gillette Silver Blue
    
    
16. Qball Platinum
    
    
17. Wilkinson
    
    
18. Bic Astor
    
    
19. Asco SS (Red)
    
    
20. V12
    
    
21. Bolzano Superinox
    
    
22. Gillette 7 SP
    
    
23. Crown Platinum
    
    
24. Zaza SS
    
    
25. Merkur SP
    
    
26. Lord Classic SS
    
    
27. Polsilver Super Iridium
    
    
28. Racer SS
    
    
29. Tomy
    
    
30. Astra – SP
    
    
31. Wizamet Super Iridium
    
    
32. Supermax Platinum Plus
    
    
33. Sharp
    
    
34. Centwin SP Malhotra
    
    
35. Lord Super Stainless
    
    
36. Viking's Sword
    
    
37. 7a.m. Hi Platinum
    
    
38. Treet New Edge
    
    
39. Wilkinson Gillette
    
    
40. Sputnik
    
    
41. Crown Stainless
    
    
42. Shark Super Chrome
    
    
43. Treet Trig
    
    
44. Gentleman
    
    
45. Treet Classic
    
    
46. Supermax Blue Diamond
    
    
47. Rimei
    
    
48. Supermax Stnls Plus
    
    
49. Astra – SS
    
    
50. Perma Sharp Super
    
    
51. Supermax Chromium
    
    
52. Elios Inoxidable
    
    
53. Supermax Spr Stainless
    
    
54. Rise Stainless Vidyut
    
    
55. Gillette Sharpedge
    
    
56. Rapira Platinum Lux
    
    
57. Gillette 7 SS
    
    
58. Supermax Titanium
    
    
59. Treet Dura Sharp
    
    
60. Crystal
    
    
61. Gillette Permasharp
    
    
62. Topaz Platinum Malhot
    
    
63. Zae
    
    
64. Asco SS (Orange)
    
    
65. Schick Premium
    
    
66. Derby
    
    
67. Kai
    
    
68. Laser SP Malhotra
    
    
69. Personna Blue
    
    
70. Gillette 365
    
    
71. Rapira SS
    
    
72. Ladas
    
    
73. Treet Silver
    
    
74. Gillette Rubie
    
    
75. Dorco ST-301
    
    
76. Personna Platinum
    
    
77. Rainbow SS
    
    
78. Supermax Platinum
    
    
79. Rise Platinum Vidyut
    
    
80. Rapira Chrome
    
    
81. Treet Platinum
    
    
82. Racer SP
    
    
83. Laser Stainless Malhotra
    
    
84. Laser Ultra Malhotra
    
    
85. Treet 7 Day Platinum
    
    
86. Eddison Stainless
    
    
87. Big Ben SS
    
    
88. Gillette Platinum
    
    
89. Supermax Spr Platinum
    
    
90. Personna Med Prep
    
    
91. Dollar PL Vidyut
    
    
92. Bic CP
    
    
93. Nacet
    
    
94. Treet New Steel
    
    
95. Treet New DE
    
    
96. Voskhod
    
    
97. Topaz Stainless Malhot
    
    
98. Croma Diamant
    
    
99. Treet King
    
    
100. Gillette Super Thin
     
     
101. Feather New Hi Stainless
     
     
102. Vincent
     
     
103. Vijay Malhotra
     
     
104. Lord Platinum
     
     
105. Zorrik SP
     
     
106. Supermax Stainless
     
     
107. Lord Super Chrome
     
     
108. Concord
     
     
109. Asco SS (Red/Blue)