The Rise of the Russian Bear

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by GDCarrington, Jul 24, 2011.

  1. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    As many of you know, I have a variety of razors. I appreciate each one and how they provide subtle and some not so subtle differences when they shave. I have a ready arsenal of razors at the command at a moments notice.

    If you ask me what my go to razor is, the one I go to in the clutch, that one razor is my Gillette Slim (or one of many that I have). It seems to be able to do every well in terms of countering the differences in blades by adjustment, ease of handling, and durability. It can maneuver well due to the "Slim" head. Especially around the ears since I head shave. It is easy to keep clean and has a classy chassis with looks straight out of the Mad Men sixties time period. I like my All American Slim, I like it a lot! It is my absolute favorite!

    Now from the east, from the steppes of the Ukraine, a contender has arisen attempting to usurp the throne that the All American Slim rests upon.

    The former Soviet Union attempted to produce an article to counter American devices throughout the time period we call the "Cold War." Although the Soviet Union could not match the absolute volume of U.S. production, it made a few items as good as or in some cases better than American items (those items tended to be military in nature and more rugged due to the harsh climate). Most consumer items resembling American items were inferior due to lack or resources and incentive due to the communist system. Demand was controlled by the central government which tends to stifle creativity and incentive to innovate. The consumers were told what they were allowed to have by the government. Many times the items were not available to purchase by anyone.

    During the "Cold War," the Soviets produced razors to service a population roughly larger than the U.S at the time. The Russian Federation is now one of the major sources of blades for "wet shavers" world wide. During the end of the 1980s the Soviet factories were cranking out lookalikes of the Gillette Tech, Schick Krona, and most importantly a lookalike for my beloved Slim. I call it the Russian Bear.

    Obtaining one of these was a little difficult since every time one came up a winner would bid to exceed the price that I bid at the last moment. A brand new Russian adjustable seemed out of reach until recently. I was fortunate to obtain one of these little gems for $45 including shipping, straight from the Ukraine. I wondered what I had purchased since I have seen many photos of these "new" Russian razors, which contained so many visible flaws such as bent bars, and mechanisms that seemed to be one step away from permanent lock up.

    I have been performing a shaving test with my Slim for a few months so I would have a very good frame of reference as to the differences right away between the Bear and the Slim. Now I waited for the shipment which took a couple of weeks. My waiting was not in vain. A couple of days ago a package arrived with Ukrainian postage. It was the Bear. It arrived at last.

    Upon opening I found a plastic razor container. I was neat and efficient. Inside was the Bear and a pack of 5 Sputnik blades. For my test, however, I had a blade that I was extremely familiar with in my Slim. That blade is the Astra Keramik. This discontinued blade was one of the very best ever produced by the Russian factories, sharp, smooth and long lasting. This is fitting blade to christen a new Russian razor. I have also included photos including comparisons to the Gillette Slim and the Gillette SuperAdjustable for perspective.

    The first thing about the Bear is that it does not have any paint on the adjustment markers. They are from 1 -9 starting from least aggressive to most aggressive blade gap. The markers are also inscribed and are very difficult to see compared to the Gillette Slim which are thick and painted.

    Listed below are the measurements for comparison between the three.

    Gillette Slim

    Length 3.56 in or 90.3 mm
    Width 0.44 in or 11.1 mm
    Head Width 1.66 in or 42.3mm
    Head Depth 0.40 in or 10.6 mm

    Russian Bear

    Length 3.84 in or 97.7 mm
    Width 0.43 in or 11.0 mm
    Head Width 1.69 in or 43.0 mm
    Head Depth 0.40 in or 10.2 mm

    Gillette SuperAdjustable

    Length 4.33 in or 110.0 mm
    Width 0.44 in or 11.2 mm
    Head Width 1.67 in or 42.4 mm
    Head Depth 0.43 in or 10.8 mm


    Blade Gap Measurements - These were all the measurements I could obtain between the razors.

    The left most number is the gap in Thousandths of an inch, the next number is Millimeters and the last item is the Razor and Setting.

    22 - 0.56 - Gillette Adjustable @ 1
    24 - 0.61 - Gillette Adjustable @ 2
    24 - 0.61 - Russian Adjustable @ 1
    26 - 0.66 - Gillette Adjustable @ 3
    28 - 0.71 - Russian Adjustable @ 2
    30 - 0.76 - Gillette Adjustable @ 4
    32 - 0.81 - Gillette Adjustable @ 5
    35 - 0.89 - Gillette Adjustable @ 6
    35 - 0.89 - Russian Adjustable @ 3
    38 - 0.97 - Gillette Adjustable @ 7
    40 - 1.02 - Russian Adjustable @ 5
    41 - 1.04 - Gillette Adjustable @ 8
    45 - 1.14 - Gillette Adjustable @ 9
    51 - 1.30 - Russian Adjustable @ 9

    Sense a pattern between the Gillette adjustable razors and the Russian Bear?

    The instructions seem to state that this razor was made in October 1988 which if it is true then this razor is 23 years old MIB. The finish is very nice and shiny. In fact it is one of the shiniest razors that I have as far a light reflection. In comparison, the Slim that I normally use was made in 1966 which makes it 45 years old. It is still nice and shiny even though it has been used daily during the past two months.

    Now we go to the shaving test. Normally if I use my Gillette Slim with a new Astra Keramik set at 3, I can obtain a two pass south to north direction only BBS with no irritation. When I loaded the Russian Bear, I put it on setting number one realizing that it would be more aggressive. The measurements did not lie. The Bear provided a two pass south to north direction only BBS with only a little irritation (one small weeper). This razor is slightly heavier than the Slim, but handled almost exactly like the All American Slim that served as its reverse engineered manufacturing pattern.

    The differences between the two are, the Slim can get a lower gap setting to allow for even sharper set of blades to be used without concern. This is a major advantage for the Slim. The second issue is internal fit and finish which cannot be seen, but can be felt and heard. When I twist open my Slims (which are over 40 years old) they open smoothly and without resistance or noise. This means that the internal tolerances are good and that the razors are not suffering from major levels of friction and fatigue. When I twist open the Bear, there was a little bit of stiffness even when opening and closing many times. Even with an application of PTFE (Teflon) based lubricant inside the razor, only a slight difference was felt. This follows the Soviet manufacturing philosophy of make it good enough to work and last, but do not work on making it too close to perfection, since that costs unnecessary time and resources in the view of the government controlled manufacturing requirements. I will have to monitor the mechanism over time to see if it holds up.

    Now to the verdict.
    The Bear may rise, but cannot overtake the All American Slim. The Gillette is just too well built even with twice the age and considerable use versus a new MIB Bear. I am not saying that the Bear is not a good razor. By many standards it can hold its own with the best of razors in the under $50 price range, new or used. The over aggressiveness at the lowest settings and potential mechanism wear is a draw back that holds it back in my view from being a Class 1 go to in the clutch razor. All in all it is a very good razor that I will enjoy using in the future.

    Russian Bear1.jpg Russian Bear2.jpg

    Russian Bear1.jpg Russian Bear2.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2015
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  2. Regan

    Regan Well-Known Member

    Hey, thanks for that. Just now one more adjustable razor I want.

    to replace my slim... to maybe replace my slim :D
     
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  3. cooncatbob

    cooncatbob Member

    If the Ruskies can Clone the B-29 and the Space Shuttle an adjustable DE is child's play.
    The probably had a spy inside of Gillette factories taking pictures of the special machinery.
     
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  4. Racso_MS

    Racso_MS Enjoy Your Shave

    OK, you've peecked my interest. How did you order it. Details, details, details...
     
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  5. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    Yes, they did. The Russians and other countries still use Industrial Espionage today.

    A side note: The Soviet Space Shuttle was part clone, part design by mission default (it needed to be a plane like vehicle to accomplish the mission), but the Russian version could carry more payload higher into space due to the way they designed their version of the booster system (4th unit with their craft to continue forward versus our 3 unit system). They flew theirs by remote control for the first mission and simply ran out of funding with the Soviet system collapsed. Now we are the ones who can't launch manned spacecraft. Truly a shame.
     
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  6. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    There is a guy in the Ukraine who has been bleeding his stock out through eBay.
    I think he only issues one or two a month to keep the price up. Right now I believe he has a Krona copy up for bid. Ebay seller id (donecriver).
     
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  7. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    I've seen one of these on a forum before. Pretty cool adjustable.
     
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  8. Mechguy

    Mechguy Well-Known Member

    That is an impressive write up, and a very excellent and intresting analysis.
    Thank you for your work.

    I use a slim also, and I am amazed at how similar they look.
     
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  9. Sodapopjones

    Sodapopjones Well-Known Member

    Awesome thread, thanks for the information and pictures!
     
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  10. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    Front page stuff right there!
     
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  11. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    Thanks Jeff and to all who have taken the time to read this write up!
     
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  12. Asd

    Asd Well-Known Member

    Great post! I never seen Russian ajustables before, only heard about them. It seems there were a lot of copies of different razors here. The razor you got seems to be a nice shaver and really an item for a collection!
     
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  13. TheCopperHat

    TheCopperHat Member

    Never seen that before very cool. Also big thanks for the adjustable measurements, I've got a fatboy I finished reassembling that had a broken collar spring and couldn't track down proper gap measurements. Didn't feel like shaving with the 10-18 settings lol.
     
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  14. Dslazar9

    Dslazar9 Took the Menthol-cratic Oath

    Thanks for the great info. It's nice to see another fan of the Astra Keramik-one of my favorite blades. I got 100 of em just before they stopped production.
     
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  15. dilly-b

    dilly-b Member

    On the instructions the model name is "Konsul" which is pretty badass!
     
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  16. dadvest

    dadvest Active Member

    What a Great looking razor!

    that is a sweet look'n razor and the information comparing them to the Gillette's are awesome! Got to have me one of those... got my RAD up now!
     
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  17. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    If anyone is looking for one of these, the seller has a BIN for one on e-bay.
     
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  18. alpla444

    alpla444 That's sweet!

    Fine looking razor :)
     
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  19. very interesting, thanks!
     
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  20. fishcrow

    fishcrow Birdman of TSD

    Great post.
     
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