Yes it is. One thing is for certain—the odds of surviving as part of the Red army were against you for the majority of war (particularly if one was infantry). I suppose many of those brave young men burned brightly (and were decorated accordingly), but alas, most didn't last very long.
I like the Russian blades I use rapiras all the time they are very sharp I just got a Russian sampler pack so I can try the rapira stainless steel and the lux as well as the Sputniks. The rapiras can be a little tough on the face if not careful
I really like the Voskhods, Rapiras, Astras, and Gillette Silver Blues. I also have found that certain blades work better in different razors.
Slim Russians - week 1 Rapira - about 3.5 shaves. Somewhere in the middle of shave #4 the blade started dragging. It didn't gradually start, either. It seemed to be doing fine and then felt like someone had thrown a switch. What do you do when this happens mid-shave? I think it might be a good idea to swap blades, then and there. But I just gutted it out. I think I may have even added pressure to get through the drag. (What !?! Why on earth would you do THAT? ... Well, it wasn't intentional, I assure you!) I had a little bit of burn at the end. Not too bad, but I'd rather not! OH... I think I had my Slim set on 4 for all shaves. Vokshod - almost three shaves. Slim set to 5 on last shave. I felt the drag kick in on the last pass. It didn't hit as hard as on the Rapira, but it was there. I paid close attention to keeping it light while I finished. Nice BBS (maybe one warm spot, but not enough to really notice). Boy, this is really odd to me. I usually get about 5 shaves from a good DE blade (... though I frequently go one shave too far...<sigh>). The Slim is still kinda new to me, and I have been juggling my several recent RAD purchases, so haven't really concentrated on learning a single one of them as well as my couple of starting razors. Makes me go "Hmm..." I'm now wondering if Jayaruh hit the proverbial nail on the head! Maybe Russians should not be paired in the Slim. Or maybe I should better adapt my technique(s) well beyond EJ, Techs, and a New. Yaaaaaah! I'm about two years into this hobby and just realizing that I've been riding a one trick pony! I still need to learn how to shave. No, wait! That's a good thing. The whole wet shaving world is opening up to me (don't say str8!). Will continue the Slim Russians with Astras and go from there. This is so fun!
Just tried Astra SP blades. Meh...I will have to try them out further. I also have some Rapiras and Perma Sharps to give a run. Looking forward to them. However, I really don't know much about any of the Russian blades. So... any info on them is always welcome!
Slim Russians - week 1.5 I eked a 4th shave out of an Astra SP. It didn't quite burn, but left my skin feeling a little dry. However, to be fair, I don't think the success(?) of the 4th shave was due to the blade. I think it had more to do with setting the Slim to 6 and applying a LOT more concentration to technique than is my wont. ALSO... thinking about old habits, I may have to revise my personal "shaves per blade" number to (probably) three. I have recently changed my routine**; the new methods use the blade a LOT more! (**I have once again given up "mowing" my face. I would skip the first couple of DE passes and use an electric to wet-shave down to a DFS that was not much shy of BBS. I may or may not return to mowing, but leaving it out means the DE blades do more work.) I think I will start another round of my 3 Russian blades next week, but taking the Slim from #6 on up a bit.
I use Vokshods blades quite often, but I have no problem getting 5 or 6 uses out of them. To be quite honest, I rarely have problems with any blades. It seems to me that the first shave with the Vokshods is the one I have to be careful on and after that the blade feels great. I've always been curious if blades "brake-in", if so then that would explain why the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, shaves seem smoother then the first for me.
I like Russian blades. When I bought 100 Vokshods I was shocked that they actually came from Russia. Both the Vokshods and Rapiras have been solid performers for me.
Voskhod 1 (Russian: Восход-1, Восход is Russian for Sunrise) was the seventh manned Soviet space flight. It achieved a number of "firsts" in the history of manned spaceflight, being the first space flight to carry more than one crewman into orbit, the first flight without the use of spacesuits, and the first to carry either an engineer or a physician into outer space. It also set a manned spacecraft altitude record of 336 km (209 mi).
I really like the Voskhods. They deliver a nice, smooth shave, in fact when they're out of the box I think they match just about anything else around. But, as far as life goes, my experience pretty much matches yours - 4 shaves and they're done.
I like a good number of Russian blades others not so much. Permasharp Supers and Gillette Silver Blues are favorites. Rapira Swedes, Voskhods, and the green and blue Gillette 7OC blades were pretty good. I didn't care for Astra, Gillette 7OC Yellows, or Sputniks.
Voskhod is my main blade of choice. Paired with Tet-a-Tet Shave Cream (also made in Russia), it's my moment of zen. Occasionally I follow up that with an application of Tet-a-Tet Aftershave Balm. Russia is pretty awesome at shaving sundries.
