Russian blade appreciation thread

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by BigMark83, Mar 31, 2019.

  1. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    GSB?
     
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  2. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    GSB is one of my faves and top tier sharp.

    Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk
     
  3. brit

    brit in a box

    gsb is my regular go to..love em..
     
  4. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    I'll get back to you.
     
  5. HUF

    HUF Active Member

    Try Russian Baltika beer. My favorite is #4 (dark).
     
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  6. HUF

    HUF Active Member

    Polsilver is made in Poland.
     
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  7. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    Ok. Who owns the Gillette factory in St. Petersburg? As far as I have been able to ascertain, Gillette owns 65% and a Russian company called Leninets owns 35%. The plant was built around 1999 and planned to produce 680 million blades a year. There is nothing that I can find that indicates any change in ownership has taken place. However, given the fact that Gillette has NEVER responded to my inquiries about St. Pete there is no real way of knowing. You find nothing about it on any reports I have found either. Of course, Gillette doesn't want people thinking about DE blades. We must buy Fusion!!

    The company name, by the way, is technically PPI - Petersburg Products International. That's the name given when Gillette and Leninets merged. They obviously stuck with Gillette due to name recognition in the West, I'm sure. I have tried searching for PPI info and it's as hard to find as anything else about the place. And, for the record, Polsilvers are made in the Russian plant since they were purchased by Gillette (or PPI).

    I"ll keep my usual eyes out for more info and if I can confirm anything different I'll let you know. Gives me something to do when I get bored. Plus, I enjoy unraveling the mysteries of the big corporations.
     
  8. BigMark83

    BigMark83 [...........] this space intentionally left blank

    I would, and believe I have tried Baltika before, but the packie no longer sells it.
     
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  9. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    That would be an entirely different situation. In that case, it isn’t the same company. But if that was not the case, with all due respect to @Frijolero, it does not take any special expertise to answer this simple question. But since it seems they are not the same company, that explains things.
     
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  10. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    Not the current production blades, they are made in Russia. Vintage Wizamet brown box Pol-Silvers were made in Poland but when Gillette bought the brand production moved to Russia.

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  11. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    Woops,I see Neal already addressed this.

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  12. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    I used to do tech support for one of the world's largest computer equipment manufacturers. I also went the extra mile to help callers. There were some products for which I had no information, usually because they were sold outside the retail channel and the company took great pains to keep different sales channels separate. We simply did not have the information on some products, and had no idea what number to call. The company nevertheless consistently got very high support ratings from consumers. So it is about having a multitude of happy customers, even if that means having the occasional unhappy individual. That's just business.

    Whether or not they deserve an apology is beside the point. If you want information out of them, it makes sense to do whatever is likely to lead to that outcome.
     
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  13. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    Nah. I've wasted enough time with them already. I see no need to spend more time in getting an answer. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter. And I'm good with that. That's just business.
     
  14. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Fair enough. You are far from being the first to try to get information from PPI without success. The others were also disappointed at the lack of response. For example:

    https://www.bruceonshaving.com/2011/02/02/gillette-dont-want-to-talk-to-me/

    I think question 4 in his letter was the key point:

    "4) There is a huge resurgence in interest in double edged shaving in the West. The number of enthusiasts is growing rapidly. Is PPI aware of this and does it have plans to look after such enthusiasts?"

    The answer is a resounding No, as shaving enthusiasts in the West are a miniscule fraction of their business. Their primary customer base is countless millions of shavers in Russia, Eastern Europe, India and a plethora of third world countries. We're just along for the ride, but that has turned out to work quite well for many people.

    BTW - The Bruce On Shaving blog went on hiatus seven years ago, but is still an excellent resource.
     
  15. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    I have no doubt that us classic shaving enthusiasts represent a very very very small footprint in the global shaving sphere. And as is common with most anything, money talks. So the quarter million or so of us who shave with ancient implements or implements designed based upon ancient implements can count on the few cents we pay for some blades won't buy us much traction with the global conglomerate, Proctor & Gamble. I'm ok with that. Thanks for letting me know about the Bruce on Shaving blog. I'm always looking for reference info on this great hobby.
     
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  16. brit

    brit in a box

    i am glad we get to purchase some good blades for decent prices..wilkinson classic 10 blade tucks are $11.99 here in drug stores.wile cheap compared to carts that's still 1 dollar a blade..
    at $20 ish for 100 gsb blades no complaints here..best of both worlds..
     
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  17. HUF

    HUF Active Member

    Thank you. Here are ones I am using and also ones I used many years ago. They are all great.
     

    Attached Files:

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