Tiger Platinum vs. Astra Superior Platinum

As I'm sure most if not all of us wet shavers know, about fifteen years or so ago Gillette bought out Astra and moved production from the original plant in the Czech Republic to its facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. It seems that Czech Blades S.R.O., the company that originally produced the Astra brand, was under a non-compete clause until 2019, at which point it decided to fire back up its equipment (which was still in good working order) to revive its line of shaving blades.

Enter Tiger Platinum, which I think hit the market in 2020.

I got a tuck of these along with some other brands in an order from Maggard's a few months ago and finally had occasion this week to open it up and try it out. If these truly are the original Astra Superior Platinum revived, then it's an improvement over the original. The sharpness is somewhere between Astra Platinum and Stainless, while retaining the famous smoothness. I've used it in my Merkur 34, Merkur 42, and 1960 Gillette Fatboy, even using it to take off my moustache and goatee on Thursday after growing it for No Shave November. I still managed to get two excellent shaves out of it for two full days after that. Amazing!

The feel of this blade the first four days cannot be adequately described because, in fact, I really didn't even feel it on my skin. If I didn't know better having loaded it into my razors and heard the scritch, I'd swear I was shaving without a blade at all, it was that smooth! Even my Astra SPs will give me a little bit of feedback when shaving with them.

As for after-effects...it wasn't until my Thursday shave, the fifth for this week, that I began to feel any irritation at all when applying my witch hazel and alum, and today, the seventh and last with this particular blade, I got a bit of burn applying my aftershave splash (Stirling Scots Pint Sheep Glacial Menthol), but nothing major or that lasted more than a minute or two.

So naturally, being so impressed with the blade this week, on Thursday I ordered a hundred-count pack from Maggard's and that arrived today. I still have 160 Astra Superior Platinum blades (one 100-count box and one with 12 tucks remaining), and now a 100-count pack of the Tiger Platinum, and I think once I've gone through the Astras I'll be getting more Tigers instead from now on. Now if only Wizamet could revive its production of Iridium Super!

 

I bought a few of the Tiger and Tatra blades. I have compared the Tatra Platinum against Astra Platinum in my Henson AL13. I like the Tatra blades better than Astra. I haven't tried the Tiger blades yet.

 

i have the tatra blades.very nice.just ordered these..

 

My order of Tatras arrived yesterday, bringing my supply of blades from various brands to about 8-10 years' worth. I think I'm good now, ha ha!

 

I've never been a big fan of the Astra Platinum blades. I have used a few tucks of them, but it has been a while. I know it is completely subjective, but how do these blades compare to GSB or some of the other St. Petersburg offerings?

 

Recently ordered a tuck of the Tiger carbon steel blades:


I shaved with it on Sunday and today, having skipped yesterday. The shaves were incredible! BBS, no nicks or irritation when applying witch hazel, alum, or aftershave. Nice and sharp while forgiving on the skin. Not as smooth as the platinum blades, but these give the Treet Black Beauties a run for their money.

 

I didn't know that. I think mine are still from the Saint Petersburg factory. When did this happen?

 

So basically, trying to punish Russia for...things. Yeesh!

 

It's just wild to me that some guys have beards so fine that they might be unsure as to whether they put a blade in the razor. No matter what blade I use there's absolutely no question whether or not there's a blade in.

Is this an actual thing? Or an exaggeration to communicate the quality of a blade? Surely you don't actually wonder if there's a blade or not?

 

Reduced blade feel... sure... but guys genuinely not being certain whether there's a blade in the razor and whether that blade is cutting hair? I expect this is an exaggeration. No matter how mild a razor is if I buff the same spot it feels completely different once there's nothing left to shave vs the initial stroke.

 

I, too, got a tuck of Tiger Plats a few years ago from Maggard's, but never tried them. Since Astra SP is one of my regular rotation blades, perhaps I should try out the Tiger' soon.

I also have a tuck of Astra Stainless I've yet to try.

 

They're quite similar! I put them somewhere between Astra SP and Astra SS.

 

Meaning the Astra SS is the sharpest?

 

Astra Super Stainless is regarded by many as being in the top five (certainly top ten) sharpest blade brands. Astra Superior Platinum isn't quite as sharp, but is a lot smoother and more forgiving on the skin, not to mention longer lasting overall (7-10 good shaves to the typical 4-6). The Tiger Platinum blades fall somewhere in between the two Astra brands, striking what is in my opinion a good balance.

 

INteresting. That explains why the Astra Super Stainless are my favorite.