Vintage Travelling Blade reviews: Personna Super Stainless 'Ultra Chrome'

Razormonsta said:
Link's dead Mark, but a quick google tells me it's a Deutsche-produced SC that is in a tube and relatively low in scent? Most of the remarks are in favour of the lather.

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I'm surprised that you would pick the Personna over the Schick, but they are very close in terms of performance. I do find they feel a bit 'draggy' on your skin while shaving but the results are magical for those of us that have been doing it for a while. That said, they need a slight refinement of technique over modern blades and then reward you for it.

The Spoiler will be something else. So glad I got my stash for an absolute steal.
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The link works for me but that is the one. Not great on first use but OK.

First shave with the Personna so not making any hard and fast decisions. It could just be getting used to the Slim. The rest test will be the next cycle of 2 shaves each I think.

The way you keep talking up these Spoilers we are all going to be in the market for them from now on you realise!
 
Mark1966 said:
The way you keep talking up these Spoilers we are all going to be in the market for them from now on you realise!
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I've got enough to last my life, padded out with a few GBE's, Silver Blues, Permasharps and hopefully some some Czech 7OC blues if I can find some.
 
Second shave with the Personna today.

Nothing to see here people, same good result, all boringly good !

Tomorrow to try the much vaunted Spoilers!
 
Better make your next post count Mark, it will be your 1,000th.
 
Razormonsta said:
Better make your next post count Mark, it will be your 1,000th.
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Gee, I missed it! I have no idea what it was....

Anyway, back on topic.

I've done shaves 3 and 4 with the Personna. I had a day in between with a cart while travelling and that may have affected shave 4 where it was definitely not as good as previously or as good as the Schick. I'd rank the Schick over this one to date.

Spoiler tomorrow - see how we go.
 
First shave out with this blade on Saturday.Wasn't great, outs of tugging, pulling and irritation. Lather was solid so I don't really know what was going on.

So I didn't shave on Sunday and thought I would give it a chance with 2 days growth this morning.

Made sure my lather was good (was actually some of the best I've had IMO P160 :D) and had the same scenario again.Lots of nicks, and it just felt uncomfortable. Maybe it's just not a blade for me? After having good results with the other vintage blades I was a little disappointed lol cleaned up with Witch Hazel and some Gillette balm.

Anyway thanks again for the opportunity to try these rare blades.
 
Shave Five with the Personna this morning and it will be the last.

A little tugging and definitely not smooth and sharp any more.

So this is probably my least favourite of the three. A fine blade but nothing I would chase after.

Thanks for the try RM!
 
So I can't for the life of me get these out of the holder! There's only two left, does anyone mind if I break the older open? I promise to try the blades in interesting razors :p
 
mr626 said:
So I can't for the life of me get these out of the holder! There's only two left, does anyone mind if I break the older open? I promise to try the blades in interesting razors :p
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I had similar trouble. I think you can 'break' then put back together - just go for it ...
 
mr626 said:
So I can't for the life of me get these out of the holder! There's only two left, does anyone mind if I break the older open? I promise to try the blades in interesting razors :p
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Don't cut yourself trying to save a dispenser! If needed, destroy the thing by all means.
 
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Pjotr said:
Don't cut yourself trying to save a dispenser! If needed, destroy the thing by all means.
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Thanks. The case was demolish by my Leatherman :) Looking forward to given the blades a try.
 
mr626 said:
Thanks. The case was demolish by my Leatherman :) Looking forward to given the blades a try.
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Looking forward to the review. Just remember, with these ones preparation is they key, and keep the blade moving. They don't have any coating so what you might feel as 'Smooth but grabby/skipping' is the blade's grind catching on your skin. It's just different to shaving with a PTFE-coated blade.
 
I deliberately didn't jump straight in to using these. While we were away for a few days I used a very 'bare bones' combo:

Fat Handle Tech
Astra blade
Bestshave #6 brush
Arko stick

Good results, but nothing exciting.

Now we are back home, I thought it would be a good time to try a Personna. Here's the starting combo:

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This is actually the first time I've used this particular Red Tip too!

Other than a very minor amount of tugging at first, an excellent, close shave via my normal WTG and XTG passes. Very sharp and comfortable, although seemed to make more noise than some blades I'm used to. It's early days, but I find myself liking these slightly more than the Spoilers.
 
Have now done 4 shaves with these. Same kit as in my first pic, but I have switched back to Arko. Have used my new Tweezerman badger brush for the last two shaves with pleasing results.

The blade continues to provide a dependable, smooth shave. No tugging or any feeling of bluntness as yet. Will be interesting to see if this blade will outlast the spoiler.
 
I had a dig in my "shave basket" last night. I was wondering what the hell I had a folded up bit of paper with a mobile number on it for. Picked it up and discovered the blades from the travelling PiF!

After a little jig I settled on having a crack at the Personna Super Stainless. I've not had a great deal of love for the current Personna offerings so I was prepared to be sceptical.

A lot to commend this blade on its first outing. Excellent sharpness and very smooth. I did experience some of the "skipping" mentioned earlier in this thread but it never felt dangerous. I simply reverted to a shorter stroke where the interaction of my face and blade angle was causing the effect. The resulting 3 pass shave was most excellent, particularly on the upper lip and chin. I am very impressed with the result.

I'd place this as equal to the Permasharp Super first shave vs first shave. Will the personna equal the PSS formidable longevity...we shall see. I'll post back after a few more shaves.
 
Well, 7 seems to be the magic number for me. As with the Spoilers, I found that shave number 7 is the maximum number of shaves I can get from this blade. As before, very impressive results from a vintage blade.
I only ever used the Red Tip with this, since I have the luxury of two of these particular blades (I busted the blade case thinking there was only one left, but there was two).

I will have a break from the vintage blades for a little while and go back to a more 'normal' combo. Looking forward to the second run with these at a later date.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to try a vintage blade.
 
Round 2

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Thought I'd pull out the big guns and give it a try with my Aristocrat.

First stroke of the razor was more aggressive than I remember (no damage done though). Adjusted the angle accordingly. Probably the best word to describe this shave is 'effortless'. A sharp, smooth blade like the Personna coupled with a well balanced razor like the Aristocrat means that you are pretty much guaranteed good results, and this is what I got.

The blade remains much the same for me as last I tried- sharp, smooth and slightly 'louder' during use than most blades.

The plan is to do three shaves with my Aristocrat, and then switch to my Rocket HD.
 
Unfortunately for me this blade turned a bit nasty in the most unforgiveable way. Got a few ingrowns on the neck.

It's still plenty sharp after 5 uses but I definitely had a fall off in smoothness at shave three. A return to shave soaps that I don't miss with for shaves 4 and 5 didn't salvage the effect.

Folks who get along with Astra SP I would definitely recommend trying this blade. It feels like it's definitely got a few more shaves left in it.

PSS 1 - Vintage Blades 0 :cool:
 
Sorry to hear it didn't agree with you SYD.

I'm 5 shaves in to my second run with these. Ended up just sticking with the Aristocrat- its just such a nice razor and I haven't used it that much recently.

The Personna continues to impress. Sharp, smooth and predictable would be my take on them. I think the comparison to Astra SP is pretty accurate- they remind me of a higher quality, longer-lived version of the Astras.
 
I had nothing to do this arvo, so I decided I'd get off my arse and go have a shave. I had a great shave with the following:

  • Merkur 34C
  • TOBS Jermyn
  • Pinaud VIBR
  • Nivea balm

Choosing the 34C as my first razor has proved to be an excellent choice, because thus far it's been great with anything I've thrown at it. My result with it and the Personna today wasn't the closest or smoothest I've ever had, but damn was it comfortable. It was one of those times where I really, REALLY enjoyed scraping my face. I don't feel that it's quite as sharp and smooth as the Spoiler. I wondered if not having the modern PFTE coating was responsible for the slight roughness I felt, but that might also be my blade angle. A little bit of beard-chopping feedback is something I enjoy, and the Personna delivered. I wouldn't say it was a mild shave, but I certainly felt very much at ease and in no danger of cutting myself.

That said, I cut myself. It wasn't the blade or my fault really, a certain family member who is now in the bad books opened the bathroom door into me while I was doing my XTG pass on my neck. I was lucky not to do much damage, and aside from that I got no irritation or redness anywhere. Not quite completely smooth like I've been getting from the Spoiler, but pretty close and not pushing too hard gives my neck a chance to recover from a couple of ingrown hairs from an overzealous BBS attempt last week.

All things considered, this is another great blade and it's a shame they're not still available. Hard to say which I like more so far, but I have to agree with SYD that anyone who enjoys the Astra SP would enjoy this. They both provide a comfortable and effortless shave for me.

Thanks very much to RM again for making these available. I'm hoping I'll get good longevity from these, very enjoyable.
 
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