Vintage Travelling Blade reviews: Gillette Super Stainless 'Spoiler'

Razormonsta said:
Keep going with them PJ.

Did you notice it feeling extra sharp when you first loaded it, or maybe the glide was different to a modern blade?
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Hmmmmm....yes I do think it's very smooth. Didn't particularly notice the sharpness as in getting smashed like you do with a Feather. In fact I wasn't massively impressed with the first shave. Have just had a fourth shave and it doesn't feel like letting up. A lot smoother than a Shark which bit the dust after it's usual three. I'm willing to concede that it's better than a lot of blades out there particularly in terms of longevity. I've only compared it to a Shark which is the mother of all MUM blades. I'll have to do a comparison with a PSS or a Polsilver/Iridium. Problem is I haven't got any more as I contributed a few to the pass around. I was promised one from this dude with a really cheap supply (or so he keeps telling us!).
 
Pjotr said:
No 6. Still amazingly smooth. Decided to move on. Shick Platinum Plus next.
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Save it for later and come back to it!

I rotated through them - some great blades!
 
Mark1966 said:
Save it for later and come back to it!

I rotated through them - some great blades!
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Hmmmmm.........a bit late unless I go chasing the bin man down the road. I think 6 shaves on a blade is pretty amazing anyway. And I don't like having blades hanging around. And I wanted to move on to the Shick.
 
Well this is the FIRST blade from the Vintage Blades PIF I've tried.

Did so last night in my Weber SS razor, used with MNS Pine/Cedar. The first thing that struck me was the sharpness of the blade - IMHO it's really elite level sharp. Cut through a 2 day growth like it wasn't even there. Quite smooth as well but I think the sharpness is the big thing here (which IMHO as well is the reason why folks are getting so many shaves from them).

Lovely shave, indeed as good as anything modern I've ever tried. Definitely made waiting for the gear well worth it and has me looking forward to the other blades. :)
 
Okay, round 1 for me. Here's the setup:

IMG_20130103_172221.jpg


With the Fatboy on 7.

I'll be honest, I actually didn't get a great shave out of this. Irritation on the neck, a couple of small nicks. Not the blade's fault though. I think I am so used to my usual rotation that trying too many different things at once was a bad idea.

Can see the potential of the blade- very sharp and there were moments where it was very smooth. I'll continue to work with this and hopefully get some good mileage.
 
mr626 said:
..........Can see the potential of the blade- very sharp and there were moments where it was very smooth. I'll continue to work with this and hopefully get some good mileage.
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The first shave with these is like using a Feather in my experience. There is the potential for face rape if you're not careful. It gets better with age.
 
Pjotr said:
The first shave with these is like using a Feather in my experience. There is the potential for face rape if you're not careful. It gets better with age.
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That's what I'm hoping. The funny thing is I've never had a problem with feathers.
 
Have now done 4 shaves with this blade. Made a few adjustments to the setup- put the Fatboy on 6 and changed back to old faithful (Arko).

Much better results. I'm finding this blade very similar to a Feather in terms of sharpness and overall performance. I can easily get 5 shaves from a Feather, so we'll see how well the Spoiler holds up.
 
2nd shave done, again in Weber SS. Not bad, but a tad more mediocre than my first impression on the 1st shave. AGain felt the sharpness of the blade was it's strength. Might try in the SLim next shave.
 
Razor: R41
Soap: Proraso Original Bowl
Brush: Semogue LE2011 Boar
AS: none

It's a given that the lathering and brush work is consistent throughout my usage of this blade.

I should also add, I didn't shave until NYE, so I had ten days growth.

I am still using this blade even though it is on its 8th shave at the moment and is still as sharp IMO as the first one.

It's not a super sharp (compared to Feather) blade, it is a bit forgiving and it doesn't seem to want to bite me. Good aural feedback when I am cutting whiskers, smooth across the face and nothing special seems to jump out about this one. No irritation, no cuts, very reasonable shave.

Or maybe that's what makes it special, the fact that it does possess decided normalcy - nothing jumps out about it.

I like the blade, it certainly has legs as I don't see any reason to change it yet. It isn't tugging or causing any problems.

If it were available today I would probably buy a pillar, but honestly there are so many others that I like more than this, it's good to have tried it and I will push this to at least ten shots.
 
For shave number 5, I've switched razors to the newly-restored Ranger Tech:

IMG_20130107_183837.jpg


Still nice and smooth, and no nicks/irritation.
 
Shave 6 with the Spoiler, still going strong. Same Ranger/Arko/Vie Long combo as above.

I am starting to think that like others have noted, the distinguishing feature for me with this blade may be its longevity.
 
First shave with the Spoiler today. I got lazy at the beach on my holiday since NYE, and despite having a couple of good shaves with the Gillette Maltese Plat's, I was really hanging out for a really great shave in the luxury of my own bathroom.

  • Merkur 34C
  • TOBS Jermyn St
  • Blobby Foo
  • Alum
  • Pinaud Bay Rum
  • Nivea Post-Shave
To say that I would rapidly buy 200 of these if they were still available probably sums it up. I went for a three pass shave. One WTG, one ATG on the neck and one XTG on my face and for touch-ups. I really went for broke as far as getting a smooth face is concerned. The result? Exceptional smoothness, exceptional glide, exceptionally close shave. There's a touch of menace to these blades though. One could almost describe it as a "toughness". It's a very sharp blade with a slightly harsh feel as it just mows through the beard. I'm going to put the harshness down to my technique, because I think it came down to the pressure I used and my skin wasn't overly irritated as though it had been scraped raw. Despite having no visual redness or irritation, a pass with an alum block woke me up. This shave is really up there as far as good ones that I've had so far. I pushed it hard though, and if history is any indication of the future, I'll get some irritation over the next couple of days to punish my desire for a BBS shave.

Having busted out a ripper shave with the 34C, I'm feeling content to follow up with the following over the next few shaves:

  • Fatboy (5, then 7) w/ Omega 49 and Mike's Natural Lime
  • Fatboy (7, then 9) w/ Blobby Foo and Proraso Red
  • Schick Krona w/ Blobby Foo and Proraso Red
  • Slim (6) w/ Omega 49 and Mike's Natural Bay Rum

I'll keep my testing apparatus consistent over all the Vintage PIF blades, but this should let me have a little fun mixing it up amongst the kit I'm enjoying at the moment.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank RM and everyone else involved for this opportunity again! My only regret is not taking up DE shaving a year ago, when these were actually around.
 
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