Voskhod - Mostochlegmash's finest blades? From Russia, with love!

Monsta_AU

Monsta_AU

...can I interest you in some vintage blades?
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For those that do not know, Mostochlegmash is the other big Russian blade manufacturer, and is situated in Moscow whereas the Gillette PPI plant is of course in St. Petersburg. Mostochlegmash produce a variety of goods, but of most interest to shavers are their double-edge blades. These are marketed under their Rapira, Voskhod and Ladas brandings. They also manufacture some DE razors, including the Rapira Classic Steel which simply looks magnificent.

The Voskhod brand (literal translated to 'Sunrise') had been getting quite a bit of notoriety lately for the excellent shaves it gives while being extremely smooth and comfortable. A number of former Super Iridium users have stated that they have now found a blade that at the very least matches the now-unavailable Super Iridium.

Well, my order is finally on its way, and thanks to Mynor at russianrazor.com - there is 100 blades provided free of charge for you all to try, so those who get sample packs from me will get a pack thrown in until they are gone.

Review will come as soon as the blades arrive and I can get a couple of shaves under my belt.
 
I'd love to try some of those blades - I don't have a sample pack from you organised however.

Any chance you can piff me a couple packs and I will give you some coin?
 
We might call it a donation to the site plus enough to cover postage ;)
 
Well, the blades arrived from russianrazor.com in a flat 7 days - just goes to prove that the fastest postage from the US is indeed International First Class and NOT the Priority International prepaid stuff.

Loaded up this morning in my Slim, left it on the normal 6 setting as I use for Yellows and GBE's, in fact any Gillette blade I use in it is set to 6 usually.

Initial thought is "this is smooth". Second thought is "this is rather sharp too". Third thought is "this is a damn good blade".

It does seem to have a different hone angle - maybe a degree or two off the normal Gillette hone. It therefore it required a change of angle, but once I found the sweet spot it was an extremely enjoyable shave.

Only went WTG, and the touchup XTG just under my chin. Still DFS so very happy. Didn't use any AS/ASB at all, no irritation experienced either.

After the first shave on the first blade, I like them. I can see where the love for these is coming from, especially from the Iridium guys. The Voskhods seem to have the same smoothness, however there is disagreement over the lifetime of the blades. Some say the PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethelene aka Teflon) comes off far too easily and only get 2 shaves with each blade. Others are reporting 6 shaves where Iridiums only gave them 3 or 4.

As always, YBMWMDV.

Drubs has some on the way for testing, and hopefully I will be able to get some off to Jugs and Spyne before I head to Brisbane.

EDIT: There is talk that Store34/Bestshave.net may be able to source these blades also, along with the Ladas and the other Rapira varieties. That would be a wonderful day.
 
Well they sound pretty good from your description.

I'm lookikng forward to trying some out indeed.

POST OFFICE .....NOW!!!!

lol
 
Need to head home to get them first! They will be in the post today Jugs.... Spyne I need your address. PMs are sent.
 
Interested to hear everyones thoughs - JugV2 and Spyne.
Although I never got to try the Iridiums, switching blades is always fun.

Razormonsta said:
As always, YBMWMDV.
Click to expand...

What exactly does that stand for?

EDIT:
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary
YBMWMDV = Your Blade Mileage Will Most Definitely Vary
:)
- Monsta
 
Yeah same guy. Once you list them on eBay then they can go at any time, hence he would have stock aside for his listings there. Imagine the Negatives he would be given.

He just got fresh stock of everything except the Voskhods. The Voskhods are due in 3 weeks.

Also word coming that Store34 might start selling these too - they do 400 Rapira S/S for $29 delivered worldwide, and these blades are all produced in the same factory. Much cheaper deal, just hope they can make it happen!
 
Monsta said:
EDIT:
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary
YBMWMDV = Your Blade Mileage Will Most Definitely Vary
:)
- Monsta
Click to expand...

Lol.
Thought it was something like that, but my head couldn't make it work.
 
Another shave this morning, fresh Voskhod in the Fatboy, dialed it up to 6. Lathered up with Jermyn St.

Excellent aural feedback, you could hear the whiskers being scythed away. Just one of those really good shaves you have every now and again.

I'm looking to get as many shaves out of this blade as I can before Friday night when I pack and then head home early Saturday morning. If I can get 4 good shaves from it I think it is a winner
 
Really - four shaves off a blade?

I'm looking forward to getting some of these bad boys then.
 
I haven't been able to get 4 out of them yet as I have gone away, but I hope to get 4 out of them, the second shave was as good as the first.
 
From Russia with Love

So I popped in a new Vokshod this morning.

Using my DE86, and TOBS Jermyn cream.

Good lather and all the rest, so I won't bore you with that part.

The blade felt stiff at first, as if my angle was not quite right.

I stopped, adjusted and tried another pass. It felt a lot better - so I think the angle which I shave on needs to be a little different for this blade.

I did my usual three passes, WTG XTG and ATG.

At no point did I feel in danger of cutting myself. The blade doesn't feel at all dangerous like a Feather can.

I achieved a BBS and finished off with eShave Lime post shave cream.

Sharpness 8/10
Comfort 9/10

I like this blade and as I have two packs of them, I plan to use a whole pack to get a really good feel for them.

This is one that will stay in my "keeper" pile.
 
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