SMF

Someone kindly gifted me a couple of the Kai Original Captain blades a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the 20th shave with that blade. I could have kept going, but I switched out to the more common Kai Captain Titan Mild blade. I want to use it for the next 20 days so I can compare the two blades back to back. The Original shaved close and smooth. No complaints.

Gary, how would you say the Kai Original compares to the Feather Pro?

pausted wrote: ↑Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:53 am Gary, how would you say the Kai Original compares to the Feather Pro?

I would be curious to know that, too. May I assume this is for your General razor?

Yes, the dauntless General reigns. After 3 shaves with the Kai Mild, I think there may be something mysteriously different. I'll try to figure out how to describe how the two are different or similar.

Today, following the 8th shave with the Kai Mild blade, I noticed that the stubble has appeared earlier than expected. This is a departure from the expected smoothness of the Original Captain blade which lasted 20.

Gary, interesting to hear your impressions of the Original Captain blades that I have not tried yet. In the Colonial General SS and Aluminum versions, I prefer the Feather Pro over the Kai Mild Pink blades. However, in the RazoRock Hawk, I prefer the Kai Mild Pink. In the Ikon MR-SE (El Jefe V2), I prefer Feather Pro Guard Blades, as it is a bit more aggressive.

After 18 daily shaves with the Kai Mild blade, I am starting to think the Kai Mild is virtually identical to the Original. I confess I don't know exactly what the physical differences are, between the two blades. Maybe someone here knows how these two blades are made different from each other.

After using the Kai Original, the Kai Mild, and the Feather Pro I have decided that the Kai Original is virtually the same as the Feather Pro, and maybe the Kai Mild would be 99.9 % the equal to both of them. Because I have a supply of Feather Pro blades that should last until I stop needing them, I'm not spending any more money on blades.

PS: I should be selling off all of my other DE, SE, and cartridges now. I'll never use them.

Gary, I find Feather Pro's to be a real bargain on Amazon. 20 for around $11 or so.

I may have to revise my opinion of the Kai Original blade. I've been rotating the 3 blades (Feather pro, Kai Mild, and Kai Original). Most recently, two of the blades (Feather and Kai Mild) have began pulling and tugging around 18 to 20 daily shaves. My second (and currently my only remaining) Kai Original has provided 29 close and smooth shaves, and still hasn't started to pull and tug. I have not changed anything regarding my technique. This is impressive.

Gary, my experience is the same as yours. The Kai Original stays sharp longer and gives me more good shaves than the other blades.

The remaining Captain original blade that was recently PIF-ed to me lasted through 43 shaves before it was replaced this morning.

Is that a lot more than with other thicker blades, such as conventional injector blades? Have you looked at the edges under magnification; I'm curious about what you would see.

Did the quality of shaves deteriorate gradually, or was there a sudden drop-off, or did something else happen?

Paul, I held off on changing it out until it was tugging just a little bit on the toughest spots. I ran my thumbnail down the edge and I thought there might be a microscopic chip or two.

I kept it in the drawer so I might look at the edge with the loupe one of these days. I really can't compare it to an injector blade because I confess I haven't used an injector in several years.

When the Mongoose came out, followed by the Hawk, then ultimately the General, all of my perceptions and expectations regarding razors were more than satisfied.

I use a blade until it gets somewhat uncomfortable, so I might get 50 shaves out of your blade. I wonder what makes it so durable.

Note: I made a typo yesterday - Saturday September 29th - when I first posted this. I transposed the word Kai Mild for the word Feather Pro.

I discovered that I had been using the Feather Pro for the past 20 shaves since September 10th and not the Kai Mild blade.

Here is the corrected post: Today was shave #20 on the Feather Pro blade, and now it has been discarded. This was my very last remaining Feather Pro blade. Beginning tomorrow morning on September 30th, I will use one of my two remaining Kai Mild blades. After the two Kai Mild blades are gone in a few weeks I'll start using Kai Captain Original blades in the General razor exclusively.

Since the beginning of this year I have tested the Kai Captain Original vs the Feather Professional blades. I use the Colonial General aluminum razor for 85 to 90 percent of my shaves. I only use a DE blade and razor when I feel like adding a bit of variety to my shaves. When using the Kai blade I got 15 two pass shaves before changing the blade. I just finished shave #10 with the Feather Pro and think it is time for a new blade. I would say that both blades give me a very good shave but the Kai blade lasts much longer before needing to be replaced. Of all the AC blades I have used, the Kai Original is the best.

brothers wrote: ↑Sat Sep 29, 2018 10:41 am . . . . in a few weeks I'll start using Kai Captain Original blades in the General razor exclusively.

Then along came the Schick P-30. As of right now, I'm probably going to go 50/50 Kai Captain Original receiving equal time with the Schick P-30. Alternating months so long as they keep cranking out the 30 day edges.

Today was BBS #15 for the current Captain Original in the V2 General razor. Haven't yet decided whether to switch to the brass V1 General, or to just let the full 31 Kai days run in the V2.

I recently swapped out my second KAI Captain Titan Mild blade in a RazoRock Hawk, after 20 shaves with it.
It was still okay, I suppose, and I could have gone further with it, but I wanted to refresh my memory about how a brand-new blade feels.
I'm still not quite accustomed to the 50 mm width though. It feels like I'm using a window squeegee, compared to a DE or a Schick injector.