SMF

I've ordered 3 Schick Proline P-30 Artist Club blades from TryABlade. The reviews I have read regarding these blades are quite positive.

I hope they work well for you, Gary. They didn’t for me but, of course, everyone’s face is different.

TryABlade serves a good purpose.

Gary, may I assume these are for your General? I am very interested in your take on them - I have been tempted to buy some as well.

On a separate, but related note - is the General available in silver, but NOT the more expensive stainless steel? I have the black aluminum, curious if they did a silver aluminum, too.

Thanks!

Gene, just now I took a look at Colonial Razors' website and evidently they are not currently listing any available razors. In my case I have an aluminum General head in the light gray finish.

https://www.schick-jp.com/proline

There's also an intriguing picture of a double edge blade pack.

And this no-longer-made Proline straight razor:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/323613924924

Now that I have sample P-30 blades I can begin my comparison.

Fingers crossed that they are good!!

18 so far, and no complaints

Morning Gary ... Good news! I was wondering how things were going. Thanks.

I like having the smaller size in my Schick razors, and I like the shaves, too - a very good combination of smooth and sharp.

25 as of today and still going. Of course not as sharp as a month ago, but not bad. I'm going to toss it when it hits 30 or starts to drag and pull. Whichever happens first.

How do you like it compared to the other blades?

Good question Paul. When I first started thinking about getting and trying the Schick blade I had serious doubts, and low expectations. A couple of days ago I ran my thumbnail along the edge, and there were no nicks. That's a bit unusual for a blade with almost a month of use.

Following that, I decided to compare it to a freshly honed straight razor blade. Shaving arm hair is always a good test for a straight razor. The Schick P-30 with 28 shaves wiped off the arm hair with no hesitation. Also no honing, no stropping, no stones, no pastes, zero effort and zero clock time spent getting and retaining that edge. In this regard the Schick performs for me at least as well as Feather and Kai blades - for me. Emphasis on for me. Also, it is extremely important to note the fact that this blade is used exclusively for shaving in the General razor by Colonial. This is probably why the blade performs so well for me, in my favorite razor.

Regarding DE blades. I have my favorite blades and razors in this area too, but the most shaves I ever got (as a stunt more than anything) was 25 for a vintage Gillette blade - The Spoiler. More commonly for everyone, I believe, would be somewhere between 4 and 10 comfortable shaves. There once was a guy who claimed that he never used his DE blades more than once before changing to a new one.

--- 30 --- darn good blade

So that's what the "30" means in P-30! I'll be happy if my Proline B-20 blades (regular injector size) get 20 shaves.

Right! That would be great! No idea why they package 30 blades in the P series, but only 20 blades in the B (old injector razors).

I've seen P-20 packs, too, but couldn't find B-30's.

And who knows what "P" and "B" mean... "P" can't mean "petite" and "B" can't mean "big," though that could be a reverse mnemonic to remember which code is for which size.

P is an easy one, it stands for Proline, which is the Schick razor that uses the P-sized blade. B is a puzzle yet to be solved.

The Schick P series blades (in my experience) are sharpest during the first 10 shaves, then they gradually become less "sharp" and more "smooth". All of the whiskers are getting cut, but I can afford to apply just the smallest bit of pressure to get the job done. Still at the top of the game, and the result is predictably perfect every single day. Today marked day 17 on this blade and counting.