Well I had 10 Pal Blue carbon steel blades in my shopping cart but what arrived in my mail box was 10 GEM carbon steel blades:
So this morning I had one loaded in my Micromatic Clog-Pruf ready to go, jumped out of the shower and got ready for what I was hoping would be at least a passable first shave.
Prepped as usual and lifted my SE to my face ready for the first run. I ended up quitting the shave after about four short strokes in. This blade did not slice the stubble, but felt like it was cutting about halfway through the stubble, then tearing off the other half. I believe my shave with an oxidized Gillette carbon steel 3 hole DE blade was smoother.
My other stainless blades were still back in the bedroom so rather than trying to leave the bathroom to get to them and reload with a better blade, I grabbed my handy ball handle Old Type from the medicine cabinet, still loaded with a Gillette 7 o'clock SS with only one shave on it from the weekend.
Wow what a difference. The stubble smoothly melted away with this combo and I completed a great shave.
Sooo...I don't know if this was a dud blade or what but the GEM stainless (good) and GEM stainless PTFE (fantastic) are miles ahead in terms of sharpness. Not sure who is using these carbon versions successfully but my hat is off to them if they can complete a shave with one!
The remaining 9 I have will probably get PIF'ed out down the road, after suitable caution to the recipient as to their qualities.
I still want to try the Pal carbon steel SE blades so will make another attempt to order them at some point :)
GEM Carbon Steel SE Blades - OUCH!
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