Kai Stainless Steel Blades

Audiolab

Audiolab

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I noticed this new section and thought I would be the first to post a review.

I recently bought some of these blades from dridiot who is a member on this forum. I am pleased to report that his service was excellent and he gave a good discount on the e-bay listed prices; the blades arrived all the way from Singapore in first class condition and in a very timely manner.

Onto the blades themselves.

They are made in Japan and come in a cardboard outer of five blades per pack. The blade wrappers themselves are plain with no markings as are the blades. There are no glue spots holding the blade to the paper which is a nice change, glue spots do not annoy me unless they have squished onto the cutting edge (which is not often). If it has I have to wipe the blade with rubbing alcohol to remove it, this is probably not necessary but something I prefer to do.

I find they are quite sharp and give a smooth comfortable shave, if I were to compare them to anything I would say they are nearly as sharp as a Feather and probably as smooth as the Iridium blades. I cannot comment on their longevity as I have never pushed them beyond three shaves, I usually bin every blade after three shaves so longevity is not something I generally factor into my value equation, but I know I could get four shaves out of these blades if I wanted.

I am not going to do a score as I believe it only leads to over enthusiastic points awards. Everything is relative and if something is the best you have tried so far it is probably going to get top marks, then the next thing that beats it also has to get top marks so I am not going to score individual areas. I think a summary is enough.

Overall I would say these blades are a contender for your everyday blade. The price of them even shipped from Singapore makes them comparable with what you can get in the UK and if the glue spots on other blades drive you nuts then these might just be your cup of tea.
 

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Hi Audio

Think it was our own Rev. who PIF'd these. I think they are very good, sharpest I've tried yet. I got 3 shaves, then on the 4th a bit of tugging. Could it be that the sharper the blade, the quicker to dull?

Regards
 
It was indeed Rev who procured some of these over at CONUK, I recently bought 400 because I liked them so much (and also this kept the costs down with a good discount). I will post some on as PIF's and sell some bigger amounts at cost if someome wants a few packs.

I think you could well be right they are sharp but so far I have never tired a fourth shave. I can usually tell when to chuck it by the growth the next day and at three shaves I look in the mirror the next morning and think "new blade time".
 
Nice review Audio, I too enjoyed these after the previous group buy. I haven't tried my feathers yet but I could see me using these Kai's as a regular blade.I am interested in a bulk buy off ye so let me know how much for how much ;)
 
Audio
Yes a very nice review. I have Swede's to try and Feathers, both for first time. Told my wife that I was looking forward to it / bit excited. Got the LOOK! Yes you know it. That one. C'mon now, don't be ashamed, we've all had it and know what it feels like.Producing an emoticon would be too difficult to convey that look or that feeling of slightly cringing / slightly geeky /slightly trying to justify the whole thing. Does that make any sense?
(Feel how smooth my face is, go on feel. Please feel. Please, special please)

Bedtime I think
 
Well I am one of the lucky recipients of audiolab's generous PIF offer.

First shave today and I was very impressed. [ I will post again after a couple of more shaves ].

Good prep and kept my hardware+software in familiar territory so I would recognise the blades characteristics. So Merkur three-piece with custom heavyweight handle, Trumpers Skinfood and Cella Sapone soap and a Vulfix 404 badger/boar brush.

The main reason I had to post straight away is that I noticed two significant things with this first KAI blade. As I tightened the handle of the razor onto the head I heard what can only be described as a tinny TWANG from the blade. After checking the blade and reassembling, it was clear that this noise was when the blade was being curved into its convex shape in the razor head.

Further to that, I noticed a completely different sound within the shave. Now my usual blades are 7'oclock yellow or Tesco Personnas, the KAI gave a very different sound. Again a higher pitch, more of a tinny sound as it took off the whiskers.

This blade gave a very smooth and close shave. The sound is down to the blade being a lot thinner than either the 7oclocks or the Tesco blades. Not a problem, in fact I think that helps in its performance. I would rather shave with a japanese samurari sword than an english broadsword (if that isn't a metaphor too far :roll: )

Cannot wait to get to shave number three (six passes) to see how blunt this blade is. I only get four shaves from a 7'oclock !

Cheers audiolab, just so sorry I mised out on the group buy :x
 
We can get another group buy sorted easily.Good review.I have been using these exclusively for a few weeks now.It's my blade of choice so far.
 
Well third shave today and the blade was still sharp and another close shave ensued. This really is an excellent blade, and could quite easily become my preferred goto blade - replacing my 7oclock yellows.

I am going away until end of week (8th August) so just in case I miss out on any group buy arrangements I will have £40 worth.
:geek:
 
guyhayton said:
I am going away until end of week (8th August) so just in case I miss out on any group buy arrangements I will have £40 worth.
Click to expand...

<evil mode>Since the mention of them being discontinued, prices have rocketed. £40 will buy you two blades now :shock: :D </evil mode>

Seriously though, given Paul's mention of KAI's being discontinued, you may want to just shell a quick £40 with dridiot before they're all gone.
 
Well put Erwin,

I guess they are almost like a cousin of the Feather. I do find the first shave with anew Feather a lot more raw than the Kai's but the Feathers last longer. Overall these suit me better but I do have and will still use the odd Feather blade.
 
Audiolab said:
[attachment=0]

I noticed this new section and thought I would be the first to post a review.

I recently bought some of these blades from dridiot who is a member on this forum. I am pleased to report that his service was excellent and he gave a good discount on the e-bay listed prices; the blades arrived all the way from Singapore in first class condition and in a very timely manner.

Onto the blades themselves.

They are made in Japan and come in a cardboard outer of five blades per pack. The blade wrappers themselves are plain with no markings as are the blades. There are no glue spots holding the blade to the paper which is a nice change, glue spots do not annoy me unless they have squished onto the cutting edge (which is not often). If it has I have to wipe the blade with rubbing alcohol to remove it, this is probably not necessary but something I prefer to do.

I find they are quite sharp and give a smooth comfortable shave, if I were to compare them to anything I would say they are nearly as sharp as a Feather and probably as smooth as the Iridium blades. I cannot comment on their longevity as I have never pushed them beyond three shaves, I usually bin every blade after three shaves so longevity is not something I generally factor into my value equation, but I know I could get four shaves out of these blades if I wanted.

I am not going to do a score as I believe it only leads to over enthusiastic points awards. Everything is relative and if something is the best you have tried so far it is probably going to get top marks, then the next thing that beats it also has to get top marks so I am not going to score individual areas. I think a summary is enough.

Overall I would say these blades are a contender for your everyday blade. The price of them even shipped from Singapore makes them comparable with what you can get in the UK and if the glue spots on other blades drive you nuts then these might just be your cup of tea.
Click to expand...

Is this a sharp blade? I want a blade that is really sharp.
 
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