Since I bought it about a year ago, the Dart has been the razor I reach for most often. I shave daily, and the Dart is my choice for about half of my shaves. It's perhaps a bit less efficient than my Muhle R41, but the Dart provides a much smoother shaving experience. The other razors currently in use are the Muhle Rocca, Edwin Jagger 3one6, Merkur Futur, GEM MMOC (SE), RazoRoack Hawk (SE), and Classic Shaving Enoch (SE). My newest acquisition is a brass Christopher Bradley from Karve with the safety bar G plate. Yesterday was shave #1 with it, and it was a great shave - smooth, with reasonable blade feel and very efficient. In fact, it was very similar to the shaves I get with my Dart. So today I decided to do a side by side comparison.
First off, the obvious physical differences. The Dart is stainless steel and weighs 3.57 ounces (according to my scale). The Karve is brass and weighs in at 4.00 ounces. Also the head geometry is completely different. Here are two pictures:
I've never been one to focus on the details and implications of different razor head designs, but these couldn't look more different to me. The Karve holds the blade nearly horizontal while the Dart bends it well beyond horizontal. The design of the guard is also quite different. In any event, both razors had a Personna Red blade with one shave on it, and I used the Karve to shave the right side of my face and the Dart on the left. I did my usual two pass shave with a bit of touch up. The extra weight of the Karve was noticeable, but not at all bothersome to me. I found it very strange that despite the significant differences in the design, I didn't actuall feel as if the razors performed very differently from one another. Based upon only one shave, I am reluctant to rush to any conclusions, but it did seem as if the Karve was slightly smoother. Also, the Karve side seems to be slightly smoother a few hours post shave. That said, my experience with these side by side shaves is that I often conclude that whatever razor I've used on the right side provides a closer shave. I think that's just because I am right handed. Tomorrow I'll switch sides, and see what happens.
First off, the obvious physical differences. The Dart is stainless steel and weighs 3.57 ounces (according to my scale). The Karve is brass and weighs in at 4.00 ounces. Also the head geometry is completely different. Here are two pictures:
I've never been one to focus on the details and implications of different razor head designs, but these couldn't look more different to me. The Karve holds the blade nearly horizontal while the Dart bends it well beyond horizontal. The design of the guard is also quite different. In any event, both razors had a Personna Red blade with one shave on it, and I used the Karve to shave the right side of my face and the Dart on the left. I did my usual two pass shave with a bit of touch up. The extra weight of the Karve was noticeable, but not at all bothersome to me. I found it very strange that despite the significant differences in the design, I didn't actuall feel as if the razors performed very differently from one another. Based upon only one shave, I am reluctant to rush to any conclusions, but it did seem as if the Karve was slightly smoother. Also, the Karve side seems to be slightly smoother a few hours post shave. That said, my experience with these side by side shaves is that I often conclude that whatever razor I've used on the right side provides a closer shave. I think that's just because I am right handed. Tomorrow I'll switch sides, and see what happens.
