Copper OC G CB with a Chinese blade, Suneco. This blade seemed to accentuate the feature of the G plate, lots of blade feel! Ruthless on the stubble and caution required for the skin.
Karve Diem
- Thread starter East coast shaver
- Start date
OC G plate with a Chinese blade. I'm in between selling and receiving big gap Wolfs so the Karve is my go to razor right now to test the smoothness VS efficiency of a blade. Worked great today.
Remarkable shave today for closeness and smoothness. As much as the Overlander intrigues me I can't see the need for it with this great example of Karve.
| Date | 03.03.2024 |
| 366 daily shaves | 063/366 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
| Karve Christopher Bradley OC-C | Gillette Silver Blue (3) | Zenith 502B XSE |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash KCG Face Wash | Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (44) | Cold splash Proraso Green Balm |
| Passes | WTG XTG ATG and touch up |
| Consistency (details here) | Quality / My process |
| 9.75/10 (Significantly Consistent) | 9.5/10 (Minor weepers) |
| Effectiveness | Comfort / Blade condition |
| 9/10 (BBS) | 10/10 (GlideFest) |
| Notes: |
Summary. Splendid Sunday Shave with the brass CB. Smoothness from start to finish.
For extended shave notes click here.
Enjoy your shave!
Trusted the Karve with my most challenging shave in my weekly routine, the Sunday morning one pass ATG shave with a Chinese blade. Fantastic, close shave.
| Date | 27.03.2024 |
| 366 daily shaves | 087/366 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
| Karve CB OC-C | Shark Chrome (3) | Razorock Beehive |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash KCG Face Wash | Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (68) | Cold splash Proraso Green Balm |
| Passes | WTG XTG ATG and touch up |
| Process Quality (details here) | Blade Sharpness |
| 10/10 (Clean) | 5/10 (Razor Sharp) |
| Effectiveness | Shave Comfort |
| 9/10 (BBS) | 9/10 (Butterysmooth) |
| Notes: |
Summary. Had to be in the office early so needed an effective razor. My Karve never disappoints.
For extended shave notes click here.
Enjoy your shave!
March 28, 2024 Thursday shave
Razor: Karve Christopher Bradley, C OC plate, brass
Blade: FlyDear (1)
Soap: Cella Bio
Brush: Omega 10049 Professional Boar
Post shave: Osma alum block, Thayer's Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer
This was a two and a half pass shave. It was great until the blade caught a cut that had healed. It's not healed anymore...
It was a very close shave, not particularly smooth.
The Christopher Bradley with C plate is much more blade forward than the Overlander, which I normally use.
It was the first time using the Cella Bio. A few more shaves will be needed to evaluate it.
9/10 BBS, one point deducted for the minor cut.
Enjoy your day!
Razor: Karve Christopher Bradley, C OC plate, brass
Blade: FlyDear (1)
Soap: Cella Bio
Brush: Omega 10049 Professional Boar
Post shave: Osma alum block, Thayer's Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer
This was a two and a half pass shave. It was great until the blade caught a cut that had healed. It's not healed anymore...
It was a very close shave, not particularly smooth.
The Christopher Bradley with C plate is much more blade forward than the Overlander, which I normally use.
It was the first time using the Cella Bio. A few more shaves will be needed to evaluate it.
9/10 BBS, one point deducted for the minor cut.
Enjoy your day!
From Karve's social media:
Quick update
I’m sorry for the subpar customer service as of late
I am working on being more available and communicative
We’ve been running wide-open throttle here and, in addition to volume, we’ve had a few setbacks in the shop that we’ve had to deal with
Karve is very small. We take great pride in the razors we build, but anything out of the ordinary hits hard
The path forward includes bringing in help. Not just for the shop, but dedicated customer service so that everyone is in the loop. I haven’t found the right people yet, but I am looking
I want to stress that quality is not affected. The razors we are producing are just as good as ever
I appreciate every one of you and the trust you put in us
And yes, full disclosure, I’m headed to Michigan for the Maggards Meet Up. Manufacturing will continue while I’m away, but anodizing and shipping will pause until next week
Quick update
I’m sorry for the subpar customer service as of late
I am working on being more available and communicative
We’ve been running wide-open throttle here and, in addition to volume, we’ve had a few setbacks in the shop that we’ve had to deal with
Karve is very small. We take great pride in the razors we build, but anything out of the ordinary hits hard
The path forward includes bringing in help. Not just for the shop, but dedicated customer service so that everyone is in the loop. I haven’t found the right people yet, but I am looking
I want to stress that quality is not affected. The razors we are producing are just as good as ever
I appreciate every one of you and the trust you put in us
And yes, full disclosure, I’m headed to Michigan for the Maggards Meet Up. Manufacturing will continue while I’m away, but anodizing and shipping will pause until next week
Makes sense that production is backed up, customer service is obismal as usual, and he's taking time off to go to Maggard's instead of making sure his customers are taken care of!!
Thank you for the update. I'm glad he finally acknowledges the problem and is working to fix it, though my concern at the moment is that apparently another order of mine has fallen through the cracks. I've sent a final email and will do what I have to if there's no response. I've been clear that I like Karve products, so that it's come to this disturbs me no end.
Karve Overlander SS | Noxzema Original | Gillette Platinum | Stirling's Glacial Strawberry Lemonade AS
Went a different route today. The ol' Noxzema, that cools an occasional sunburn, and surprisingly makes a great shave cream. It's very very slick ... though doesn't rinse easily. Yet the Overlander makes rinsing easier, with its wide lather channels. And, as usual, the Overlander delivered ... an uneventful three-pass shave. No drama, just a smooth face that doesn't feel like it's been shaved. Just the usual magnificent shave it seems to always deliver.
That's not really fair. The industry I work in also has these customer events. I think in the world of wet shaving Maggard's swings a very big stick. Often an invite to one of these carries an underlying message, "We are a big customer. You need to be here or we will be disappointed in you. Very disappointed". I have done the Western Canada to small town Michigan trip. It's a PITA. I am sure this wasn't done for fun.Makes sense that production is backed up, customer service is obismal as usual, and he's taking time off to go to Maggard's instead of making sure his customers are taken care of!!
Not fair? He's got customers that have been waiting 6-8 wks for product, he's not responding to emails and phone calls for those customers, and he somehow thinks it doesn't matter that they wait longer!! Maybe I'm wrong though?
C
craigq
It's been a Karve kind of week. CB in SS with a G-Tech handle an OC AA for the daily face shave, Bison AL Glacier for the head shaves and a face shave. Various blades & brushes. Noble Otter Orbit for today's face & head duties.
Both of those are beautiful! I love the G-Tech handle. I just had a love at the Karve site, I sure wish the G-Orb was around when I got either of my Karves. I haven't seen one here.
| Date | 02.05.2024 |
| 366 daily shaves | 123/366 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
| Karve CB OC-C | Gillette Rubie Plus (7) | Abe’s Brush Works Smokey Bandit |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash KCG Face Wash | TGS Savage (5) | Cold splash Proraso Green Balm |
| Passes | WTG XTG ATG and touch up |
| Process Quality | Blade Sharpness |
| 9/10 (Red spot) | 6/10 (Razor sharp) |
| Effectiveness | Shave Comfort |
| 8.75/10 (BBS-) | 10/10 (GlideFest) |
| Notes: |
Summary. Marvellously close shave with a gorgeous open comb. Smooth and comfortable with excellent results.
For extended shave notes click here.
Enjoy your shave!
I need to be more careful with auto-correct. My post above is a train wreck! Anyhow, just got home from a 4 day pairing, and reluctently pulled out the CB. I've absolutely fallen in love with the Lupo 72 in the past couple weeks, so I sent off the Overlander to a friend on loan since I'm bored with it, but today was a CB SBB plate with the snot that is Palmolive, and wow! Polished cap along with Palmolive is stupendous! Once I use up my Musgo Real, Lavanda, and toss the garbage that is Proraso, #palmoliveforever. CB was almost going to be sent off the BST, but nope, definitely a keeper.
Karve B.
How does one go back to a B plate after what I assume is nothing less than a scythe, the G plate you normally use??
| Date | 16.05.2024 |
| 366 daily shaves | 137/366 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
| Karve CB OC-C | Gillette Minora (3) | Abe’s Brush Works Blutt STF |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash KCG Face Wash | Hampshire Wool Fat (3) | Cold splash Proraso Green Balm |
| Passes | WTG XTG ATG and touch up |
| Process Quality | Blade Sharpness |
| 9.75/10 (Almost clean) | 5/10 (Sharp) |
| Effectiveness | Shave Comfort |
| 9/10 (BBS) | 8/10 (Smooth) |
| Notes: |
Summary. Almost a copy of yesterday’s shave. Only this time with the Karve Christopher Bradley.
For extended shave notes click here.
Enjoy your shave!
