The World Shave Off Showdown

[User 306]

Frank I didn't know that you were playing video games
call of duty has to come first.

Haha!! I wish I was just playing video games! That would certainly mean I’d have plenty of time for the Shave Offs but it’s definitely been a challenging couple of weeks my friend.

 

[User 306]

My wife and I just went through the process of purchasing a new SUV for her, too. She had been driving a Hyundai VeraCruz (3-row SUV) since 2007 and it was time to get a newer ride.

We test drove a few, including the CRV. We liked the CRV pretty well. My wife didn't like that there are already about 100,000 of them on the road just in our local area, lol. She places a bit of a premium on driving something a bit different, I guess.

Anyway, long story short, what we ended up with was a Kia Sportage. I was really surprised by the quality of this thing. Kia has come a long, long way. We used to say KIA stood for "Keep It Away," lol. Anyway, it's a pretty nice vehicle and I hope she can enjoy this one for a long time, too.

I looked at the Kia as well as a whole bunch of other SUV’s and as far as the best deals that were offered it got down to Chevy Equinox or Honda CRV. So after going back and forth I ended up with the CRV and I know it’s common but it’s an excellent built vehicle and yes your right Kia has come a long way. I’m just happy to be over the car buying experience!

 

[Shavemd]

Frank you should have got the Tesla SUV then you could play your video games on that large center panel, when parked of course. Seriously take care of yourself my friend

 

[User 306]

Frank you should have got the Tesla SUV then you could play your video games on that large center panel, when parked of course. Seriously take care of yourself my friend

LOL its funny you mention the Tesla SUV. There was one in the parking lot of the Honda dealer when I went to pick up my new vehicle and that thing is like $85,000! I'm not sure I'd want to haul boxes and things around in that. Saw the big screen and I have to admit it's a cool SUV and fast I heard..and you know how I like that!

I'm fine just a little overwhelmed with a few projects I'm working on and I'm just trying to play catch up.

Thanks my friend and in the spirit of BigJ here's a couple of piles of smiles for ya! LOL

 

[smurfups77]

No worries Frank, just take care of the important things. And to be clear a shaving site is not on that list of important things. Hope you get caught up soon.
Happy shaves
Jason

 

[AJSharp]

@Dragonsbeard What's the big deal with an $85k SUV ? Just sell more of those $1050 Toggles you have stashed away in your warehouse of razors. BTW I was away in the mountains and rented a small SUV (Nissan Rogue) and it had a really difficult time on the hills (our family of 4 with luggage etc was less than 500 lbs) so engine size/power is important for you to haul all that stuff. Just my 2 cents.

And I love those match ups with my predicting advancements for the Toggle, RS10 & Timeless.

 

[User 306]

@Dragonsbeard What's the big deal with an $85k SUV ? Just sell more of those $1050 Toggles you have stashed away in your warehouse of razors. BTW I was away in the mountains and rented a small SUV (Nissan Rogue) and it had a really difficult time on the hills (our family of 4 with luggage etc was less than 500 lbs) so engine size/power is important for you to haul all that stuff. Just my 2 cents.

And I love those match ups with my predicting advancements for the Toggle, RS10 & Timeless.

Hi AJ
I’m not gonna lie I thought that Tesla SUV was very cool! Oh and I got the Turbo 4 in my Honda so a little more get up and go than the regular 4 banger!

Funny you brought up the Toggle.. as you know I’ve been clearing out my den lately and I got a little crazy and almost put my NOS one up for sale and then I came to my senses after I smacked myself upside the head! Lol

 

[User 306]

No worries Frank, just take care of the important things. And to be clear a shaving site is not on that list of important things. Hope you get caught up soon.
Happy shaves
Jason

Thanks my friend! I should be caught up by Sunday at the latest.

Great shaves Jason!

 

[ShavingPanda]

Hello Gentlemen

Just wanted to give you an update on the
“Smoothest Razor “ Shave Off because some of you were probably wondering why crickets have been chirping in this thread. Well I went away to Boston for a couple of days and when I got back a project I’ve been working on escalated in the need for my attention so I’ve made a decision to take a little time off so I can catch up as you all know the time needed to do each Shave Off.
I will resume on either Sunday or Monday and I’ll do one of the 3 Shave Offs that I posted last week.

Again my apologies but sometimes life happens and the call of duty has to come first.

If someone wants to post some interesting Shave Offs in my absence please do! I’m still on here checking out threads and posting and I’d like to read some good Shave Offs.

Great shaves my friends!!

DB

We should all just pitch in a few hours each and make your work go faster so you can get back to the Shave Offs. Jokes aside, take the time and focus on the work and we'll look forward to the next Shave Off.

 

[J 5]

No worries Frank. Life doesn't stop because we love to shave! And congrats on the SUV purchase.

If you don't mind, I would like to share an update on my last month with the CG3 brass SB Gen 1 and the CB 3" E SB.

As some of you may recall, I'm still recovering from my time eating, drinking, and sleeping bar exam materials.

While I was in that hazy Neverland, I basically cut down from a wild and inconsistent rotation of 25 ish modern and vintages to the "bare bones" rotation of 5 razors (the Vector, Blackbird, Timeless 95 SS SB, ATT Windsor MMH1, and GC 84).

My DE facto 9 month razor purchase sabbatical (including my last semester), gave me a sort of clarity. Or so I thought.

I'm a daily shaver, and in the last month, I've primarily shaved with the CG and the Karve (with a couple SE1 and RR MJ-90 A plate vacation days). I did this because I wanted to give these two razors a fair evaluation. And after about ten shaves with each, I have some strong feelings about them. But I'm still not sure how to compare them.

So instead, I'll share some thoughts on each.

Charcoal Goods Level 3 SB in Shiny Brass:

After re-reading some of the Very Efficient Shave Offs, and getting the email with ready to ship options I couldn't help but try it out.

I'm not a huge fit and finish guy, but for those who are into that, it is a good looking razor. There are tool markings inside the cap, but assembled it's a beauty. As good or better than the polished Timeless or ATT Windsor.

As far as efficiency, it's easily my most efficient DE. I'm not sure it's fair to compare it to the SEs, but as far as results go, it gets as close as the Vector, which is the top of my heap. And it's the longest lasting BBS I've gotten consistently.

Weight and balance are brilliant. Weirdly, there's not a lot of visual blade exposure based on cap span, but it has as much blade feel as I remember the R41 having (back when I had one). From its appearance, I wouldn't guess that it would be so effective as a shaver.

A couple downsides. It is brass, so there's a bit of extra upkeep if you like it shiny (or antiqued). Also, my BBS lasts so long that I don't really need to shave the next day. Again, the Vector is the only other razor that causes a similar "problem." If I could wrap my head around shaving every 36 hours, it'd be perfect. As a daily shaver, I got some minor irritation after a few days straight, but my face pretty much stayed like glass. Lastly, for believers in rigidity, it's not the most rigid design (but it's far from "chattery").

Christopher Bradley E Plate SB with a 3" handle in Brass:

I know a lot of people are impatient with the ordering process. I'm one of them. So, I got it when it was available through another site. Also, seeing the price of the SS model activated my frugal genes.

Again, same comments RE Brass (which is partly why I hadn't purchased it before now - well, that, and the brassed 1930s LC I have).

Value. For me, it's the greatest sub $100 razor I've used. Full stop. (Not disparaging the other fine modern razors I've used/owned under $100, but it's that good - and that list includes the GC 84, Dart, Merkurs 23 and 45, MJ-90, Baby Smooth, Fatip Testina and OC, R41, BOCS, Alpha Ecliptic, RR Old Type, and too many others).

Fit, finish, build quality, handle, weight, balance, etc. are all way above what you would expect for $80.

The quality of the shave? Really really good. Teetering on excellent. Better than the CG, Blackbird, or Vector? Well, not for me. But for me it is on par with the Timeless 95 SB and ATT Windsor H, and it's an upgrade to the GC 84 (which I love, and was my previous value king).

I am curious to know if the F plate is as smooth, but to be honest, the E is plenty efficient for me. I'd imagine that it's about the most efficient daily shaver of the CB most people would want. Actually, the D plate might be the goldy locks zone.

Anyway, my long rant is just my way of saying that they're both awesome razors, and I hope more people get the opportunity to try them.

 

[User 306]

We should all just pitch in a few hours each and make your work go faster so you can get back to the Shave Offs. Jokes aside, take the time and focus on the work and we'll look forward to the next Shave Off.

Thanks my friend for the thoughtful words! I’ll be back sooner than later with one of the Shave Offs

 

[BigJ]

My wife and I just went through the process of purchasing a new SUV for her, too. She had been driving a Hyundai VeraCruz (3-row SUV) since 2007 and it was time to get a newer ride.

We test drove a few, including the CRV. We liked the CRV pretty well. My wife didn't like that there are already about 100,000 of them on the road just in our local area, lol. She places a bit of a premium on driving something a bit different, I guess.

Anyway, long story short, what we ended up with was a Kia Sportage. I was really surprised by the quality of this thing. Kia has come a long, long way. We used to say KIA stood for "Keep It Away," lol. Anyway, it's a pretty nice vehicle and I hope she can enjoy this one for a long time, too.

Good move! Happy wife = happy life!!

 

[AJSharp]

@J 5 Thanks for your observations as those are some smooth and efficient razors that I have used and agree with your experiences. Hope the bar went well and welcome back to reality, that is, until work sets back in.

 

[User 306]

No worries Frank. Life doesn't stop because we love to shave! And congrats on the SUV purchase.

If you don't mind, I would like to share an update on my last month with the CG3 brass SB Gen 1 and the CB 3" E SB

Thank you @J 5 for the thoughtful words and man you did a great job! If you call it a rant well then please keep ranting! I enjoyed the review of all the razors you mention.

Of all you mentioned the CG Level 3 is my favorite and a razor I really enjoy a lot.

Glad you got through the bar.. I hear it’s enough to get ya drinking! Lol

Thanks again!

Great Shaves!

DB

 

[J 5]

@J 5 Thanks for your observations as those are some smooth and efficient razors that I have used and agree with your experiences. Hope the bar went well and welcome back to reality, that is, until work sets back in.

Thanks AJ!

This thread is some kind of RAD inducer. I continue to be amazed at how many great choices there are in the modern razors. No knock on vintages, but there are a lot of great great modern razors out there.

Thank you @J 5 for the thoughtful words and man you did a great job! If you call it a rant well then please keep ranting! I enjoyed the review of all the razors you mention.

Of all you mentioned the CG Level 3 is my favorite and a razor I really enjoy a lot.

Glad you got through the bar.. I hear it’s enough to get ya drinking! Lol

Thanks again!

Great Shaves!

DB

Thanks DB!

The CG3 is such an amazing shaver. I really do need to pare down the rest of my den.

Watching this thread enabled so many purchases!

But after getting to use such great razors, I get the obsession within the hobby to always look for an even more efficient and comfortable shave.

That said, I am going into razor purchase hibernation. Especially as I'm just getting out of a BAD relapse lol. Maybe SAD is next?

No. No! No.

I say that, but if I stumbled upon the right Wolfman or Paradigm, I probably won't be able to turn that opportunity down. Until then, I guess I need to go back and read the shave offs with the WR1 94, WR2 1.25, 17-4 and Ti II. Smh.

 

[User 306]

Thanks AJ!

This thread is some kind of RAD inducer. I continue to be amazed at how many great choices there are in the modern razors. No knock on vintages, but there are a lot of great great modern razors out there.


Thanks DB!

The CG3 is such an amazing shaver. I really do need to pare down the rest of my den.

Watching this thread enabled so many purchases!

But after getting to use such great razors, I get the obsession within the hobby to always look for an even more efficient and comfortable shave.

That said, I am going into razor purchase hibernation. Especially as I'm just getting out of a BAD relapse lol. Maybe SAD is next?

No. No! No.

I say that, but if I stumbled upon the right Wolfman or Paradigm, I probably won't be able to turn that opportunity down. Until then, I guess I need to go back and read the shave offs with the WR1 94, WR2 1.25, 17-4 and Ti II. Smh.

I agree with you there are some awesome modern razors out there and you’ve mentioned some of my favorites and there are some new ones that are coming out soon like the new Paradigm, Stirling and a couple of others. In fact I just had a wonderful shave a few hrs ago with my Paradigm 17 4 in just two passes.

The Wolfie’s are expensive with the new price increase if you want a polished one and hard to get. I feel lucky I got my mine before the bump up in prices but they are excellent shavers. So if you get a chance to pick one up I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Good hunting my friend!

DB

 

[User 306]

Well guys since I’ve had some time off which BTW I’ll resume the “ Smoothest Razor “ Shave Off on Monday I’ve had some time to do a full shave with a few razors. Yesterday’s shave was with my Paradigm 17 4 and what a nice 2 pass BBS shave I got. Earlier in the week I used both my Wolfman WR2 1.35 SB and my RFB. The RFB on one days growth and I really like that razor a lot and the Wolfie basically took down 2 days growth in 1 WTG pass and a Reverse Skin stretch WTG pass and I stayed BBS for almost 13hrs! It felt so weird to not be using two razors on my face like I do in the Shave Offs but boy my shaves went a lot faster.
Nice change of pace but time to get back to work again!

 

[User 306]

UPDATE:

Shave Off complete.

Karve D plate SB vs Timeless Ti DC .95 using only SB side

So this was a good Shave Off after 2 days growth and I'll report it later on tonight or first thing in the morning as I want the shave to grow out a bit.

Great Shaves my friends!

 

[pbrmhl]

No worries Frank. Life doesn't stop because we love to shave! And congrats on the SUV purchase.

If you don't mind, I would like to share an update on my last month with the CG3 brass SB Gen 1 and the CB 3" E SB.

As some of you may recall, I'm still recovering from my time eating, drinking, and sleeping bar exam materials.

While I was in that hazy Neverland, I basically cut down from a wild and inconsistent rotation of 25 ish modern and vintages to the "bare bones" rotation of 5 razors (the Vector, Blackbird, Timeless 95 SS SB, ATT Windsor MMH1, and GC 84).

My DE facto 9 month razor purchase sabbatical (including my last semester), gave me a sort of clarity. Or so I thought.

I'm a daily shaver, and in the last month, I've primarily shaved with the CG and the Karve (with a couple SE1 and RR MJ-90 A plate vacation days). I did this because I wanted to give these two razors a fair evaluation. And after about ten shaves with each, I have some strong feelings about them. But I'm still not sure how to compare them.

So instead, I'll share some thoughts on each.

Charcoal Goods Level 3 SB in Shiny Brass:

After re-reading some of the Very Efficient Shave Offs, and getting the email with ready to ship options I couldn't help but try it out.

I'm not a huge fit and finish guy, but for those who are into that, it is a good looking razor. There are tool markings inside the cap, but assembled it's a beauty. As good or better than the polished Timeless or ATT Windsor.

As far as efficiency, it's easily my most efficient DE. I'm not sure it's fair to compare it to the SEs, but as far as results go, it gets as close as the Vector, which is the top of my heap. And it's the longest lasting BBS I've gotten consistently.

Weight and balance are brilliant. Weirdly, there's not a lot of visual blade exposure based on cap span, but it has as much blade feel as I remember the R41 having (back when I had one). From its appearance, I wouldn't guess that it would be so effective as a shaver.

A couple downsides. It is brass, so there's a bit of extra upkeep if you like it shiny (or antiqued). Also, my BBS lasts so long that I don't really need to shave the next day. Again, the Vector is the only other razor that causes a similar "problem." If I could wrap my head around shaving every 36 hours, it'd be perfect. As a daily shaver, I got some minor irritation after a few days straight, but my face pretty much stayed like glass. Lastly, for believers in rigidity, it's not the most rigid design (but it's far from "chattery").

Christopher Bradley E Plate SB with a 3" handle in Brass:

I know a lot of people are impatient with the ordering process. I'm one of them. So, I got it when it was available through another site. Also, seeing the price of the SS model activated my frugal genes.

Again, same comments RE Brass (which is partly why I hadn't purchased it before now - well, that, and the brassed 1930s LC I have).

Value. For me, it's the greatest sub $100 razor I've used. Full stop. (Not disparaging the other fine modern razors I've used/owned under $100, but it's that good - and that list includes the GC 84, Dart, Merkurs 23 and 45, MJ-90, Baby Smooth, Fatip Testina and OC, R41, BOCS, Alpha Ecliptic, RR Old Type, and too many others).

Fit, finish, build quality, handle, weight, balance, etc. are all way above what you would expect for $80.

The quality of the shave? Really really good. Teetering on excellent. Better than the CG, Blackbird, or Vector? Well, not for me. But for me it is on par with the Timeless 95 SB and ATT Windsor H, and it's an upgrade to the GC 84 (which I love, and was my previous value king).

I am curious to know if the F plate is as smooth, but to be honest, the E is plenty efficient for me. I'd imagine that it's about the most efficient daily shaver of the CB most people would want. Actually, the D plate might be the goldy locks zone.

Anyway, my long rant is just my way of saying that they're both awesome razors, and I hope more people get the opportunity to try them.

Your face seems similar to mine. Perhaps it’s because we’re both lawyers...

The Charcoal Goods Level 3 is king of my den. In fact, I’ve got three of them, two open combs (in both shiny and antique brass) and one straight bar (in shiny brass). Why do I need three of them? I have no idea.

I also enjoy the Karve with an F plate in open comb. My F straight bar is fine, but there’s something about open combs that draw me in.

Nice review of both razors.

 

[J 5]

Your face seems similar to mine. Perhaps it’s because we’re both lawyers...

The Charcoal Goods Level 3 is king of my den. In fact, I’ve got three of them, two open combs (in both shiny and antique brass) and one straight bar (in shiny brass). Why do I need three of them? I have no idea.

I also enjoy the Karve with an F plate in open comb. My F straight bar is fine, but there’s something about open combs that draw me in.

Nice review of both razors.

Thanks @pbrmhl !

The CG3 really does set a high bar (OK, that was bad, but I couldn't resist). Before it, and really before I got the Vector, I couldn't imagine owning more than one of the same "lifetime" razors. But I get it.

I guess there are just certain razors that feel like someone agonized, painstakingly over the details of it, which makes it feel "special" to use. I get that from the CG, the Karve, and my Blackland razors. Less so from Timeless and ATT. And much less from the rest.

Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, it's a fine razor and a joy to reach for. Now if I can get that Level 3 OC...