The World Shave Off Showdown

[muzichead]

Yep the Karve with the D plate was eliminated but I kept the razor in the Shave off because several plates were sent to me by a member so it should be smooter I'd imagine but less efficient.

Thanks guys for the input.

So if the Karve w/ C plate gets eliminated in this round are you going to put it into the next round with a B plate?

I don't want to be known as that guy that constantly points out these things but....

I'm thinking this razor should've been completely eliminated all together same as the 34 was... Each razor should only get 1 shot regardless of the razor having multiple plates or not. I believe there was discussion in the beginning as to which plate to use for this shave off and the consensus was the D plate if memory serves me? Its still the same razor, right? Should be a one and done if eliminated!!

 

[BigJ]

Hello Gentlemen

I'm sorry I haven't been doing any Shave Offs for the " Smoothest Razor " but I've been really busy and I've had to prioritize where I put my time and I don't see things letting up for the next few weeks. I've decided rather than promise I'll do a Shave Off every two days until I'm back up and running on a normal schedule I'm going to promise to do at least one a week. With that said if I get a chance I'll do more than one a week I will.

Just so you all know besides doing these Shave Offs on here I also get members and other people messaging me to do a personal Shave Off for them as many are trying to figure out what razor they want to purchase or they have two razors and they only want to keep one and are not sure which one to keep or sell and they want another person's opinion so they send me a razor or 2 razors in some cases to use. I'm honored to do this for members if I have the time but just so you know my main focus as far as Shave Offs goes is in this thread!

So here is the current list of the razors that are in the 2nd round of the " Smoothest Razor " Shave Off and is you want to make suggestions on some matchups I'd like to hear your suggestions.

Thanks guys!

1.Gillette RFB - On to the next round
2. Gillette 1st Gen 15 OC Aristocrat - On to the next round
3. Gillette 2nd Gen SB Aristocrat - On to the next round
4. RR Gamechanger mild plate - On to the next round
5. Merkur 34C - On to the next round
6. Gillette President - On to the next round
7. Paradigm 17 4 - On to the next round
8. Raw Shaving RS 10 Mild plate - On to the next round
9. Stahly - On to the next round
10. Karve C baseplate - On to the next round.
11. Gibbs adjustable - On to the next round
12. Timeless Titanium .95 DC SB side - On to the next round

No worries!! Life happens.

My suggestion for the next match up would be two modern razors: 34C vs. Karve C!

 

[Ray Settanta]

I would like to see the Merkur 34C against the Gamechanger. I disagree that a razor with multiple plates should only get 1 shot. A different plate can totally change a razor. Besides, testing different plates prolongs the Shaveoff and our enjoyment.

 

[Graydog]

I still think you should pull it out of a hat

 

[Shavemd]

Yes pull numbers

 

[User 306]

Yes pull numbers

Yep I'm going to and I'm going to use the numbers listed below in bold. I like this idea.


1.Gillette RFB - On to the next round
2. Gillette 1st Gen 15 OC Aristocrat - On to the next round
3. Gillette 2nd Gen SB Aristocrat - On to the next round
4. RR Gamechanger mild plate - On to the next round
5. Merkur 34C - On to the next round
6. Gillette President - On to the next round
7. Paradigm 17 4 - On to the next round
8. Raw Shaving RS 10 Mild plate - On to the next round
9. Stahly - On to the next round
10. Karve C baseplate - On to the next round.
11. Gibbs adjustable - On to the next round
12. Timeless Titanium .95 DC SB side - On to the next round

 

[jmudrick]

Personally I'd like to see a Stahly vs President, the two were contemporaries, each being an ultra premium razor with similarly mild approach. A very fair fight.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[jmudrick]

A good match up my friend I'm sure but now that we've chosen to pick numbers out of a hat it's whatever two numbers/razors will meet in a Shave Off. At first I wasn't sure I liked the idea but the more I thought about it the more fair it seemed. So I'm going with the pick it out of the hat method. I'm sure some mismatches will happen but it will make things interesting for sure. [emoji106]1:

Looking forward to however things land [emoji2]

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Cearball]

I usually don’t post up new razor acquisitions but I’m so excited to finally have one of these in my den I couldn’t help myself from sharing this and the cool story of how I got it with all of you.

Maybe if you have been following this thread since it began when we started with the “ Most Efficient Razor “ Shave Offs one of the razors that was sent to me by a member and friend to use in the Shave Offs was the original Paradigm Titanium 1 which btw I had never had been able to get one of my own because at the time there were only 50 or 51 of these made and released before Andrew from Paradigm stop making them because of some of the negative reviews and comments about the razor being way to aggressive were the words. This was his first razor he made for those that don’t know. Well after I used it for the first time I fell in love with the razor for the way it shaved. Very efficient, smooth and very maneuverable. I thought to myself why on God’s earth did Andrew cave into some of the negative comments he was getting an stop making this wonderful razor? It’s the same thing that happened to the 1st Gen Tradere! Richards 1st Gen OC was met with criticism about it being way to aggressive and stopped making them and then made the milder 2nd Gens SB and OC. Like I said at the time when I was using the Paradigm Ti 1 and I’ll say it again what a shame! These are now considered a unobtainable and commanding big bucks on the secondary market when you do come across one. Well I couldn’t even find one of those and believe me I’ve been looking! Well late last week I literally stumbled on a Private FB collectors group and the name of a razor the wax mentioned caught my attention right away and I messaged the person who was selling it and low and behold he messaged me back within an hour and come to find out not only were my suspicions confirmed that there were private collectors groups but there are people with razor collectors that make mine seem like very small potatoes..and boy was I right as the man and I had at least a great 2 hr conversation about razors. I mostly listened has he explained his story of how he began his journey into collecting traditional razors. I began to realize that he must have a very serious collection and sure enough once again my suspicions became fact as he told me he had the largest collection of vintage Gillette razors in the USA as well as many other brands of vintage razors and some he mentioned were very rare or very hard to find ones that you only hear about but very rarely ever see for sale. So your mouth will probably drop like mine did when I heard he has 3600 razors! He mentioned that of that outrageous number about 200 were modern razors and all other than other than his daily users were brand new in the box or as he put it “ they’v never been wet “ well he mentioned he was selling his collection off to some other collectors that were like him over in Europe who had even bigger collections than he has!
So he invited me in the group as a temporary member so I could look things over and I was honestly in shock at the razors these people had and were talking about like it they were nothing. For example he sent me photos of his Toggle collection which alone contained 4 serial Toggles, 2 Chrome Toggles and a bunch of F 4’s and D1’s. Everyone of them looked brand new and most had shippers and all the original paperwork etc. and looked brand new!
He told me he had sold his 40’s Techmatic
for like $14,00 to a collector in Germany. I saw his Wolfman collection that was going to be shipped to a another collector in Europe which consisted of 2 Titanium BBS1’s 1 SS, an obscene amount of WR1’s and WR2’s many of which were in all metals and even some unique finishes and a few Guerrillas. All of them were new in the box never used. Thieve were just the ones he was selling as he had a bunch of all the ones I mentioned that he was keeping for his personal use. I saw 2 more BBS1’s of which 1 was another Titanium and then 8 more WR1’s and WR2’s again with some of them in Titanium, SS, Bronze and Brass and one Titanium WR1 was anodized blue. Looked really cool.

There were also many other modern high end New in the box razors he had from a Webber, Charcoal, Timeless, Paradigm, Pills, Raw Shaving, Feather and the list goes on

I certainly can’t play with these big boys as I’m actually trying to thin down my collection but it was a fun and enlightening experience but I’m being extremely selective on any new razors that I would add to my den like this Paradigm Ti 1 which I can now scratch off my bucket list of razors that I really want. The one I got from this collector was a new in the box never been wet razor and he sold it to me for about half of what used ones are going for on the online auction sites and other places I’ve seen them for sale so I’m feeling lucky at this point! He seems like an honest guy and mentioned he never sells on the auction sites. Only through the private club.

Here’s some photos I took of it as it came in the mail today and I can’t wait to take it for a spin!

Thought you guys would get a kick out of the story behind how I got this razor I’ve wanted for a while now.

Also please don’t pm me asking how to contact him as he asked me not to share his contact information but he didn’t mind if I mention his collection.


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Awesome tale.

 

[Shavemd]

I am really Happy that you were able to get the Paradigm, I know you have wanted one since your first shave with it. Congrats my friend.

 

[AJSharp]

Wow what a story. Glad you could get one of those unicorns and check one off your bucket list. Enjoy your new toy !

 

[Graydog]

Happy for you Frank.
Love the handle

 

[BigJ]

I usually don’t post up new razor acquisitions but I’m so excited to finally have one of these in my den I couldn’t help myself from sharing this and the cool story of how I got it with all of you.

Maybe if you have been following this thread since it began when we started with the “ Most Efficient Razor “ Shave Offs one of the razors that was sent to me by a member and friend to use in the Shave Offs was the original Paradigm Titanium 1 which btw I had never had been able to get one of my own because at the time there were only 50 or 51 of these made and released before Andrew from Paradigm stop making them because of some of the negative reviews and comments about the razor being way to aggressive were the words. This was his first razor he made for those that don’t know. Well after I used it for the first time I fell in love with the razor for the way it shaved. Very efficient, smooth and very maneuverable. I thought to myself why on God’s earth did Andrew cave into some of the negative comments he was getting an stop making this wonderful razor? It’s the same thing that happened to the 1st Gen Tradere! Richards 1st Gen OC was met with criticism about it being way to aggressive and stopped making them and then made the milder 2nd Gens SB and OC. Like I said at the time when I was using the Paradigm Ti 1 and I’ll say it again what a shame! These are now considered a unobtainable and commanding big bucks on the secondary market when you do come across one. Well I couldn’t even find one of those and believe me I’ve been looking! Well late last week I literally stumbled on a Private FB collectors group and the name of a razor the wax mentioned caught my attention right away and I messaged the person who was selling it and low and behold he messaged me back within an hour and come to find out not only were my suspicions confirmed that there were private collectors groups but there are people with razor collectors that make mine seem like very small potatoes..and boy was I right as the man and I had at least a great 2 hr conversation about razors. I mostly listened has he explained his story of how he began his journey into collecting traditional razors. I began to realize that he must have a very serious collection and sure enough once again my suspicions became fact as he told me he had the largest collection of vintage Gillette razors in the USA as well as many other brands of vintage razors and some he mentioned were very rare or very hard to find ones that you only hear about but very rarely ever see for sale. So your mouth will probably drop like mine did when I heard he has 3600 razors! He mentioned that of that outrageous number about 200 were modern razors and all other than other than his daily users were brand new in the box or as he put it “ they’v never been wet “ well he mentioned he was selling his collection off to some other collectors that were like him over in Europe who had even bigger collections than he has!
So he invited me in the group as a temporary member so I could look things over and I was honestly in shock at the razors these people had and were talking about like it they were nothing. For example he sent me photos of his Toggle collection which alone contained 4 serial Toggles, 2 Chrome Toggles and a bunch of F 4’s and D1’s. Everyone of them looked brand new and most had shippers and all the original paperwork etc. and looked brand new!
He told me he had sold his 40’s Techmatic
for like $14,00 to a collector in Germany. I saw his Wolfman collection that was going to be shipped to a another collector in Europe which consisted of 2 Titanium BBS1’s 1 SS, an obscene amount of WR1’s and WR2’s many of which were in all metals and even some unique finishes and a few Guerrillas. All of them were new in the box never used. Thieve were just the ones he was selling as he had a bunch of all the ones I mentioned that he was keeping for his personal use. I saw 2 more BBS1’s of which 1 was another Titanium and then 8 more WR1’s and WR2’s again with some of them in Titanium, SS, Bronze and Brass and one Titanium WR1 was anodized blue. Looked really cool.

There were also many other modern high end New in the box razors he had from a Webber, Charcoal, Timeless, Paradigm, Pills, Raw Shaving, Feather and the list goes on

I certainly can’t play with these big boys as I’m actually trying to thin down my collection but it was a fun and enlightening experience but I’m being extremely selective on any new razors that I would add to my den like this Paradigm Ti 1 which I can now scratch off my bucket list of razors that I really want. The one I got from this collector was a new in the box never been wet razor and he sold it to me for about half of what used ones are going for on the online auction sites and other places I’ve seen them for sale so I’m feeling lucky at this point! He seems like an honest guy and mentioned he never sells on the auction sites. Only through the private club.

Here’s some photos I took of it as it came in the mail today and I can’t wait to take it for a spin!

Thought you guys would get a kick out of the story behind how I got this razor I’ve wanted for a while now.

Also please don’t pm me asking how to contact him as he asked me not to share his contact information but he didn’t mind if I mention his collection.


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WOW!! Thanks for sharing the story!! LOVE that handle!!

 

[Ray Settanta]

Congratulations on your new razor, Frank.

 

[Cearball]

Hello Gentlemen

I'm sorry I haven't been doing any Shave Offs for the " Smoothest Razor " but I've been really busy and I've had to prioritize where I put my time and I don't see things letting up for the next few weeks. I've decided rather than promise I'll do a Shave Off every two days until I'm back up and running on a normal schedule I'm going to promise to do at least one a week. With that said if I get a chance I'll do more than one a week I will.

Just so you all know besides doing these Shave Offs on here I also get members and other people messaging me to do a personal Shave Off for them as many are trying to figure out what razor they want to purchase or they have two razors and they only want to keep one and are not sure which one to keep or sell and they want another person's opinion so they send me a razor or 2 razors in some cases to use. I'm honored to do this for members if I have the time but just so you know my main focus as far as Shave Offs goes is in this thread!

So here is the current list of the razors that are in the 2nd round of the " Smoothest Razor " Shave Off and is you want to make suggestions on some matchups I'd like to hear your suggestions.

Thanks guys!

1.Gillette RFB - On to the next round
2. Gillette 1st Gen 15 OC Aristocrat - On to the next round
3. Gillette 2nd Gen SB Aristocrat - On to the next round
4. RR Gamechanger mild plate - On to the next round
5. Merkur 34C - On to the next round
6. Gillette President - On to the next round
7. Paradigm 17 4 - On to the next round
8. Raw Shaving RS 10 Mild plate - On to the next round
9. Stahly - On to the next round
10. Karve C baseplate - On to the next round.
11. Gibbs adjustable - On to the next round
12. Timeless Titanium .95 DC SB side - On to the next round

I would be really interested seeing a shave off between the Gibbs Adjustable & the Schick type M adjustable.
Though I do know you got your hands full with this ATM

 

[Cearball]

Interesting matchup and I do have and very much enjoy both razors and also know them both really well and I can say if both on max settings the Gibbs will be more efficient. Both are very manuverable and and smoothness is very close. With that said the one thing about the Type M is I find it almost impossible to nick yourself with it no matter how you race it across the face and I;ve said it before, for all those reasons I think it would be a perfect razor for a women if they wanted to toss their cartridge razors in the trash! Being adjustable also gives them an option they don't get with a cartridge razor.

I may have to do a side by side Shave Off one of these days using these 2 razors and also if I would of added SE's to this " Smoothest Razor " Shave Off I can see the Type M going deep in the final rounds. A fine razor especially when loaded with the Japanese Twins!

Good post!!

Thank you!

I have heard you mention the m type with twins before as being quite a nice shave.

Do you reckon it would be cheating to use them in a shave off as it arguably means it is doing more passes....?

 

[ShavingPanda]

I usually don’t post up new razor acquisitions but I’m so excited to finally have one of these in my den I couldn’t help myself from sharing this and the cool story of how I got it with all of you.

Maybe if you have been following this thread since it began when we started with the “ Most Efficient Razor “ Shave Offs one of the razors that was sent to me by a member and friend to use in the Shave Offs was the original Paradigm Titanium 1 which btw I had never had been able to get one of my own because at the time there were only 50 or 51 of these made and released before Andrew from Paradigm stop making them because of some of the negative reviews and comments about the razor being way to aggressive were the words. This was his first razor he made for those that don’t know. Well after I used it for the first time I fell in love with the razor for the way it shaved. Very efficient, smooth and very maneuverable. I thought to myself why on God’s earth did Andrew cave into some of the negative comments he was getting an stop making this wonderful razor? It’s the same thing that happened to the 1st Gen Tradere! Richards 1st Gen OC was met with criticism about it being way to aggressive and stopped making them and then made the milder 2nd Gens SB and OC. Like I said at the time when I was using the Paradigm Ti 1 and I’ll say it again what a shame! These are now considered a unobtainable and commanding big bucks on the secondary market when you do come across one. Well I couldn’t even find one of those and believe me I’ve been looking! Well late last week I literally stumbled on a Private FB collectors group and the name of a razor the wax mentioned caught my attention right away and I messaged the person who was selling it and low and behold he messaged me back within an hour and come to find out not only were my suspicions confirmed that there were private collectors groups but there are people with razor collectors that make mine seem like very small potatoes..and boy was I right as the man and I had at least a great 2 hr conversation about razors. I mostly listened has he explained his story of how he began his journey into collecting traditional razors. I began to realize that he must have a very serious collection and sure enough once again my suspicions became fact as he told me he had the largest collection of vintage Gillette razors in the USA as well as many other brands of vintage razors and some he mentioned were very rare or very hard to find ones that you only hear about but very rarely ever see for sale. So your mouth will probably drop like mine did when I heard he has 3600 razors! He mentioned that of that outrageous number about 200 were modern razors and all other than other than his daily users were brand new in the box or as he put it “ they’v never been wet “ well he mentioned he was selling his collection off to some other collectors that were like him over in Europe who had even bigger collections than he has!
So he invited me in the group as a temporary member so I could look things over and I was honestly in shock at the razors these people had and were talking about like it they were nothing. For example he sent me photos of his Toggle collection which alone contained 4 serial Toggles, 2 Chrome Toggles and a bunch of F 4’s and D1’s. Everyone of them looked brand new and most had shippers and all the original paperwork etc. and looked brand new!
He told me he had sold his 40’s Techmatic
for like $14,00 to a collector in Germany. I saw his Wolfman collection that was going to be shipped to a another collector in Europe which consisted of 2 Titanium BBS1’s 1 SS, an obscene amount of WR1’s and WR2’s many of which were in all metals and even some unique finishes and a few Guerrillas. All of them were new in the box never used. Thieve were just the ones he was selling as he had a bunch of all the ones I mentioned that he was keeping for his personal use. I saw 2 more BBS1’s of which 1 was another Titanium and then 8 more WR1’s and WR2’s again with some of them in Titanium, SS, Bronze and Brass and one Titanium WR1 was anodized blue. Looked really cool.

There were also many other modern high end New in the box razors he had from a Webber, Charcoal, Timeless, Paradigm, Pills, Raw Shaving, Feather and the list goes on

I certainly can’t play with these big boys as I’m actually trying to thin down my collection but it was a fun and enlightening experience but I’m being extremely selective on any new razors that I would add to my den like this Paradigm Ti 1 which I can now scratch off my bucket list of razors that I really want. The one I got from this collector was a new in the box never been wet razor and he sold it to me for about half of what used ones are going for on the online auction sites and other places I’ve seen them for sale so I’m feeling lucky at this point! He seems like an honest guy and mentioned he never sells on the auction sites. Only through the private club.

Here’s some photos I took of it as it came in the mail today and I can’t wait to take it for a spin!

Thought you guys would get a kick out of the story behind how I got this razor I’ve wanted for a while now.

Also please don’t pm me asking how to contact him as he asked me not to share his contact information but he didn’t mind if I mention his collection.


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Wow! Great story and couldn't have gone to a better den! I've always wanted to try a Paradigm, particularly the v1; chances are unlikely for that model but maybe one day. Half the fun of this hobby is the thrill of the hunt and never knowing what'll show up!

 

[User 306]

Shave Review of the Carbon Shaving SS razor

Thought you guys would like to read about my first shave with the Carbon Shaving SS razor.


So this shave was yesterday morning and after a very close BBS shave I got from two razors I did a private Shave Off with so I didn't have my normal 2 days growth I prefer to have when doing a shave review or Shave Off but I thought this would be a chance to see how the Carbon performs as a daily driver. BTW I have a fairly dense beard with some tough coarse hair and my beard grows fast so it wasn't like I had no stubble to shave. Anyway I've been looking forward to shaving with this after meeting Sean and the Carbon team at the Maggard Shave Meet up in Michigan and I have to say we had a good talk and they are all nice people. When the razor was first released there was a lot of controversy on the fit and finish and the price but I decided to form my own opinion knowing I'd see the razor at the Maggard show. Well since the price reduction and seeing the razor and the people behind it I'm finally getting the chance to shave with it.
So opening the case there wasn't any surprises as I had already seen the box and the burlap bag it comes in all put together. For me it's the only thing I have to honestly say I'm really not fond of and the reason why and it's probably just me but I don't like my razors being flopped around in their cases and I like them separated as well. Like when you get a TImeless, Charcoal or Blackland for example. They are in the case and in their own slots. Again maybe it's just me but I gotta be honest about it. The razor looks good and although the finish is not at lets say Wolfman level it was very nice on this one. I had the razor in hand a few times at the Maggard show and when I first saw photos of it leading up to the show and saw the handle I'm like that is not me but when I picked it up at the show I was like it feels nothing like I thought it would and actually didn't mind it at all but still wondered what it would be like doing an actual shave with it. Well that happened just a few hours ago and I have to say it was easy to use. I just had to adjust the way I'd hold a razor and once I did I had no problems whatsoever. I did notice that the head was very light so the razor as far as balance goes I felt was just a little bit handle heavy but not over the top at all so and I'm going to try one of my TBam handles on it while I have it in my den.

So on to the shave. Loaded a twice used Feather in it and lathered up using Oleo Soapworks No. 11 soap which is a barbershop scent I like. I tend to load heavy and the soap gave me a nice coating for this shave. I decided to do a 2 pass shave going WTG and ATG as I like to test a razor doing both of these passes as you guys know. Also like to do only 2 passes when evaluating a razor as there are many razors out there that I could get a BBS shave with if I did 3 passes or a lot of buffing after 2 passes but I want to see what this razor can do in two passes with no buffing.

First pass going WTG I noticed with the first couple of strokes that this razor is smooth and the blade feel is at a moderate level as well as the audible feedback which was a few steps down from the two efficiency monsters I shaved with yesterday morning. After getting through with my left side face and neck I'm liking the razor and it's smooth and it seems to be taking down my stubble nicely. My left side btw is my easy side and very unlike my right side which has a very nasty cowlick on my neck along with some weird beard pattern on my neck under my ear and along my jawline close to my ear. So finished up the left side and went over to the right side. From the sideburns down to my trouble spots was pretty much like my left side. Stubble being taken down and and nice smooth face feel. Then when I got to my lower jawline I heard the audible feedback go up a notch as it struggled a bit but there was no blade chatter and I increased my skin stretch it got through it ok. Next challenge was my neck so I went right after my cowlick and I must say not bad! It didn't wipe the area clean on the first pass but it definitely took down some stubble. So I finished up the WTG pass and relathered to start my ATG pass. So started at the base of my neck on my more difficult right side and headed N and I'm impressed at how smooth the razor is and it had no problem going through my cowlick or other tough to shave spots on my right side. So nice pass and the left side was no different. I did notice that the blade feel went down a notch on this pass but was still there which I like. Finished up the ATG pass, rinsed and dried my face as I wanted to do a face feel to see what the results were. So I'd say 90% of my face was BBS smooth with the exception of the slight stubble left on my cowlick and under my jawline. Both on my right side. With that said those areas were a solid DFS so I got a very nice work shave so I'm convinced at this point that the Carbon would be a nice daily shaver but has the efficiency to take down 2 days growth even though it may take 2 or 3 passes depending on your beard. I'm gonna let my beard grow for a full 2 days for the next shave and see how that goes. Also still feel that the razor is just a tab handle heavy and I can't help but to wonder what the razor would be like with a different handle on it so on the next shave I'm going to try using my TBam Ti handle and see how that affects the balance.

So at this point I got a good shave out of the Carbon and I like the razor especially the head!

I'll be back with the next report in 2 days!

Then I'll be back to the " Smoothest Razor " Shave Off as I got a new idea for the next Shave Off after this one and I'm excited to get that going!

Great Shaves my friends!

DB

 

[BigJ]

Shave Review of the Carbon Shaving SS razor

Thought you guys would like to read about my first shave with the Carbon Shaving SS razor.


So this shave was yesterday morning and after a very close BBS shave I got from two razors I did a private Shave Off with so I didn't have my normal 2 days growth I prefer to have when doing a shave review or Shave Off but I thought this would be a chance to see how the Carbon performs as a daily driver. BTW I have a fairly dense beard with some tough coarse hair and my beard grows fast so it wasn't like I had no stubble to shave. Anyway I've been looking forward to shaving with this after meeting Sean and the Carbon team at the Maggard Shave Meet up in Michigan and I have to say we had a good talk and they are all nice people. When the razor was first released there was a lot of controversy on the fit and finish and the price but I decided to form my own opinion knowing I'd see the razor at the Maggard show. Well since the price reduction and seeing the razor and the people behind it I'm finally getting the chance to shave with it.
So opening the case there wasn't any surprises as I had already seen the box and the burlap bag it comes in all put together. For me it's the only thing I have to honestly say I'm really not fond of and the reason why and it's probably just me but I don't like my razors being flopped around in their cases and I like them separated as well. Like when you get a TImeless, Charcoal or Blackland for example. They are in the case and in their own slots. Again maybe it's just me but I gotta be honest about it. The razor looks good and although the finish is not at lets say Wolfman level it was very nice on this one. I had the razor in hand a few times at the Maggard show and when I first saw photos of it leading up to the show and saw the handle I'm like that is not me but when I picked it up at the show I was like it feels nothing like I thought it would and actually didn't mind it at all but still wondered what it would be like doing an actual shave with it. Well that happened just a few hours ago and I have to say it was easy to use. I just had to adjust the way I'd hold a razor and once I did I had no problems whatsoever. I did notice that the head was very light so the razor as far as balance goes I felt was just a little bit handle heavy but not over the top at all so and I'm going to try one of my TBam handles on it while I have it in my den.

So on to the shave. Loaded a twice used Feather in it and lathered up using Oleo Soapworks No. 11 soap which is a barbershop scent I like. I tend to load heavy and the soap gave me a nice coating for this shave. I decided to do a 2 pass shave going WTG and ATG as I like to test a razor doing both of these passes as you guys know. Also like to do only 2 passes when evaluating a razor as there are many razors out there that I could get a BBS shave with if I did 3 passes or a lot of buffing after 2 passes but I want to see what this razor can do in two passes with no buffing.

First pass going WTG I noticed with the first couple of strokes that this razor is smooth and the blade feel is at a moderate level as well as the audible feedback which was a few steps down from the two efficiency monsters I shaved with yesterday morning. After getting through with my left side face and neck I'm liking the razor and it's smooth and it seems to be taking down my stubble nicely. My left side btw is my easy side and very unlike my right side which has a very nasty cowlick on my neck along with some weird beard pattern on my neck under my ear and along my jawline close to my ear. So finished up the left side and went over to the right side. From the sideburns down to my trouble spots was pretty much like my left side. Stubble being taken down and and nice smooth face feel. Then when I got to my lower jawline I heard the audible feedback go up a notch as it struggled a bit but there was no blade chatter and I increased my skin stretch it got through it ok. Next challenge was my neck so I went right after my cowlick and I must say not bad! It didn't wipe the area clean on the first pass but it definitely took down some stubble. So I finished up the WTG pass and relathered to start my ATG pass. So started at the base of my neck on my more difficult right side and headed N and I'm impressed at how smooth the razor is and it had no problem going through my cowlick or other tough to shave spots on my right side. So nice pass and the left side was no different. I did notice that the blade feel went down a notch on this pass but was still there which I like. Finished up the ATG pass, rinsed and dried my face as I wanted to do a face feel to see what the results were. So I'd say 90% of my face was BBS smooth with the exception of the slight stubble left on my cowlick and under my jawline. Both on my right side. With that said those areas were a solid DFS so I got a very nice work shave so I'm convinced at this point that the Carbon would be a nice daily shaver but has the efficiency to take down 2 days growth even though it may take 2 or 3 passes depending on your beard. I'm gonna let my beard grow for a full 2 days for the next shave and see how that goes. Also still feel that the razor is just a tab handle heavy and I can't help but to wonder what the razor would be like with a different handle on it so on the next shave I'm going to try using my TBam Ti handle and see how that affects the balance.

So at this point I got a good shave out of the Carbon and I like the razor especially the head!

I'll be back with the next report in 2 days!

Then I'll be back to the " Smoothest Razor " Shave Off as I got a new idea for the next Shave Off after this one and I'm excited to get that going!

Great Shaves my friends!

DB

Great review!! That’s one handsome razor!

 

[Graydog]

Good morning Frank,
So yesterday I tried a small experiment
I put my Stainless steel polished scalloped top cap on my Titanium Timeless matte finish
.95 Scalloped Titanium Timeless base plate
and had a great time. One of the best shaves
I keep talking myself out of getting the polished Ti and I figured that this set up would be close. Besides the look do you find that the
Polished Ti Timeless is that much better than the matte? I know you have said that the glide is better but is it a big difference between the two ?
26mm Shavemac fan custom rotten wood brush
SC Purposes
Perssona Med Prep
Outstanding results 2 pass BBS with a little bit of touch up.