Guitar Gear Forum

Ajax,

Looks like old salt will be famous. Apr shared my photo.

Old Salt deserves to be famous!

sotd



Karve day 6: Took a couple days off to see how it'd handle it; plowed it down like a champ. I have a really thick sharp beard after a couple days, was wondering. No worries here, just mowed it.

This is not a fast razor for me yet.. I'll get faster with it and have, but I think this is always going to be one I have to take more time with, and that's ok. It's just not zippy fast like the SLOC, if I try that I'm going to get bit and I'm realizing that. Didn't happen today, I was awake, ready and paying attention.

Been unreasonably/unseasonably rainy and cold, felt right to break out the MM trifecta. Love this scent, love the performance. It's pretty much perfect.

Gillette 7OB, think those are a 2 and done, used a fresh one today and it was great. Going to have to find some more of those too.

10/10, nothing but greatness here...this is a damn good setup. I can't wait to compare this to the Timeless.

So that's a week straight with the Karve. I can safely recommend this to pretty much anyone...considering I'm still a noob, the fact that I can get a 2 pass BBS consistently with this razor/plate leads me to believe more experienced shavers would love this thing.

Only thing I'd suggest to guys considering it: if you're using something more aggressive I might go up a plate or two. The C plate is aggressive enough for me at this stage, but I could see going up to D at least the more familiar I get with it.

As it is, this is pretty much a 6 hour BBS on the C, for me.

No real updates from me, but I am curious to know about how to get the throat right. I shaved the other day - PPI yellow, Mehaz razor, Cremo red, no aftershave (I need a refillable travel bottle, TSA compliant; until then, no travel with aftershave), and, while I didn’t have any weepers, I had to re-shave the throat, and it still looked bad. I don’t like shaving in the place where the piano wire goes (our tax dollars, at work), so any advice would be appreciated.

EDIT: I just bought two aftershaves: B&M Adagio, and B&M Classic.

I’ll go up, then down, then back towards my ears and it works out.

What are you using?

andvari7 wrote:No real updates from me, but I am curious to know about how to get the throat right. I shaved the other day - PPI yellow, Mehaz razor, Cremo red, no aftershave (I need a refillable travel bottle, TSA compliant; until then, no travel with aftershave), and, while I didn’t have any weepers, I had to re-shave the throat, and it still looked bad. I don’t like shaving in the place where the piano wire goes (our tax dollars, at work), so any advice would be appreciated.

EDIT: I just bought two aftershaves: B&M Adagio, and B&M Classic.

Great great aftershaves

Re neck.

The biggest underrated variable is angle of razor head.

Other things that matter:
Perfect blade
Perfect lather
Perfect water
The right razor

Overrated variable: amount of pressure. If you can’t use your intuition to get this right, then you shouldn’t shave.

Btw another fantastic shave with my beach kit. Surprisingly perfect. Sputnik is definitely done after three shaves though.

BroSlinger wrote:

andvari7 wrote:No real updates from me, but I am curious to know about how to get the throat right. I shaved the other day - PPI yellow, Mehaz razor, Cremo red, no aftershave (I need a refillable travel bottle, TSA compliant; until then, no travel with aftershave), and, while I didn’t have any weepers, I had to re-shave the throat, and it still looked bad. I don’t like shaving in the place where the piano wire goes (our tax dollars, at work), so any advice would be appreciated.

EDIT: I just bought two aftershaves: B&M Adagio, and B&M Classic.

Great great aftershaves

Re neck.

The biggest underrated variable is angle of razor head.

Other things that matter:
Perfect blade
Perfect lather
Perfect water
The right razor

Overrated variable: amount of pressure. If you can’t use your intuition to get this right, then you shouldn’t shave.

Uh, should I press the razor on my neck until it sticks in?

Seriously, though, I’m still fairly inexperienced with the whole safety razor thing, and, while I’m getting better with every shave, I want no less than perfection.

Blade: I’ve been having good luck with both the Feathers and the PPI yellows. I used a yellow tonight, and it felt good.
Lather: I use the Cremo cream, which is much better for my transient lifestyle than a brush and a pick. My worst complaint is that it’s sometimes a bit too dry, but that’s more an issue with my application than anything.
Water: I shave in hotels as often as I shave at home, and I have no control over the hotel water. Except that I have been warned never to drink it.
Razor: While I’m sure that a Blackbird, or a Karve, would be the be all, end all, of my shave, there is no chance in Hell I’ll spend that much on a damn razor.

I actually had a good shave tonight, and, with liberal wetting of the problem spots, the neck is smooth, and no weepers.

I hear you talking about cost in one sentence and in another saying you’re not going to settle for less than perfection.

I hear what you’re saying, but like Gene said, the right razor can make a difference.

Dunno what you’re using or if you have a few in rotation; if you don’t want to go Karve/Blackbird/Timeless or whatever, I’d be looking at some cheaper stuff. It might be the razor.

I was gifted an Eversharp Krona and that thing is a beast of a razor. It’s about $20 on eBay. Damn good shave, really intuitive angle. Not as good as the Karve but closer than a lot of other stuff.

The Fatip stuff is really good too, for around the same price, as is the SLOC. Ajax and I like our SLOCs more than Gene does but he’s an insane person with aggressive razors.

Just saying there’s quite a few options out there to try for $25 or so that might work a lot better than what you’ve got now.

I have to do the "follow-the-finger" thing on my neck. If you drag your finger, ahead of the razor, you will make the hairs stand up, making them easier to cut.
I do follow-the-finger on the neck, chin and mustache area.

BroSlinger wrote:Ajax,

Looks like old salt will be famous. Apr shared my photo.

Ha! That's awesome!

Steinmetzify wrote:Old Salt deserves to be famous!

Thanks bro!!!! Can't say I haven't thought about selling the stuff.

Shaved with Sticky this morning but, the big news is.....

Adagio splash, followed by the Nancy Boy Signature Peppermint balm is AMAZING!!!
OMG!!! I practically got frost bight!
I guess the menthol in the Adagio reacted with the Peppermint and got really cold... it was freeking awesome!!!
The peppermint scent goes really well with the Adgio - very complementary.

ajaxlepinski wrote:Shaved with Sticky this morning but, the big news is.....

Adagio splash, followed by the Nancy Boy Signature Peppermint balm is AMAZING!!!
OMG!!! I practically got frost bight!
I guess the menthol in the Adagio reacted with the Peppermint and got really cold... it was freeking awesome!!!
The peppermint scent goes really well with the Adgio - very complementary.

Nice man, that’s cool!

I bought some Chill from Stirling over the weekend, gonna see how cold it is this afternoon.

Sterling Chill? May have to give that a try... I'm digging that icy feeling. Great thing to wake you up in the morning.

I'm getting to the point where my alotted space, in the latreen, is getting maxed out. Pretty soon, I won't be able to buy anything unless I chuck something.

Day 3 on travel rig. Awesome. Switched to Gillette blue platinum today. Great blade, but doesn’t really perform any better than the Sputnik in this razor. Awesome shave though. I love the Australian private reserve bombora. Old salt is awesome.

Decided to wear some Chatillon Lux lamplight penance. Smells awesome. 10/10.

Mail call. Timeless showed up, so did the Diamond AS, which fucking smells like grass and POPCORN no joke. P fuckin HATES it and I think it's awesome.

Opened the Timeless box and dude sent a couple other things, unasked and unpaid for:




Brush is gnarly and big, especially compared to the 24 barrel RR I've been using....giant lather was zero effort, I love it. Other razor is a Merkur slant, always wanted to try one. Both free gifts from dude, said he's thinning his herd. Waiting to hear back about the brush, feels like a cross between a synthetic and a badger, and I can't tell what it is.

sotd



Already talked about the BM and the brush, so mini Timeless review.

Thing is solid AF and no joke here. I could see going to the .95 plate as after the C plate on the Karve this is a little more work for BBS, but the way it shaves reminds me a lot of the SLOC due to the size/weight of it, but it's WAY more efficient. Pure awesome. I love this fuckin thing, it's Karve level for sure.

I could happily use just this and the Karve for the rest of my shaving days and never miss any of my other razors, nor feel the need to buy any more.

That timeless is flipping hot. I want one.

BroSlinger wrote:That timeless is flipping hot. I want one.

Grab a .95 if you do it bro, I think you’d hate the .68 almost immediately as it wouldn’t be nearly aggressive enough for you.

Think I’m gonna grab a shorter thicker handle from Maggard’s though; got used to the smaller Karve and dig it, think this would work better for me with a shorter handle.

Steinmetzify wrote:

BroSlinger wrote:That timeless is flipping hot. I want one.

Grab a .95 if you do it bro, I think you’d hate the .68 almost immediately as it wouldn’t be nearly aggressive enough for you.

Think I’m gonna grab a shorter thicker handle from Maggard’s though; got used to the smaller Karve and dig it, think this would work better for me with a shorter handle.

Thx for the info. I was planning on stainless.95 scalloped cap.

Bought a scratch and dent bronze for $110.

Stoked

BroSlinger wrote:Bought a scratch and dent bronze for $110.

Stoked

Dude NOICE! What gap?

Steinmetzify wrote:

BroSlinger wrote:Bought a scratch and dent bronze for $110.

Stoked

Dude NOICE! What gap?

.78 is the only bronze gap I think. Supposedly a different animal than any of the other gaps in the other metals. Different design. I’m really excited.

Nah, they have a .38 too, but the one you got is more aggressive. Stoked for you man, that thing is classy looking as hell.

Have to let me know what you think; like I said I could do this and the Karve and be good for pretty much ever.

Hope it’s there when you get back!

2 things:

1. If I’m happy with the bronze, I’m getting a stainless.95. I have to have that plaid handle. It’s like my grandpa’s aluminum 73 Gillette tech.

2. My wife thinks my Chatillon Lux lamplight penance cologne smells like boudreau’s buttpaste diaper cream. She smelled it and figured i slathered it over my own ass.

Just be aware that handle is huge dude. Straight edged it with my phone, SLOC left, Karve 3" right.

Holy shit!! That is bigly.

Can’t wait!!