(This post was last modified: 04-29-2020, 06:35 PM by GlazedBoker.)
(04-29-2020, 04:55 PM)AQU Wrote: I did some reading through the thread, just out of interest, and some of the sentiments are funny.
It seems many people initially liked the D plate (the highest offering at release. Apparently smooth and somewhat efficient (comparisons to Rockwell R6, WR1 standard .61? Gap).
Once E and F plates came out, there was gravitation towards those, with many members preferring F. Apparently smooth but as efficient as blackbird and Timeless .95.
OC plates came out, some mixed reviews. Some people loved and believed smoother with more efficiency. Others stated SB was smoother with equal efficiency.
Then we got to SS and poor customer service and I stopped reading.
Nearly everyone stated the brass was a great deal for the quality of shaves. This led me to two questions:
1. Is the Karve still worth it at titanium price points ($350 CAD)?
2. What plates have stuck with those who still shave with it? What would you buy if you could only get one plate in titanium?
Personally, I have had no interest in purchasing another Karve razor. Not because they aren’t worth it but, rather of the inconsistencies since day one. And that was just with their only razor that was available, the Brass Karve. Mind you, for me the Brass version is an excellent razor at a phenomenal value. Shaves superbly with excellent craftsmanship and attention to details. And for the price, even a Zombie would snatch one up in a heartbeat. I’ve used plates from C on up through F in both SB/OC configurations and believe me, I have nothing but praise for the razors performance in itself. Rivals some of the best in the game without question. It’s just the lack of due diligence that Karve/CB exhibits in their efforts (or lack of) to maintain sustainability with their products and the overall feel of customer satisfaction from the initial purchase, the extremely long wait for said product and finally the inability for the business to see their errors that they themselves are creating. To me it’s like they didn’t stay grounded enough to stay the course with a product that was successful at launch. Build inventory and plant roots deep enough where you have a solid foundation. They should have stuck with their Brass razors in keeping product on hand which in turn provides stability in the market to which in a future date they could move on to the next project or product development without fear of not being able to meet customer demand. And if a sell out occurs, advise your customers and potential ones of the brief inconvenience until more product is produced and stocked. They went the opposite direction and started putting out one new product after another to meet those that wanted something in a different alloy and completely lost sight on availability. Make matters worse, they pretty much outright lied to customers on product releases and availability when that was certainly not the case.
In laymen’s terms, it’s not the product that’s bad, it’s the clusterf***s that are running the show behind said products. Brilliant engineering & design, while exhibiting galactic stupidity in running their business.
To answer your question on baseplates, C-F in either configuration would be a solid area to start with.... Good luck getting one that is if you are looking to purchase one other than Brass....