After a long while, I finally got a refund from the straight razor I had gotten for Christmas. Ordered from SRD and got a Ralf Aust Solingen 5/8, some soap and sample pack of soaps, and oil with an applicator. I decided to try shaving with it last night, and overall it went well. I had some friends coming over and didn't give myself quite enough time, so the shave wasn't as good as it could have been.

I stropped it a couple times, just to get a feel for how to do so. It was my first time stropping as well, so hopefully I didn't partially blunt it. I took a quick shower (not long enough to soften the hairs as much as I should have), then lathered with the blood orange SRD soap. I did a single WTG pass below the sideburn. Then I thought that since I had success learning with a DE fairly quickly I would do a full shave. Perhaps not the smartest, but thought I would try. I even tried to do a coup de maitre. The hair pulled a decent amount, but I re-lathered and did XTG on my cheeks and neck.

I think I got one or two small nicks, but they stopped bleeding almost immediately and didn't require a styptic. It's definitely something I can tell has a big learning curve, but it was interesting. Had to rely on feedback against the skin, since it's hard to see the correct angle and where you're shaving all the time. Skin is quite forgiving assuming you go at the shave carefully. Overall I enjoyed it, despite not giving myself enough time, and think next time will go a little better.