Yeah, I'm going to send mine back to SRD for a re-hone. I'm going to go with the fact of my stropping must've dulled the life out of the blade. It's a little disappointing to accept, but that's what learning is all about. Hopefully, third time is a charm and I can figure out what I'm doing wrong so I can maybe wait a couple of months between honings. I definitely want to get the stropping down before I attempt to try honing on my own, otherwise I'm afraid of ending up with a straight razor shaped paper weight!