So. My first straight shave turned out to be a bust. My razor that was supposed to be shave ready was not. I was told that it was already honed, stropped, and ready to go. Thinking I was doing something wrong, I changed my technique, holding, and speed to see if that changed anything. All that did change was the amount of razor burn I got. I did a little research on the website here and found the razor check tests. Obviously it failed the shave test, but it also failed the hair drop test. Well, partially. It got halfway through the hair and stopped. Thankfully, being a machinist, I am more than comfortable honing and sharpening so I purchased a couple stones that should be arriving by friday.

On another note, since I was unsure if there was much of a difference in the lubrication since I've only ever used can foam. Boy was I wrong. My straight shave used gillette sensitive foam since that was what was handy which may have partially contributed now that I think about it but the blade was still not ready. I did, however, purchase a 25$ shave kit from Walmart and immediately noticed a difference. I usually can not shave but once every 3-4 days because it tears up my neck. Even after the butchering from friday night at 1AM, I tried to shave this afternoon, only 36 hours later, using the Van Der Hagen kit and was pleasantly shocked at just how smooth the shave was! no burn, no pulling, just clean shave even with an M3. Sooo, revelation #2 for me. I have no idea what quality the brush was, it didn't say if it was badger, boar, or synthetic, but it still made a decent lather. Either way, my opinion of paying more for shaving implements is slowly changing.

Anyways, that was all I had so far. I need to go make some biscuits and gravy for my wife. I'll be back to researching tonight some time.