Thread: Ok newbies..Iam going to pay it forward.......

First post! And first ever self straight razor shave this morning!
I was looking for the SR head shave thread I had looked at a few days ago to share my experience in but I guess here will have to do. I'll try and keep it short.

My first experience with a straight razor was almost 3 years ago in Oceanside, CA. I was at Camp Pendleton for infantry training as I had just gotten out of boot camp. I decided the high and tight wasn't working for me anymore because of how thin my hair was getting, only 26 and going bald lol. So I went to a barber in town that I knew used SRs to do the bottom inch or so of the neckline on a normal h&t or fade, and asked if they could do the whole head that way, they did and it was amazing. I went back again the next six or so Sundays. After my training was complete came home to Wisconsin (reservist), unable to find a barber to do the same here I went to the 5 blade cartridge until I finally decided that I should just get my own SR and join the club haha. started doing a little research online, found this forum and SRD.com.
On Monday I ordered a Dovo "Astrale" Ebony 5/8" and the whole wet shave kit. it came in last night and was excited to use it this morning. I figured I would start with the sides of my head above the ear/sideburn area and quit when I got uncomfortable and switch back to the 5 blade. well that never happened so I finished it off with the SR, only 1 pass for today mostly WTG but some XTG (that's across the grain right?) where I couldn't get a good position for WTG. overall I think it turned out pretty good for my 1st attempt, no cuts or anything!
Well that was longer than I thought but oh well. I would love to have another SR to see how different ones feel and shave! And having just spent all my spare change on this setup its going to be a while before getting another. Now I'm off to figure out how to make a good lather with the soap I have, I couldn't get the nice thick suds like I see in the videos.
Thanks for letting me share my experience!
Joe.