My (belated) 1st Anniversary

[Dzanda]

I had intended to post this on March 14, the anniversary of my first straight razor shave, but it just didn't happen. It really is hard for me to believe that it's been over a year, already! So i think that I'll share a few random thoughts and observations accumulated during a year of shaving.

• I rarely find a need to chase a BBS shave; I'm quite satisfied with a DFS or less most days
• I actually enjoy shaving
• Stropping is incredibly relaxing
• Although proper skin stretching yields the best shaves, I don't do much of it, but I still achieve very acceptable results (I have limited shoulder and neck mobility, so many stretching postures are downright uncomfortable)
• I prefer bowl lathering over face lathering, but I routinely face lather while traveling
• Soaps, "croaps", creams... I like 'em all
• Best badger is fine by me
• Real (meaning flax) linen and horse butt is my favorite strop combo
• 6/8 & 7/8 are my favorite razor sizes, but I love bigger razors
• I can't seem to settle on a grind preference; two of my favorite razors are a singing extra hollow ground and a heavy near-wedge?!?
• I've cut myself perhaps 3 times; each time was due to being distracted. But each cut was so minor that they didn't even bleed immediately, though they left obvious marks for a few days.
• I haven't dinged a razor, yet
• I HAVE marked up a strop (distraction, again), but nothing serious
• I like changing shaving cream/croap/soap pretty much daily
• A three-pass shave takes about 10 minutes; but it somehow takes me a half hour for the whole, enjoyable proceedings
• CrOx on hard felt really does require only a few passes!
• I need more razors
• It's past time for me to learn honing
• Mapping beard grain is an absolute necessity
• I love this forum!

Here's to my second year!