Aside from my short stint with the the straight razor in my early 20's which ended in failure due to my ignorance about maintenance, The DE rekindled my love for the Wet Shaving experience. DE shaving set me up with the foundation needed to make the leap back into the SR world with understanding of the processes involved, prep, lather, angles, beard growth direction and so on. I think in retrospect i could of bought 2 or 3 good serviceable vintage blades that were honed with love by its previous owner to start my journey back into straight shaving. Instead I found myself at the door of a large retailer and paid way too much for a Thiers Issard which was neither ready to shave and had all sorts of geometric issues that needed to be dealt with also. A daunting task to say the least for a new guy wanting to give it another go. Good thing I was stubborn this time and got through it but it meant buying some other Straights from reputable vendors here to get it done. So again I will beat the drum in favor of a good shave ready razor whether that means brand new or a secondary market for the new guy starting out. Reputation of source is key and I am happy we have many choices in our community. Outside its the wild west.