I shaved with a Gillette Trac II from 1974 until roughly 7 years ago and hated every minute of it. I switched to a DE for about 6 months and didn't mind shaving but wasn't crazy about it. Then someone dared me to shave with a straight razor. After a long learning curve that at times I didn't think I was going to get the hang of it now I look forward to shaving. I just wish I would have discovered straight razor shaving years ago..............