Thanks all for your warm welcome!

Will endeavor to just stick to shaving off whiskers and cream, Dieseld! Adam, I'm in the reserves these days--been doing the military thing for over 33 years, so am starting to draw near the end of my time. Wish I had thought about straights back in the day--they'd be perfect for the field!

Gotta laugh about drawing blood--nicked my upper lip with my DE the other morning while working on my offhand shaving...go figure!

Spot on with the confidence gif, Marshal! Definitely see that straights are a way far deeper RAD rabbit hole.... Once I know my way around the ropes and etc., I may tinker with some restorations, as I'd love to do a couple of nice pieces for both my nephews. I lured them both into wet shaving this past year (they're both in their early 30s). One nephew loved the DE and setup I got him, the other was a bit tentative about the razor aspect, so I may wait a bit before I spring straights on 'em (plus, I gotta know the ropes first)!

Definitely am taking my time with this journey--already seeing that I need to switch to slicker lathers and also adjust my water/soap ratios and lathering technique (basically adjusting to less cushion and getting more glide). I use aggressive DEs and love how one pass with my straight (starting with a RA 6/8s w/ French point from SRD) is BBS--definitely will surpass my DEs once I get the knack of it!

Cheers,
Jay