Thread: New To Shaving and a lil frustrated

The brand and "solingen" both look as if it's printed on the tang instead of stamped. There are Solingen based sellers who import Eastern produced razors and knives merely to put the Solingen trademark on them. That doesn't mean that those tools are unusable by definition, but I definitely advice you to have someone who knows how to assess a razor, take a shot at properly honing it, to find out if it actually takes a keen edge and is able to keep it for at least a couple of shaves.
That Str8razor has a decent one, doesn't mean that yours is of the same batch. It only means that you might be fine. Something to rule out first.

I'm sure the strop is good.

A good strop and a good sharp razor is all you need to learn how to shave with a straight. Without a sharp razor you can't learn how to shave.

Learning how to hone is nearly impossible without at least the ability to perform a decent shave with a sharp razor. You can't assess honing results when you have to second guess your shaving skills.

Trying to learn both skills simultaneously is a recipe for frustration.

Hope this helps,
Bart.