I got my first straight razor in the mail today, purchased from the forums. Lucky timing in that the wife is out of town leaving me 3 days to heal without any additional mockery prior to returning to work on Monday.

I think the emoticon describes the shave better than I can.

I did a full shave (minus the goatee); no nicks, cuts, or even redness. Even less irritation than the Mach 3 usually leaves on the neck (the neck is usually in a constant state of razor burn). Cheeks are on par with the disposables while the neck isn't quite as close. The razor tugged a little more on the hair than I expected. The razor was purchased shave ready and the seller stropped it for me so I didn't screw up the edge on the first shave. I suspect a lot of the tugging is due to a lack of confidence and technique with the razor and from my barbed wire like facial hair.

Thanks for the wealth of information provided here and for all the answers to my questions.