Quote Originally Posted by Scububbs View Post
As a very raw nube I'll weigh in on the HHT. I spent several months learning to hone my various razors and the shaves were always a little on the rough side during this process. Once I got to the point where my blades would pass the HHT (with my hair which is super fine) I knew that my honing was at least on the right track. The shaves improved tremendously, as did my confidence in the whole process of straight razor shaving.
The point is that you would have gotten the same information if you had skipped the HHT. Your shaves would have improved as they did and given you the same information. The problem with the HHT test is that passing it only means that the edge is sharp in some fashion. It could be saw toothed and sharp or a number of other "sharp" conditions which would give a terrible shave. On the other hand, you can completely fail the HHT and get the very best shave.