I had my first shave with my new staright today. It wasn't close, and was very patchy - I had to redo my whole face with my Mach 3.

Good news: no blood

Bad news: do I have a dull blade?

The razor came shave ready, a basic new Dovo. I didn't strop before the shave. I'm not too worried about the closeness or patchyness, probably just bad technique on my part. What did bother me though is that my beard (3 days growth) was really difficult to cut through as if the bristles are really hard, but I don't have that kind of beard type. Can bad technique cause this? I used really light contact at approx 30 degrees. Should I be pressing a little harder? Is longer hair just harder to shave than short 1 day growth?

The blade failed the HHT but shaved some hair off my arm pretty good, so I went ahead.

Here's How I shaved:

wet face with hot water
applied good lather
hot towel
wiped off lather
reapplied lather
shave WTG only, 2 passes
whip out the Mach 3
finish the job

Any advice appreciated!