To start off, I have a Dovo 5/8 with the faux tortoise shell, an SRD strop, badger hair brush and some SRD soap. The first shave was over ambitious (like most) and not successful at all. It felt like the razor was doing more plucking of my hair than cutting, especially when I used more of the heel of the blade. My stropping technique was absolutely abysmal the first few times, and the edges of my strop are pretty eaten up. I had the tendency to pull the razor back before I made the pass, really knicking up the side closest to me. However, the second shave was much better, but it still felt like it pulled the hair a bit much. I'll attribute that to poor stropping, because right now after about the 5th or 6th shave, it is much more comfortable. I still have trouble on the sides of my adams apple in the neck area. I don't get nicks or cuts really, but just really small spots of blood. For some reason it still feels uncomfortable to utilize the heel of the blade, as it still feels like it plucks my hair out rather than cut it. However, I'm glad I stuck with it because after the first shave my first instinct was "Wow, I wasted a lot of money." It's a lot more fun to shave now, but do you really only get the benefits of ths straight razor when you go ATG? If I only make a WTG pass, when I rub my face against the grain I still feel some prickle, but with the grain its phenominally smooth. I've only made an ATG pass on my cheek area, and it came out rather well.

Another quick note- I dropped my razor when I was stropping it two days ago, and the blade caught my guitar on the way down and put a little knick about 2/3rds the way towards the toe. It's very very small, and it didn't even seem like it affected the shave performance. I plan on sending it in to Lynn eventually, as well as picking up a Dovo Bismark (I know, I know... I probably shouldnt be buying more razors right off the bat, but its fun!) Would it be looking down upon to shave with this razor? It doesn't scratch the strop when I use it, and I have yet to get a gash from the razor after two shaves. What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Josh