Hello! New guy making an intro post, as I feel it's impolite to start posting without one.

I'm located in the Berkeley area of California. Never shaved with a straight razor before, and am doing a lot of reading/learning before I start looking into it seriously.

I currently shave with a Gillette Mach 3 razor; but I find the prices of replacement cartridges exorbitant, and the shaving process can be quite irritating for my face. I'm hoping a straight razor will give me better shaves at a lower price with less irritation.

That's probably an adequate intro, but if you have any questions, go ahead and ask. After all, You'll be seeing a boatload of questions from me in the coming months!

Jason