Well, it arrived this morning.First of all the bismarck looks great, i usually go a bit more understated and will do on my next purchase, but to start im happy.

I was told it was honed before transit, so i shaved right off the bat with a couple of inches at a time, starting with the sides.I kept my mach 3 handy for the moustache which i did end up needing to use as i got hurried towards the end.

First thing id say, the blade didnt feel as sharp as id expected considering it was supposedly honed and stropped in advance.I had to press kinda hard, and the blade didnt glide smoothly, more like carved the hair off a bit, the pressure was necessary.I did nick my skin a tiny bit, but this was more due to having to really apply unnecessary pressure at times, as the razor got a bit caught in the hair.

My shaving angle seemed decent, and overall technique wasnt bad, and my face in the areas i have shaved now has never felt so good.Upon cleaning the blade afterwards i did the hanging hair test.It kinda pushed the hair forward rather than cutting it, so i thought id have a go at stropping myself fairly quickly, after watching a weeks worth of youtube videos.

Well, first of all, im sure i improved it.I felt my motion and pressure was good, turning on the spine with an even 30 draws.I still view this as my practise razor so picking this up is possibly the most important thing to me.I caught the leather twice, in a very minor way, not so much a big dig as a tiny slice, i have since adapted and slowed down and i think im getting it.
Now when i try the hanging hair test it cuts 2 times out of 3, but seems dependent on how high up the hair strand i cut.Is this ok? Should it always glide through and cut the hair effortlessly as it hangs, or is this acceptable?

Anyhow, im a bit of a cowboy, but for a first go, very little blood spilt, and a great feeling afterwards, and all this with a razor that i believe is nowhere near its peak sharpness.Im pretty happy, i think ill get this.