I finally got my Gold Dollar and Filly strop in the mail today. I ordered from Ken Rup, and it is in shave ready condition.

When I got some time tonight, I got everything together, prepped, and went at it. I figured I'd go for a WTG pass. I've been DE shaving for about two years now and understand what "no pressure" means.

First impressions?

1 - It's damn hard to see what's going on. I wear glasses, so maybe that doesn't help things, but I was basically operating in the dark, shaving my right cheek (my dominant side). Is this normal? It's very unnerving.

2 - I went to do my left cheek, so I switched to my left hand. I couldn't hold the razor steady at the proper angle for love or money. I figure I wanted to live another day, so I did a bit of my left cheek with my right hand. Am I setting myself up for failure here, or should I really strive to be able to use my left? Again, it was quite difficult to see, regardless of hand.

3 - I found the easiest part the right side of my throat.

4 - I have extremely thick and coarse whiskers on my chin and jawline. I could barely get half way through them. Again, wanting to fight another day, I didn't push it.

5 - My strop was folded in two when it was shipped to me. Because of this, it has some rough / bumpy patches in the middle where the bend was. Should I be stropping over this, or only use half of the strop to avoid the irregularities?


I was planning on doing a whole WTG pass, but after barely getting my right cheek done, the right side of my neck, and aborting the left side with the left, I called it a day. I grabbed my DE, finished off the WTG, did an XTG, and stopped (normally I need another XTG and ATG, but I want my skin in good condition - try again tomorrow). The shave is about as good as an electric, maybe the same as my first DE shave. Not great, but my skin is in primo condition (I have sensitive skin and the weather here is extremely cold and dry).

On the bright side? No razor burn and no blood at all. Where I did manage to get a decent stroke in with the straight, it was smooth as glass, incredible. I can't wait until I can do my entire face. I do plan on sticking with it, but I didn't think it would be quite this difficult. Oh well.

I'm guessing my issues are down to stropping technique, shave technique, and crappy ambidexterity. Thoughts and advice?

Thanks,
Pug