Fellow Newbies - A Quicker Path to the BBS Shave?

[Lazarus]

The elusive grail for many of us is the BBS shave. Again for many of us that is going to involve going ATG. When I started using a STR8 I followed the excellent advice available here and went slow, perfecting things a step at a time. When it was time to try an ATG pass the feedback from my full hollow ground blade fed into my already considerable apprehension and that of course resulted in a nice little nick on my throat that slowed my roll considerably. Shaving works better with calm, assured, confident strokes. How to execute those calm, assured, confident strokes given what had happened the first time I tried going ATG? In the interim I had acquired my first stiffer blade, a W & B wedge. This blade was virtually silent on WTG passes. Thinking the lack of feedback might calm my nerves I tried an ATG pass. Success. Having become comfortable with the ATG pass I now enjoy closer, more comfortable shaves than I ever got from a Mach 3 or a DE. I think the lack of feedback (i.e. singing) coupled with the relative inertness of a heavier, stiffer blade made it a great deal easier for me to perfect the ATG pass. I am sure as my technique continues to develop I will become comfortable going ATG with a singing blade but I thought this tip might help some fellow newbies get to the promised land quicker and with less loss of blood. This also bears indirectly on the frequently asked question "how many razors do I need?' Based on my experience I would suggest your second razor be significantly different from your first in terms of the grind. How else will you find out what works best for you? I hope this is helpful.