finally got all of my equipment, razor, soap, mug, brush, strop. decided tonight would be a good night to come home from work, and clean up the beard. it was quite long but i shaved it down to 1/4" or so and figured that was enough.

i do not thingk it was short enough. for some reason i just couldnt get the razor sharp. it was shave ready but it was pulling on every hair on my face. i finally broke out the clippers and shaved it down more. still had trouble. after i got both cheeks and1/2 of my neck (which resulted in a nice little cut from sliding the razor ||that much on accident)

i finally had to break out the old cratridge razor and finish up.

so now i sit with a red face, a few cuts, and the satifaction of knowing i didn't have to go to the hospital.

i have a couple of questions though,
1. the strop i got is very stiff. should it be more flexible?
2. what do you guys use to fix nicks and cuts in strops?
3. if i get the razor stropped right ans sharpened correctly, will it still pull on hair a little?
4. i tend to shave maybe once a week and let my stubble grow out kind of long, should i start shaving more often to get the most out of the shaving method?

thanks for reading everyone!