An entirely useless post.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to get acquainted really quickly. I recently perked up an interest in straight shaving when The Art of Manliness (mayhap one of the best blogs of all time) mentioned it repeatedly in an article I read a few weeks back. I mentioned it to a buddy of mine. He responded that he actually had a straight razor and used it quite regularly. I was impressed and started looking into it. I figured my friend wasn't likely to spend much money, he must've gotten his cheap. So I picked up...
yeah...
...a Kriegar. It wasn't till AFTER it arrived that I found out my buddy's was a gift from his grandfather, who indeed used it himself. I think he mentioned it was a Shumate?
Back to the POS I bought. After reading the reviews (which were oddly positive), I knew it wouldn't be shave ready. Fortunately, my father (who is not impressed with straights, I suspect his experience was with a cheap POS like mine) had an original Swaty hone hanging around. So, 50 strokes on the hone later, and countless more on the strop, I gave the Kriegar a try.
It hurt. Bad. Fortunately (miraculously?) I didn't cut myself, but I'd almost wish I had. The irritation was unbearable. I did a bit more research and found Kriegar on the "Avoid" list in the Wiki here. Oops.
I've since remedied the problem by purchasing a shave ready Shumate from razormike in the classifieds. Now I just wait for it to get here and dive back in. The right way.