What an experience !!!

Okay...so since I am a noob this will be of good review for other new folks I hope. Just got my Dovo Special from SRD and here was the experience I had, for my first shave ready shave. My Col. Conk best quality was dull and is being honed also by SRD(Lynn).The difference is enormous between shave ready and not. The Special practically shaved by itself seriously. The soap used was SRD brand West Indies Bay ....My face tingled and went numb , and the scent was heaven. I have a homemade scuttle which is just a deep ol timey victorian lookin coffee mug from Wally-Mart with a small corell bowl that sits right in(I still have to hold it steady with my thumb to keep it from spinning a little) I build the lather in that after soaking the Col. Conk wood handle badger brush in the hot mug water.The lather keeps nice n warm too ahhhh. The lather of the SRD soap was very rich and luxurious .I shaved my head neck and face(I have a half beard) , The strop used was a Jemco russian leather. 10X's each on the linen and leather and the shave began. The Dovo was a 5/8 and maneuvered very nicely. Believe me when I say,because that blade was shave ready , it really did shave on its own.Ironically the only cut I got was on my finger when I was switching hands on the head shave.The wound was painless and quick sealing as opposed to the mean nasty wound naysayers of steel would have people believe a straight would deliver. The hard areas for me are my upper lip and neck. The lip was still slightly stubbly and the neck was barely so in a spot or two. I still would call this about a 99 % BBS shave and any fault would be my own technique as opposed to the razors. So onward I say. I cold rinsed and applied Shavex Alum block to all shaved areas and let set for about 30 secs. Then another cold rinse followed by a nice splash of Clubman special Reserve Ahhhh mmmm !!!!! Now two things I wish to point out that I had learned from this site. 1) I used a sponge set in a nice shallow bowl to wipe the soap off my blade (See 30 yr. anniversary shaving Video) It works awesome Thank you Chimensch wherever you are !! 2) Thank you Lynn as I was watching a video and learned about wiping your wet blade off with a chamois. I now keep a small piece hangin by my almost finished shaving den nook thing(Long story not yet finished see the man shelf posting).Anyyyyyway.....This was an awesome shaving experince to say the least. I had a crap day at work and this eased my pain Thanks shaving world your my only love(sorta heh).:nj Real men shave with a straight razor......fer real ya'll !!

Nightblade,

Congrats...It appears that you are well on your way to becoming a straight razor user. Pleased to read that you enjoyed it so much. You have discovered what we all come to realize; namely that an expertly honed, shave ready razor makes a world of difference. As you progress, you will find that it will be to your benefit and your razor's to increase the number of laps on your strop to 40-50 on both the fabric and leather of your strop.

Remember that there will be peaks and valleys in your straight razor shaving experience. Exult in the peaks and don't let the valleys disappoint too much. They are both part of the overall experience.

Take care--and continued smooth shaving.

Congrats!

Just keep practicing and enjoying the ride. The shaves just keep getting better and better!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hey Stubear....I still might get a Thiers Issard Le Dandy 4/8 down the road someday when I get better at this. I think for detailing and tight areas it might be just right for me...but that's a luxury down the road. Time to save some money now(stupid economy) Cheers !:tu