I got my startup shaving gear (razor, strop, etc.) this week along with Lynn's DVD. Read up on the forum and watched all the little video blurps on-line and watched/re-watched Lynn's DVD. I finally felt it was time to give it a shot. This morning I did my first straight razor shave. Went a lot better than I thought it would. I took a chance (what the hell, Columbus did!) without a styptic stick, since I'm on Warfarin. I had no nicks, dings or runs the first scrape I did. Wow, was I impressed with myself. I did however, draw blood on the re-scrape, but just a tad. I had some difficulty trimming around my Deadwood style goatee on the chin, but didn't push it (figured it was close enough for government work). Have to practice different grips for different parts of the face/chin. All in all, I think I did alright for the first time around. Even though I was sweatin' it out during the process, I actually did enjoy the experience.