Hey guys,

Thanks to the generosity of the forum, I had my first real straight shave this evening. I've been playing around with a Fromm disposable, which really helped me appreciate the sharpness of the Lynn-honed straight.

I've got the Korn Keen Kutter that someone donated to the straight giveaway--I'd love to know from whom it came, so I can send personal thanks--and it's nice. Seems to be a 9/16 spike point; scales look like celluloid, although they could be ivory. (I doubt it.)

I've also got my new Tony Miller #2 hanging strop. These, plus a new C&E travel pure badger brush and KMF Peach shaving cream, were my tools of choice tonight.

I ended up lashing the strop's ring tightly to one of the towel racks in my bathroom, to hold it into place. That gives a nice and firm anchor, although I'd prefer it a little closer to the floor. Seems okay, though.

I was terrified of stropping! Very conscious of wanting not to lift the spine or press down too hard, I spent a while air-stropping, and then stropping with just the spine touching the strop. After a few deep breaths, I tried stropping quite slowly. It proved really difficult at first to tell whether the edge was actually touching the strop, as with the spine. Eventually, I seemed to figure it out, partly through careful inspection and partly through changing my hold on the razor. I felt like I was trying to twist the razor down onto the strop, and so I changed so I was just holding it down directly. Slow, for the moment, but it seemed to work.

Hanging Hair Tests are ambiguous for me. Pre-stropping, I couldn't get the razor to pop a hair at all. After stropping carefully for a while, I could get it to go some of the time, on some parts of the blade. Post-shave, I stropped some more and tried it again--seemed a little better. So maybe as my stropping improves, so will the HHT become a useful tool.

On to the shave! Prep was the same as for my DEs, and probably the same as you guys do, so I won't belabor it here.

I now understand on a personal level why people compare straight razor shaving to meditation. I found myself in a relaxed state of hyperfocus as I was moving the blade around my face, and it was quite pleasant. I started off with my cheeks, which were a little bit stubbly since it'd been 12 hours or so since I'd shaved this morning. That went fine--I was afraid that I had sliced my earlobe open at one point, but the point of the blade had just snagged some lather from the lobe, and no blood was shed.

Since the cheeks had gone well, I decided to do the rest of my face, too. It was fine! First the neck, then the upper lip. The coup de maître isn't nearly as hard to do as it looks, as long as you remember not to slice. Finally the chin, which needed some work. I ended up doing two chin passes, and it felt like the razor was dulling near the end.

I had made it that far with no nicks or cuts, and so I decided to let discretion play the best part of valor for tonight, and stopped there. Hot water rinse for the razor, then towel dry the scales and blade, keeping the towel away from the edge. Twenty-five roundtrips on the strop, and I put it away for the night.

On the whole, it was very satisfying! Maybe not something I'll want to do every day, partly because it took so long, but it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the intensity of concentration that I felt was prudent. I'm enjoying learning a new skill, as well. Not the closest shave I've had, but certainly better than I used to expect from my electric shaver.

So, some questions for the next time: should I now do some linen passes before moving to the leather strop? Where do you guys store your razors, if you aren't lucky enough to live alone? It's not safe for me to leave a razor lying open to dry.

Cheers,
Hollis