I've taken the plunge...

... and ordered my first straight razor. I've gone for a vintage razor by Ford & Madley '333' 5/8" full hollow made in Sheffield plus a strop. Can't wait to receive my first straight!

Anyone had any experiences with this type of razor?

No experience with that particular razor. I am a newbie my self. Enjoy the wonderful world of straight razor shaving!

Also forgot to mention I have brought Man-u pure bristle brush, Taylors of Old Bond Street Sandlewood Shaving cream and Bloc Osma Alum Block.

It sounds like you're set. You've got the kit all together. May I ask what type of strop you purchased? remember that the strop is most used piece of equipment in your shave arsenal. A good strop will make a world of difference.

Anyway, now's the time to watch some shaving and stropping vids! There's plenty of those floating around. I'll also recommend AFDavis11's stropping videos....there are links on the SRP opening page.

Good luck!

Did you get the ford and medley from steve at the invisible edge? noticed he was doing those now

Yes ordered the Ford & Madley 333 from Steve at the invisible edge, got to say he's a top bloke spoke to him many time on the phone before ordering it.

The strop is a basic one from the invisible edge, was advised to get something basic and not expensive as I'm a beginner and no doubt I would end up damaging the strop.

I have the same strop, from before he had his own branded beginners strop, but its the same one as my dovo, well, from the pics it looks it anyway.

It's a decent strop, i got many many months of use out of it, it was my experimental strop the one i fiddled with a sanded if i nicked it etc. Paid for itself in terms of knowledge gained, and the most valuable thing i learned was hw to strop without nicking my strop lol. It's about to be repurposed as a pasted strop.

Yup Steve's an ace guy, can't really say enough nice stuff about him, helped me out a lot in my early days, guided me thru a lot of newb mistakes