Hello all. I just wanted to introduce myself here as another newbie and member. My name is Dave "Zeke" Veleke from Eden, WI (about 65 miles north of Milwaukee or 70 miles south of Green Bay (GO PACK!!))

I wanted to thank Lynn for putting this website together and thank Tony Miller for producing such quality strops. (the mug is sweet too )

I also want to thank everyone else for their expertise and willingness to share information. This has to be the best group of people anywhere on the web! I salute everyone here.


Here is a little about me:

My late wife used to collect antiques, glass wares, depression glass and what not. Well about a year ago, the kids and I were going through a bunch of boxes of her stuff that had been packed away in the basement. We were dividing up her belongings and giving stuff to her family that we thought they would like, to remember their daughter and sister. I came across an old cigar box that had two straights in it that she had gotten and I never knew she had them. I took the razors out, looked them over and decided to give it a whirl. My obsession started!

I started to read and research about wet shaving on the web and found *some* useful information. Of course not being very educated about just how sharp a straight is supposed to be, I busted out my Fleet Farm knife sharpening stone and went to work on those straights after I finished resharpening my deer hunting knife. LET ME TELL YOU, those straight would slice up a block of cheese like it was nobody's business, but shave?, that was another story. . Even though I was discouraged, I did not give up on the idea, just thought I would put it on hold for a while. Ok, fast forward to about 3-4 months ago. I decided to give it another go. Ebay (the wrong way) had some *NEW* and *SHAVE READY* and *FACTORY SHARPENED* straights that I thought I could not go wrong with. Even got me one of them fancy razor and strop combo's for about $45.00 USD off of ebay. WOW!! What a shave Still not to be beat by the straights, I stumbled across SRP! What a godsend! Long story short, I now have all the PROPER gear, Thanks again to Tony Miller, and I NOW am enjoying a twice daily shave!! .

So here is my Noob question: How many other guys have naturally taken to striaght shaving with little or no problems? I dont know how or why, but I just seem to be a natural. (knock on wood) I am DOMINANT right handed, but when that straight is in my left, it feels like an extension of my hand? Other than shaving, my left hand is pretty much useless. Do some guys just GET IT!!!??? and others don't?

Zeke