As a new straight razor shaver I would like to make a comment to all the other new guys at srp.I feel like being mentally prepaired for straight razor shaveing will help us all to be better shavers.A few things we all must understand in order to perfect the art.You are going to bleed theres just no way around it I personally did hours and hours of research before my first shave and I bled but I knew it was going to happen because of all of the fine info from people like the senior members here at srp.It will probably take at least 3 months of shaveing before you feel nice and comfortable with the shave.I am currently on my 8th shave and it was 100% better than the first but I know I'm know where close to the perfect shave and I don't expect I will get there any time soon.I have started out the hardway 3 old razors off ebay that looked like nobody even touched in 70 years let alone honed or stropped I knew ahead of time this was not the preferable way to go but being a guy who loves knifes and has a multitude of fine japanese waterstones I would learn.3 honeing sessions later things are getting shave sharp but much time and effort has been put forward and once again all the people who said its not easy were right just like I figured.I guess my point is to be prepaired for a slow trial with some fire and blood and when the guys in the know say slow down and be patient be prepaired for just that.When you know what you're in for it makes getting thru the learning curve that much better. keith