Yep. Didn't think ANYbody used straight razors this day in age until I foolishly bought one on a whim from a traveling knife dealer for 50 bucks (even THAT was over paying for this Chinese made, dollar store piece of crap). Naturally, being a man of many tools, I decided to look up the proper use of this new knife and was blown away with how popular shaving the old way really is! The wife has heard me talk about proper sharpening and pre-shave prep for weeks now, and my Christmas list is full of honing stones of fine grits, strops, pastes and a fairly basic DOVO Razor to start out this new obsession of mine. It'll be a bit 'til Santa drops off my new gear, so I've been using a mug soap and brush and shaving with every sharp object in the house! After a good facial scrub in the shower and deep lather, I tried that far-from-sharp Cheap-o straight razor (after a good strop on my jeans) and was impressed with how well it actually worked. A fresh box-knife razor blade worked a ton better and even my leatherman knife took a fair amount of hair off. I've finished off the tough areas with a disposable and given the skin a great aftershave routine, but it's still rough on the face. I can't wait to get a shave-ready razor in the bathroom for some one-on-one meditation. Until then, I think I'll give the scrape shaving a rest...