Hi. I will soon be joining the ranks of those who seek the ultimate in shaving bliss. I've ordered a strop and a shave-ready razor from Tony Miller. I await it with anticipation. I also bought a new but non-shave-ready Thiers-Issard 5/8ths Red Stamina from ClassicShaving, along with some shaving soaps, creams, balms, Bay Rum aftershave, alum block, and the Lynn Abrams "World of Straight Razor Shaving" DVD. Plus I bought the $35.00 C&E Best Badger brush from my local C&E store. I bought a Norton 4k/8k hone, too. I've won a couple of old razors on Ebay so I can learn how to hone a razor properly. I will soon be having fun!

So far, all I have on hand is the goodies from ClassicShaving. The ebay razors haven't arrived yet, nor the strop and shave-ready Dovo Dark Star from Tony, but I'm hopeful they'll arrive soon.

I've been a wet shaver for much of my shaving life, having started out with an electric razor (it was terrible) and then a Gillette Trac II and a Schick injector. I have also used regular Gillette razors (people call them double-edge now, but I used to just call them razors) many years ago. I went through a period of some years using gels and canned shaving creams, but I returned to wet shaving because I liked the feel of warm lather on my face. But I always used a inexpensive boar bristle brush until I got my C&E Best Badger brush a few days ago.

I always wanted to use a straight razor, but for some reason I never did. I guess I thought it was a thing of the past. I didn't realize until recently that it could give a better shave than any other kind of razor.

I've already learned a lot by reading this forum. I am pretty sure that I'm going to like straight razor shaving and that I'll stick with it, as I tend to like most things that require attention to detail, developed skill, and a deliberate approach.

I'm sure I'll have some questions as I get started. I just wanted to say hello, and that I'm glad I found this forum.