I don't know why I bother. I'm not very good at it almost three months in. There are places on my face that I still have never approached a BBS shave, namely around my chin and under it. I have thought to myself that maybe that's why some guys have goatees, because the hairs here are so hard.

I know I started straight razor shaving to save money. That's certainly backfired in a big way, what with hones and a loupe, a scuttle on the way, etc.

Yet I still try. Sunday evening I did maybe six passes on the especially difficult areas for me simply because I wanted to know what the heck I was doing wrong. I realized that I was using too much pressure and decided to just do what all the old hats say to do: use little pressure. I didn't realize I was using so much, and it seems counter-intuitive that less pressure can be better, which was why I was probably using a little too much in the first place.

I got better results when I did that. It's the little steps forward where I learn something new (or implement something correctly I should already have known) that is its own reward for me, I suppose.

I know straight razor shaving isn't for everyone, but it is for me. Shaving with a straight is something that's moderately difficult and takes some skill to perform well. The learning curve for me has been steep, and I don't see it shallowing out anytime soon (what with me venturing into honing now). However, the curve might have been a cliff had not SRP existed.

So why do I bother? I'm not sure, but I do love it.