Chronicles of my early days

If this needs to be moved to another area of these fora, please do so

For any young newbies, I am posting my early experiences here.

I am 20 years old and have been at this straight razor thing for 3 years now. I got my first razors in the mail shave ready, and a strop came by special to the knife store very soon thereafter. I had an old mug from my military high school days, and found a cheap boar brush at the Eckerd Drug Store, and Williams Soap at Wal-Mart. I had a full setup, and was ready to go. Here's some of the back-story.

Even at 17, I could go a few days without shaving and still sit in polite company. My beard was extremely light and extremely fine. I had until this point used a Mock 3 throughout most of my days, and I knew that a keen eye could tell when I skipped on shaving a particular morning, I got caught in enough inspections at military school to know that I needed to shave at least every other day in the civilian world. I had used an electric shaver for a while too, but eventually gave that up as a total piece of crap. The Mock 3 ripped my face to shreds, and left me with razor burn, large bumps and many ingrown hairs.

I knew it was time for a switch, so I decided on Straights and began getting my arsenal together. I saw Lynn's shaving video online, so I had an idea about Technique. I soaked in a hot towel, lathered up, hot towel again, relather, strop and ready to go. I must have done something right because I shaved my whole face, and have since given away all my Mock 3 stuff and am trying to find someone to buy the Remington from me for 10 bucks, maybe 5.

Anyway, when I put razor to skin, and began to shave, I could tell that this was different then before. I could pick and choose individual hairs if I wanted to, and the shave was very personal. It was the best shave of my life. Nothing except a straight is allowed to touch my face now, and it has been that way since 2004.

Now, 3 years and many shaves later, I have grown to know my beard better than I ever have. My beard has gotten darker and far more coarse, and there are still some parts filling in (the center of the chin is the last place I'm waiting on, lol). I understand what it was like 100 years ago when straights were the tool of the trade. As men grew, they learned to shave. Even without a full beard, they shaved. As their beard progressed in its growth, they learned. I have gone from needing to shave every third day to needing to shave everyday in most cases. I have grown to know my beard better than I know most things. It pains me to hear about the great learning curve men 30, 40, 50, and older go through to put away years of other experience and pick up the straight razor. I do not feel their pain, because I essentially learned how to shave with a straight from very early on. I do smile every time a newbie comes on, because I know that eventually they will have better shaves than any cartridge can give them. I hope that more younger men learn this art. Maybe we can save parts of my generation.

I received the following comment from a young man on my YouTube video where I quickly went over very basic straight shaving.
"thanks! Now im shaving with a straight razor thanks! My dad is dead so no one ever taught me, im 15 btw.

Thanks for your tips!"

This is someone I can relate to. My father died when I was 11, so I learned all shaving alone. I invited this young man to sign up for SRP, and I hope he takes my advice, so we can all in a way be there for this kid the way his father couldn't. These are the kinds of people I can help.

Thanks for all of the valuable information at the SRP.