Well, I have been shaving with #30, and have #29 put away for safe keeping, untouched. My impression was that they both needed a small honing out fo the box, but were very close.

#30 is holding its edge with minimal stropping through multiple shaves so far! In fact, I got that sucker a little TOO sharp, and it began to gain a purchse on my skin with little presure, so I "stropped down" a bit to tame it al little. Works great!