For the last twenty years or so I have shaved with only one razor, a Boker Red Injun 101 that was my great grandfathers. I maintained it with a Swaty barbers hone and a 2" Illinois strop nothing else. Then I started browsing this site a few years ago and RAD hit me along with the restoration bug etc. I started accumulating a rather large rotation and learning the basics of honing (thanks Lynn you opened a new dimension in sharpness for me, you are truly the Yoda of straights) I thought German razors were it; until I discovered Sheffields. Cutting to the chase , does anyone out there think that the honing is easier , the edge lasts longer and the shaves are smoother with English blades? Maybe it's my imagination but I don't have anything German in my collection ( DD's,Bokers, Henckels,) that compares. Is the steel composition any different, the forging process? I don't think I do anything different with how I use or maintain them. They are pretty much all the same blade widths and types. Just one of those things that make you go hmmm. Interested to hear if anyone else has had the same experience.