The advice paid off. Just to tell you what kind of guy LinacMan is... I have been shaving with him for a few weeks now trying to learn the finer points of shaving with a straight. I also have been talking to him about how I nicked my strop and how to improve my technique... He invited me over to strop my razor on his strop and never considered the risk he was taking with his strop in letting a greenhorn learn on his personal strop. The results were impressive when proper technique is applied... Point of all this is being humble and listening to the guys that have been there before does pay off.