Thread: New wet shaver learning a lot.

Hi guys,
My name is Steve, I'm 27 and in the US Coast Guard stationed in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. I'm an avionics tech and flight mechanic on our rescue helicopters.
I think I've been enamored with the idea of shaving with a straight razor for a few years now - probably from the first time I went to an old time barber shop and the barber (who was in his 80s and shook like crazy until the instant he started cutting hair) did the sides of my head and back of my neck with hot lather, a hot towel, and a straight razor. Since then, every once in a while I'll get the urge. It's a manly hobby, after all.
So, I recently picked up wet shaving, and man, is it a whole different world from the quick Mach 3 shaves I used to do. I jumped in with both feet without really doing any research and purchased a full kit from The Art of Shaving - sandalwood pre-shave oil, shaving cream, aftershave balm, and upgraded to a fine badger brush, as well as a Thiers Issard razor.
I received the kit and discovered after attempting two shaves and part of a third that the factory honed razor just wasn't sharp enough, so in the meantime I went back to using the new products with a cartridge razor - I put a DE razor on order, along with a nice strop, and then bought one of the sight unseen deals from Larry at Whipped Dog - which is the way I should have gone in the first place!

I've been shaving with the DE for a few days now and just received my new shave ready razor 10 minutes after finishing up my shave today - so I'm quite excited for tomorrow.

I've been enjoying reading the boards here for the past couple of weeks. Thanks all!