Hey everyone, my name's Ben and I live in Washington State. I've been wet shaving for about a year and half now with a Dovo Shavette and am looking forward to making the transition to a 'real' straight razor. Now that I trust myself now to drop my razor on the sink and know how my beard grows, I'm giving into the allure of a stiffer, sharper blade and the challenge of stropping and honing. Based on the wealth of info on this site, I'm going to purchase a razor from the classified section to get me started and hopefully get some new Castle Forbes shave cream for Christmas. I look forward to speaking with you all.