First of all, it's really, really great to have found you blokes..... shaving with a straight razor in England is rather a solitary affair!

I have only shaved and maintained with what you might call hand-me-downs, and have treated keeping them as sharp as I can as less of a problem, more of an absorbing interest. My real problem, if you like, has always been making sure the scales are internally absolutely free of moisture, something I find hard to guarantee before I close the razor up.

However my girlfriend tells me she is sending a brand new Dovo to me from Milan...aren't I the lucky one! The pearl one I think. The thing is, I have come across sites saying "Buy from here, honed for you free before shipping" WHAT? Well I fully expected to give it a decent introduction to the strop before lathering up, of course, I'm not that thick. But honing? When I'm the first person to see it since the factory glued the box up? What on Earth do these people mean?