I'm very curious on this subject. I may have more hand eye coordination than most, having shaved maybe 50 times with a straight now but as stated before my first razor was a DD 15/16. I've tried 6/8, even 5/8. As a matter of fact, as far as my experience has went, the smaller the blade the more often you are whittling whiskers and washing your blade. I'm addicted to my 17/16 Wade and Butcher and am very excited to move up to 9/8 and even 10/8. If anyone has noticed I'm also in search of an 11/8 custom. Is it just preference, or is there a real reason for recommending that people start off tiny other than margin of error? Hope I don't step on any toes here. This is not meant to be little anyone that prefers the smaller blades, just satisfying curiosity.