Thanks for everyone's input...

The "pulling" sensation isn't really that uncomfortable, but moreso than I'd like. I also find that it is much better when I concentrate on stretching the skin more; however, this does not eliminate the sensation entirely. I will likely purchase a pasted strop in the future as I believe this may help, but for the time being I'd prefer to focus on using my existing tools (i.e., hone and strop) to their fullest potential. (I'm a bit of a minimalist, so less is better IMO.)

FWIW, I did give the razor a few more laps on the 8k, but have not found this to have produced much of an improvement. In fact, I think the most marked improvement has been from giving the razor more time on the strop. Unfortunately, though, I am still unable to pass the HHT... I'm beginning to think the HHT is more of a myth like unicorns and butterflies.

I've only been using str8's for the past month and have always anticipated a bit of a learning curve, so - needless to say - I am very pleased with my progress so far. I'll definitely be sticking with str8's.

- Ken -