So I have come to the conclusion that I think is pretty obvious due to my thread title- When straight shaving with lots of growth, it will be uncomfortable. Now I don't shave very often, maybe twice a week, but I have had a few times recently that I went for longer. Over a week without shaving at least. On all of these occasions I then lopped it all off with a straight and got less than comfortable shaves. I think this is just how it goes. My beard isn't even that heavy or rough I'd say. I think that the smoothness and comfort of the shave has a direct link with how much growth you are actually shaving. This last shave did it for me- no more letting it go for that long. It was just very uncomfortable. I even used two different razors with similar results so I knew it wasn't the blade. It seemed that all the cut hair got in the way of cutting the rest by staying on the blade or face. I don't know for sure. So I went for a second pass which was much better except for the irritation from the first. Regardless I got a close shave in the end, but shaving off over a week's growth in one pass really told me to never do that again lol.