First time shave report

So I finally had the bare necessities to jump in last night and give it a whirl. I managed to get a decent idea of what I needed to be doing from looking at videos on YouTube, so here's the basic rundown:

-Stretched The Filly out and gave it a warm up with the palm of my hand
-Stropped the razor keeping the strop taut/straight while leading with the spine first and applying just enough pressure to make contact without creating a bend in the strop
-Dipped brush in hot water, rubbed in soap for ~1 minute, blotched in bowl/added water until it looked pretty good
-Applied lather
-Shaved both cheeks according to how I saw this guy do it:
YouTube - Straight Razor Shave
-Finished up with a safety razor, cleaned up the area/accoutrement, and stropped the Bismarck again

Overall, I think it went pretty well. I was impressed by the closeness of the shave given my horrid technique, I went over the areas with the safety razor and I didn't notice it taking any further stubble off. There was a little irritation this morning, but I did no preshave prep as I don't have the stuff yet, and I used some crappy generic aftershave for the same reason.

Anyway, any insights/resources appreciated!

Well it sounds like you had pretty positive experience. Happy to see you done your homework and succeeded because of it.

One thing I do that you didn't mention is let the brush and soap (just a layer of water on the puck) soak up a bit while I'm showering.

The guy in the video uses a one-handed technique. While you're learning, you might also trying to switch hands while shaving the other side. Jockeys (can't remember if he was twohanded, or autopogonotomially ambidextrous if you will) and Lynn has made some premium material.

Also, make sure you dry out the razor properly, between the scales and all. Rust will punish you if you cut too many corners.

Anyways, happy future shavings.

Yeah I was feeling pretty good about it, I'm not sure why as I really had no idea what I was doing, but I felt like it helped (confidence).

So is it always advisable to shave post-shower? I don't typically shower at night unless I'm feeling particularly nasty, so I just blotted my face with a hot towel prior. I forgot to mention that.

Thanks for the tip about drying thoroughly, I didn't make sure it was thoroughly void of moisture all the way down to the hinge. I will next time for sure.

That's Korndog in the vid and he's got some unconventional grips, but he gets through pretty well.

Hot showers are great because you don't really have to prep the beard. It kind of happens automatically. If you don't shower, wet that beard and lather then apply a hot towel for a minute or two and repeat. A final lather should put you in good stead.

Hello, Rawsted:

Welcome to SRP and to the world of straight razor shaving. As our fellow member Ursus points out, you did your homework before starting out. That is commendable. Also, I, too, recommend using both hands, as does he.

I learned my technique from my shave guru Lynn. No better teacher exists. Study his video and you'll learn good technique, which will help you in the long run. Study Jockeys. Study others. Obviously, eventually you will add your own variations to the techniques you see and read about and do what works best for you.

Congratulations.

Regards,

Obie

I guess I need to order Lynn's DVD. I should have nabbed it with my equipment order >.<

Anyway, thanks guys!