Beginning enthusiast seeking advice on choosing straight razor, strop and hone.

Take care to make sure you are following the grain of the hair in those trouble spots. sometimes it is hard as the hair is changing every which direction but well placed stretching can help. a shave ready blade used properly will not snag with the grain

there are some spots on my face that let me know as soon as the blade is losing some of its edge. I could be getting a great shave on my cheeks but the blade will hang up on the hair below my lower lip. as long as I know my technique is good, then I strop again. If that is not good enough then I resharpen the blade

 

Tron, where is "The land of a thousand lakes" ? Are you from one of the Dakotas?

 

It's a nick name for Finland since this place is full of them. I think there's even more than a thousand of them, but don't quote me on that...

 

Yes Finland is the place I am referring to, and actually it is a bit misleading as we have close to two hundred thousand lakes over here.

 

I know you're playing with us silly Southerners but, how does it work? Is it a result (embodiment, excuse the post-modernism) of seasonal flooding?