I would encourage you to give it a go.
If you're like most people on this board, you have some kind of acquisition disorder(s) and you like learning new things. Shaving with a straight will scratch both of those itches. With DE, I felt like I had pretty much topped out after three years. With straights, especially considering honing, I will probably be learning up until the point when it is time to retire from straights (when my hand gets too shaky or my arm gets too weak, something like that).
Regarding safety, I will only comment on my experiences. With the DE, the most problems that I had was a rough shave in the beginning. Excluding weepers, I never cut my face with a DE, even when I was learning. With the straight, I gave myself two decent cuts the very first week. They weren't horrible - no blood flying all over the place and they healed in a few days and I could shave over the cuts the next day with the blade perpendicular to them. Since then, no more blood drawn.
I hope you try it. Sales are going to ramp up here in the US for Black Friday. I can't think of a better time to buy a whole bunch of new stuff!
If you're like most people on this board, you have some kind of acquisition disorder(s) and you like learning new things. Shaving with a straight will scratch both of those itches. With DE, I felt like I had pretty much topped out after three years. With straights, especially considering honing, I will probably be learning up until the point when it is time to retire from straights (when my hand gets too shaky or my arm gets too weak, something like that).
Regarding safety, I will only comment on my experiences. With the DE, the most problems that I had was a rough shave in the beginning. Excluding weepers, I never cut my face with a DE, even when I was learning. With the straight, I gave myself two decent cuts the very first week. They weren't horrible - no blood flying all over the place and they healed in a few days and I could shave over the cuts the next day with the blade perpendicular to them. Since then, no more blood drawn.
I hope you try it. Sales are going to ramp up here in the US for Black Friday. I can't think of a better time to buy a whole bunch of new stuff!