First off, thanks to Jim for starting this thread and to the more experienced shavers for their replies. I'm still climbing the straight razor mountain but for me, very light pressure is more important than blade feel. Sometime I hear the razor more than I feel it. And when I can neither feel nor hear the blade, it usually means something is wrong with my technique. At least with light pressure my skin remains intact, which leaves me with options. Time permitting, I can try to diagnose what's wrong with my technique and fix it (bad lather, wrong angle, suboptimal grip, etc.). Otherwise I can punt, touch up with a safety razor, and think about how to make things better next time. But even with safety razors, more pressure invariably means more problems, like cuts and razor burn.