My experience has been positive so far. I'm getting a few nicks here and there and occasionally some minor irritation but nothing to worry about. My shaves are not that close yet but I think my skin is still adjusting to shaving with a blade (I've used an electric for the last 15 years). I'm starting to work more on stretching my skin and various angles for my second pass which is cross grain (can't go against the grain yet). But the best thing is that shaving is now something I look forward to
.The gear I'm using is some Taylor and C&E creams, Emily's soap (got more soap from Sue and WillG on the way), a Vulfix 2233 brush (custom Shavemac on the way) and a Merkur HD and slant with feather blades. I tried the Merkur blades and they just don't cut my hair very well. Since I'm not tearing myself up with the feathers, I guess I'm doing ok. My A/S balm is Nivea which I'm not sure I like but I'll be trying some new ones in the near future (from Sue and WillG). I've gotten a bit out of control with the buying which seems to be fairly common here.
I look forward to learning more from all of you and maybe one day someone might even learn something from me (assuming I actually get the point where I can claim I know what I'm doing).