Premium Zertone Straight Razor with Genuine Horn Handle - 440C Stainless Steel Sharp Cutthroat Barber Razor for Professional Shaving & Grooming | Perfect for Barbershops, Home Use & Luxury Gift for Men

I was very pleased with the value offered by this razor. As noted in the manufacturers description, the razor was professionally honed. My guess is that it was honed to 8,000, meaning that to make it shave ready it needed 100 passes on a finishing strop loaded with polishing compound and 50 -75 passes on a clean leather strop to make it ready for shaving. That finishing work required about 1 hour to accomplish. I've shaved with it for probably a week now and true to the stated hardness, it keeps it's edge well with only a few passes on the leather strop in the beginning to keep the edge cutting smoothly without any sense of tugging. As to the wood scales, They look to be made from stained bamboo and only took a good oiling to make them smooth and shiny. Overall the razor has good heft and balance and feels really good to hold. Everything fits and functions as it should so this presents little opportunity to damage the cutting edge, your fingers or, face.About the pictures. the first two show the razor as received with it's foam padded metal case and polishing cloth (nice touch). I would have provided a finger notch to make getting the razor out of the tight fitting pocket. I easily added one later, but the company could have added right from the start with minimal to no extra tooling cost in their steel rule die cutting. The third picture shows a close up of the blade after finish stropping as previously described. I circled a hand form grinding error which in this instance only effects at most 1/2 percent of the cutting edge in a not too important area of the blade. I saw this right out of the box, that is, it could be distinguished from the hand hone marks used to bring the cutting edge to the form, but I couldn't tell until stopping how deep the flaw was. It might take a year or more of use for this flaw to be eliminated, but as I remarked previously, the flaw is located in a pretty innocuous area of the cutting edge. If I had spent $200 on the razor I would have been royally P.O. but as I spent only $20 I'll make that trade any day of the week.The headline says not for beginners because while priced like a beginners razor, most beginners will not have skills or equipment/supplies to take the blade from the as received state to a truly sharp comfortable shave state.This is an outstanding straight razor.I have been using a dovo bismarck straight edge since 2008 and have really enjoyed regularly using. And I wanted to add to my collection so that I can give the Bismarck a break.Upon receipt of the Zertone I honed the edge with 6 passes on a 8000 grit wet stone and finished with 12 passes on a 12000 grit wet stone. 50 lashes on the leather - and I got the smoothness shave I’ve had in awhile.If you interested in this blade, get it - you won’t be dis- pleased.Note: any razor you use regular will need honing - most likely every 60 to 90 days - maybe stretch to 6 months. I would at least get a 10k or 12k grit wet stone ( you might be able to live with a 8k ). And watch the YouTube videos on honing.Maybe I should have tried the razor first without the honing upon reflection of this review - to be honest - I figure that my experience with it was going to be just Ok -- and this isn’t just an ok razor. It’s outstanding.UPDATE: 05/24/2019 - the cheaper version of this blade:Forget about the price point. The price on the straight edge is ridiculously low for what you get - which is - in my opinion better than my $200 Dox .The blade does come shave ready. But - I honed further with a 8k and 12k wet stone.Have over a months use of both this blade on its $29 brother. Both are outstanding blades.The better the fin is on the blade - the less you will nick yourself.Do some research on a straight edge “Fin”. The fin deteriorates With use.You can’t own a straight edge without the ability to rehone the straight - no matter how good the blade is.My recommendation is to at least start with these blades and get yourself a 8k and 12k wetstones - before you get an expense blade. They are needed to maintain your edge —- or you will need to find someone to sharpen you edges every 3 to 4 months.Also - get some mineral oil. After drying your blade - put a thin coat of oil on the bladeThis straight razor I would consider top of the line for low cost straight Razors. It came nicely packaged with a case and extremely sharp, I cleaned my forearms of hair like it was nothing. I have purchased many of the cheaper straight razors to see if I could find a great low cost razor that really a great value for the $$. I purchased one regular and one with the upgraded blade, I could not tell a big difference between the two blades, a conversation with the seller explained that the formulary of the upgraded blade would extend the time it holds its edge, if you do not know how to hone your blades then that extended life may have more value than it does for me as I love redoing the hone myself. I gave this a solid 5 star rating as I was comparing them to less expensive razors and not Dovos or Thiers Issards, etc. And for this category both regular and upgraded blades out performed against their completion. No regrets if you want a solid inexpensive straight razor, you have found the right one.