Mach 3 (and other 3-blade razors) gave me bad irritation and stuff so I started using a safety razor this summer. I've had the best luck with it of anything I've ever shaved with (including aforementioned 3-blades and a Norelco rotary). What I use:

Razor: Amazon.com: Merkur Heavy Duty Double Edge Razor #34C + 5 Free DE Razor Blades: Health & Personal Care. I was told Merkur was better than Parker (the other brand I saw Amazon had) and I'm happy. The handle is very short, only a bit longer than my thumb, but you can't really hold a safety razor the same way you hold a modern razor anyway so I like to think it helped me learn. Amazon also has the 33C, which I believe is longer handled, if you have to have it (big hands and I don't, though).

Blades: these will be specific to you. My razor came with a free Merkur blade, which I liked. After I was done with that one, I started using Amazon.com: 10 Feather Razor Blades NEW Hi-stainless Double Edge: Health & Personal Care which are (I'm told) as sharp as DE blades come. Loads of people bitch about cutting themselves but they work superbly for me, so I figure it's personal.

Brush: get one. Amazon.com: Tweezerman Men's Shaving Brush: Health & Personal Care was the first result on Amazon for 'shaving brush' at the time I bought all this shit and it's served me well for $10, and an increase in quality puts you towards $60-$80, I understand.

Soap: people recommend against canned shit and my experiences with using it with a DE razor were crappy. I first used http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/prod...7431&cm_vc=200 (because I didn't buy soap when I bought the razor and didn't want to wait on shipping so I had to buy local) and now use 404 Looking for Something? . They're all great, the dry is probably the better value though (you add water instead of paying the factory to).

Oh and buy a styptic pencil I got one at walmart for less than $1 and it comes in handy.

I learned by watching some foreigner do it on youboob and trial and error (error being you cut your bitch ass). I pretty much don't go against the grain at all and across only rarely, and get a better shave than I ever did going against with plastic razors. I shave in two passes, I think the foreigner takes three but his country probably has a 35 hour work week.

Only con I can think of is time; be prepared for shaving to take ~10 minutes. It takes me about 6 now, if I shaved the day before. It took way longer as I was figuring it out, though.