I currently own a sight unseen razor (not sure what it is) and poor mans strop from whipped dog. I've only been at it a couple weeks, but I've decided to stick with it. With Christmas coming up, I have the chance to upgrade and would prefer some input from those more experienced than me. I'm pretty sure I've decided on the SRD modular paddle strop, but I'm still open to other suggestions. My thought with the paddle strop is that it would remove strop tension as a variable in my stropping technique as well as the modular design lowering replacement cost. I've been clamping my poor mans strop to a table to imitate a paddle and it's felt much better to me. With razors, I've been going back and forth between a few the last couple days. I HAD decided on a dovo best quality blonde 6/8. I realize 5/8 is generally recommended for beginners, but something I read recommended 6/8 and they look better to me so I've gone in that direction. So, I thought I knew what I wanted when all the new Ralf Aust stuff showed up on SRD. I don't care much for the look of the dovo stuff whereas all the RA is beautiful. I'm thinking i would keep one of those as my only/main razor a lot longer than I would the dovo, thus justifying the $60 more I would spend. Now comes the question of Spanish or round point. My understanding is that the Spanish point is more forgiving than a spike, which I would not touch. But how forgiving are they? The Spanish point looks sweet to me, but if that would be a mistake, I want to know. The round points still look pretty good. I realize I should be focusing more on function than looks, but a razors' looks are going to be a factor for me whether I like it or not. Anyway, those are my thoughts. If I'm way off in my thinking, let me know. Any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks