You may want to ask yourself what you need a hone for. If you are buying shave ready or close to shave ready razors you might be able to start with a finishing hone or pasted paddle strop. They will keep a razor going for a good long time. Then you can buy lower grit stones in the future if you get into honing "dull" blades. I think you can get the 12K Chinese stone in 2"X8" for $20.00 + S&H?

Jordan