Quote Originally Posted by Blighty View Post
Hey all,

I've used a DE razor for many years but finally decided to bite the bullet and try a straight instead.
I picked up a Cyril R. Salter razor together with a strop from my local barber. The strop is a paddle, combination strop and honing stone.

One of the reasons I decided to use a straight razor is to stop being reliant on replacement blades and all the other consumables that go with shaving.
So the thing I'd like to know is, is the razor and strop / hone that I already have enough? Are the pastes I see advertised really necessary?
I'd say you have all that you need to keep a razor going indefinitely. Though I don't know anything about that hone, if its a similar grit to the majority of finishing or barbers hones out there it will do a fine job of maintaining your razor virtually forever.

The down side is that it must be shaving sharp to begin with. Your hone MIGHT be able to accomplish this but the odds are it can't and its a certainty that at this point you don't have the skill to get the best edge possible out of the razor. I'd send it out to get everything squared away so you are starting in a good place where you just have to maintain what was expertly put there.