Quote Originally Posted by Bill S View Post
You can really do very well with the 4/8 combo, a finer polishing stone like a Shapton 16, Coticule or a Chinese 12K plus a pasted strop or flatbed hone.

Reading the honing section here, especially the advanced honing section, you need to bear in mind that a lot of the discussion only applies to a small portion of the straight razor using population. Guys who are either pro/semi-pro honemeisters or have taken on honing as sort of a separate activity from simply using a straight razor successfully. Believe me, you can get a fantastic shave even if you haven't invested in various vintage Coticules, Shapton 30k's, or worse yet, Eschers and Japanese naturals.

So, while you are no doubt correct that there is more "stuff" in your future it won't take too much more to get where you need to be for a great shave. The problem (and a lot of the fun) starts when the AD's get a hold of you........
What's the "AD's"?