Thread: equipment advice

i feel like i should step in here, since i started the thread, to bring a little perspective back to the discussion:

there are all kinds of ways to skin a cat, so everybody take it easy. it's all good advice i'm hearing and, just for the record, i got my norton stone in the mail today, used it fresh out of the box and brought the razor whose edge i had knocked down back to prime cutting condition. of course, all this was only made possible by all the advice in this and other threads, and with the help of the pyramid scheme given to me by an esteemed member of this forum. i didn't build a slurry first, which is probably a good thing since the nortons cut plenty fast for someone with as little experience honing as i have.

so again, thanks for everyone's chiming in, please continue. John Locke and Plato both agreed that the more people whose ideas are expressed, the better to arrive at truth.

let me give you another topic to think about:
i do a little bit of traveling, and often, i only take a backpack. now, i've alread got a travel razor and i know i can put my strop in my bag without too much room lost, but there's no way i'm carrying that norton boulder around with me for a month in costa rica or nicaragua or wherever the hell i'm going next. can anyone suggest a smaller, easiest-to-care-for hone that will do the trick on the road? i'd hate to have to look like a savage just because i accidentally dulled my razor doing something stupid.

A small, short, abrasive pasted paddle strop should work just fine.
Or a Swaty Barber hone is recommended by a bunch of guys for touching up an edge. A Begian Coticule or an Escher should also work but they are expensive.

Hope this helps,

I will take my Swaty. Leave the rest a home. I think there is another one on ebay.