Good call! I also went with an SRD "kit" when I dove in. Having said that, I guess you'll no longer need to know that Art of Shaving has a 20% off promotion for today through Sunday night--gets you a Thiers Issard Black 5/8(?--maybe 6/8 but I doubt it...) for like $108, which is a frickken great deal. But you don't need to know that. I DO recommend supporting SRD and the other independent shops over the Proctor and Gamble-owned AoS, but it is a great deal of a great French razor...
+1 on the 3" strop!