When I was young I liberated my great grandfathers razor from my father. The barber at the time was a cranky old military barber. I bugged him and bugged him for two years. Finally he honed my razor, showed me how to strop and explained it to me while shaving all 16 of my whiskers. I had a leather belt to strop with, and that took me to after high school. I then worked on the water, and grew a beard. Occasionally I would get a shave in a barbershop. Fast forward many years, and I was required to be clean shaven for work. The internet had come along in my beard years. After some research I found a few factors which most agreed upon. Buy a shave ready razor of the best quality you could afford. Classic edge set me up with a kit, and I was away. After some time and a couple of razors in, I came here more or less to try to figure out more about honing and restoring. I have since accumulated a lot of stuff.