Quote Originally Posted by Jlander View Post
^^^^^
Absolutely agree.

I spent the first 10 yrs using a straight with only my grandfathers white and black Arkansas'. It was more time consuming but quite effective. I learned alot about those stones and that razor. It is just not what I would recommend today for someone just starting out and no-one to provide some hands-on teaching. There are so many options I did not have available then. Small town in rural West Texas didn't a big supply of stones in the 60's. But you play the hand your delt.
Amen. You don't need 20 some odd hones to get the jobs done. Or even a set of the most expensive hones on the market. A lot of folks that have those expensive synthetics end up finishing on a Natural stone that has a more comfortable shaving edge anyway.

The only reason I have so many rocks is I enjoy the act of honing. And few things test how good a job you did making something sharp like using it to scrape the hair from your face.