Gentlemen,

Posts describing current hone progressions are pretty common across the fora. Seeing what others use is a great way to learn and improve your gear.

I want to re-cast the 'What do you use' question into 'What don't you use and why?'. Tell us about what didn't work, why you upgraded or changed: was the change a big improvement or just fit your other stones/gear better? I'll start off.

1k stones: I have one but only use it with a 500 to get to my main bevel setter a Shapton 2k Pro. The 2k Pro is fast enough and 2k -> 5k is less of a jump than 1k -> 3k. I don't think you normally need a stone as coarse as a 1k if the razor has a reasonably well formed bevel or the razor is ground very thin at the edge.

Mikawa nagura progressions: I use them for fun sometimes, but my usual progression is 2k -> 5k -> 8k Shapton Pros then finisher. 'Modern' ones that I've gotten have been rather slow compared to the vintage ones, regardless of vendor. Vintage are faster and usable, but synths are faster still, and seem to keep the bevels flatter up to finish (a jnat for me) because they don't slurry much. I do use koma as a pre-finisher before the tomo nagura as a part of my current progression.

Gok 20k: I like it, but like a good jnat edge better. I still have it, it's a great synth reference stone.

320 Shapton Pro and 600 Chosera: Both replaced by the Shapton Glass HR 500. This stone is faster than either and about 30% coarser than the C600, but the 1k Shapton Glass HR gets me to the first stone in my main sequence, a Shapton Pro 2k with ease.

Travel strops: A regular strop lays flat in my checked bag and doesn't take up much if any usable space. It's what I'm used to using at home which is a bonus. I carry it either in a plastic sleeve or a thicker stop case, and take a length of paracord to anchor it to whatever is available. The paracord also serves as an expedient clothesline.

Cheers, Steve