Quote Originally Posted by eod7 View Post
Barber hones are ok, but japanese waterstones have them beat in every way.
Except on price, which is the main factor according to OP
(And many japanese water stones that are cheaper than $100 do not beat many barber hones in performance.)
I have several barber hones sitting on my porch as doorstoppers too - so it's not like you just pick one on the cheap and it simply works great. I haven't looked on ebay in a couple of years but last time the swatys weren't much cheaper than norton 4k/8k and are less flexible, not considering the immense pain to lap them if there are even small chips.

But yeah, one can get lucky and get really good barber hone and spend very little money on it. Or one could get a dud.