I agree that honing takes longer to learn/master than shaving. I'm still learning everyday but I love the challenge. I've got a few different synthetics and only one natural - a coticule/BBW natural combo. I've decided to focus honing exclusively on the coti for the last little while because i wanted to understand how to hone different razors on it and what I need to do differently for each razor. At times I've had to go back and rehone a razor 3 or 4 times before I got the right edge. Sure you can do the hanging hair test to see if it passes HHT-3 or higher but many members here will say that the best test of a good honing job will be the shave test. I would agree because I've had a couple of razors that didn't pass the HHT-3 but still shaved well. My next challenge will be to learn on a Jnat and to expand my honing tools by including a pasted leather hanging strop/paddle strop and a pasted balsawood strop as well. I will be pasting with CrOx.