Hi, I'm from the UK and still cartridge shave. I've been looking at straight razors lately.

Hi to everyone, nice forum that you have here.

I have read in the wiki and some of the threads here. I have a question about hones which I'm still a bit confused by.

If I buy a starter setup (for example from InvisibleEdge) it looks to cost about £65 for a basic Dovo carbon steel razor and £130 for the razor plus strop, shave soap, basic brush, etc.

My question relates to hones. It looks like if I just want to maintain this razor then I'd only need a 10k stone or around there, plus stropping as a minimum. But one of those stones costs more than the razor does.

So, the question I think I'm asking is how long is the razor likely to last with daily use and regular stropping before I'd need it rehoning, assuming that I have an 'average' face/beard? I'm trying to keep the initial cost low enough to get past the wife

Thanks, Tony.