I have been using Str8s only for 6 months or more now. Over the weekend I broke out my Norton 8k and a barbers hone to freshen up a few razors. I have been watching a lot of gssixgun and Lynn videos and think I finally have the hang of the higher grit hones. I'm still working on setting a good bevel. I got a fantastic shave with the Temperite 20 that I freshened up. I just hit the Barbers Hone with another razor and it feels pretty good too. I will be using that one on the morning. I think a 12k is in my future, the Barbers Hone is kind of hard to use being so small and only has one edge with no nicks.
I picked up one of those chinese 12k+ water stones as a finisher.(Woodcraft sale). They had two sizes ( 2 "wide and 2.75" wide). I opted for the wider and am glad I did. It makes it much easier with the additional width. There are better stones out there, certainly, and more expensive as well, but since I'm a novice, I'll hone my skills on the entry-level tools before moving up the price ladder.
I use a 3 line Swaty for my maintenance and haven't had any problems keeping the edge going for almost 3 years now.
Check out Coticules, Thuringians and JNATs as well. Gotta love natural finishers with some real history behind them
They're great finishers but tend to be easily $100+ more than a barbers hone. IMO any decent 12-13k+ stone will give you excellent refreshing. I have a 13k Sigma that does very well. For pure refreshing there is always the option of ChrOx as well but my personal preference is a high grit hone.
