Mark, I remember starting out in flytying and your absolutely right on. It was very confusing. The directions would ask for a hook that you couldn't find or a feather that wasn't available. The directions that I had for tying a Hendrickson, which are used here in the spring, was to use urine stained fox fur. That's not going to happen. Synthetics work just fine. All you need to get started is a standard dry fly hook, standard nymph and any streamer hook. A dry fly hook is 1X fine wire standard length. A standard nymph hook is 1X long wire hook. If you learn how to tye a dry fly in the next few years you will be doing great. Tying a dry fly isn't that hard, tying two that look the same is.
A dry fly hook is 1x fine wire in a standard length. Don't worry about the name brand. All hooks are basically the same. I don't want to debate this for months that's why I said basically. They're wire bent in a hook shape with a sharp point. There must be 6 or more manufactures selling in the U.S.

I think that it's more important to learn how to apply the materials than it is to use the correct hook.