I've tried it, and I produced what was essentially a honey whiskey. The stuff had absolutley no sweetness left in it, and an entarding level of alcohol. I'm guessing 18%ish, which is insane for basic yeast and no distillation of any sort. Tried adding some cherry to it, and came up with robitusssin. I used champaign yeast, which seems to be the problem.
So I'd suggest a lower yield wine yeast, and lots of good raw honey. For equipment, I've used Midwest Brewing Supplies in the past, until I found a local hardware shop that sells brewing supplies. If you've got nothing local, I'd try them. You wouldn't need a whole big monster kit, really. If going with mead, I'd suggest 1 or 2 gallon batches. Good honey being more expensive than malt, and small batches being better for getting your technique and proportions down.
You'd need a couple of glass gallon/2 gallon jugs, a kettle large enough to boil a gallon or two of water. I'd suggest a pump style syphon... mouth syphoning's too likely to contaminate your wort. You'll rubber stoppers and plastic airlocks for each jug (cheap, cheap cheap.) Some people like no-rinse sanitizer for your jugs, bottles, tubing and such but I just use chlorox and then rinse it very, very, carefully. And you'll need some "yeast nutrient" to ensure healthy, happy yeast.
I'd suggest going with a pure honey mead until you get that down pat. True, you won't have the fruit to mask any issues, but let's face it.. fruity drinks that make people get silly and fall down are a dime a dozen, but a good, solid honey mead is hard to find. You master that, then you start exploring the fruit meads, and you'll be king of your local Drinkities.
