how about one of these brushes

hey guys, loocal cigar shop has some shaving stuff and here is what they have for brands of brush.

art of shaving
edwin jagger
rein dach

now, i don't know which grade of badger these are, it looks like they carry a full line in the jagger ranging from 50-200 (real horn) and in the rein dach I don't know what grade that is, neither do I know with the art of shaving stuff.

the ones that I liked, having never checked one out before, were the rein dach with the longer handle (felt better in my hand) for 50 bucks and the Edwin jagger with a BIG brush on it for 80. the rein dach is more comfortable it seems to my hand (but I don't know how to really test that yet) and I just love the big brush on the jagger.

are those good brushes? would either be good to tell my wife to get me for father's day?

the art of shaving does have a kit that has some aftershave, soap and brush for 60 bucks. but I just ordered a sample pack from gentleman's quarter (I think that was the site).

Thanks all.

Red

Art of shaving makes some decent brushes but I personally think they are over priced. Classic shaving sells silvertip badger brushes starting at about 55. The $50 art of shaving brushes are all just badger. That being said there's not too much difference between badger, best badger and silvertip. There is a huge difference between boar and badger. If you just stick with badger you won't be disappointed. I'd check out some of the websites first though, there are some great deals out there. I use Vulfix brushes and am very happy with them. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

Patrick

Its hard to make a decision when you don't have enough knowledge to make it and us here are going to tell you a bunch of stuff based on our experiences which may not hold for you. You have to decide what qualities you want and go from that.

Personally I think there is a tremendous difference between pure and best and a much smaller between best amd silvertip and a very big difference between silvertip and what they call finest or supersilvertip. I would be looking at brands like Simpson, Rooney, Saville Row, kent. Vulfix brushes tend to be very floppy. I am told C&E sells a badger with very good quality for a very reasonable price.

Look around at Vintage Blades and classic shaving. I don't know if Lynn and Dons site has brushes up yet. I'm sure other will chime in with their recommendations and other retailers.

thanks guys. I can wait and get one myself online, was just hoping to find out if any of these were good because one its too late to get one online by father's day which means I'll end up with something else otherwise, and two my wife isn'a big online ordering aficionado. I even give her my christmas list each year with links directly to product pages and she still doesn't buy things online.

thanks for the help. I liked that both the jagger and dach felt pretty firm, at least to my inexperienced hands. i did a search on here and never so the dach mentioned so maybe these are off brands and not worth spending the money. I haven't told my wife yet whether or not to get me one (just told her I was thinking about it) so if nothing good by tomorrow won't do it and will pushy for my fall back, another bottle of bourbon. :D

Red

like thebigspendur said, everyone has its own experiences. here's my own

I bought a cheap boar brush and regretted every second I did. Omega has some more expensive brushes in boar and most people who own them are very pleased with them (but it might be they prefer boar brushes in general, e.g. for their more scrubby feeling).
After that I bought an Edwin Jagger super. I felt all of them in the shop and was allowed to make a lather with all of them. There is a difference between pure and best, and to me best gives you "the best for the dollar" (to quote 'mantic59').
The difference from best over super to silvertip is more subtle. I'd say: go in the shop and ask the owner to let you feel the brushes. I chose the super, cause I hardly felt a difference between super and silvertip.

Once again: it is my personal experience. EJ makes great brushes according to me. The other two I don't know.
Create a budget in your mind and don't go over it. Go into the shop and try/feel the brushes.

best of luck
Ben

I felt the rein dach and the jagger and for the money thought the rein dach was the nice one, way to go, told my wife which ones I liked and ended up with the rein dach, she wrapped it in a different box so I didn't know what hs had gotten me at all. sneaky. I'll try and post pics at some point and let you know how I like it. I had a good three days growth yesterday and almost tried my first shave, but decided to wait for my soaps.

Thanks guys.

Red