Thread: Approximately how many hairs in a good badger knot, do you think?

Originally Posted by SRNewb

Thanks for the link, Bob. That lines up with what i found.

You are welcome. Pretty staggering number when you think about, eh. Even if the knot looses a few hundred hairs there is plenty left.

Bob

I was never good at those "guess how many jelly beans in the jar" games. That's a lot of hair, much more than I would have guessed. My 31mm M&F must have a lot!

Originally Posted by BobH

You are welcome. Pretty staggering number when you think about, eh. Even if the knot looses a few hundred hairs there is plenty left.

Bob

I agree. Staggering.
I have a cheap badger here that sheds 3 or 4 hairs every time I use it. It has done so for about a year and a half, with no visible difference in denseness. If it were one of my Simpsons I'd have complained long ago, but it's price is not worth the bother. I think i've probably got several years before it begins to be a problem.

I was looking at some Fur info blogs and although that was useless for this question I found this statement which was pretty interesting keep in mind they are not talking about Badger Hair but Badger Fur but the coloring struck a chord with me that I found interesting

"Badger is long-haired and is generally used unplucked, except for the grotzen (the long, mane-like guard hairs running down the back), which is plucked. It’s a wild fur, with the color varying, depending on where the badger is from. The best badger has a natural silvery tint. Canadian badger is gray with pale white underfur, while badger from the US has gray guard hairs and creamy underfur. Asiatic (China) badger has a yellowish-brown underfur and gray guard hair. North American badger is softer and fuller than other badger. Badger is so durable that a coat can wear for years, given good care and regular cleaning"

Interesting, particularly the part about the North American badger fur being fuller and softer.

Originally Posted by SRNewb

I agree. Staggering.
I have a cheap badger here that sheds 3 or 4 hairs every time I use it. It has done so for about a year and a half, with no visible difference in denseness. If it were one of my Simpsons I'd have complained long ago, but it's price is not worth the bother. I think i've probably got several years before it begins to be a problem.

Yes, that is the attitude I am taking regarding when to worry about a knot shedding hairs.

For inexpensive Chinese badger knots I use to reknot vintage handles it is not as much problem/worry as it would be for that happening to a European hand tied knot.

For hand tied European badger knots there is no margin of error allowed for shedding at the price you have to pay for those. They had best be perfect.

Bob

Agreed. The only exception I would make is shedding for the first week. If it sheds 2 or 3 hairs a shave for the first week I'll just chalk those up to a few hairs that didn't get glued in due to the denseness of the knot. Beyond that is not acceptable, IMO.

Maybe we should have a contest. Only thing is who would count every hair in a brush?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Maybe we should have a contest. Only thing is who would count every hair in a brush?

I just did.14,345 hairs in a tgn 24mm grade A

That's weird, I counted 14,314 hairs in that one. Did you count down toward the knot so you didn't double count the split ends?

James.