Thread: Ok, my brain is melting. Just starting

I didn't realize what a can of worms I was opening when I bought my straight razor. Razor.... check. Strop.... check. Soap.... check. Brush..... oh crap.

I'm thinking badger or possibly horse for my first brush until I know what I really prefer. What it comes down to for me right now is price vs quality. I see a lot of lower end badger brushes around the 'net for twenty to thirty bucks. I also found the vie long horse sitting right in the middle of that price point.

The question becomes where is the cut off for fair quality.

I have no idea what I'm going to end up preferring and at this moment just want to get something to start with.

I know this is really really open as far as questions go, but are there 30 dollar badger brushes that aren't a complete waste of money?

Thanks
Ruffy

PS - don't mind the smoke coming from my ears.

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Brushes are one of those things where you don't know what you like until you try them. A trial and error thing and that's when you have a large budget.

For a first brush I'd stay away from horse and consider badger or boar. You can get a very nice boar for you budget. In badger some of the secondary brands like Omega and Vie Long and a few other will have badger in your range. In general for that price you will get a pure badger type which is on the prickly side. For around $60 or so you can move up to a best badger which is the best bang for your buck in badger. The name brand sellers like Thater and Simpson will be the most expensive but be of the best quality. You pretty much get what you pay for. You can also have one of our talented members make a brush for you. Check the brushmakers alcove for some ideas and if you are handy maybe you can try yourself.

I have a Thater 4342. It's in the $30-40 range. The brush has a 21 mm knot of fine badger. This brush has lasted three years with no problems yet.

It certainly can feel like opening a can of worms, but you are just a brush away from getting started and then you can take your time and open that can up more as you feel ready. There are plenty of badger brushes in your price range that won't be a "total waste of money" and will get you lathered up just fine. It will probably come down to just picking one and trying it for a while. To learn more about badger brushes you can search for threads here on SRP about them and also Google "different grades of badger shaving brushes".

I think for a beginner there are 2 camps of brush fans that out there you got your Boar brush and your badger brush people and of course like me guys that use either or and enjoy both. Ill make two suggestions that will give you a good experience that wont break the bank so to speak. Boar brush, yes regardless of the nay sayers out there, boar brushes work very well and Omega makes many very inexpensive varieties of boar brush usually under 20 bucks. Badger brushes, you asked if there is a badger brush that is inexpensive and still has the qualities we all enjoy in a badger? Yes there is Franks Shaving co. makes a great 2 band finest badger under 50 bucks. It has a very decent knot not floppy at all and has the luxury feel of your typically more expensive high end European manufacturer. I have one and enjoy using it and abusing it. it gets more mileage than my Thaters because its not as precious. Its just and excellent tool. I would look at those two brands if your on a budget. Either is very functional.

I've tried a lot of brushes and still think Omega boars are great. This one serves really well for just about anything in my opinion, cream bowl-lathering, hard soap loading before face-lathering (when broken-in): Omega #80267 - Banded Boar - Girdled Ivory White Handle.

As far as cheap badgers go, I've found this Vulfix to be pretty good, although I wouldn't want to face-lather with it on a regular basis (better for bowl-lathering, in other words): http://www.ebay.com/itm/152157230354...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT.

All in all, I think boar gives the best value for the cheap buck.

Where are you located? There may be a member nearby with a few different ones you can check out.

Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

It certainly can feel like opening a can of worms, but you are just a brush away from getting started and then you can take your time and open that can up more as you feel ready. There are plenty of badger brushes in your price range that won't be a "total waste of money" and will get you lathered up just fine. It will probably come down to just picking one and trying it for a while. To learn more about badger brushes you can search for threads here on SRP about them and also Google "different grades of badger shaving brushes".

+1

Buy what you can afford to get started.

I'm in Winston Salem, NC

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Just to muddy the waters even further I'm going to suggest you also take a look at synthetic brushes. I've become a big fan of these knots and I think that they may offer the widest variety of options for the beginner on a budget. As far as what some of those options are, some yutz posted his own experiences around here somewhere...

Synthetic Brush Shootout

In all honesty, I myself started with a budget badger and was relatively happy with it for many years. The best option is to find a mentor who might have a few brushes you can take for a spin so that you can figure out what you like in a brush and go for something that is in your budget and that will at least come close to that feel.

Of course then you risk having Tc, or one of his brethren, hooking you on high dollar shavemac knots. Next thing you know you're buying Martin de Candre by the truck load (all sales include a royalty to Obie) and waiting for your next custom razor to be delivered.