I've recently decided to purchase a second shaving brush (my first is a Men-u premier synthetic brush) and have been spending way too much time gathering information trying to decide which badger brush to buy. I know ThreePutt is likely to chime in here and tell me to go straight to the top and buy a Plisson, High Mountain White ; however, I just got a quote from JJ Atkinson on that brush can't justify spending the $300 right now (but one can dream ).

Anyway, I think I've narrowed my search down to a top three and was hoping to mine the collective experience of this board for any opinions or first hand experience.
1) The current toprunner is a Shavemac #177, http://www.shavemac.com/index.php?la...en&sel=2&cat=3
2) Second is the Vulfix 2236 http://www.classicshaving.com/page/page/800550.htm
3) The last is a Savile Row SR208
http://www.qedusa.com

I know that the short answer is that it depends on what you're looking for, so here are my preferences. A good quality silvertip badger brush, good water holding, dense, soft tips, but good spring to it--I'm not looking for what I've seen described as 'moppish'. Any opinions?

TIA,
Ed