Thread: Benefits from high end badgers?

Another consideration is feel. While everyone focuses on "soft silvertip," soft isn't actually for everyone. I personally like some scrub. And within both the soft and scrubby camp you will find a huge range of prices.

I have a $5 Marvy boar I use for traveling and brushes which cost way too much to admit. Both make a lather. With enough time, the $5 brush can make nearly as good of a lather as brushes costing many times more. So whats the difference you ask? Feel. For me, shaving is more than a necessity, it is a pleasure. The right badger brush adds exponentially to that experience for me.

That being said, if you are in this hobby to save money, then no, a $200 brush isn't worth it. A $40-60 brush will be almost as good. But to me, my brushes are worth every penny, as I enjoy them each and every morning. There are people here with 5, 10, or more brushes. I admit, I am one of those. But while someone may say, why is that necessary? The same could be asked of the scotch drinker with 50 whiskeys in his collection. That being variety.

As noted above, Shavemac brushes are very good. Another point is that Silvertip badger is the highest grade of badger hair of which there are other levels based on banding. I have a bunch of new and vintage brushes and my Shavemac 23mm Silvertip is my go to brush. The other brushes I have are other silvertips in 23mm, super badger in 28mm, numerous pure badger in 21mm and 18mm both vintage and recent mfg. as well as boar and some mixed badger and boar. They all lather up well but I like the feel and size of the Shavemac over the others. I have used a Thater and it is a fine brush also, a bit more firm and if I had one it would get used a lot.

If you looking to improve on your Shavemac I would suggest giving it a cleaning every so often. I usually give mine a good cleaning in Borax 20 Mule Team to remove the mineral buildup. I whip the Borax and water mix with the brush and then let it soak for a while. Then I rinse it out thoroughly and give it a shampoo w/ what ever shampoo CarrieM purchased last and is in use. Again rinse thoroughly. A clean brush will give better results than one that is clogged regardless of the price paid or the hairs in the brush. Give it a try and let us know what you find.

It's like a prostitute and a high dollar call girl...The performance is the same..It's the walk to the hotel room that is different..... Not that Iwould use either, nor do I wish to offend anyone...it is just an analogy. I Wallmart brush works fine, but a hand turned exotic wood handled fully trimmed silver tip sure looks nice..

I am no expert but I have a Simpson 57, New Forest 2213, Vulfix 2235, Vie Long Badger & Horse Mix and a couple of boar brushes.

As far as performance goes they all produce a great lather. The Simpson is by far the best in terms of how it feels on my face, the Few Forest and vulfix are much softer (floppier) and the Vie Long is new and I'm still learning how it works but so far I think it might rival the Simpson as my preferred brush both in looks and feel.

It all depends on your perspective. You could easily use your hands to lather as you have a better feel for your whiskers and will perform an adequate job, but with not as much lather. Good brushes usually provide many years of service with a nice feel.
You do not need a $100 or $200 brush unless you want to indulge at some point to make a comparison. You have birthdays and Christmas to suggest desires.
Happy shavings.

High end brushes are just that, you pay for the quality of the craftsmanship and the materials that go into it, also the experience that the company has manufacturing brushes.

Just like a crappy GM or Ford vs. a Bentley. They are all cars, do you want a car or do you want luxury. Can you tell the difference between the top of the line Ford vs. Rolls Royce, ride quality, suspension, handling whatever you want to compare

Just like a crappy Paki Razor vs Thiers Issard. Same discussion. If you think that a brush is just a brush then you are not after the quality and the luxury that they provide.

Sam

While there is certainly an element of that, Sam, I'd say that it's more of a ymmv thing. My Omega Pro 49 was the least expensive of my brushes, yet the performance is on par with all of them. Backbone and soft tips, great lather and it seems like it could survive a nuclear war. Not bad for under $10. Comparing TI to a Pakistani razor is not the same. Never mind that my last TI had crooked scales with a blemish in the finish. Sometimes, "you get what you pay for" needs to be tempered by "a fool and his money are soon parted". More expensive does not always mean better.

You know, I never considered myself a brush whore, that is to say, I was always happy with one brush. Years ago, when I started using shave soap in a mug, (Williams) and an old cheap wal mart brush, ( I can probaby count the hairs in it) I was fat, dumb and happy as they say. It wasn't until I first picked up a straight that I bought my first quality brush, A Rooney Super badger, I couldn't believe they could actually get that many hairs in a handle. Surely, there must be a bald badger running around somewhere. I was happy with that brush for a long time, I didn't see any reason to get another. What for? Sure, it's a lather hog, but it's a really nice lather hog. Ignorance is bliss.

Of course the forum has a way of changing your mind. All the AD's set in. I'm now the proud owner of 9 brushes, including one vintage DD restored by Gssixgun, Thank you Glen...and one custom from Deighaingeal, Thank you Gerrit. (That also includes two new group buy Thaters) I never thought I'd own more than one brush. I have to say, I like the differences from brush to brush. Some are better for soaps. some creams, and so on. If I had to choose one, say, at gunpoint....It'd probably be my Simpson PJ3. It's just perfect for me, in every aspect. YMMV.

P.S. Joed is absolutely correct about the Borax. You need to do that every so often, to give your brush(es) a proper cleaning.

Badger, Horse, and boar brushes all have different properties in terms of softness, water retention, etc. Any well made brush will make a good lather, and can give you a good shave. In that sense, anything above a $12.00 Omega boar is a waste of money. As long as you get untrimmed boar from a reputable brush maker like Omega, Vie-long, or Semogue, you have a brush that will serve all your shaving needs. Any one who says otherwise is misinformed, lying, or both.

That doesn't mean that there aren't reasons to buy a more expensive brush, because there are. There are real advantages to more expensive brushes. If you want extra soft tips, then you want high end badger. If you want to skip the break in period of boar, then you want horse or badger. Concerned about the animal it came from, then you want horse or synthetic. Perhaps you want a brush that looks nice, and if so, you want a more expensive brush, too.

If getting a decent shave on as little money is all that matters to you, then you won't ever need more than my travel kit, which is made up of a user grade flair tip superspeed DE, a couple packs of blades, an omega boar brush, and a stick of Arko soap. It gives me good shaves every time and cost me around $20.00 for the entire kit. I can tell you that I have a lot more razors, soaps, and brushes (including some silvertip) at home. Why? Because, I enjoy variety, and enjoy the feeling of luxury I get using higher end products. To me, it is worth spending extra money on, but whether subtle improvements in look and feel of a brush are worth spending ten or even 50 times as much as an omega boar costs? Only you can know that.

Originally Posted by Bruno

SNIP... but that is like arguing that a ferrari is better than a porche or the other way around... SNIP

Bad analogy; a Ferrari is definitely better than a Porsche.

I get through life with a little Twizerman (sp?) badger that I traded for a microtome that I got on the bay thinking it was a razor. It's my first and only badger, and it's softer than my Omega boar and much softer than the CVS VDH boar, but can't really tell that any of them makes better lather or makes for a better shave.

I can tell that the Omega is better for face lathering, but since I joined here and got schooled I now use a scuttle because, you know, I'm refined now. Certainly not refined enough to drop $200 on a brush, not that I'm knocking anyone that thinks it's worth it.

Maybe one day I'll get the itch and buy an "expensive" brush like that, but for now I'm quite happy with my admittedly inexpensive trio.