Thread: Newest horse in the stable

Originally Posted by dlmarmon

Mine smelled like moth balls. It is the best brush, of the whopping two in my collection, that I have. I like it better than the badger that I have. I went for the cheaper Vie-Long. Yours looks even nicer.

How did you get his legs apart to get a sniff?

Originally Posted by jaswarb

The Premium feels like badger with great backbone. Probably similar to those $200plus dollar Silvertip brushes but in horse hair.
Attachment 96386
Hair mix: 50% mane hair; 50% tail hair
Overall Length-108mm
Handle Length-48mm
Loft-60mm
Knot-23mm

Jaswarb,
I have that same model brush and like it, even though it's a bit scratchy. It works well with soap or cream. I beg to differ with you, however, in comparing that particular horse hair brush to some of the high end badgers. I cannot see that brush being "similar" to or in the same class as the Thater or the Simpson silver tips, both of which I also have. Yes, this Vie-Long has good backbone, nice and full, and it holds water well and lathers well, and it's a well made and quality brush, but then we can't compare it to those coveted silver tips. Each in its own class, I'd say.

Originally Posted by Obie

Jaswarb,...I beg to differ with you, however, in comparing that particular horse hair brush to some of the high end badgers. I cannot see that brush being "similar" to or in the same class as the Thater or the Simpson silver tips, both of which I also have. Yes, this Vie-Long has good backbone, nice and full, and it holds water well and lathers well, and it's a well made and quality brush, but then we can't compare it to those coveted silver tips. Each in its own class, I'd say.

I defer to your far better informed opinion. I am speaking from ignorant speculation. It isn't likely I will ever experience the vaunted luxury of "high class brushes" be they Thaters, Simpsons, or otherwise. I respect your reputation Obie and stand corrected. Thank you.

Jaswarb,
If you can, though, my friend, somewhere down the line, try one of these silver tip wonders. They are a delight to shave with. Now, not all soar in price. Some of the, say, 22 mm. silver tips from Thater, for instance, offer prices that are not scary. Even if you can try a Simpson best badger or super badger, you'll be amazed at how uplifting your shaves will be.
Stay well.

I have the same brush and all I can say is, "what a work horse it is"! It's my travel brush for its ability to perform well on all kinds of water hardness. Gives good lather with a touch of luxury.

It attack my hardest soaps as well as my luxurious creams and gives good warm lather with a certain softness that most boars don't have (except for a well broken in Semouge OC).

Haven't tried any high end silver tip from Thather or any of the ones Obie name. I hope, God permitting, try one some day! So far the only silvertip I have is a Frank Shave and is very soft but it is a bit tricky to load hard soaps. For the warmest and most luxurious of cream shave nothing like the frank shave silvertip for me. Double O

Originally Posted by Obie

Jaswarb,
I have that same model brush and like it, even though it's a bit scratchy. It works well with soap or cream. I beg to differ with you, however, in comparing that particular horse hair brush to some of the high end badgers. I cannot see that brush being "similar" to or in the same class as the Thater or the Simpson silver tips, both of which I also have. Yes, this Vie-Long has good backbone, nice and full, and it holds water well and lathers well, and it's a well made and quality brush, but then we can't compare it to those coveted silver tips. Each in its own class, I'd say.

Well, I have one of the unbleached Vie-Long Horses (12705, which indeed smelled pretty bad the first few times). It seems to break in rather fast, as it started out very scitchy but after five or six uses (and a bit longer soaking time than my badgers) it is getting very soft. Not as soft as my Thäter 41925/0, but softer than my Semogue 1460 boar was after a good two months of use and almost equal to my New Forest two-band. It holds as much water and lather as the Thäter, and releases it in the same manner. It's not quite a luxurious three-band silvertip, but beats a TGN three-banded silvertip I used to have by a mile, having much better backbone. It is only just a runner up to my Thäter actually, I really like it that much (very much personal preference, of course).

I didn't expect that, but am very pleased. It's a brown-and-red, inconspicuous looking little monster (knot: 23mm, loft: 60mm), but performs much better than you could ever imagine based on it looks (and price).

Someone did a comparison of Vie Long horse brushes on ArtisanShaving a while back, and apparently the bleached ones are slightly softer and have less backbone than the unbleached ones. They really don't get the attention they deserve, in my opinion they outperform boars by far, as well as some middle-of-the-road badgers. I must add I recently stopped face lathering as I get better results bowl lathering. The horse feels scritchier when using circling motions directly on the face, although that is rapidly improving with every use too (I usually tend to swirl a few times on my face anyway, force of habit I guess).

And indeed Jaswarb, 22mm Thäters, even new, are quite affordable. I got my 41925/0 used, it's knot is listed as measuring 22mm while actually it was closer to 23.5mm.

I received a couple of horse brushes in the mail yesterday. One was a qualty brush, and the other was only a couple of dollars and was bought on a whim. Can't wait to try them, but dear Lord do they smell. I lathered them up and rinsed them last night, and I'm leaving them in the sun in a window today. I'll lather them up again tonight, and maybe they'll be ready afterwards. The Vie-Long looks and feels (to the hand) like a quality brush, and the other (Turkish) may have potential on hard soaps, we'll see.

Since I won't be playing golf this weekend (too cold here on Long Island), I took the money I would have spent on the links and ordered a Vie-Long 13061 Premium Horse Hair Shaving Brush from ShaveTools.com. The price was right (I got it on sale for $32 -- I even understand you get a free gift with orders over $30, so I'm curious to see what that is), and from the photos at least, it's a handsome piece.

I've been using hard soaps for years so the extra backbone it promises will be most welcome. I'm anxious to compare it to my vintage badger and my new Mulhle Silvertip. I'm envisioning where I may use the (smaller) vintage brush as a travel brush, the Vie for hard soaps, and the Muhle for shaving creams, which I want to add to the rotation.

Originally Posted by Peter57

Since I won't be playing golf this weekend (too cold here on Long Island), I took the money I would have spent on the links and ordered a Vie-Long 13061 Premium Horse Hair Shaving Brush from ShaveTools.com. The price was right (I got it on sale for $32 -- I even understand you get a free gift with orders over $30, so I'm curious to see what that is), and from the photos at least, it's a handsome piece.

I've been using hard soaps for years so the extra backbone it promises will be most welcome. I'm anxious to compare it to my vintage badger and my new Mulhle Silvertip. I'm envisioning where I may use the (smaller) vintage brush as a travel brush, the Vie for hard soaps, and the Muhle for shaving creams, which I want to add to the rotation.

Sounds like the best free gift would be a clothespin. Something to put on your nose to block the smell until it goes away. I bet it's soap though.

LOL - actually it didn't smell, although it did lose some dye the first outing. The brush works well with hard soaps - lots of backbone. The free gift was a plastic stand.