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Right now I'm using an Omega boar brush with wooden handle. I have absolutely no complaints as it lathers up thick and rich suds. BUT as with everything else... I want more and I want to experience this badger that everyone talks about?
Is there a noticeable difference between badger/fine badgher/silvertip badger?
Where are all of you finding the latest and greatest deals on these brushes??? I'm trying not to go into debt buying one.
For the longest time I used a best badger brush that I picked up from Fendrihan. They don't seem to have that particular one any more, but they do have a whole "Beginner - Entry Level" selection to check out. The have quick shipping in Canada too which is nice.
But the other brush I use came from Whippeddog. It's a silvertip that really didn't coast any more than a lot of badger brushes. My suggestion would be to check there. You pick your own combination of knot and handle, so there's also opportunity for customization that you don't get at most retailers.
Good luck!
Thanks brother. Unfortunately the whippeddog website is down right now :(
Italianbarber.com has a lot of omega badger brushes for a good price. I have the 599 silvertip and love it. You can also check out people that sell vulfix brushes as they tend to run at a lower price point overall. I know west coast shaving sells them.
You're very welcome!Quote:
Originally Posted by brooksie967
Looks like just his front page is down - the innards of the site are working: Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment
I aquired a custom handled brush with a TGN 26 mm Finest Badger XH knot and find that the knot compares well to my Simpson Chubby 1 Best badger knot. A deal at about $ 26 for the knot.
To tell you the truth I've never found any bargain basement shaving supply sites of any kind anywhere. pretty much everyone charges pretty much the same thing for comparable items though some sites do have periodic sales if you hit them right and they have what you want. For brushes some of the smaller makers seem to have the best prices. You have to check with owners of these brushes and see how they like them and how they stand up to use.
Yeah, I agree with theBigSpendur. These things often change on even a weekly basis, and your best bet is to do as much research as you can, get as many opinions as you can, then bite the bullet. Me, I've been happy with the 3 badger ones I have - all silvertips, none cost me more than 150 bucks I think, which I know is a lot of money but I figure since I am not a brush collector the price is a lifetime price, if you know what I mean.
Good luck.
James.
Agreed. Pick a make/model that appeals to you and then shop around. You can usually find a vendor that is a few bucks cheaper or has a sale going on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
For the most part, brush prices seem to vary according to type/grade of badger hair, knot size, and handle material. The former can be somewhat misleading, given that the characteristics of stiff/floppy, scritchy/soft, etc. can (and do) vary between brushes, regardless of whether they're advertised as "silvertip", "best", "finest", or whatever. As for price, my take is that while you ought to "get what you pay for", it's easy to pay too much (or too little) and not get what you were hoping for.
I own two Rooney shaving brushes, both are silvertip badger, in the 1/1 style/size -- one is in "super", and costs $79, the other is in "finest" (no longer available), and cost $199. I also own a Plisson shaving brush, size #12 -- in pure black badger, and costs $78.
To be honest, my favorite of the three is the Plisson -- I have found it to be equally good with soaps and creams (disclaimer: My "creams" -- Castle Forbes and Cyril R. Salter -- are much closer to soaps, than to creams). If I was compelled to keep only one shaving brush, it would be the Plisson, in pure black badger.
Nevertheless, owning two $80 shaving brushes won't break the bank... especially if you "Xmas Club" it, and put aside the money over a year's time ($14/month is doable, no?). My advice: Don't buy cheap -- inexpensive is good ($80/brush good), but "cheap" is usually lower-quality that doesn't necessarily cost that much less.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Rooney 1/1 ("Finest" on L; "Super" on R)
Attachment 106845
Plisson #12 (in Pure Black Badger)
Attachment 106846
Alright, with the WHERE part out of the way, what are people's opinions on the different varieties of badger hair? Is there a 'substantial' difference between the 'fine' badger hair or the black compared to a 100% silvertip brush?????????
I'm so lost :)
Thanks JBHoren! You and I were clearly writing at the same time!!!
Brooksie, While I agree w/ TBS and Ryan, I was most helped by JBHoren - thank you!
I'm not at all comfortable w/ the 'dive in and takes your chances' approach. All it does is encourage each other to blow money. Repeatedly. So how we lather, soaps/creams we use would seem relevant. Bowl, scuttle, face-lather? Hard french soaps or soft creams?
As a generalization, the badgers are ALOT better at holding water and making less mess while face-lathering. That is a nice convenience. Boar lovers will talk about backbone - stiffness of the bristles, but more than one very experienced shaver has mentioned they have badgers with more backbone than the boars they tried. The stiff, scritchy boar will serve well for the guy that uses hard soaps and face-lathers. For new production boar, the Semogue 620 is as good as I've tried. You can read Obie's review on it. My older brushes seem more stout in backbone. How a brush feels dry has little relation to how it feels wet.
In badgers, I'm not qualified to speak, but it would help guys aim their comments better if you talk a little about how you lather and what kinds of soaps/creams you use, and if you love scritchy or floppy feather duster feel on your face. Jimmyhad once mentioned having some badgers that had serious backbone, and if I were to buy - I'd ask him and degeingail (sp) - who makes brushes, what he'd recommend for the kind of lathering you like best.
I'm just a cheapskate on brushes. I can't make peace w/ the badger prices, so I enjoy the better boars and some older boars.
You may find some help on Fido's blog - Brushes - mostly badgers are his thing. This is the link of his pics for best buys.
Fido's Shaving Brush Blog: Best buys
In response to your questions, there is a noticeable difference between a boar and badger. I like them both. A badger feels more luxurious on your face, holds more water, and retains more heat. You will know what I mean the first time you use one. I recommend a fine or silvertip if you really want a brush that is materially different from a boar. Good luck!
Badger definitely holds more water but I've got boar brushes that are softer than some badger brushes I've had.
I also have a badger brush with more backbone than than most of my boar brushes. I won't even talk about my synthetic from L'Occitaine other than to say it is amazing for a compact travel brush.
If you don't want to break the bank figuring out what you like but still want to try different things I'd suggest picking up an Omega 1099 ("The Professional" is how mine was marked when I bought it for 16 bucks at the local barber supply shop). It's a great boar brush that has decent backbone but is nice and soft and has a very short break in period. If you want to try a Badger get a Frank Shaving brush (eBay or Star Shaving). Pick a grade of badger (I'd suggest a middle grade) and give it a whirl. I paid maybe $26 for mine. That gives you two decent brushes for less than $50. The Frank brush I have is soft as heck and holds a lot of water. Doesn't have as much backbone as I like but I'm glad I didn't spend $100 to find out.
I ended up with a Thater two band with a bulb shaped head. It's like a babies butt had a baby with a kitten and a cloud and somehow has enough backbone to stand up to my coarse beard.
I don't use the Frank as much these days but I still pull out the Omega pretty regularly. If the knot had less loft I would be in heaven with it. The advantage of buying a couple of brushes of middling quality is you can find out what you like and dislike without breaking the bank. Then you can break the bank on a great brush that is exactly what you like.
Also, I keep meaning to try out a horse hair brush. But that's a story for another day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bharner
LOL! I think I'll have to try one of these JUST because of your detailed description!
I've got a Franks Shaving Silvertip and a Best Badger.
I actually prefer the silvertip (my most recent aquisition), however, the best has served me well for the past year or so.
IIRC the best was around $32 delivered and the silvertip around $42.
Great value I reckon
Try Classic Shaving, or Fendrihan (which is Canadian). As for not going in debt, this might be an issue, as they can get quite expensive. (I don't want to list prices because they vary so much depending on the brand name). Browse around, there's plenty to choose from. I have a Vulfix Super Badger that was priced decent from Fendrihan.
For the money, the Thater's are the best bargain for a top quality brush out there in my opinion. Good backbone and soft tips especially in the bulb that provides simply a great lather every day. Whether you face lather or bowl lather, these brushes are awesome.Quote:
Originally Posted by brooksie967
Have fun
As it has not been mentioned and I forgot to mention it myself if you can find it at your local target the Shea moisturizer badger brush is a good pure badger brush that is really low cost.
It's a bit on the floppy side so it will contrast your boar pretty good and give you a good idea of where you want a more expensive brush to be at.
Do you have a particular Thater which you consider to be better than the rest, or are they all basically the same? There's so many to choose from.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
I like the two bands a lot. I also find myself using my 49125 model of the finest silvertip a ton. I have a few others, but this model fits my hand really well. My sweet spot these days is really around the 24mm knot, but I will go up to 26mm. Used to use 28mm and bigger, but not for the last few years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firefighter2
Have fun
I have to say, I didn't read all the other posts, but as I've said before, if you want a great brush on the cheap, try checking out The Golden Nib's website. I got their Super Silver Tip Badger Knot (their best quality knot) in 24mm for about $33 and a nice resign handle from them too for around $22. A little 5 minute epoxy and 5 minutes of work and you have a brush that can stand up to any $200 job IMHO!:beer1:Enjoy!
Lynn just confirmed my first real pick of brushes! (my two VDH brushes don't count!) My 'happy birthday present to me' will be on its way shortly!
Alright, I think i'm going with the 'goldennib' route!
I tried Inronsidegnr's black badger brush this morning and loved the luxurious soft feeling but desire more backbone. Will the silvertip provide me with the backbone I want???
Not based on the name, alone; no. "Silvertip" is as much a descriptor of color, as anything else; and, even there, the variations in presentation run from two-band to three-band, with a wide variety of shades within the "color palette". Nope, "silvertip" is no guarantee of anything, let alone specific physical characteristics. Now, if a silvertip knot with "backbone" is what you're looking for, you might want to ask, specifically, about makes-and-models of shaving brushes which fit that description.Quote:
Originally Posted by brooksie967
Don't let that money "burn a hole in your pocket" :w
These are the two brushes I'm considering. The Thater 4125 two band finest silver tip and 49125 finest silver tip. I would have thought the two band was just a step up plain and simple but this comment makes me think the 49125 has a few perks of it's own. Am I reading into this correctly?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
To me, the biggest difference is that the Two Bands have a little more backbone. They remind me of the old Rooney Finest brushes only with softer feeling tips.Quote:
Originally Posted by SchoonerBum
Have fun.
I used my "cheap" or "entry level" brush for some time before I stepped up and got higher end.
But oh that first shave with the quality brush! I'll never forget it lol. It was so soft, so comforting... Quality comes at a price, but it's soooo worth it lol.
You are going to love your Thater me thinks.
A couple months ago I bought a brush on Amazon that I really like. It was my first badger. Go to Amazon and look for Wet Shaving Products brushes. For $43 I got a badger brush with backbone. The loft is a little shorter, but it is nice and soft, and whips up a good lather. I am not sure if it is silvertip or best badger. I think one description said silvertip and one didn't. Anyway, it has a very soft feel from day one, has shed only a few hairs and is very densely packed. Worth the money.
Both the brushes I use are from Fendrihan. I have the pure badge and the silvertip. Silvertip was about $53 IIRC. Phil at the Classic Edge also carries some nice house brand brushes. I ordered a pure badger for a friend a while back in the $30 ish range and was very pleased with its quality.
