I have been using a Kent BK 2 for about a year. I took my long neglected, cheap Omega boar brush on a trip recently and found it lathers just as well as the Kent and feels great on my face. The Kent costs about $70; the Omega, about $13. What justifies the extra expense of a badger brush?
Boar hair is cheaper, more plentiful and thus easier to 'harvest.' There are varying grades of badger, from pure up to the premium silvertip; there is also a high demand for it and thus, this is reflected in the overall higher costs associated with badger brushes. This doesn't make a badger brush necessarily 'better' as many do prefer the boar. But a good quality badger brush is tough to beat!
You might want to consider a bestshave .net #6 horse hair brush. Some people say they aren't horse but rather boar. I think they are horse. But either way I have used one for about two years now and I love it, reasonably soft but with lots of backbone. For around $5 shipped the price is hard to beat..
Having used vie-longs I need to try one of those brushes. AFAIK horse does not get softer with use and form experience I know it is scritchy. I might have to get one to see for myself.
When I say soft I don't mean to imply its soft like some Badger brushes, which I find overly soft, but I find the #6 has a very nice feel on my face. Also I own and have used 2 Vie-Longs and the #6 feels different from them. Like I said for $5 its worth a try IMO...
Badger brushes are good but I believe over rated. I like using Boar Brushes for soaps and Badger for creams. To pay high prices for brushes to me is rediculous!
I'm one who also tends to be conservative in my approach to brush expenses. However, what one considers a 'high' price is highly subjective. To me, paying over $100 for a brush is way too much, but to others, it is not. We all find and determine our comfort level and then make the decision on whether a product is worth it. Some folks believe paying over $10 for a good shave soap is ridiculous; some of us believe otherwise. Neither is wrong.
In my limited experience boar brushes (i use an Omega 48 ~$13) are great for drier shaving soaps. It has softened and split considerably and feels soft on the face while still far stiffer than my AoS silvertip. Badger brushes hold more water than boar, and that can be problematic for me, due to hard water. I find it is easiest to get crazy piles of lather with the Omega 48...but it is a huge brush. I initially got caught up in buying "premium" accessories...but I know realize that technique and skill in building lather is paramount over the actual choice. I like boar for travel especially, as boar brushes are cheaper to replace if lost. It is possible to get great lather either way. If you want luxury and badger...go for it. If you wanna save a few bucks, get a good boar brush by Omega or any well known maker. You wont regret either way.
I like to use both. I find Boars to be great for hard soaps, and Badgers best for my creams, but when it comes to face lathering, for me, nothing beats a Badger.
+ a gazillion, especially silver tips. I have a few TGN and Whipped Dog silver tips and they aren't even close to the TGN finest in performance and value. For me it's synthetic>boar>badger.
Kent is another marquee name in the wet shaving world and invariably you'll pay a bit more just for the brand name. Simpson, Plisson, Rooney...same deal. Omega does actually make some more expensive brushes, but to their credit they continue to produce a stunning variety of common, sort of drugstore variety brushes as well. The density of a good badger brush is something that'll always be missing from even the best boars, but the thicker bristles that make them less dense are also the source of what's so appealing in a boar, namely the firm backbone. The dense badger hair also holds heat a lot better than the boar bristles, but a boar in a scuttle does a pretty good job too IMO. So, as ever, you makes yer choices and you takes the ride... Lately I've been playin' 'round with some of the 2-band badger knots and experimenting with setting them lower than you'd typically see, and they're performing really well for me. Still not really anything like the firmness of a nice boar, but much better than any other badger I'd tried over the years (mostly Pure and a couple of Silvertips there). But of course it's all just a matter of personal tastes and preferences. Whaddaya like Spike?
Mine is on the way. They told me it could take 20 to 40 days to deliver. But, the price is right. I've been wanting this brush a long time. They finally have it back in stock.
I'm glad to hear the #6 is back in stock.. I like to throw a #6 brush in any order I make from bestshave. It does take a little while for a bestshave order to come, but so far at least they have always made it to me. I just place the order and then forget about it, then before you know it, like Christmas, your order has arrived..
Truth of the matter is you can get a very nice badger for not much more than the cost of a couple of those $13 Omegas. I enjoy the difference in feel between boar and badger but try as I might I just can't get into horse.
Some cheap "pure bristle" brushed were useless except their handle,that's why i bought them The Boars are far more trusted,it's very difficult to say "failure" with a blonde Boar knot. Badgers have more "look" especially in the photos but many can disappoint you and ruin your wallet Trust the Boars !
What gets me is when someone says they can't use a certain grade of badger because it irritates their skin. Come on, it's all FUR! I know,I know, YMMV, but really. I can feel the difference between all the grades but it makes no difference to me.
Have you ever tried the #6 horse hair from bestshave.net? For $5 shipped it's worth a try. To me at least it doesn't feel like a Vie-Long horse, I don't know how to explain it, but it's different. It maybe one reason why many people thinks it boar?
