The Clear Handled H.I.S. Up Close And Personal

For some time I have been discussing the upcoming clear handled H.I.S. Synthetic Brush. Well now it is here and we can look at it up close and personal.

My review for the original black handled H.I.S. Synthetic Brush is available at:

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/h-i-s-synthetic-brush.28218/

This brush has the same dimensions as the original brush but with a clear handle instead of ebony. However the pictures do bear out one change that does not effect the great performance. It affects the look of the knot. The banding has now been made to be less uniform which allows the brush to look more natural than before. The brush is extremely thick and soft and as the original brush would create a large amount of lather. The ends of the fibers are as soft as my Silvertip Badger brushes.

Here are the photos.







Now this brush (clear or ebony) is in my top three along with the MÜHLE 35 K 252 25mm and my custom Silvertip Badger. Along with the MÜHLE 35 K 252, I have come around on the larger brush in the area of synthetics based on using a variety of sizes in that class.

Another thing that stands out on this brush is the price and ease of ordering. It is available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Strokes-H-I-S-Shaving-Handle/dp/B0088HXMK2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339193045&sr=8-2&keywords=h.i.s. shaving brush

With shipping inside the U.S. it totals up to $32.40 at the current time. This is a high quality brush at a price most users can afford.

I hope that this provides additional insight into this both wonderful looking and performing brush.

 

Its a nice looking brush, I wonder how it compares to the omega Lucretia Borgia or Frank Shaving synthetic or the TGN synthetic knot.

I must resist

 

Outclasses them all. I have the others and it is not even close to a contest. The H.I.S. is softer, larger, generates much more lather. I rank it with the top of the line MÜHLE 35 K 252 25mm or my Silvertips and that says a lot. Take a look at the original thread and you will see that where the Franks / TGN / 23 mm standard knots end is where the softness of the H.I.S. begins!

 

That's a really nice brush Gary..looks great along side the black handled one. I was hoping though for a bit more transparency..perhaps if you install a cloaking device..

 

The Lather Monster needs no cloak!

 

From:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/o-k-the-clear-handle-h-i-s-is-out.28835/

 

hmmm... well in that case, I still must resist. But I fear that resistance is futile and I will be assimilated.

 

BTW: it just figures, I have been swamped these last few months and have been actually doing good at not buying any shaving gear (other than the tradere razor) for quite some time. Today was the last day of the school year. I start trying to get back into things here, and now I went and used that evil 1 click shopping button on Amazon.

 

Once down the dark side of the shaving acquisition..and I think he's there.. forever will it rule your destiny..2

 

Well..we all know there is no try..only do or do not..so in this case it's probably do not..lol..

 

Since I have been using a wide variety of synthetics both in size and manufacturers, I have found that the synthetic class of brush is the only one in which size really does matter.

The reason is that the fibers of a synthetic are solid versus a natural hair which has microscopic gaps or pockets if you will. The natural hair brushes will hold water better than the synthetics due to these natural pockets. One drawback to these pockets is that you must take greater care because over time the natural brush becomes less effective if it is not properly cleaned to get out the lather and minerals that accumulate over time.

Because of the solid nature of the synthetic fibers they will not hold heat as well, but you can apply warmer water to the brush than a badger safely. A scuttle will help in solving many of the heat issues.

As a synthetic knot becomes larger and more densely packed, the fibers are close enough that more water is more easily retained between the fibers, and the brush behaves more and more like a natural brush, when it comes to water retention. Also, with the larger more tightly packed brush, the fibers rub against each other creating even more efficient lathering. Backbone also increases with the more densely packed brushes.

Now the knot size sweet spot range that I am talking about lies somewhere between 24 and 28 mm. I have been informed that it is difficult to create a synthetic larger than 28 mm due to the fact that the density of the fibers would make the shape a round grouping of fibers instead of being able to fan out like a brush should. Maybe this will change as the technology improves in order to increase the size.

The Muhle 35 K 252 and the H.I.S. are 25 mm and 28 mm respectively and they are absolute lather monsters in terms of generation and application. The Muhle 33 K 257 at 23 mm is a very good brush, but in using all these brushes and others, the larger Muhle 35 K 252 and the H.I.S. are my synthetics of choice due to size, backbone, softness, water retention while using the brush and shortened drying times after the shave.

 

Maybe even faux horn like my Muhle perhaps?



One of the best looking brushes in my stable along with said clear handle.

 

Gary, I have that faux horn Muhle on it's way to me now, but it's a 21mm. I know you really like the larger synthetics for water retention reason, but I prefer the smaller for the same reason just on the opposite end of the spectrum. I prefer to make a denser lather that has just enough water to make it slick but not fully developed. I was more soap solids, not less, so the bit less water retention in the smaller synthetics is perfect for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how the density of the Silvertip Fibre changes things compared to my less dense Black Fibre. With all that said I would still highly consider a H.I.S. brush especially if the handle was improved upon. I'm not a fan of either of their current offerings.

 

Interesting points. One thing to know about using a larger knot brush is to not completely dunk the knot to the breech. Dunk it a quarter to half way and that will provide more water control. I can get a very thick lather if I want to with this brush by minimizing the water applied because again, there are more fibers to rub against each other so the lather can be generated very quickly. I can easily customize from thick to thin with this brush as well as my 25 mm Muhle by using a small amount of water and augmenting with additional water as I go (you can always add but you can't take away easily).

On the handle, a large knot will require a larger handle by its very nature. Larger handles are a good thing for those with big hands (I am not one of those people) or hand injuries that cause issues holding a most brush (I do somewhat fit in that category).

This is a large brush, but I, like many others who started off with 20 mm knots and small handles, have migrated up to the larger handles without an issue.

 

I have been on the dark side of AD for far too long.... thousands of blades, 50+ razors, over a dozen brushes and countless soaps creams and other stuff..... good thing I have fountain pen AD to reduce my shaving AD.

 

And there's always watches..

 

Well, I changed my approach this morning to see if I could make an extremely dense lather with the H.I.S. brush. Much denser than I normally make.

I prepared as normal and used Vintage Williams and a mug of warm water. I dunked the knot one quarter of the way into the mug of water and began to pick up soap. I began to lather and added one more teaspoon of water for the first round. I made a full brush of extra thick lather (much more thick than my liking) and so I applied the lather and shaved. With each attempt to clean the razor the clumps of lather remained in the bottom of the sink. I completed the first pass and lathered again with the same super thick lather. Again the same results occurred, thick lather on the face and clumps in the sink when quick rinsing the razor. The clumps would not leave the bottom of the sink until they were rinsed long enough with warm water.

At that point I added another teaspoon of water to the mixing mug (no soap puck in this mug) and whirled the brush again and generated more thick lather for my head without any additional soap. At the end of the shave, here was what was left in the brush. Enough for an additional face pass.



What is in the photo was the last of the available lather and only one application of soap was made to the brush with no additional soap required. The mug of water is not seen in this photo but is off to the side. The mug seen is the one used to generate the lather along with the one holding the soap.

So the H.I.S. shaving brush can be used to make extra thick clump like lather along with more hydrated lather as the user desires. It is a mere change of technique that can achieve this result of almost soap solid lather. I had to spend a couple of minutes cleaning out the remainder of soap out of the brush it was so thick.

So the H.I.S. brush can produce a mountain of super thick lather or any other thickness you so desire.

I hope this clears up the issues on this brush.