Got mine today also!:mail: It's a monster! Very soft but with good backbone. To get a scale of size this is a picture of it next to my favorite Whipped Dog 30/45 Silvertip. The weight is about the same. But the Stirling Synthetic 26/63 is much higher. Check tomorrow's SOTD.
Mine arrived too and looked a little larger than advertised. I pulled out my calipers and it may be 26mm down at the plug but at the hole mine came in at 27.67.mm. Now I cant find the handle I was going to drop this knot into and the Bethlehem Olive Wood handle looks like it maybe a little to small but I do have a rubberset handle that I might be able to squeeze this into. Handle needs to be refurbished but maybe worth the trouble. I compared the fibers on this one against my Plisson and my TGC knots and looks/feels identical to me just a bigger knot. Also mine is a little canted on one side and hoping it is just a glue bump.
What I like most about @ezlovan is how open and honest they are as a business. They ALWAYS work to put out a quality product and are willing to make it right. They offer some of the best prices on earth for a quality product that can compete with the best of the best! The work to bring a substantial size, Plisson-dominance-ending synthetic brush at a fair price is definitely commendable! Now, I can't wait for that winter Tobacco based soap!
I was really surprised by this brush. I didn't expect much from it as I have another synth, but it jumped to the top of my rotation list after using it the past few days.
The new Stirling synthetic shave brush is an outstanding lather maker. Stirling's synthetic shave brush is advertised to have a knot of 26mm, and a loft of 63mm. My brush measured: Knot 29mm, Loft:62. The knot has a decent sized glue bump, essentially reducing the effective loft of the brush to 49mm. In other words this brush does not perform like a brush with a loft of 63mm. The shorter effective loft of 49mm, caused by the glue bump, gives the brush greater backbone. Something many synthetic brushes lack. Used a toothpick to measure glue bump. Effective Loft 49mm
@ezlovan how much does shipping cost to sweden. I think Larry at whipped dog has figured out a way to cut shipping down to 5$ or something like that by sending his brushes in durable envelopes. Can you check that out? Because if so, 20-22$ + 5$ is DEFINITELY a price I would pay after all these amazing reviews.
For those who know Chris Bailey, the Traditional Shaving Evangelist on You Tube, he is calling the Stirling brush the Plisson killer. This thing is very impressive so far.
Maybe @ezlovan could extend the introductory offer to the 30+ people that might make it through NBJ for the first week in August or when they are back in stock
