I ordered the Chubb for my friends buddy and the wooden handled 80005 for me. Here they sit after their second soaking:
Great pics., Scott. Thanks for showing! Do you prefer non-banded over a banded loft and what's your method for soaking and breaking in?
With boar I think (Aaron correct me plz) that the band is just cosmetic. If that is so, then either is fine. Tomorrow will be the first shave.
Randy, I make lather for a while with an el cheapo puck, then soak over nite. Wake up in the morning repeat, let dry overnite and I'm done. Not sure this is the perfect message (again I will defer to Aaron, but it seems to work)
beautiful looking Omegas. I'm glad I bought one to try out, they seem to be impressive for a great number of people.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is just cosmetic, it might even be a lower grade of hair; I actually liked my banded more than the non.
I know on the wooden handle the hair is Omega's top grade. Not sure about the Chubb but it is a nice little brush with a wide knot. Aesthetically, I like the band. But I opted for what I thought was the natural state of boar. The key is tomorrow when I shave.
Is it advisable to speed up the drying process by using a hair dryer so that you can get more wet/dry cycles in order to speed up the break-in process? Or is that high heat from a hair dryer damaging?
If you get too close you can certainly singe the hair and curl it. As far as cycling goes, I'm not sure. I just did it the old fashioned way and used it for a month. IIRC Jeff used his patio to spreed the break in. Or was it sandpaper. Or was it someone else.....
never used a blow dryer, don't even own one I just do two cycles and start shaving. I used it tonite as I did not shave this am, my shave hours are all off. Held loads of lather, and was great and lathering and painting, and the handle felt great. I think I have a winner!