Badger vs Boar

Discussion in 'The Brush' started by jgreenepa, Dec 5, 2019.

  1. jgreenepa

    jgreenepa Nasal Barbarian

    From all my reading on a variety of shave forums, it appears that badger is the apex of all shave brushes. I do own a number of good badger brushes, and only recently purchased an Omega Pro48, which as it turns out has evolved into my go to brush. Initially, it smelled and was extremely stiff and hard, but after breaking has developed an incredibly soft and coupled with a strong back bone that makes face lathering and bowl lathering a joy. I’d be very interested in some of the more experienced members of this forums thoughts on this matter.
     
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  2. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    I use Badger, Boar, Horse and Synthetic. I like the feel of them all. I switch between favorite types. I face Lather exclusively and all work great.

    Favorite at the moment is an extremely plush ER 2500 Badger.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     
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  3. lightcs1776

    lightcs1776 Well-Known Member

    I have an excellent badger and an excellent boar brush. They are different but both do a great job producing excellent lather.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     
  4. John Beeman

    John Beeman Little chicken in hot water

    I own a couple of very nice badgers and a couple of very nice synthetics but they spend most of their time sitting on a shelf.
    Approximately 30 boar brushes in my stable with three or four getting the most regular use.
    I definitely prefer a boar.
    Welcome to the club.
     
  5. battle.munky

    battle.munky Has the menthol.munky on his back!

    I'll be the blasphemer. I've all but gotten away from natural bristle brushes. I have really nice boar and badger. I've really only used the modern synthetic brushes for the past few years. They are inexpensive, work like a rented mule, and dry lickety split.

    If I had to start all over again with my purchasing, It'd be low cost modern synthetic brushes all damn day. Fancy doesn't do anything except enhance how you feel about the shave, not the actual quality of the shave itself.
     
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  6. cliffb599

    cliffb599 Well-Known Member

    I’m Right there with ya. The cheap Yaqi brushes are all I need or other cheap ones. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of Junk Cheap Brushes out there. You just have to pick Carefully. Research and a little web surfing read Reviews. Don’t need to Spend a Lot of $.$$ on a Good brush.


    Sent from my iPhoneXR using Tapatalk
     
  7. Badgerstate

    Badgerstate Well-Known Member

    IMO, its all what you like. Badgers are very luxurious but a well broken-in boar can be almost a soft and much less expensive.
     
  8. 178-bplatoon

    178-bplatoon Well-Known Member

    After trying a badger, a boar and a synthetic in the beginning, I now used an inexpensive #6 horse hair from best shave exclusively. Started with it in my first year of wet shaving and have never longed for another type since. After a short break in its soft, has good back bone and it dries quickly. Oh yes and its VERY inexpensive.:happy088: At least it was when I got mine. It was so cheap and worked so well that I bought backups that same year. Although I must say I'm still using the original brush and it shows no signs of wearing out.
     
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  9. jgreenepa

    jgreenepa Nasal Barbarian

    That’s why I like my boar, an Omega Pro48. It’s cheap, and after being broken in is soft on the end with great backbone. I have some decent and expensive Badger brushes, but prefer this boar. I’m seriously thinking about selling my Badger brushes.
     
  10. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    I am another outlier... Since 2013 my primary brush has been a mixed knot (badger/boar) which I end up liking more than either badger or boar. Unfortunately, they are just not as common as other varieties and choices are limited. I really liked the Omega boar knots more than the Semogue ones, but the 48 was too big for me. I could be perfectly happy using a 10065 sized omega. Just saying badger is way generic. They range from prickly to overly soft and floppy. Out of badger, I prefer the 2 band variety. Not as soft or floppy as silver tip, but less prickly than pure badger.

    While pride of ownership is nice, it is just shaving. Find one you like and go with it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2019
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  11. BardicDruid

    BardicDruid Active Member

    For about 40 years now I've been using boar for soaps and badgers for cream, just gotta remember to soak the boar for at least 10 minutes or more and it'll take about 6 months to break in good.
     
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  12. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    I use badger, boar and synthetic regularly. I actually prefer my boars over either badger or synthetic. They work the best on the hardest soaps and can handle anything else as well. Once broken in a good boar brush is as soft as the softest badger. I find badgers to be more finicky and synthetics are, well, synthetic. All of the boars that I use in my current rotation are Omegas. The 10066, Pro 49 and the Connaught faux jade handle. The Connaught is my favorite of all.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2019
  13. dmshaver

    dmshaver Well-Known Member

    In my years of shaving, I've only had one boar & sold it after a year. I prefer badger, with synthetic being a somewhat distant second. I would be open to trying boar again if I can find someone to recommend one that doesn't take forever to break in. I suppose I could read threads on this topic, I'm not that lazy!


    On second thought... perhaps I am!
     
  14. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    The Connaught Omega with the faux jade handle was super soft and fully broken in right out of the box. It's the last boar I've bought and is by far the softest of the bunch. The loft is on the short side but I like that about this brush. Bottom line, no break in period required.
     
  15. dmshaver

    dmshaver Well-Known Member

    Thank you for your recommendation. I believe an Omega Premium in the faux jade handle may be in my cart soon!
     
  16. BlueShaver

    BlueShaver Premature Latheration Sufferer

    I don't like Badger brushes.
    To me, they are a modern irrelevance and nothing more than an exercise in hobby-hubris.

    Any decent, broken in Boar will be much softer on the face, firmer in the knot and less thirsty or scritchy.

    Stuff a good boar knot in a Simpson handle and you've a brush for champions.

    All of which are utterly blown away by modern synthetics which do everything much better than either whilst not being a sponsor of animal cruelty and abuse.

    Just get a Yaqi and call it a job done!
     
  17. gssixgun

    gssixgun At this point in time...

    Supporting Vendor
    Just an opinion

    I like my well broken in Semogue Boar for Lathering Soap on the face, and I use it almost exclusively for most of my Test Shaves after honing.

    But when I am using my razors for a weekend shave/date night shave I use a shaving cream and high-quality Badger brushes

    I have tried Horse but I am just not a fan
    Synthetics, I need to try one of the high quality newer ones to see if it changes my opinion


    JMHO
     
  18. Lancre

    Lancre Well-Known Member

    For me:
    Well broken-in boar. Think Semogue 830 or Omega 10049.
    At least Finest badger. Pure has way too much scritch. Maggard 2-band is nice.
    Then it's a long way back to synthetics. They're only good for travel.
     
  19. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    My issue with badgers is that there is far too much variation within the different grades of badger hair that it almost makes the grades somewhat meaningless. I have pure, best and silver tip badger brushes. I have a best that is scritchier than a pure. I have a silver tip that is much more scritchy than another silver tip I have. Just because someone calls the brush one thing, doesn't necessarily mean you can know what to expect. And I'm talking about brushes made by Edwin Jagger, Art of Shaving and The Golden Nib. Name brushes. The only badger brush that I have that has brought me any joy is an Envy Shave Luxury Silvertip. It is what it says it is. All the rest have disappointed. I find I use my boars the most followed by my synthetics. And then every once in a while I'll pull out a badger simply because I haven't used it in a while. I don't see the benefit matching the financial expenditure.
     
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  20. johnnyflake

    johnnyflake Well-Known Member

    As we all know, this is very subjective, so go with what you like best, not what people say is best!

    For me, at this point in my life, I prefer Horse Hair Brushes, way more than Badger and way, way more than Boar. I must say that I like a quality
    Synthetic, almost as much as my Horsehair Brushes. Again, for me, Via-Long Horsehair Brushes are very hard to beat and they have a pretty
    large selection!
     

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