Mine was an Escali that I used for a few months, and It made beautiful bowl lather but felt like one of those harsh facial sponges and was floppy as all hell. I then got the Stirling boar brush with my first shipment from Stirling and that was FANTASTIC. Then after that is history.
Another one with the VDH set that included the boar brush. Use it every other shave. I have since bought an Omega Synthetic, but think I prefer the VDH boar. I got lucky because my VDH is not a shedder at all. It has been a great starter kit to get me going and keep me going with DE wet shaving.
My first brush back in the 1983 was a pure bristle white brush,was my father's Can't remember the brand,wooden handle with an aluminium ring,many cracks in the colour. My personal first brush was a Muhle (HJM) pure bristle with a marble handle,i still have the handle but not the knot. To be honest was my second attempt to remove a knot from a handle,i didn't knew anything about shaving forums and i had no experience with internet informations about traditional shaving. Those days i didn't had even a PC.
