Received a brand new never used 1st Release of Plisson synthetic brush. Side by Side From the Top - Second Release on Left The measurement of the knots, 22.05 for 1st gen 22.84 for 2nd. Also about 2 mm larger for 2nd release at the widest part at top of knot. I am not a brush expert but it seems the 1st release is more fan type and 2nd is bulb? The first release appears just as soft, but seems to have slightly more backbone. Will give it a go in tomorrows shave, will likely have to use both at same time to see if I can tell the difference.
Additional Information Weight 1st release - 54.4g 2nd release - 46.7g Size of Handle at widest point 1st release - 37.56mm 2nd Release 38.03mm Used both this am for my shave to see how they perform side by side. To me there seems to be a slight difference in performance but not results. The 1st release brush appears to me to be different in bristle style, more of a fan style is seems. And although it made good later it appeared to take longer to generate than the 2nd release. (Actually both seemed to take forever compared to using MdC yesterday so maybe my opinion here is skewed.) Both are pillow soft, but the 1st Release to me appears to have a little more backbone. It also seems to hold more lather within the fibers. Both transferred the lather to my face just fine, when I went to clean them out the 1st gen had more lather in it. Now this is in no way scientific, I didn't measure the amount of soap loaded onto each brush, I just counted load times the same (30 secs for each) so it's very possible I added more to one over the other. So my overall thoughts. Both work great albeit a little different. Both extremely soft and worked well in the croap (RR XXX). Will experiment with hard soaps and creams but there really is not a huge difference between the two or say one is better than the other at this point. Anyone else have both? What are your thoughts?
The fibers for each are the same Generation 3 synthetic. Plission decided to redesign the knot. The second generation Plisson knot has less of a flair which should provide more backbone and maybe less splaying than the first generation Plisson knot. The following thread discusses that fibers types are important but how the knot is constructed is important as well. The same fiber type with a few minor variations can make a major difference in any brush, natural or synthetic. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-four-generations-of-synthetic-fibers-clarifications.37568/ I look forward to you appraisal of the two versions.
I thought I might have added confusion by saying 1st and 2nd generation ....oops. I should have said 1st release and 2nd release. Generations could be misleading folks thinking I was using the term regarding the fiber generation as you pointed out, my fault and should have corrected it once I realized I might confuse people. Sorry everyone. I agree the splay is seems less with the 2nd release, but find even with more splay in 1st release it seems to have more backbone..not by much. It could also be due to the redesign that it appears stiffer when it's not. Ahhh first world problems...
