Badger brush $50-70, help me decide

So I've been at this hobby several months now, and currently have a cheap synthetic brush, a small Omega boar, and an unbranded "super badger" brush with a 24mm knot that is actually pretty good, though I don't have anything to compare it to badger-wise. I'd like to buy a "nice" badger brush under $70.

The ones I'm looking at are Simpsons' Berkeley, Commodore X2, and Colonel X2L (all in Best) and WSP's Prince (probably the 3 band, though I could be persuaded otherwise.

Any thoughts on the relative merits of these brushes? Any others I should be considering?

I'm looking for an all-arounder. I mostly bowl and mug lather, but like the idea of face lathering and can see moving more in that direction at some point. I'm just not very good at it yet.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

-Chuck

 

P.s. the 24mm brush feels a bit large, so I'm thinking something around 22mm.

 

The Simpsons Commodore X2 Brush in Best Badger or the Colonel X2L are a good selections.

 

Simpsons best is the highest "best" grade I have experienced. Extremely soft with just the faintest hint of scritch. Based on the brushes you currently have a nice 2-band may be a great addition. It would provide and experience somewhat different than the others listed, since you have a boar and a super, which I'm assuming is 3-band. For these you could check out WSP, vintage blades and a custom TGN in your price range. There is an artisan named Joe @B&B currently making polyresin blanks who was helped along by Peter @WolfWhiskers. Enjoy the hunt...probably wont be your last!

 

Yeah, I've bought a badger brush from Joe just at your price range and it's great.

 

Forgive my noob-ness, but who is Joe? And what brush did you buy?

 

His nickname is shaverjoe at Badger&Blade forum. You can find him in the "Hobbyist/Vendor" Sub-forum.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. There's a couple stores in town that carry Simpsons, I'm going to see if I can handle the Colonel and Commodore and see which handle feels better.

 

Must be nice. The only store around here (greater Philly area) to carry anything other than a soap or cream is AoS.

Check that, there is a British store around that carries the Kent line of soap and brushes.
Kent soap is also packaged as MWF, of which I am not a fan. And the brushes... $$$, and then some.

 

Yeah, I'm just north of Chicago, so I can go to Merz, and there's also a cutlery store nearby in the suburbs that has a decent shaving department, including the Simpsons line.

 

Chuck - don't know if you've seen this or not (from sharpologist), but if I knew what I was talking about, I imagine it would be pretty good.

http://sharpologist.com/wp-content/uploads//shavingbrushbuyersguid.pdf

 

Wow, look at all that data! Thanks.

 

You could get a wipped dog badger brush for 35 dollars

 

Yeah, I've considered that. Definitely a great deal. But I am thinking I'd like to go a step up in quality. I suspect the WD would be pretty similar to the badger brush I already have.

 

What type of badger to you already have?
I see here WD silvertips going for $30 - knot + handle!

And in the for-what-it's-worth department, I've found higher cost does not always equate to higher quality.

 

Then the wd silvertips would be the next thing i would think about . There supossed to be supper soft

 

I currently have an unbranded super badger that was a free prototype from a soap maker who was considering adding brushes to his line. It's a good brush. It may be that I find something like a Simpsons is not that much of a step up. But I kind of want a recognized benchmark brush, if that makes sense, so I feel like I know what I'm talking about a bit more. If it's a big step up from what I have, that'll be great. If it's no better than what I have, I can always resell it.

 

Larry at WD makes fine brushes but the badger I got seems to not have enough backbone for me, I like them a little scrubby. You're lucky Chuck to have a place where you can go see some nice brushes.