That's a good start, but you have plenty of counter space. Do you have badger, boar, horse, and synthetic? Each type has several subcategories to explore. I haven't taken a group shot recently. This is from 1-1/2 years ago. I started with boar brushes and generally like them the most. Learned to get a decent lather from badgers, and synthetics are easy to use. Still no horse hair knots. After my issues with floppy badgers I haven't felt the need to do floppy horse brushes that tangle.
That's it? I mean seriously, any traditional shaver worth his salt, has to have more brushes than that!
I have all of the above types. I’m a big fan of lower tier badgers. Love the way Simpson’s perform but hate the balding. Reminds me of me. Omega is underrated. If they improved on their handles, who could touch them for value? I have Vie Long in horse. Actually one of my faves in performance is my Vie Long caramel handle. Super good brush. I have a Muhle synthetic. While I love the handle, and I can’t say it is a bad performer, geeze, it just doesn’t feel alive to me. Yes I know no hair in a brush is alive, but I think you know what I mean. Boar brushes are great. As long as you aren’t paying for a mid tier brush. 25.00 -35.00 is really the max unless it’s a customized over the topper. Well that’s it for me. Good shave and great night everyone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
At the very least, a shaver should have four brushes, since it takes a brush 3 days to completely dry. Science aside, I've used brushes multiple days in a row with no ill effects. I don't fret over potentially reducing the lifespan of a brush that has already served me well for 10 years or more. (But science does give excellent justification for owning at least four brushes.) I have 9 on permanent display and use, with another 5 or 6 stored away.
I have thinned my brush rotation down to this group: badger, boar, and 1 synthetic. I just need one more.
367 is the magic "too many" number since that's more brushes than you can use even in a leap year using a different brush every day. /mic_drop I have 4 and that's plenty for me. I don't have a rotation and just change things up from time-to-time.
Too many requires a storage unit. But when you break up the categories, it becomes a little more manageable. There are the brushes for show, which should not count against a "count" since they aren't really used, but instead, they are preserved. Then you have those you use that are still under factory specs and being used in a rotation of sorts. the rotation may include being reserved for use with a particular soap or style of soap. There are the brushes you have that you have re-knotted to meet a specific purpose, as well as those that you might call "project" brushes that may or may not count against a brush count.
While some folks continue to gather pieces and enter The Collector Zone, I have a few less than I did a year ago. It's tempting to do the Pokeman thing and try to catch them all. My preferences are coming into focus so I realized I don't need every brush in my pile. I've traded a couple to other folks, especially new wet shavers who ought to be sampling the variety available. If I should devolve into a Minimalist I'd still want one each boar (Omega 10098), a dense scrubby badger, and a synthetic.