What's new

Morris & Forndran Blonde Badger

I got my new Morris & Forndran Blond Badger brush in the mail today, and its very very nice. I just used it for the fist time and wanted to post my impressions while they were still fresh in my mind.

View attachment 132403View attachment 132404

The brush has obviously not broken in yet, but it has amazing backbone and ultra soft tips. The 24mm knot is dense, but far from the most dense I have used. With the recent push back against ultra dense brushes, this might please some of you out there in B&B land. The knot is set at 52mm loft and has a definite bulb shape, though the long soft tips mute the peak of the brush. I really enjoyed how this brush felt on my face. Lathering up was a treat today. The great backbone and dense knot ripped soap off the puck, so charging the brush was effortless.

A nice bonus is that the handle is slightly weighted, maybe an ounce extra so it has a nice heft to it. Its not heavy like my Parker solid metal handled brush was, just slightly heavier than your run of the mill brush. You know you have this in your hand, and it feels solid.

It did however shed about 10 hairs during my cleaning, test lathers, and face lathering. Not enough to raise any alarm bells, but its something to note. The bulb shape might also be a problem for some. As mentioned before it is muted by the soft tips, but with the level of anger on the board with this combo I thought I should count it in the criticism section. It is not peaky like the Simpsons, but its a bulb all the same.

View attachment 132405
View attachment 132406

I picked out a couple iconic two bands to compare this brush too. The two I chose were the Rooney Finest 3/1 and the Shavemac D01 flat top 24mm. The M&F has some characteristics that are similar to both. First off, despite the differences in form, the M&F and D01 are almost identical in density. Its hard to tell from the photo given they are different shapes and colors but when you ball them up the D01 and M&F are almost identical. Its not however as dense as the Finest, though not many brushes are. The face feel is much like my Rooney Finest but with out the slight prickly tips. You can easily tell the Finest is more dense and has stiffer tips, but its closer to the quirky Finest than it is to anything else. The tips of the M&F are softer though, maybe they are a bit more floppy atop the dense stems and give way to the face better? Before I get push back on the statement its not exactly like a Finest, but it feels less different than say my TGN, Heritage Stubby 2, Shavemac, or Chubby.

I'm happy with this addition to my shave den, and thought maybe some of you would like to hear about a brush that is getting no attention on B&B.
 
Last edited:
This seems like the question of the week, its been asked quite a few times. I had purchased a couple brushes from the owner of the company on Ebay, and he offered to sell me this brush in addition to my other purchases. I dont think it is available retail yet
As an update the brush has not shed any more hairs on my subsequent uses. I think all of the loose ones worked their way out with the initial cleaning and lather.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That's Mr Sabini, owner of Rooney. Looks like a 1/2 in...Finest?!?!

Good score.

Thanks!

The hair grade is amazingly similar to Rooneys Finest, but with softer white tips instead of the relatively stiff golden Finest tips. This brush is what I expected my finest to be like when I first picked one up. I think my Finest brush might actually suffer from to much backbone, even the tips have the stiffness to create just a touch of scritch.

***EDIT***

I emailed Mr. Sabini with your questions about availability. He responded that he has a "small range" of brushes slated for production between Christmas and February of next year.
 
Last edited:
I've been eyeing these Morris and Forndrans for a while now, but seeing this two band one sent me into must have mode !!! I've got one coming now and will post my impressions as well after I receive it !!!:thumbup:
 
This seems like the question of the week, its been asked quite a few times. I had purchased a couple brushes from the owner of the company on Ebay, and he offered to sell me this brush in addition to my other purchases. I dont think it is available retail yet, but if you wanted to contact him in regards to this brush his email is [email protected]

Where to buy???

Regards Grant

i only saw the 3-band...not this beautiful 2-band. i think loric has an inside angle!

See post #3 As for having an inside angle, it was more like stalking another brush on Ebay and blubbering on like I do about brushes to the seller. I guess I must have sounded like I knew what I was talking about and got offered something a little bit special.
 
Last edited:
mine arrived today as well. some fast initial impressions....

1) the handle has a great feel, heavy and substantial. the pure white of the handle beautifully offsets the dark bristles and the very "snowy" white tips ties the whole thing together. it's a very striking brush.

2) the 2-band hair is a nice combination of backbone and softness. it can easily stand up to hard soaps, but the slightly lower density seems to promise good flow through.

3) it feels like a definite step up from my rooney 3/1. it will be interesting to compare it with my soon-to-arrive rooney XL1

4) in the first few debadger latherings, it only shed 2-3 hairs


i'm looking forward to tomorrow's shave when i can take it for a real test drive.
 
2) the 2-band hair is a nice combination of backbone and softness. it can easily stand up to hard soaps, but the slightly lower density seems to promise good flow through.

i'm looking forward to tomorrow's shave when i can take it for a real test drive.

I'm curious if your lower density is variation maybe, mine still feels dense to me. At any rate, I look forward to hearing someone elses thoughts on this little brush.
 
I'm curious if your lower density is variation maybe, mine still feels dense to me. At any rate, I look forward to hearing someone elses thoughts on this little brush.

i should have provided some context. the M&F is less dense than my densest brush, which is a simpson eagle G3. the M&F is definitely dense !

in my few initial lathers, the M&F feels a bit more forgiving than my eagle, making lather easily with little or no effort required.

it's looking good. :thumbup1:
 
So, are these re-branded Rooney's? If so, I would imagine that the Two-Band hair is of the Rooney Heritage Two-Band hair.

I had the same question when i ordered my brush from lee. He said that he did not know if the two-band hair in these brushes is exclusive to the M+F, he did say that it is definitely not the same as used in any Rooney brush.
 
Lee Sabini says that the hair in these brushes is unique to this line, and is different from the Rooney brushes. He labels the hair as a grade of super silvertip.

I have one on the way. I'll post my impressions when I get it.
 
Top Bottom