What's new

What's the holy grail of boar brushes?

My favourite boar brushes are the Semogue SOCs with ash and cherry wood handle and a Semogue Torga C5.
I also have two DaniDom boar brushes with ash wood handles (an “Edurance” and a “Simple”) that come very close to the Semogues.

By comparison, my two Omega “Professional” boar brushes only see limited use.


B.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
The holy grail of boar brushes can only be found by the purple unicorn on the 5th Sunday of the fourth month.

My favorite boar, however, is the SOC TSN LE (but not my favorite handle, which would be cherry wood). The regular SOC boar is the best bang for the buck, but kind of big for many people when it comes to face lathering.
 
Boar brushes scream quality even in low prices. The highest price I have seen is from an italian old Barber shop, Collo. My list of boar brushes go from Proraso, Zenith, Omega and Mondial. Each of them shave nice and scream quality.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kix

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Let's share some thoughts, and spread some love on boar brushes.

What's your favorite boar brush, and what's the best brush?

IMHO, my favorites are the Omega 10048 and the Semogue 1305, and both are great for different reasons.

The Omega can lather anything, literally anything. It's a workhorse, that can build great lathers on creams, croaps or hard soaps, and it delivers almost every single bit of lather that creates.
On the other hand, the Semogue 1305 has the softest knot that I've tried so far...It takes a while to break-in, but once it reaches his full potential, its a joy to use. The bristles are amazingly soft, but they have some hungry for lather, like many other Semogue brushes.

Yesterday I bought a Semogue 2000, so I can't give much info about it, but less than 24h of soaking on cold water, and 2 lathers build with it, and it feels really really soft. Can't wait to see what this beauty will be capable of.

Share your thoughts with me :)
Omega are my favorite. I've used an Omega Pro for the past 12 years and still love it.
 
I own and have used about a dozen and a half boar brushes. Mostly Omegas and a few Semogues and one Zenith. Little ones, medium sized and big. After all of the trial running my favourite is the Omega 10108 which has a large 27mm knot with a slightly shorter loft of 56mm for that knot size. For me it hits a sweet spot between being a large enough knot to hold the lather with a loft that is long enough to be comfortable on the face (ie not scrubby) yet manageable. As in the longer the loft the more unwieldy the brush becomes.
 
This: Omega 10005
View attachment 1550163
Bought in a Shoppers Drug Mart 10 years ago. After a decade of use (6 of which daily) it has become softer than silvertips. Key to a good boar is to use it like you hate it!

Small enough for face lathering and light enough for fast bowl swirling.

I'm using a well broken-in and plucked Proraso Pro more often nowadays, but the 10005 always surprises me whenever I reach for it.
I have this exact same brush and have been using it for 10 years. I wholeheartedly back up everything you said.

This brush is a real champion.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
My boar brushes.. all ready for DecemBOAR.. though I did add the very fine unbleached boar bristle Zenith Black Resin Handle 506N XSE since I took this photo:

RE_All the Boars.jpg


 
I agree with the sentiments above on Omega and Semogue brushes. First and most importantly, they are real bargains in the shaving world. If there is a holy grail amongst 'em, (an unholy grail even) it is for me the Omega 10098 Professional. It's simply a really great tool that is comfortable to use. OK, the handle is cheap, but it is secure and good-looking. You might find something out there with a better looking handle, but you probably won't find a better knot of boar bristle -- great loft and capacity. That brush feels almost "just right" to me. I have contemplated drilling the base of the handle and putting something in it to counterweight it for slightly better balance -- that is arguably it's only tactile drawback, and it is a tiny one.

Cheers!
Tony
 
Top Bottom