Kent BK8

I would rate it a 7.5 if I could. Paid $100 and that has a lot to do with my rating. At $200 I would be disappointed. After doing my research I knew what I was getting, a luxuriously soft brush with no stiffness/scrubbiness to speak of. This brush is excellent for bowl lathering. It makes more lather with less product than my SR 3824.

In terms of design, I feel like the handle is oddly shaped but this is a visual problem more than anything, it's comfortable. The loft of the brush is 57mm, maybe a tad too high and it contributes to the brushes 'floppy' reputation. My biggest problem with the brush is its lack of density. When wet there is a 'hole' the size of a golf ball in the middle of the brush. I feel like the amount of hair in the bk8 should have made a 24mm knot and not a 26mm.

The positives of the brush are very well documented, it is the softest brush on the market and it lathers like a champ. It does have a few drawbacks though.

Now that I have rated this product a 10, I must be truthful with my qualifications.

The brush is absolutely beautiful and exquisitely made.

The smallest detail is taken care of and the red presentation box is almost overwhelming.

I would not take anything for this brush and if I had paid twice again as much as the $80 I lucked into on Ebay I would consider it a fair price.

There are many who hold themselves out as trusted experts and one that I always paid attention to was the writer of Fido's Shaving Blog.

He considers this particular brush one of the finest in his collection.

I consider it the most beautiful work of art of the few I own displayed on my shaving shelves. This brush (that I would never give up) knot and loft is really a bit too large for the Tabac soap bowl but it creates a good lather quickly and efficiently. Some of the nicest lather of any of my other brushes. The brush is actually too large and floppy to massage the lather onto the face without going over the lines so to speak. It is so soft you can hardly feel the badger hair and the softness is so luxurious that I almost am tempted to use another brush before I finish so that my skin will feel massaged and exfoliated. I recommend this brush without reservations to own, to caress, to display at the center of your other brushes. Enjoy it but don't expect it to fulfill your needs as a primary go-to Badger or as an only brush. I bought it with confidence after reading so many comments about how the BK12 was too big but this brush borders on being a bit too large..... but I love it.

Well, the Kent BK8 was my second shave brush that I bought.
Firstly, the quality and presentation of this brush are second to none. Truly superb.
It has the best handle of any brush I've used and looks great in my shave den.
I use soaps, and the Kent has no problems creating a great lather.
At £80 the price was about perfect for this brush, it oozes class.

However. I find it to be on the 'floppy' side and the bristles are noticeably not as soft as the bristles found on my silvertip Shavemac. having said that, the Shavemac cost more than twice as much.
I do use my Kent most weeks, and would recommend to others, but it is not the best out there.

To-date I've tried 3 Vulfixes (404 badger/boar, VS5 and 406 Pure badger), a Men-U Boar and an EJ Super medium. This is hands-down the most luxurious brush I've ever had. I've got the horn-coloured handle, which looks classy & the whole thing has a definite authority to it. I don't think I'd ever want anything bigger. There has been some dis-satisfaction expressed at the new handle-shape. I haven't had the pleasure of using previous versions of the "8". In this size it works very well for me and I can comfortably hold it by the end. But in the "2", it's probably a bit small for most people and I can see it being held up near the bristles, they way I do my Men-U and VS5. I prefer the larger handle. I can envisage this being described as a "turn of the century" style in a few decades, as it seems to be quite common nowadays. Quality of finish and overall feel to the H8 is very good and I definitely feel a certain satisfaction at having it on my countertop. I've been wondering lately if its fair to describe the dry-scratchiness of a tool designed soley to be used in the wet. Wet, there isn't a hint of irritation against my skin. Its not too floppy and seems "medium-dense". It works very well at its purpose- making lather. Using pre-soaked Tabac, it whips up lovely creamy goodness with very little effort and with creams its the same story. I've had a couple of "fmfphputput!" moments when I've forgotten the weft and got my mouth full of lather, but this has just added to the fun of using it. I'm sure there are better brushes out there- you'd bloody hope so, the price some of them go for- but this is more than good enough for me at the moment. I am very glad I bought it

This brush is really amazing.Performs great with both creams or soaps (even hard ones like Tabac).It makes a really good lather and its soft enough.If you have the chance to get one don't hesitate and go for it, you wont be disappoint by it.

This is my first post to this site. I am a new member and new to wetshaving. I need some help. It seems to me that the Kent brushes are held in high regard. I am looking for my first brush to get me started. I purchased 2 tubs of shave cream. Taylors lavender and Trumper Violet. I was originally looking at Vulfix brushes due to an article I read, but it seems that they are average at best. I like good stuff and the Kent BK8 caught my attention. My question is...the H8 handle is gorgeous. Is it the same as the BK8 as far as the bristles and performance? Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

I have all three of Kent BK line brushes (BK4, BK8 and BK12) and prefer BK8 the most.

The Kent BK8 is the second brush I acquired (in 2006?), after using a L'Occitane synthetic or boar hair brush which was quite stiff. Its a great brush which still provides a great leather and is very soft. The round handle is a little awkward sometimes, but overall this is a great starter brush.

The BK8 was my first REAL brush (I am not counting the cheap drugstore boar bristles I once used, nor even the C&E travel brush). It is absolutley a marvelous feeling I look forward to every morning, that rich creamy lather it produces applied to your face with the luxurious softness of that silvertip head!

It is odd that Kent labels all their brushes "pure badger" regardless of bristle quality, but I guess they don't bother with such things. You pay for what you get, and I think although the Kent is pricey, it is still a better value than some others $50-75 more.

Also they do not mention the knot size! I measured with a vernier caliper out of curiosity. Because of the "squishiness" of the bristles, it is difficult to get an absolutley accurate reading. But several atempts all vaied from 25 to 26mm. So it is indeed a hefty brush. I can only imagine what the BK12 is like!

The Kent BK8...

This was the third brush I bought; the first being a Shavemac silvertip and the second being a Plisson black. The shear size of it was just what I was looking for. I got it and used it for a couple of months and then I got a Simpson Tulip 4 (two band) and then it sat for 6 months or so with little or no use.

With the advent of the B&B 2008 LE Kent brush I put the T4 on the shelf and have gone from a stiff face lather to a super soft bowl lather for the last couple of weeks. I have to admit that I did go back to the T4 for one day but was back on track from the day after that.

The Kent BK8 is not the biggest of the Kent BK brushes, the 12 tops that list and even though I have not used a BK12, I do not think it could be a daily brush like the BK8 is. Don't ask me what size the knot is because I don't know. It is just big enough not to be too big.

I got my BK8 from The Gentleman's shop, and I immediately peeled off the BK8 sticker off the bottom of the brush (I hate stickers).

The quality of the brush was just fantastic. Completely top rate.

When I first put it in a cup of hot water to soak, it took a couple of minutes to lose the compact shape and fill with water. Even though I thought it would be denser (looking at it dry out of the box/tube), when full of water it is very full and very dense.

The hair/bristle used in Kent Brushes is very very nice. It is a soft thin gauged hair that is pillowy soft on one's face. Because of how much hair there is in this brush, there is a certain stiffness to the brush. I have to admit that I don't smush a shaving brush into my face so that I am lathering with the middle of the brush, but I consciously use only the tips and try not to have the brush 'open up' on me when lathering (both face lathering and bowl).

I am quite a picky person and when I face lather as described above, with my BK8 I do notice some prickles. I inspected my brush further and found that when closely looking at the tips of the brush there are the odd black/dark brown tips intermingled with the creamy white of the silvertip. I think these are hairs that were too long after the shaping of the brush was complete and were cut with scissors to make the top of the brush uniform. I haven't counted how many there are, that would be stupid. But there are enough to change the feeling of the tips when face lathering to have a little prickle to them.

The handle of the brush is shaped very nicely, any smaller and it would be too small for me (I prefer the massiveness of my T4). It works great when lathering in a bowl or directly on the face.

I was told and had read that a Kent could make lather out of stones, even though it is a slight exaggeration I do know that I have been able to easily create a perfect lather with this brush in as little as 10 seconds (cream and bowl). For hard triple milled soaps it takes a few more swirls on the cake of soap but has no trouble in the long run.

So there you have it. The Kent BK8, in all of its Royal Warranted Glory.


Kent BK8, Simpson T4, and Shavemac for size comparison. All in full bloom.