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A medium density badger brush?

+1! Great brushes (I have both the T2 and T3). Another good option would be Simpsons 50 series.
Tulip, Emperor, and Persian Jar are all fantastic designs, but the pricing of these models is really for collectors, and not aligned with workhorses like the Duke, X2L. Some of those fancier ones only come in Super and up, and I think OP will probably be happier with Best.

A bespoke brush with the 2 band knot of your choice would be cheaper, too. You could even crack open a Semogue badger brush to get one of the Finest knots for less. Perhaps cracking a Semogue would also be cheaper than Shavemac knots.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
@LexLexington , we've probably lost you by now. As you can see, there are soooo many brush options. When I first arrived at B&B, my goal was to learn about shaving brushes and soaps as I was a complete novice.

I read a Lot of threads... read the journal section where you could read how others approached things. I met a couple people who advised me about soaps and I read @Chan Eil Whiskers ' entire journal and a few threads he started about his brush discoveries. I wasn't sure what face feel I liked in a brush.... but it turns out, I enjoy exactly the same face feel Jim does..... I want to feel the bristles slightly but not intrusively.... Not too much presence... but enough to know they are there. I don't care for the extra soft bristles, though many people do.

I had 23 brushes at one point.... I've thinned the herd and now use 5 for applying shaving lather and another 4 or 5 for applying my pre-shave. If you are interested, you can read my journal, though it's pretty long these days... and the topics roam... Just the way I intended when I started it. ;)
 
Correction: The DSC with great backbone in the tortoise handle is their "Manchurian Two Badger." The really soft three band ones are Boti "SHD Pure Badger knot Class A Bulb." The black knot that I most like the the Boti "SHD Black Badger" one.

DSC Manchurian Two Badger and Boti SHD Black Badger.
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Yaqi 22mm 2 band Sagrada Familia, 24mm 2 band Mysterious Space, and 24mm Silvertip Mysterious Space. The last two are not really middle of the road between your brushes. They are more comparable to your Sterling. I think you might like either of those grades of hair, though.
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Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Haha, not here on B&B.....BAD starts very easily.
Rudy, I can't thank you enough for the handle I posted above.... and the ShaveMac 28mm Two-band Silvertip bulb is perfect for me. I do find, badgers do break in a bit over time.... The backbone remains... but the tips get softer, in a good way.... The handle you re-knotted for me with the same knot, the ShaveMac 28mm Two-band Silvertip bulb gets better and better. I've even noticed a subtle, incremental improvement with the new brush after its second use.... Lovely knot. I know it isn't one of the more expensive "fancy" knots that are all the rage from time to time, but it's what I like in a reasonable price range.
 
Thank you for the thorough reply. Maybe I need to raise my budget.

Nah there's plenty of options that will work under $100. Semogue badgers or misturas, Simpsons (maybe on the BST for under $100), plenty of Chinese brushes as noted. You could probably even find a Paladin on the secondary market for < $100.
The high mountain white knot from Elite Razor is a really good knot and can be bought on it's own if you didn't want to get the artisan handle too.
 
May I suggest you have a look at a 24 mm Whipped Dog High Mountain (a two band finest) in a tall handle? Consider having him set the knot deeper in the handle for an extra 5 bucks. If you are really brave, go for the 30 mm brush.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I have two badger brushes, neither of which is quite right for me. The first is a finest from Stirling. It's very wide at the top and very dense.


I tend to think of the Stirling brushes I've used as medium density.


I find myself pushing against the proverbial "wall of badger" when I press the knot against my face to lather. I want a little more give, a little more splay when I work the lather into my whiskers. So I went too far in the other direction. I bought a Vulfix 660S. The hairs are very thinly woven and the brush has more splay than any synthetic I own. Dry, the brush seems like it would maybe have just enough backbone, but it turns to mush against my face when it is wet.


I've only used one Vulflix. The Vulflix I used was said to be more dense than most Vulfix brushes. It was very much lacking in density and backbone.


1-13-24.Bayonetta.Mike's.Stirling.640.JPG



When I bought this brush, Stirling offered it in two lofts. I got the taller loft, and thought I'd made a mistake. I ended up really liking it. To me, it seems less dense than the other Stirling brush I no longer have. At one time Stirling also made an extra dense brush. I'm not sure what they offer now.


Stirling26mmFinest.640..png



I would like something in the middle. I turn to the collective shaving wisdom of B&B to suggest the "Goldilocks" brush.

I lather with creams more often than soaps, although I use soaps, and I face lather more than I bowl lather.

I want to be clear that I am not putting the Stirling or Vulfix brushes down. They are excellent brushes for the right person, but not precisely for me.

Thanks to all in advance.


I'm not sure what's in the middle between these two brushes, the Stirling and the Vulflix. Perhaps a Simpson's Best Badger?

Having said that, you should know that Simpson's Best Badger is known to be highly variable from knot to knot. I like mine okay, but I like my remaining Stirling a good bit more.

It's very hard to figure out exactly what one likes in a knot. At least that has been my experience. Even worse, it's easy to like rather different knots on different occasions.

Good hunting and happy shaves,

Jim
 
Interesting...do you think the Finest is denser and less soft? I'm interested to know if the Finest has more density and therefore more backbone
They are surprisingly similar. Different sources quote different ratios, but I think 70:30 or 80:20 must be correct. The mixed Omegas have way more boar and are quoted at 50:50. I don't know. Mistura starts off with more backbone and quickly moves to having less as it breaks in. It will change quite a bit for 30-60 shaves until the bristles split.

I would guess density and loft are about the same.
 
They are surprisingly similar. Different sources quote different ratios, but I think 70:30 or 80:20 must be correct. The mixed Omegas have way more boar and are quoted at 50:50. I don't know. Mistura starts off with more backbone and quickly moves to having less as it breaks in. It will change quite a bit for 30-60 shaves until the bristles split.

I would guess density and loft are about the same.
Which mixed Omega do you mean?
Yes I agree with you about the Semogue mixture, at first it seemed to have backbone...then with use it became very soft
 
My first blended knot was an Omega 11047, the little midget one. I hated the handle and felt the knot sort of combined the worst aspects of Badger and boar. I PIFd it, and then someone convinced me to try Semogue Mistura. Mistura is more like a balance of the components. I wouldn't call it the best of both. It is a very nice knot, but I think that is mostly due to the Finest badger component. When I tried Finest badger, I preferred it to the Mistura right away.
 
They are surprisingly similar. Different sources quote different ratios, but I think 70:30 or 80:20 must be correct. The mixed Omegas have way more boar and are quoted at 50:50. I don't know. Mistura starts off with more backbone and quickly moves to having less as it breaks in. It will change quite a bit for 30-60 shaves until the bristles split.

I would guess density and loft are about the same.
Example...the C7 mix being 26mm I find it denser and has more backbone than the Soc mix
 
Brush: Parker Premium Handmade, 3-Band Pure Badger with Rosewood Handle

I prefer to face lather. I have this and love it. It has backbone but splays very well for my purposes. Not expensive, either.

Good luck!
 
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