Duke in pure

[Monkeyboy]

Anyone out there have a Simpson Duke in pure? I like some scritch every now and then. I'm wary though because I had a G3 Eagle in pure and it was rougher feeling than any pure grade I've tried, was bordering on being painful to use.

From pictures I see the pure hair appears to vary greatly, visually at least. Sometimes it's dark brown/black and sometimes it looks like it's lighter, banded and almost looks like the best hair.

 

[rebos]

I'll be interested to hear if someone has had any experience with this one too. I've been looking at a few Simpsons in pure and they appear to be as you describe them: possibly too darn scritchy. Scritchier than any other badger brush that I've seen. I was actually looking at the picture of the Eagle in pure on WCS and those hairs look thick. $60 seems a high price to pay for it to be "bordering on being painful to use." The picture of the DUKEs in pure on TSS also look darn scritchy.

I don't hear a lot about simpsons in pure. Maybe for good reason (?).

 

[StuMcB]

I have the Duke 1 in pure, the Eagle G1 in pure, Case in pure, Special in pure. The Eagle is possibly the softest of the bunch while the Duke is quite scritchey. Not Semogue 620 scrtichey but it's still in that neck of the woods. It's all about loft with pure. Shorter lofts equals more scritch. They do however do a good jo for face lathering with soaps.

 

[Monkeyboy]

I have the Duke 1 in pure, the Eagle G1 in pure, Case in pure, Special in pure. The Eagle is possibly the softest of the bunch while the Duke is quite scritchey. Not Semogue 620 scrtichey but it's still in that neck of the woods. It's all about loft with pure. Shorter lofts equals more scritch. They do however do a good jo for face lathering with soaps.

Hmmm, I suspected that loft would have a lot to do with it. I was curious if the differences in appearances I'm seeing in photos translate to differences in performance also.

I like the scritch of the 620 but the eagle I had was way beyond that. I stuck with it for a while hoping it would break in and not be as rough but it didn't. This makes me think that my eagle was unusually rough for whatever reason. I may try a duke out.

 

[harmoni]

I have the Duke 1 in pure, the Eagle G1 in pure, Case in pure, Special in pure. The Eagle is possibly the softest of the bunch while the Duke is quite scritchey. Not Semogue 620 scrtichey but it's still in that neck of the woods. It's all about loft with pure. Shorter lofts equals more scritch. They do however do a good jo for face lathering with soaps.

I'd agree with your take on the Duke.

I also have a Duke 1 in pure. I would say it has a short loft and well-packed knot. The end result of these two factors is a lot of backbone. My only other pure is a Berkeley. It's not as well-packed, so there's a lot more give in the knot. I prefer the Berkeley over the Duke with no hesitation. The Berkeley has a slightly bigger handle too.

 

[Monkeyboy]

I'll be interested to hear if someone has had any experience with this one too. I've been looking at a few Simpsons in pure and they appear to be as you describe them: possibly too darn scritchy. Scritchier than any other badger brush that I've seen. I was actually looking at the picture of the Eagle in pure on WCS and those hairs look thick. $60 seems a high price to pay for it to be "bordering on being painful to use." The picture of the DUKEs in pure on TSS also look darn scritchy.

I don't hear a lot about simpsons in pure. Maybe for good reason (?).

The pictures you are seeing might look like the hairs are thick because brushmakers, from what I understand, cut pure knots to shape most of the time. So the clipped ends contribute to the prickly feel they have.

 

[Monkeyboy]

Got a Duke 3 pure in today. Here's pre-bloom pictures. The hair appears lighter and more banded than what my eagle looked like.

Will report back how it performs.

Here's what the eagle looked like in comparison:

 

[guYom]

Can anyone compare Duke 1 in pure versus Duke 1 best as a face latherer for sticks or hard soaps?

 

[Absolute Mustard]

The Duke looks nice

 

[rebos]

I'll be staying tuned for performance review. Hope to hear about the degree of scritch factor & Hope it's not as painful as the eagle, for you.

 

[Monkeyboy]

I've used the duke for my past 3 shaves. It's not quite as bad as the eagle but it's still up there. If I'm face lathering with it doing the scrubby circular motions it makes my skin red and tender. I find I have to build lather in a bowl instead and just do painting motions to apply it.

I've been happy with rooneys and others in pure but looks like simpsons aren't for me.

 

[StuMcB]

Try a Kent. My recent Kent V23 in pure grey badger is very, very soft. A little floppy but a good brush.

 

[Elbe]

Can anyone compare Duke 1 in pure versus Duke 1 best as a face latherer for sticks or hard soaps?

I have both a Duke 1 in Best and in Pure, love the small Simpson brushes, have 9 of them. The pure is more bulbuous than the best. When I used the pure for the very first time with circular motions as I always do, it gave me brush burn for the first time in my life. Honestly, out of the box it was totally unusable for face lathering, unless you have the skin of an elephant.

Treated it for half an hour on wet, fine sandpaper, then it was usable. But still this beast has awful lot of backbone plus a lot of scritch.

Now I'm glad to have it in the stable, but I don't recommend it as a brush for everyone. Pay a little bit more and treat yourself a Duke 1 in best.

A longer lofted, not so dense packed brush in pure might be better.