the Golden Nib 22mm black badger knot. I love this knot. I put one in an old, very dilapidated catalin handle I restored and I just got back from a 3 week camping vacation from Seattle to Mt Rushmore and back. Took this brush along as a beater traveling brush:
View attachment 115586
Threw in a tube of Erasmic and the pair performed brilliantly across a wide variety of altitudes, temperatures and water hardness. This knot is not for you guys who like a soft brush. It is scritchy and stiff, but not uncomfortably so to me. It doesn't hold as much water as finer grades, but with a single shake to rid it of excess water it beat up a wonderful lather on my face and enough for more than three full passes.
To me this brush is like a combination of boar and badger. Warmer and wetter than boar but stiff enough to give a wonderful exfoliating and stimulating scrub to your face. Three weeks of daily use started to break it in a bit and give a little softness to the tips. If you like boar but want to experiment with what badger can do, buy an old handle off the bay and stick one of these inexpensive knots in it and have a go. You might be amazed at the brush you can have for about 20 bucks give or take a little depending upon what you spend for the handle. I'd sooner have this brush than one that cost several times as much.
And while I'm praising shaving gear I have to give the Erasmic a big thumbs up. Never failed to lather up with a nice, cushiony lather regardless of soft, hard or in between water. For this rainforest dweller the hot dry high desert takes a bit of a knack so I had to tweak my water ratio at times, but it always worked and gave me great shaves in less than perfect conditions.
View attachment 115586
Threw in a tube of Erasmic and the pair performed brilliantly across a wide variety of altitudes, temperatures and water hardness. This knot is not for you guys who like a soft brush. It is scritchy and stiff, but not uncomfortably so to me. It doesn't hold as much water as finer grades, but with a single shake to rid it of excess water it beat up a wonderful lather on my face and enough for more than three full passes.
To me this brush is like a combination of boar and badger. Warmer and wetter than boar but stiff enough to give a wonderful exfoliating and stimulating scrub to your face. Three weeks of daily use started to break it in a bit and give a little softness to the tips. If you like boar but want to experiment with what badger can do, buy an old handle off the bay and stick one of these inexpensive knots in it and have a go. You might be amazed at the brush you can have for about 20 bucks give or take a little depending upon what you spend for the handle. I'd sooner have this brush than one that cost several times as much.
And while I'm praising shaving gear I have to give the Erasmic a big thumbs up. Never failed to lather up with a nice, cushiony lather regardless of soft, hard or in between water. For this rainforest dweller the hot dry high desert takes a bit of a knack so I had to tweak my water ratio at times, but it always worked and gave me great shaves in less than perfect conditions.
