Ive noticed something about your Shave gears.

[MOVIESTAR]

Hello gents.

Hope your all well.

I have noticed something about your shave gears when you post them on SHAVE/ SCENT OF THE DAY.

A majority of you use more bore hair shaving brushes than badger hair brushes.

Is there a specific reason for this? Do they perform equally or just as well as the badger hair shaving brushes?

If they do, then i was thinking of ordering a proraso shaving brush.

Thanks guys.

Take care

 

[DE Shaver]

I think the difference you see has more to do with general availability (and economics) than with capability. A broken in boar bristle brush can be quite good as far as generating lather and are well suited to harder soaps. In a person note, I find badger brush generate better lather given the same effort. They also have the advantage of reattaining more water as well as being softer/less prickly on the face. Nonetheless, I have a Omega boar bristle brush that is a great performer.

 

[Blue_2]

Vintage and custom markets aside, the shaving brush is easily the highest ticket item. Not to say you can't have a good badger brush for $20, but most of the high end ones run over the $100 mark and up.

 

[michiganlover]

A majority of you use more bore hair shaving brushes than badger hair brushes.

Is there a specific reason for this? Do they perform equally or just as well as the badger hair shaving brushes?

If they do, then i was thinking of ordering a proraso shaving brush.

In my opinion, Badger, and Boar do perform equally well. One is not superior to the other. Boar can be just as equally soft as badger. I own both Badger, and Boar brushes, and my boar brushes get used more often.

By the way, the Proraso shaving brush is just a re-branded Omega. I have owned a handful of omega brushes, and they have all been wonderful. Most of the Omega line is available through this vendor:

http://www.shoeboxshaveshop.com

I think the difference you see has more to do with general availability (and economics) than with capability.

I would have to disagree, considering that the boar brush in these photos is often accompanied with other high end products that are neither locally available, nor value priced. High end badger brushes are readily available though any number of online vendors, there is no shortage of badger brushes.

Many gentlemen of this board have simply found that they like boar brushes, and for them they perform just as well as badger brushes.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Vintage and custom markets aside, the shaving brush is easily the highest ticket item. Not to say you can't have a good badger brush for $20, but most of the high end ones run over the $100 mark and up.

.
I think it's important to note also that there are quite a few badger owners on BnB....they might have just not posted pics on the day you were looking
cheers
Chris

 

[pal]

.
I think it's important to note also that there are quite a few badger owners on BnB....they might have just not posted pics on the day you were looking
cheers
Chris

I agree, I would say that most people here at B&B use Badger Hair Brushes, but there seems to be a growing trend towards Boar. This is probably because of another trend that I see, and that is a movement away form shave creams towards shave soaps. The popular notion is that Boar works better with soaps. I personally own one of each and use both, but I find myself using my $14.00 Boar hair brush more and more. IMHO, everyone should have both types in their rotation.

 

[kingfisher]

I prefer boar.

when broken in, a boar brush is a wonder of nature; stiff at the base and feathery soft at the tips. The best of both worlds.

 

[JPDyson]

There are at least a handful of gents who prefer boar and who advocate for the piggy brushes around here, but the dominant preference seems to be badger. I imagine part of the reason people prefer badger does boil down to perceived value - they're generally far more expensive and nicer looking. But that's not to discredit a legitimate performance reason as well - in my experience, a brand new badger vastly outperforms a brand new boar. It takes a bit of a commitment to break in a boar, and for me, you have to trudge through some sub-par performance while the brush breaks in.

I'm guilty of being a bit of a badgerist, though - I still wonder today if even the finest boar brush, most perfectly broken in, could compare to the likes of a fine badger brush. I have recently picked up a couple of boars and plan to give them all the time they need to break it. It's just hard to reach for them when I have a couple of Simpson and Kent lather monsters on the shelf.

 

[kingfisher]

...
I'm guilty of being a bit of a badgerist, though - I still wonder today if even the finest boar brush, most perfectly broken in, could compare to the likes of a fine badger brush. ...

I'm confident that my Semogue 2009 LE boar brush can do anything your most expensive, fanciest badger can do.

 

[JPDyson]

I'm confident that my Semogue 2009 LE boar brush can do anything your most expensive, fanciest badger can do.

But that's not really the same thing as being as good. I can make lather with my bare hands, too...

 

[michiganlover]

But that's not really the same thing as being as good. I can make lather with my bare hands, too...

My Omega Boar feels great on my face, and generates a great lather, what more do you want out of a brush??

To be honest, I haven't tried any of the high end badgers (both of my badgers have knots from The Golden Nib/ Penworks), but I don't see the point either.

Both of my badgers are super soft on my face, and generate wonderful lathers. That's all I personally need from a shaving brush.

 

[JPDyson]

My Omega Boar feels great on my face, and generates a great lather, what more do you want out of a brush??

To be honest, I haven't tried any of the high end badgers (both of my badgers have knots from The Golden Nib/ Penworks), but I don't see the point either.

Both of my badgers are super soft on my face, and generate wonderful lathers. That's all I personally need from a shaving brush.

I haven't had a boar brush generate lather of equal quality to my badgers yet, and it takes more time and effort to get there. I can have perfect lather on my face in 60 seconds of work with my Tulip or the 09 LE, and could the first time I used them. It takes a solid 2-3 minutes of work with my Semogue 1470, but I've only used it 3 or 4 times. Maybe some time in August when it's broken it, it'll be better.

 

[oversaturn]

If you want a good boar brush, you should try the Semogue 1305. Inexpensive and excellent performer with creams and soaps.

Other alternatives are Semogue 830 and Semogue 2000.

I own 1 Semogue 830 and I love it! Excellent with soaps and creams alike. It is similar to Semogue 1305 but it is 10% more dense and has a beautiful acrylic handle. I highly recommend it!

 

[Slivovitz]

I tend to use my boar brushes more often when lathering soaps, and the badgers more when lathering creams. I don't say it has to be that way, it just works for me. My Tweezerman and Vulfix badger brushes work fine with hard soaps, too, but my Penworks Silvertip seems a little floppy for that, and I use it exclusively with creams.

I'll add that all my brushes are cheap, by the standards of the enthusiasts on this forum. The most expensive I have is the Penworks, which cost me a little over $40 shipped. Very likely I could do better with one of the really expensive ones, but I'm satisfied with what I've got.

 

[bran]

If you own a badger is there any advantage to adding a boar? When my cream runs out I am going to use a soap my wife got me. Would boar be better suited?

 

[AJMiami]

I love both boar and badger, but recently been using badger more and more. I think is due to my discovery of simpson brushes.

 

[Blue_2]

I haven't had a boar brush generate lather of equal quality to my badgers yet, and it takes more time and effort to get there. I can have perfect lather on my face in 60 seconds of work with my Tulip or the 09 LE, and could the first time I used them. It takes a solid 2-3 minutes of work with my Semogue 1470, but I've only used it 3 or 4 times. Maybe some time in August when it's broken it, it'll be better.

I'm in the same boat with a non-broken-in Semogue 1470. The boar isn't scratchy and seems to have potential, but I don't see it replacing my silvertips just yet. The performance difference so far is staggeringly in favor of my badger collection. However since it apparently takes weeks or months to break one in properly, I'll be suffering along with you for a bit. (Until my Eagle G3 lands )

 

[Son]

If you own a badger is there any advantage to adding a boar? When my cream runs out I am going to use a soap my wife got me. Would boar be better suited?

It boils down to the preference. Some prefer boar and some prefer badger and at that boar fans are much more vocal about it.

I prefer badger with both soaps and creams and I cannot see a reason one should switch to boar for the sake of using soap. Or the vice versa for those preferring boar.

 

[rsaltonstall]

I use both badger and boar; badger for soaps and creams while boar for just soaps. I have one boar, an Omega 10065, and three badgers--Simpsons Commodore X1 in best, AOS travel brush in pure, and a German combination of pure/best. (I don't know the brand of the German brush, I got it back in 1997. I know it's not a Muhle or Dovo.)

With regards to softness, I find a good boar just as soft as a good badger. For example, my Omega 10065 is just as soft as my Simpsons Commodore X1. That Omega, however, is softer when compared to my other brushes. (N.B. When I write soft, I mean not prickly.) As for backbone, the Omega, by and large, is comparable to the Commodore. The water/moisture of the Omega has to be regulated in order to maintain the desired backbone though.

There are two major differences between boar and good badger that I see, or rather feel: (1) badger retains heat and boar is just not up to the task in this department, and (2) my Commodore whips up lather in half the time the Omega does. The Omega, however, takes just as long as my other two brushes.

With all this said, I enjoy using the Commodore and Omega, but if I had to choose only one, it would be the Commodore.

 

[rsaltonstall]

As for the SOTD posts, it seems that there are actually more badger posts than there are boar posts. The difference is that the boar posts tend to have pictures while the badger posts tend to just have a list of the day's equipment. Just my unscientific observation, which may be completely wrong.