Just one high end brush...

[musicman1951]

I think the Semogue SOC 2 band badger fits your backbone with soft tips requirements, and it has my favorite handle. But it's only around $65.
If you want to get a little crazy I'd contact Rudy Vey and tell him exactly what you want.

 

[dfoulk]

Do you have a sense of what batches are outstanding and not?

In terms of Declaration Brushes, I haven't kept up with every batch as most of what I own is from earlier on. I know batch 5 gets a lot of praise. I have brushes from batch 2 and batch 4 that I really like. Batch 3 had a good amount of scritch and strong backbone, so that one wasn't one that was as highly thought of. I usually reach for Varlet, Mozingo or Black Eagle over Declaration brushes but I do really like the batch 5 Declaration brush that I own.

I'm sure someone else can share some more current information.

 

[Sherlock40]

Like several others have mentioned, contact Rudy Vey to make you a custom brush with a Shavemac 2 band silvertip. He is awesome to work with during the entire process. I can’t recommend him highly enough. He just made me this brush out of bog oak.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I just shaved with my Paladin 26mm Mandarin that I bought from the Paladin "Back Room" about a year ago. I've used 2 bands that were about as good as this brush, but really none better. Are there really 'un-gelled' badger knots better than this one? Really? That's really something.

 

[pwill112]

In terms of Declaration Brushes, I haven't kept up with every batch as most of what I own is from earlier on. I know batch 5 gets a lot of praise. I have brushes from batch 2 and batch 4 that I really like. Batch 3 had a good amount of scritch and strong backbone, so that one wasn't one that was as highly thought of. I usually reach for Varlet, Mozingo or Black Eagle over Declaration brushes but I do really like the batch 5 Declaration brush that I own.

I'm sure someone else can share some more current information.

I have a B7 and B8. I love both and don't notice much difference between the two. You can't get most of the batches now unless you find a used one, so the point about rating the batches is almost mute. My understanding is that B3 will be available for a long time (large quantity) but has the mentioned scritch. Otherwise you can only get a B11 which is newer so you may not find a lot of reviews on them. On a video Scott mentioned that there are only a few places worldwide that he can buy hair from. He does reject samples he receives from these vendors so getting hair is not a slam dunk. The main takeaway is that this vendor has a nice track record of delivering quality knots.

 

[SharpieB]

My lack of experience may have gotten the better of me on this order. I wanted a luxurious experience in shaving, so I went with a very large knot size of 30mm and a height of 58mm. It's a double band silver tip. The handle is probably fairly standard: blue marble colored. Bulb shaped 4071. This is the first high-end (at least to me) quality brush that I have ordered.

Nice. Interested to see your thoughts On such a big brush. Go big or go home.

I have a ShaveMac coming next week thru a trade. My first one. 24mm though.

 

[SharpieB]

I just shaved with my Paladin 26mm Mandarin that I bought from the Paladin "Back Room" about a year ago. I've used 2 bands that were about as good as this brush, but really none better. Are there really 'un-gelled' badger knots better than this one? Really? That's really something.

View attachment 1223470

I really want to try a Paladin but they won’t ship to Canada. Have you worked with the owner? I lost a bit of respect for him when he bashed Alrossa by posting a pic of their dumpy Brooklyn “office”. The Paladin HQ isn’t likely the Taj Mahal.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I really want to try a Paladin but they won’t ship to Canada. Have you worked with the owner? I lost a bit of respect for him when he bashed Alrossa by posting a pic of their dumpy Brooklyn “office”. The Paladin HQ isn’t likely the Taj Mahal.

I've not really ever had to 'work with' him; I've bought 3 brushes from Paladin, all from the "Back Room"- brushes with minor imperfections. I really can't see a flaw in any of them. The brushes were all posted in a timely manner, etc. I see his occasional posts here and on social media and he seems a decent sort of fellow. I never saw the Alrossa thing you referenced.

 

[SharpieB]

I've not really ever had to 'work with' him; I've bought 3 brushes from Paladin, all from the "Back Room"- brushes with minor imperfections. I really can't see a flaw in any of them. The brushes were all posted in a timely manner, etc. I see his occasional posts here and on social media and he seems a decent sort of fellow. I never saw the Alrossa thing you referenced.

Superior Shave dropping Simpsons line

I remember reading that the way Amazon became the juggernaut it is was by driving every small e-vendor out of business. It was explained to me (possibly in an article or forum post, many years back) using a baby supply e-retailer as an example. Apparently a decade or so ago, Amazon got sick of...

www.badgerandblade.com

Post 39. Not sure why he posted it in any case. I couldn’t be bothered to search his location...

 

[Chandu]

I'd do something in horn from Plisson.

 

[P@tsfan6484]

Can anyone explain VAT? If I buy direct from Simpson is this a fee I have to pay?
Thanks

 

[It's Hedley]

Can anyone explain VAT? If I buy direct from Simpson is this a fee I have to pay?
Thanks

No, you don't pay. It will be deducted at checkout on the Simpson site when you enter your US address.

 

[P@tsfan6484]

Thank you kind sir!!

 

[EclipseRedRing]

No, you don't pay. It will be deducted at checkout on the Simpson site when you enter your US address.

Not for me it won't The most expensive place to buy a Simpson brush seems to be the country where they are made. I am only a couple of hundred miles from the Simpson factory.

 

[P@tsfan6484]

Not for me it won't The most expensive place to buy a Simpson brush seems to be the country where they are made. I am only a couple of hundred miles from the Simpson factory.

I am sorry about that.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

I am only a couple of hundred miles from the Simpson factory.

 

[Owen Bawn]

Not for me it won't The most expensive place to buy a Simpson brush seems to be the country where they are made. I am only a couple of hundred miles from the Simpson factory.

The VAT in the UK/EU is a killer. Irish whiskey is 30, sometimes close to 40% less expensive here in Ohio than it is anywhere in Ireland. It is even cheaper to buy it here than it is in an Irish airport duty free shop.

 

[mahenryak]

Nice. Interested to see your thoughts On such a big brush. Go big or go home.

I have a ShaveMac coming next week thru a trade. My first one. 24mm though.

My brush has been delayed for a week due to weather, sitting in the Memphis, TN hub. Given that I ordered the brush on January 3rd it's been a bit of a wait, but no matter. I just received word from FedEx this morning that it has departed Memphis and that I should expect delivery on Monday. I'm sure it will be a welcome addition whenever it finds its way here.

 

[Rudy Vey]

The VAT in the UK/EU is a killer. Irish whiskey is 30, sometimes close to 40% less expensive here in Ohio than it is anywhere in Ireland. It is even cheaper to buy it here than it is in an Irish airport duty free shop.

Irish duty free shops are often more expensive than a normal store. Found this out some 30+ years ago....never bought anything in the duty free shops, and Shannon was the worst of all.

 

[Owen Bawn]

Irish duty free shops are often more expensive than a normal store. Found this out some 30+ years ago....never bought anything in the duty free shops, and Shannon was the worst of all.

To be honest about the only things I bring back from Ireland are Palmolive and Wilkinson shave sticks, particularly in recent years as online shopping has made so many formerly exotic or rare items easily available. I used to bring a lot of books back, but that's really no longer necessary.