New Knot Recommendation for Yaqi HMW Silvertip

[Keyvan]

I have spent about 5 months breaking in the three brushes below:

Omega Jade Boar
SOC Boar
Yaqi HMW Silvertip

The SOC has become the Silvertip of boar brushes. It’s hard to believe how soft it is. The Omega Jade is still breaking in, but after I removed a few upside down hairs, it is clearly headed to becoming wonderful.

The Yaqi HMW Silvertip has been a disaster. It has always been scratchy, but recently it had become quite usable. Suddenly, it became very scratchy again. It’s a very robust brush and has never really lost a hair, but I believe that the tips on a few hairs break off once in a while and create sharp points.

The HMW is a huge disappointment, mainly because it has many desirable characteristics. In any case, I have decided to replace the knot. Here are some potential candidate knots:

Whipped Dog 24 mm Silvertip
Whipped dog HMW 24 mm
Boti HMW Silk 24 mm

Any thoughts on these or other Silvertip- like knots.

If the Yaqi Aqua handle can accommodate a 25 mm or 26 mm knot, I would probably prefer the larger size. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Keyvan]

To correct the above, the second knot I am considering is a WD High Mountain 24 mm; they don’t refer to it as HMW.

 

[Keyvan]

I just wanted to let everyone know that the people at West Coast Shaving are so great that they are sending me a replacement for the Yaqi HMW brush. Either my skin is too sensitive or Yaqi did not sufficiently scrutinize my particular brush. Either way, WCS is certainly not at fault. I am blown away with their customer service. They are a fantastic vendor.

I wound up ordering a 24 Boti SHD Foregoer knot and a 19 mm SHD HMW Silk Fan knot for a different handle. At some point, I might also look at the GDMG or Whipped Dog High Mountain Knot in 22 mm. The quality and variety of badger knots is really surprising.