Ordered my first Simpson

[naughtilus]

1.35? The photo next to the pro boar is revealing. It is funny, but it is hard to conceive how such a small brush can work! I know it can, but why... Nowdays, just buy a synthetic and it's the best solution for travel brush.

It's easy to smuggle when SJW vegan regimes rule the world.

 

[naughtilus]

View attachment 978552

The Rooney and the chubby are the same size no? I love the size of the Rooney and would love the chubby.

Kinda, but not quite.

 

[naughtilus]

Also I have no trouble with 2 passes and the wee scot.

Which cheek?

 

[Basil]

Oh nice. Is that the Rooney stubby 3? They say thy have the same specs but the chubby 3 looks bigger

 

[Basil]

Which cheek?

Lol my lower left one

 

[naughtilus]

Oh nice. Is that the Rooney stubby 3? They say thy have the same specs but the chubby 3 looks bigger

Yes. For Sale Simpson Chubby 3 Two Band, Rooney Stubby 3 two band

 

[Boar Fighter]

It's easy to smuggle when SJW vegan regimes rule the world.

Googling to find what SJW means (i found it), probably ruined half of the joke, but it was funny the same.

 

[naughtilus]

Oh nice. Is that the Rooney stubby 3? They say thy have the same specs but the chubby 3 looks bigger

That handle is indeed bigger. Knot would be comparable.

 

[Boar Fighter]

Brush on its way, directly from Germany (Koln). Delivery also changed to Thursday (tomorrow). Only worrying thing, is that for the first time, they use as courier "Amazon Logistics". I 've never dealt with this before and i live in a semi-rural area, that is hard for couriers that don't know the zone to navigate successfully up until my door. I hope they will have the good sense to phone me (for instructions), otherwise, tomorrow the delivery might fail...




If this was branded Muhle, instead of Boker, this bargain would have never happened. Because Muhle has already a stirling reputation to defend, doesn't need to "build one" now, so that giving "away" its flagship brushes at 1/3 of the price that is at their website, would simply never happen, because it would only damage her image that the product is fully worth the price. On the contrary, Boker, doesn't have Muhle's reputation and so instead of having a brush sitting for eternity unsold, they can prefer to sell it at a heavily discounted price, because, me, the happy customer, might be delighted for the amazing value for money and buy "Boker" again. Possibly at full price next time.

 

[naughtilus]

Boker is stellar in Knives. Everything they offer in shaving except the odd straight razor is just rebranded stuff from OEM. They even sell Fatips with Boker logo.

 

[Boar Fighter]

Boker is stellar in Knives. Everything they offer in shaving except the odd straight razor is just rebranded stuff from OEM. They even sell Fatips with Boker logo.

Really?! Rebranded Fatip! First time i hear that Fatip acts as OEM to foreign company! I had never heard of them before seeing them in Amazon and most of the time i was just ignoring them. Until i realized that the brushes were Muhle rebranded. And i am glad i did!

 

[naughtilus]

Really?! Rebranded Fatip! First time i hear that Fatip acts as OEM to foreign company! I had never heard of them before seeing them in Amazon and most of the time i was just ignoring them. Until i realized that the brushes were Muhle rebranded. And i am glad i did!

You're joking right? Fatip is OEM to Schone, Joris (Plisson) and many others. They are so cheap because they have economy of scale (mass production), otherwise even a badly finished brass razor would cost x4 what we pay in shops.

 

[Boar Fighter]

You're joking right? Fatip is OEM to Schone, Joris (Plisson) and many others. They are so cheap because they have economy of scale (mass production), otherwise even a badly finished brass razor would cost x4 what we pay in shops.

Please bare with me! I probably have 2-3 posts in the razor subforum. I hardly ever visit it. This is all news to me! Good for Fatip!

 

[NoScrubs]

Ok, i have a serious SBAD problem, since i failed the 2019 Sabbatical and now also the April Sabbatical. But i just had this worm to see how much of the Simpson brand is hype and how much is real. This should be my last natural hair brush, as i have already enough brushes to last my sons in law (that i don't even have yet!) and it will also be the most expensive one. So i am mostly curious to see how much better i will think it is compared to my Yaqi and my rebranded Hans Baier silvertips.

I ordered the Commodore X2 best badger, since i think it has a reasonable price for the supposed quality and i didn't want to get a smaller knot than 21mm, because i wanted to give Simpson a fair chance, since i like 21mm brushes and i think that if i bought a smaller one, i may have ended with negative opinion just because i would think the knot is too small. I would have preferred the Eagle handle, but i can't find it here in best badger. I also picked the Commodore handle, because it seems face lather friendly from the photos and it doesn't have a horizontal ridge, where from my experience, some soaps (cough Proraso), leave easily a white residue that is hard to clean. The Commodore instead, has a lean handle with no horizontal "trench" for the soap to stick, so i think it should be good.

In 2 days time, i should be able to shave with it.

This should be the last natural hair brush i buy, for at least several years, since synthetics just outperform any hair i 've tried and also cost much less. Unless, the mythical Simpson hair blows me away and i end up a Simpsomaniac.

Anyway, this is a purchase based purely on satisfying my curiocity. If it ends up being a flop, well, i can live with it. Until now, ironically, my most expensive brushes were those that were the least successful ones (Muhle with a loft defect, EJ best badger too floppy).

I have read almost every thread in the internet about Simpson best, about the inconsistency in the hair, so i hope i get a good one. Wish me luck.

5 years ago I started with a Simpson Special Best. It has been a great small brush. Recently wanting a larger brush I sprung for a Duke 3 Best. I could not believe how much larger the Duke was. Geat at holding lather and covers, a super brush worth the $.

 

[nav]

@Boar Fighter
Great impressions on the X2.
After having used ten Simpson brushes, the X2 Best is the only one I kept. It's my favorite of the Simpson range both in handle looks and the knot construction; good knot to loft ratio and a nice hybrid knot shape.

@mawashi
I'm lucky my wife is very supportive of my hobby plus I keep my soaps and brushes in my own cupboard and not in the bathroom. This of course means I have to cram my clothes into a smaller space but priorities right?

 

[Yyragtoj]

Very interesting thread and excellent review(s). @Boar Fighter : I would be interested to read about your favorite synthetics brushes. Not sure if you've done that already in another thread?

 

[Boar Fighter]

5 years ago I started with a Simpson Special Best. It has been a great small brush. Recently wanting a larger brush I sprung for a Duke 3 Best. I could not believe how much larger the Duke was. Geat at holding lather and covers, a super brush worth the $.

Well, the Special is 18mm and the Duke 3 is 23mm. That's 5mm difference, which is a lot in a brush. I was tempted to get the Special too, to be able to assess the hair without springing directly to the X2 Commodore, but i decided against it, because in case i would like the hair, i thought i would probably want bigger knot (like you do), so i thought it would be unwise purchase decision, because at the end, you pay for 18mm+21mm (or in your case 23mm), you end up paying more. So it would have been false economy.

@Boar Fighter
Great impressions on the X2.
After having used ten Simpson brushes, the X2 Best is the only one I kept. It's my favorite of the Simpson range both in handle looks and the knot construction; good knot to loft ratio and a nice hybrid knot shape.

@mawashi
I'm lucky my wife is very supportive of my hobby plus I keep my soaps and brushes in my own cupboard and not in the bathroom. This of course means I have to cram my clothes into a smaller space but priorities right?

Since you have been owner of 10 Simpsons and me only of 1, i am delighted to hear your opinion on the matter! Simpson has very good hair, but their choices of handle shapes and colours, leave me unimpressed or even disappointed. Because my expectations rise proportionally to the cost of an item. When i pay for an expensive brush, i expect a good handle ergonomy, a good sense of aesthetics (i consider many Simpson handles disproportionate, with too long handles for the height of the loft, which makes them ugly to my eyes) and possibly a few colour choices. But, Simpson being Simpson (the centenial reputation), doesn't need to bother with such details in order to sell, because they are "cult" items and in cult items, buyers often close an eye, at times even both.

Very interesting thread and excellent review(s). @Boar Fighter : I would be interested to read about your favorite synthetics brushes. Not sure if you've done that already in another thread?

My favourite synthetic is the Yaqi Plissoft black marble 24mm. I have Omega S-brush (24mm), Omega Black Hi Brush (24mm), Yaqi tuxedos (24mm) and plissofts (22-24mm) and Muhle Black fibre Rytmo.
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And here is the Boker. The only way to describe the experience of opening, was that this is "the smuggler's Muhle". What do i mean... It's a Muhle that does everything possible to hide the fact that it's a Muhle.

1) The rigid carton tube, is the exact carton tube that my Muhle pure Vivo came in. The difference is that the Boker tube had different colour (black vs gray of the Muhle) and that there is nowhere, any Boker logo (and of course no Muhle logo). Even the sticker on one end of the tube, is the same sticker that Muhle puts in its brush, only in this case, it only has a code and a barcode.




2) Even the back of the base of the brush, has the exact same transparent sticker (that protects the chromed surface), that my Muhle Vivo had:



The only thing that is missing, is the Muhle leaflet inside the tube, which Muhle puts in its own products (which brags about Muhle quality).

The brush has a slight badger smell, but nothing out of the ordinary. Knot 23x54mm. The knot has a good density, individual hair is slick to the touch but less than the Simpson (more than the Fantasia) and i have the gut feeling, that this will be on the floppier side, both because of the 54mm loft and because, the entire knot can be bent quite a bit even dry.

Total weight 119g. This is my heaviest brush and of course, my best handle. Whether the knot will also be the best, is something to be seen... I will put it to shampoo bath now...

 

[Boar Fighter]

I just tried it a bit directly after rinsing it and putting shampoo and to my surprise it isn't floppy. Strangely the hair didn't change drastically once wet, the general feeling reminded me of the Fantasia 25.5mm silvertip. It definitely feels more like my silvertips, in the way the backbone behaves than the Simpson best. I will shave with it, out of rotation tonight.

 

[Sotiris_A]

Nice horn pattern! Given your first impressions it seems like an awesome purchase. I am really happy for you.

Looking forward to the shaving review... and more photos.

 

[Boar Fighter]

Nice horn pattern! Given your first impressions it seems like an awesome purchase. I am really happy for you.

Looking forward to the shaving review... and more photos.

Thank you! I must say, that i am getting a bit paranoid, because...i think the knot has the same stench that my Fantasia had and that...now that it's wet, the knot looks suspiciously similar to my 25mm Fantasia silvertip knot... I will have to put them side by side when the brush dries. But, even the way the brush bends towards the tips now that's loaded with water, it's like "i have seen this brush before"... Could it be that Hans Baier gets hair from the same source as Muhle??? If not, they seem like they are cousin badgers...

Anyway, we will see...