Pure Badgers Are Not All Alike

[Owen Bawn]

I have a vintage Rooney in Pure that I got NOS some years ago. It is a terrific little brush. But give me an Eagle G3 in Pure any day. I don't whether they break in, but both of them are much more comfortable to use than they were when I first bought them. Perhaps it's like going barefoot in a beach town for a month when you're a kid. The first few days you try to tiptoe 'round the stones in the road, but after a week you're ready to run a 10k barefoot on a gravel road. That's an Eagle G3 in Super/jade photobombing the 2 Pures.

 

[RVshave]

I have 2, both Simpson's, a Special 18 mm and an Eagle 24 mm. The Special has twice as many shaves as the Eagle but the Eagle is softer than the first use and love that handle.

 

[BigJ]

I have a vintage Rooney in Pure that I got NOS some years ago. It is a terrific little brush. But give me an Eagle G3 in Pure any day. I don't whether they break in, but both of them are much more comfortable to use than they were when I first bought them. Perhaps it's like going barefoot in a beach town for a month when you're a kid. The first few days you try to tiptoe 'round the stones in the road, but after a week you're ready to run a 10k barefoot on a gravel road. That's an Eagle G3 in Super/jade photobombing the 2 Pures.
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Lovely line up!! If I ever bought another ‘pure’ badger the G3 would be what I would go for!!

 

[Owen Bawn]

Lovely line up!! If I ever bought another ‘pure’ badger the G3 would be what I would go for!!

There are some Eagle 3's in Super listed on the Simpsons site right now. The Eagle in Super is a terrific brush.

 

[BigJ]

There are some Eagle 3's in Super listed on the Simpsons site right now. The Eagle in Super is a terrific brush.

Don’t tempt me!! LOTH here is about to put me on ‘restraint!’

 

[ChristianRS]

I have a vintage Rooney in Pure that I got NOS some years ago. It is a terrific little brush. But give me an Eagle G3 in Pure any day. I don't whether they break in, but both of them are much more comfortable to use than they were when I first bought them. Perhaps it's like going barefoot in a beach town for a month when you're a kid. The first few days you try to tiptoe 'round the stones in the road, but after a week you're ready to run a 10k barefoot on a gravel road. That's an Eagle G3 in Super/jade photobombing the 2 Pures.
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I love the handles sported by that trio! Great lineup

 

[Owen Bawn]

Don’t tempt me!! LOTH here is about to put me on ‘restraint!’

I'm on restraint myself. The last 6 months have seen me purchase a Paladin, a Simpsons Astor in Best and an M6 in Manchurian. That's a lot of "disposable income!"

 

[MntnMan62]

There is tremendous variation in all badger knots. Not just Pure. I have two Pure knots and both feel pretty similar in that they are both pretty scritchy. I have one Best knot and I find it to be as scritchy as the two Pure knots. And I have two Silvertips. One is only slightly less scritchy than the Pure and Best knots and the other Silvertip is the softest knot I own of any synthetic, boar or badger. So, it's pretty much a crap shoot when it comes to badgers. Someone said that boar brushes are never as soft as badger brushes. That isn't consistent with my experience. I have three boar brushes that from day one have been softer than those Pure and Best badger knots. And as far as smell is concerned, both boars and badgers can start out with a nasty funk but it is easily eliminated by using some Dawn Dishwashing soap and two or three uses. I've reduced my brush rotation down to 3 each of boar, badger and synthetic. Of the badgers, one is Pure, one is the scritchy Silvertip and the other is the luxurious Silvertip. But as I've thought about the performance of my various brushes, I brought out one more of each badger, boar and silvertip for a 12 brush rotation. I'm so fickle when it comes to trying to downsize my shaving den. I'm presently only using 5 razors out of some 30+. I wouldn't be surprised if I took out 5 more to add to my rotation. Maybe another day.

 

[ackvil]

In all the years I have been shaving I have only sold or gotten rid of a few brushes. I bought an early version of a Parker synthetic which was one of the worst brushes I have ever owned. I threw it out. I had a huge H.I.S. synthetic brush that I gave to my oldest son. And then there was a wonderful T&H Silvertip Badger travel brush that I sold. It was a great brush but just too small for my taste.

 

[MntnMan62]

With all this talk of badgers brushes I decided to dig into my storage bin and pull out the first brush I ever got that started me on this shaving journey. It was a Christmas gift from my wife. It's an Art of Shaving travel sized pure badger brush that came in their medium sized travel kit. Since it was my only brush I used it often enough for the branding to wipe off the handle. And I used it for this morning's shave. It was actually scritchier than I remembered. And it's awfully small. But interestingly, not too small. I actually enjoyed using it, other than the scritchiness. But sometimes your face needs a bit of that. And while I was at it I dug out a Schone boar brush that I bought very early on in my hobby. I stopped using it because I felt it was too floppy. But I recall it was super soft. So I'll probably use that one for my next shave. And I dug out the RazoRock Monster that I had put away simply because it fell in between the RR Beehive and the RR Bruce and felt it didn't really serve much purpose. But looking at it next to the others, I'll use that after the Schone. I'm such a sucker for shaving talk and shaving porn.

 

[RVshave]

I got a Shavemac pure @23 mm from Rudy Vey. If anyone thinks pure is harsh they need a Shavemac pure, feels like a finest with a tiny bit of prickle. It's one of the best brushes I own.

 

[WoS_]

Shavemac's brown pure badger hair is great but the black/grey badger they offer at the moment isn't anything special. So if someone is going to get one in pure badger be sure to ask which hair they have before you order a brush.

 

[Owen Bawn]

There's nothing I can do about this (no, I'm not going to give my Simpson Pures a bleach bath) but over the years I've come to realize that pure badger is the best grade apart from the scratchy tips (which to most guys is almost everything). Simpson pures have the best backbone, they have density without compromising lather flow, and they whip up cream and rake soap off a hard puck like no other grade of brush. The knot moves beautifully across the face. The only problem, as I said, is the scratch and prickle; and for most men that's a deal killer. Too bad, because otherwise I think the grade is nearly perfect.

 

[Borderboss]

Maybe it's my skin, but I've never experienced any scratchiness or prickliness with badger brushes in the least. I use mostly Silvertip, but have a couple that are mid-range grades. They're all the same - great backbone and really soft on the face. They're the equivalent of the few synthetic brushes I have.

The only brushes that are routinely scratchy for me are boar brushes. I've tried a few and generally don't like them.