Hello everyone. I want to dive in to get my first Shavemac, and was hoping to get some guidance from the experts who’ve done lots of trial and error(!)
First off, I am a dedicated face-lathering guy who loves shave sticks. I love the simplicity of this method so it’s very important that the knot has the following characteristics:
A) Provide 2 passes of lather without having to squeeze the knot out for the second
B) Be soft and mildly scrubby, as little prickle as possible
After reading as many posts as I could, I think the 2-band Silvertip is the right knot for me. @Rudy Vey calls it the “bees knees” of Shavemac knots and I have yet to see any contradiction to this statement, so am therefore gravitating towards this one, in a fan shape.
I am not sure about the size however. After recently having had an amazing shave with my little Simpson Berkeley 46 in Best, I am rethinking the whole bigger is better logic. That brush is tiny, yet it satisfied my first criteria above with ease. It just had a little bit more scrub and prickle than I would have liked where the prickle was the more negative of the two. It’s a newer brush, and for all I know it will smooth out, but I don’t know. I’m going to keep using it but I want to see what these Shavemac’s are all about. Please feel free to tell me to shut up and use my Simpson and stop spending money, I will not be offended.
So based on everything above, what would you pick? 20mm? 22mm? Less, more, in between? How about the loft ratio? Would you keep it the same despite the knot width or adjust accordingly? Any and all advice, brain dumps and aimless wanderings are all greatly appreciated!
First off, I am a dedicated face-lathering guy who loves shave sticks. I love the simplicity of this method so it’s very important that the knot has the following characteristics:
A) Provide 2 passes of lather without having to squeeze the knot out for the second
B) Be soft and mildly scrubby, as little prickle as possible
After reading as many posts as I could, I think the 2-band Silvertip is the right knot for me. @Rudy Vey calls it the “bees knees” of Shavemac knots and I have yet to see any contradiction to this statement, so am therefore gravitating towards this one, in a fan shape.
I am not sure about the size however. After recently having had an amazing shave with my little Simpson Berkeley 46 in Best, I am rethinking the whole bigger is better logic. That brush is tiny, yet it satisfied my first criteria above with ease. It just had a little bit more scrub and prickle than I would have liked where the prickle was the more negative of the two. It’s a newer brush, and for all I know it will smooth out, but I don’t know. I’m going to keep using it but I want to see what these Shavemac’s are all about. Please feel free to tell me to shut up and use my Simpson and stop spending money, I will not be offended.
So based on everything above, what would you pick? 20mm? 22mm? Less, more, in between? How about the loft ratio? Would you keep it the same despite the knot width or adjust accordingly? Any and all advice, brain dumps and aimless wanderings are all greatly appreciated!