Thinking of Giving Boar Another Try
- Thread starter eezee
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I use boar and nothing else since 2018. But my boars are all from omega. Never tried other brands.
You have to remember to soak a boar at least 10 minutes, and they take about 6 months to break in, after that I love them with soaps, but with creams I prefer badgers.
That's right, don't forget to soak your boar!
I am with the consensus: you should try another boar (or two)!
Semogue, Zenith, Omega all offer great options!
Semogue, Zenith, Omega all offer great options!
I agree with the shorter lofted Zenith boar suggestion, but I prefer the unbleached version. I found the bleached bristles to be a bit too floppy.
Try an Omega this time. I have several and like them all. But of the three Omegas I have my favorite is the Connaught Omega with faux jade handle. It's soft right out of the box and seems to have gotten even softer with time. The short dense loft gives it a bit of backbone but not too much. It's a nice luxurious brush and is quite possibly my favorite in my entire collection of badgers, boars and synthetics.
Boars are on the low end of the scale with regard to performance for me. Take longer to lather and use more product than anything else I’ve ever used.
I’ve spent way too much time and money on boars and for the most part, an inexpensive badger or synth will wipe the floor with the nicest of boars any day of the week. You are not missing out, believe me.
I’ve spent way too much time and money on boars and for the most part, an inexpensive badger or synth will wipe the floor with the nicest of boars any day of the week. You are not missing out, believe me.
Huge boar fan here. Probably a bigger zenith fan at this point. I have had Parker, surrey, and omega brand boars in addition to Zenith and Semogue.
Zenith and Semogue are my preference. Yourshaving is great and honestly, I would just recommend you buy a handful of zeniths from them to try. They are much more affordable and if you dislike anyone of them enough to part ways I think it would be well received here on BST.
Yourshaving is currently suspending orders to the US, so if you can be patient, it will be worthwhile to wait on them. Shipping with USPS is too slow and causing them headaches at the moment.
Here are my 4 zenith boars and my SOC in the center.
Among the zeniths, they are all different, including the characteristics of the knots. From the left, #s 1, 4 and 5 are all from yourshaving.com. The one on the left has the same knot diameter and loft as #4, but it’s very giving and has very minimal backbone, some might call floppy. 3 is the SOC and is nearly identical the zenith in position 4 at 1/3 the price of the SOC. This has great backbone and soft bristles. #2 is the xxl copper super scrubby from thegentleshave.com and is kind of a specialty item from there. It’s awkward but if you like a lot of backbone and scrub, not scratch, this is the ticket. I’ll comment on #5 below.
In the photo above, you will see the tallest of the zenith boars next to my vintage Rubberset 400-4 with original boar knot. These are excellent brushes if you are a bowl lathering guy. I was very anti tall lofted boars until this Rubberset fell into my lap and I gave it a shot. The zenith has the same loft with a shorter handle. The backbone on this zenith is what I call medium, but has noticeably more backbone that the blue handle zenith in the #1 position. I know some will caution that zeniths are floppy and to get the shorter loft, but in this instance, that’s not the case.
Zeniths break in super quick and are soft right out of the box or very soon after. Another great note about these Zeniths and the Semogue, none of them had any lingering or any significant stink when they were new. If there was any stink whatsoever, it was history after 3 uses.
Boars are a great value, and great quality brushes. I have as much money in the 1st, 4th and 5th brushes combined as I do in the copper zenith or the Semogue owners club. At that cost of entry I encourage you to try a variety.
Thanks for reading this manifesto, I sincerely hope it is helpful to you.
Zenith and Semogue are my preference. Yourshaving is great and honestly, I would just recommend you buy a handful of zeniths from them to try. They are much more affordable and if you dislike anyone of them enough to part ways I think it would be well received here on BST.
Yourshaving is currently suspending orders to the US, so if you can be patient, it will be worthwhile to wait on them. Shipping with USPS is too slow and causing them headaches at the moment.
Among the zeniths, they are all different, including the characteristics of the knots. From the left, #s 1, 4 and 5 are all from yourshaving.com. The one on the left has the same knot diameter and loft as #4, but it’s very giving and has very minimal backbone, some might call floppy. 3 is the SOC and is nearly identical the zenith in position 4 at 1/3 the price of the SOC. This has great backbone and soft bristles. #2 is the xxl copper super scrubby from thegentleshave.com and is kind of a specialty item from there. It’s awkward but if you like a lot of backbone and scrub, not scratch, this is the ticket. I’ll comment on #5 below.
In the photo above, you will see the tallest of the zenith boars next to my vintage Rubberset 400-4 with original boar knot. These are excellent brushes if you are a bowl lathering guy. I was very anti tall lofted boars until this Rubberset fell into my lap and I gave it a shot. The zenith has the same loft with a shorter handle. The backbone on this zenith is what I call medium, but has noticeably more backbone that the blue handle zenith in the #1 position. I know some will caution that zeniths are floppy and to get the shorter loft, but in this instance, that’s not the case.
Zeniths break in super quick and are soft right out of the box or very soon after. Another great note about these Zeniths and the Semogue, none of them had any lingering or any significant stink when they were new. If there was any stink whatsoever, it was history after 3 uses.
Boars are a great value, and great quality brushes. I have as much money in the 1st, 4th and 5th brushes combined as I do in the copper zenith or the Semogue owners club. At that cost of entry I encourage you to try a variety.
Thanks for reading this manifesto, I sincerely hope it is helpful to you.
Too lazy to take a pic right now, but my Jade Omega 011842 that I received form Connaught a couple days ago has "several" dark, thick-looking hairs among the light blonde ones. I finished doing the placed-in-a-cup-of-water-in-the-refrigerator thing earlier today (48 hours in the water, hand stropped on towel for the second time today; also used a hair dryer on cool setting to dry it out almost completely).
I did a palm lather after that and was disappointed to feel multiple points of skritchy, prickly feel on my palm. Makes me wonder if it's those aforementioned dark hairs. Just guessing here. My only experience with boar is a not terrific run with a Semogue 620 years ago.
I did a palm lather after that and was disappointed to feel multiple points of skritchy, prickly feel on my palm. Makes me wonder if it's those aforementioned dark hairs. Just guessing here. My only experience with boar is a not terrific run with a Semogue 620 years ago.
I took out my Semogue Owner's Club boar for a run today and it was excellent. Soft with low scrub and low-mid backbone. Definitely a top candidate boar IMO. It did leave me just enough lather for 2 passes + cleanup but that's all I needed.
Semogue TSN LE Premium Boar Shaving Brush
I started wet shaving with two Semogues: 620 and 1305. I’m a face lather shaver
In my 6-year journey I’ve tried and sold dozens of brushes. I’ve never been a fan of the concept of synthetic (plastic) hair.
I’ve become a Simpsons guy, owning 8 of their brushes and one Thater 2 band, but using Simpsons most of the time.
Last month I acquired a few boar brushes once again to give them another try after 6 years. Got a couple of Semogues, this time 610 and 1305, and Omegas
I have to say I’m impressed. Maybe my technique is better, maybe I’m settled with better soaps. But these boar brushes are giving me great, consistent lathers and an amazing face feel. I like how you can abuse them and scrub the hell out of your face. I like that they give the lather so easily vs a dense Badger, and it seems they use less soap per shave, but only time will tell and this is not really critical. I can only imagine how good they will be after fully breaking in
My favorites so far are the 1305 and the Proraso by Omega. I’m planning to keep using boar brushes exclusively for the next months and then make a decision to maybe sell some of my badgers.
In my 6-year journey I’ve tried and sold dozens of brushes. I’ve never been a fan of the concept of synthetic (plastic) hair.
I’ve become a Simpsons guy, owning 8 of their brushes and one Thater 2 band, but using Simpsons most of the time.
Last month I acquired a few boar brushes once again to give them another try after 6 years. Got a couple of Semogues, this time 610 and 1305, and Omegas
I have to say I’m impressed. Maybe my technique is better, maybe I’m settled with better soaps. But these boar brushes are giving me great, consistent lathers and an amazing face feel. I like how you can abuse them and scrub the hell out of your face. I like that they give the lather so easily vs a dense Badger, and it seems they use less soap per shave, but only time will tell and this is not really critical. I can only imagine how good they will be after fully breaking in
My favorites so far are the 1305 and the Proraso by Omega. I’m planning to keep using boar brushes exclusively for the next months and then make a decision to maybe sell some of my badgers.
You should definitely get another boar! As others have said, you should try an Omega, a Zenith or even another Semogue.
If you decide to buy another Semogue, you should take a look at first Boar, Semogue 830, 1305 or Omega Pro #48/49? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/first-boar-semogue-830-1305-or-omega-pro-48-49.543435/#post-9632431.
My largest Omega is 24mm and holds a decent amount of lather, my 27.5mm Zenith holds lots of lather, and my 24mm Semogue Owners Club (SOC) hold plenty of lather. The SOC is soft. I wish I could tell you about my Semogue 2000, but it is still in transit.
Good luck!
Back in February, I was deciding on a boar brush. I decided on either the Omega jade or a Zenith in a copper handle. Both are pricier than the average boar (I think about US$40). In the end, I chose the Zenith and it's been a wonderful shaver (Zenith 27.5mm Boar, Copper handle, B33). Was ready to use 'right' out of the box (I did the three day soak method, but just on a counter top, not the refrigerator). I couldn't ask for a better boar. Good luck!
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Thank you, thank you, and thank you for all of the wonderful comments and insight. Lots of information and consideration to do here.
+1. This. Amazing brush.
The only brush I own is a boar so I'm in the opposite camp to you (wanting to try a badger) however this is great IMO. Use it daily with no issues although there isnt much backbone in it for me. Definitely works better for a painting motion on the face rather than face lathering.
I give it a good soak before each use but dont find its overly hard on the soap.
As for the price, well its hard to argue with that.
I give it a good soak before each use but dont find its overly hard on the soap.
As for the price, well its hard to argue with that.
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Use a Boar. A boar is better.
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