I wanted to share my early experiences with this knot in case others may find it useful. I will be updating this from time to time as the knot breaks in. For this first post, though, it will be my first week with the knot. Off we go (from my notes).
I wanted to put a boar knot in a custom handle. I decided on the Turn n Shave 26 mm shoat knot. You can get it untreated, half-gel, or full gel. I got the half gel. All 26mm options were $24 for the knot ($29 for 28mm).
What’s shoat hair? From internet searches, I think it might be the hair from a younger boar. It also might be a sheep-goat hybrid (that makes more sense just going by the spelling, but I am more on the side of this being a young boar in the end). Who knows.
I siliconed it into a custom Rudy Vey handle. Depth of 15 mm, opening of 1 and 1/8 inch (as suggested by TnS). I did the 3-day boar treatment with cold water and placed it in my garage. It was cold in there (January in Virginia gets cold enough), but certainly no refrigerator. Took the brush out every 24 hours. Drained the water and got more. Whipped the brush on a towel for about 10 minutes (some say you are supposed to go for 30 minutes, but I am not that person). Same routine for 3 days. The knot shed a number of hairs each time. Looked like a normal amount to me.
1/27 Day One
I have one other boar, a Zenith, to which I can compare. It had less backbone on this use than the Zenith. The Zenith was pretty much ready right out of the box. The hairs on this knot still felt ‘thick’ and too scratchy. Despite the description on the website, this knot did not feel particularly dense (my Zenith feels more dense). I was surprised by this, but I can roll with it. Perhaps when these hairs get wet, they get soft because they have not split yet and filled out? So after 10-30 shaves, the hairs might indeed split and bloom into something wonderful. It’s not wonderful yet. So, it’s a boar. Perhaps a full gel might be softer or more ready to go?
Also, I had a pretty difficult time getting a good lather. This was something new for me, but it’s also a pretty average new boar problem. And it shed only two hairs.
Day Three
Second use. I decided to not shave with the knot today, but I still built a lather to help break in the brush. And yes, I face-lathered it too. It only shed one hair. But it felt just like the first shave, and I still had some trouble lathering. I have decided to just use this brush every other day so it dries out completely and I will just use it to break in. Is that stupid and a waste of soap? That sounds like me. After the lathering, it did vigorously dry it on my towel for about 2 minutes.
Day Five
Third use. Same feel. Same trouble lathering. Same towel drying. This will take some time. Lost two hairs.
Day Eight
I skipped a day. Now we are talking. Lost one hair. But BAM the lather is here! Felt much softer on the face too. I kinda sorta still feel a stray ‘thick’ hair, but I kind of don’t as well. Not as soft as the Zenith but we are moving in the right direction. Perhaps I was wrong about it taking a long time? It felt like a good but not great brush today. I am very happy. The knot is coming into its own and showing its potential. Same towel drying. I also used the lather today to shave with since it developed so nicely.
So, that's about a week with the shoat. After eight days (not of constant use), it feels ready to be in the rotation. But we'll see. Thanks for reading!
I wanted to put a boar knot in a custom handle. I decided on the Turn n Shave 26 mm shoat knot. You can get it untreated, half-gel, or full gel. I got the half gel. All 26mm options were $24 for the knot ($29 for 28mm).
What’s shoat hair? From internet searches, I think it might be the hair from a younger boar. It also might be a sheep-goat hybrid (that makes more sense just going by the spelling, but I am more on the side of this being a young boar in the end). Who knows.
I siliconed it into a custom Rudy Vey handle. Depth of 15 mm, opening of 1 and 1/8 inch (as suggested by TnS). I did the 3-day boar treatment with cold water and placed it in my garage. It was cold in there (January in Virginia gets cold enough), but certainly no refrigerator. Took the brush out every 24 hours. Drained the water and got more. Whipped the brush on a towel for about 10 minutes (some say you are supposed to go for 30 minutes, but I am not that person). Same routine for 3 days. The knot shed a number of hairs each time. Looked like a normal amount to me.
1/27 Day One
I have one other boar, a Zenith, to which I can compare. It had less backbone on this use than the Zenith. The Zenith was pretty much ready right out of the box. The hairs on this knot still felt ‘thick’ and too scratchy. Despite the description on the website, this knot did not feel particularly dense (my Zenith feels more dense). I was surprised by this, but I can roll with it. Perhaps when these hairs get wet, they get soft because they have not split yet and filled out? So after 10-30 shaves, the hairs might indeed split and bloom into something wonderful. It’s not wonderful yet. So, it’s a boar. Perhaps a full gel might be softer or more ready to go?
Also, I had a pretty difficult time getting a good lather. This was something new for me, but it’s also a pretty average new boar problem. And it shed only two hairs.
Day Three
Second use. I decided to not shave with the knot today, but I still built a lather to help break in the brush. And yes, I face-lathered it too. It only shed one hair. But it felt just like the first shave, and I still had some trouble lathering. I have decided to just use this brush every other day so it dries out completely and I will just use it to break in. Is that stupid and a waste of soap? That sounds like me. After the lathering, it did vigorously dry it on my towel for about 2 minutes.
Day Five
Third use. Same feel. Same trouble lathering. Same towel drying. This will take some time. Lost two hairs.
Day Eight
I skipped a day. Now we are talking. Lost one hair. But BAM the lather is here! Felt much softer on the face too. I kinda sorta still feel a stray ‘thick’ hair, but I kind of don’t as well. Not as soft as the Zenith but we are moving in the right direction. Perhaps I was wrong about it taking a long time? It felt like a good but not great brush today. I am very happy. The knot is coming into its own and showing its potential. Same towel drying. I also used the lather today to shave with since it developed so nicely.
So, that's about a week with the shoat. After eight days (not of constant use), it feels ready to be in the rotation. But we'll see. Thanks for reading!
. I am really, really excited about this knot and its development (I mean, that's the main point of boars, right?). For comparison purposes, here is a photo of the Shoat (left) and Zenith (right) tonight.
