Is this actually a better grade of hair or is it just rarer?
What's the deal with two-band?
- Thread starter Emmett
- Start date
It is impossible to define better grade, because everyone definition of better is different. 2-band is definitely more rare.
+1
Some guys who prefer 'best' or 'pure' badger, or even boar, will make claims that those less-expensive hairs are "better" than silvertip, and so forth.
2-band is certainly "different" than other badger hair like the usual silvertip sort of hair you see.
I have often wondered also. How can you tell if its two band? Does anyone still make two band brushes?
You can simply see it: black roots and white tips; stiff and resilient loft yet soft tips.
Plisson, Rooney and Vulfix still make two band super brushes
How do you know it really is two-band, though? I mean, on some of the Simpfix two-banded brushes there is a third band "peeking out".
You're correct; one can argue about wether this is "true" two band. Depends on the properties of the bristles: when stiff/resilient yet soft then you may call it "two band".
But as you might know very well, even two band is in fact three band...
If one wants to get technical, there is no such thing as two-band hair, because all badger hair has three bands, as Peter said. What we call "two-band" hair is a type of three-band hair that features a very wide, nearly black middle band, and another very wide, nearly white band at the tip. This is markedly different from what we call "three-band" hair, which has a very wide, light bottom band, a relatively narrow, brown middle band, and another relatively narrow, silver or sandy band at the tip. When knotted and put in handles, the "two-band" type of hair almost always takes on the appearance of having only two bands, although it is not unheard of to see traces of the bottom band "peeking out" where the hair meets the handle, as you say. This does not mean it is not real "two-band" hair. One can still make the distinction based on appearance. Even the two-bands that have the "peeking" third band will still have a nearly black middle band and white tip band, and will have the thicker shaft and greater resiliency associated with two-band hair. If you know what to look for, you'll have no problem telling them apart from three-band varieties.
I would imagine that one could live a perfectly happy life without splashing out for a two band brush. I'll probably never buy a two band because of the expense, but they do sound magical.
-Andy
-Andy
I've heard the same. The big unanswered question then becomes - what happens during molting season? There may be big wads of High Mountain White bristle blowing around, being used in bird nests and clogging up air vents etc. Makes me want to take up some kind of hill walking type hobby, I could get lucky and end with a sack full of Rooney finest!
Probably....the fact that Plisson calls their highest class badger "High Mountain White" may lead to the conclusion its from badger living in the mountains at high altitude; since temperatures are generally lower at this height you may say the HMW comes from their winter coat.
This theory would hold more water if Plisson didn't dilute the grade with three-band hair.
Probably their summer coat. They are white in winter so they don't show up in the snow and their coat is thicker and longer to conserve heat. Light tan and thinner coat in the summer so they blend in with the earth and don't overheat in the sun. Both high mountain, just different seasons. This is why the "Manchurian" designation is better IMO - it really doesn't mean anything but it sounds cool.
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