Any boar love here?

What kind of shaving brush do you use? Tell us all about it!
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ThePossum
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by ThePossum »

I remember Zach and the "Boar Wars". I think that war was going happening on several fronts, meaning just about all the forums available at the time. It did get spirited at times if I recall correctly. But I will give Zach credit for making me and alot of other guys who are boar fans ware of just how nice it is to shave with one on occasion.

I've got 3 older boars, all 3 are ERs. Have used them most exclusively when face lathering with a shave soap. Get fine results with them and any of my soaps.

But since I started this traditional wet shaving again using a C&E BBB I have found that I can get just a good results at face lathering with that brush or a recent refurb with a TGN BB knot when using a soap. I even get great results using a Silvertip badger when I shave with "The FAT".

Seems that as I age I like the softness of the badger brushes better than the slightly stiffer boar brushes. But boar vs badger is another of those things must talk about in YMMV terms.
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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by vferdman »

To me boar vs. badger is like apple vs. orange. They are different and both are good in their own way and most people like both, but not all. I had and old ER boar from the 80's that I bought myself when I was young and explored the soap/brush shaving (still used cartridges). It was a C40, which was a cheap CVS brush and I stopped using it, but it stayed with me until I started the DE shaving journey last year. I dug out the C40 and tried using it, but it shed like crazy, didn't lather worth a damn and was just floppy and ugly. I cut that knot out and made my very first restore with the handle. I used pure black badger knot and set it way too high, but it turned out to be a great, if scritchy, brush. I think those old cheap ER boars are partially responsible for the bad reputation boar brushes acquired in the past. Now we have Omega, Semogue, etc. with absolutely amazing boar offerings and the field is a little different than in the old days. I think today a guy starting out and trying to be frugal can do much better with a boar brush than a badger for the same money. $15 buys a lot of boar brush from Omega or Semogue and in badger land will only get you a pure badger shedder like Tweezerman. This is the biggest advantageof boars, I think. You can get a very high quality shaving experience with very little outlay. No compromises. Today's boars stand on their own and are amazing tools. Still can't meaningfully compare them to badgers, but if one is on a budget, there is no question what is better.
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jww
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by jww »

vferdman wrote:
gsgo wrote:My Vulfix 2234 Horn Bristle serves me well especially with my collection of Italian soft soaps. There does seem to be some synergy between the Italian style shave soap and boar which I quite enjoy.
Yes, most definitely Italian soft soaps go real well with boars somehow. I can't explain it either. Since most of my soaps are Italian soft soaps this may be why I am on a boar kick right now. I use Cella, 3P, RR R-160, RR Classic and Proraso white tub (this one is not a classic Italian soft soap, but it is Italian and it's soft and goes well with boars and I love the scent). However, I have on its way to me a puck of MWF. After a year and half of reading polarized love/hate (mostly love) posts about it I finally ordered a puck to try. I figure it's one of those must try soaps like Tabac, which I have not tried yet (tried Tabac creme and absolutely hated everything about it, but I am not a creme guy). I will try the MWF with badger first and then with boar and see what happens. I do use Palmolive stick mushed into a bowl and boars work real well with that. I've heard horror stories about lathering MWF, though. I find boars can be real hard soap tamers, but that's me. I like a stiffer scrubbier brush.
My boars work fine with all of my soaps. The lather doesn't penetrate into the brush the way it does with my badger brushes, but boars are still great soap latherers. My Semogue 1305 is really good with The Fat for sure - but then I don't have problems of any kind lathering MWF so remember ymmv. Tabac is fine with both my boar brushes as well.
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by brothers »

vferdman wrote:To me boar vs. badger is like apple vs. orange. They are different and both are good in their own way and most people like both, but not all. I had and old ER boar from the 80's that I bought myself when I was young and explored the soap/brush shaving (still used cartridges). It was a C40, which was a cheap CVS brush and I stopped using it, but it stayed with me until I started the DE shaving journey last year. I dug out the C40 and tried using it, but it shed like crazy, didn't lather worth a damn and was just floppy and ugly. I cut that knot out and made my very first restore with the handle. I used pure black badger knot and set it way too high, but it turned out to be a great, if scritchy, brush. I think those old cheap ER boars are partially responsible for the bad reputation boar brushes acquired in the past. Now we have Omega, Semogue, etc. with absolutely amazing boar offerings and the field is a little different than in the old days. I think today a guy starting out and trying to be frugal can do much better with a boar brush than a badger for the same money. $15 buys a lot of boar brush from Omega or Semogue and in badger land will only get you a pure badger shedder like Tweezerman. This is the biggest advantageof boars, I think. You can get a very high quality shaving experience with very little outlay. No compromises. Today's boars stand on their own and are amazing tools. Still can't meaningfully compare them to badgers, but if one is on a budget, there is no question what is better.
Nice post. I am wondering what an ER brush is? It's been mentioned twice in this thread. :D Second, I would like to comment in response to the accusation that Tweezerman brushes are shedders. I know there are shedders in all brush brands, form Plisson and Rooney Finest, down to the cheapest. I had the world's best brush, a Rooney Finest, that started shedding and eventually the whole defectively glued knot blew out. Thankfully, I saved the pieces of the knot, four pieces I believe, and I sent them to Berndt Blos who is the heart and soul of Shavemac. He repaired it and sent it back ready to shave again another day. My first brush was a Tweezerman, back when I went from a can of grocery store lather to a tube of CO Bigelow Proraso. I truly do not recall the Tweezerman ever losing even one hair. Certainly if it did shed, it wasn't any more than any Plisson or Omega, Kent or Shavemac, Semogue or Vulfix brush I've ever known. I loved my little Tweezerman, and even though it's long gone from me, I still have favorable memories of it. I'm just saying . . . :lol:
Gary

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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by vferdman »

brothers wrote:
Nice post. I am wondering what an ER brush is? It's been mentioned twice in this thread. :D Second, I would like to comment in response to the accusation that Tweezerman brushes are shedders. I know there are shedders in all brush brands, form Plisson and Rooney Finest, down to the cheapest. I had the world's best brush, a Rooney Finest, that started shedding and eventually the whole defectively glued knot blew out. Thankfully, I saved the pieces of the knot, four pieces I believe, and I sent them to Berndt Blos who is the heart and soul of Shavemac. He repaired it and sent it back ready to shave again another day. My first brush was a Tweezerman, back when I went from a can of grocery store lather to a tube of CO Bigelow Proraso. I truly do not recall the Tweezerman ever losing even one hair. Certainly if it did shed, it wasn't any more than any Plisson or Omega, Kent or Shavemac, Semogue or Vulfix brush I've ever known. I loved my little Tweezerman, and even though it's long gone from me, I still have favorable memories of it. I'm just saying . . . :lol:
Gary, by ER I mean Ever-Ready. In the 80's they used to be sold at CVS and such for real cheap, like $5 or so. Mine was model C40, which you can look up. It was a very inexpensive drug store boar brush in its day.

Аs far as Tweezerman shedding, I guess it's my experience based on one unit. I received one once and decided to give it to some family member in an attempt to get them to switch from canned goo. I thought I'd better defunk it before I give it to him because the badger funk can put people off. So I washed and shampooed it and kept shedding and kept shedding. As you said, all brands can have a bad one and mine may have been that, but still same money as Tweezerman badger costs can buy a much better Omega or Semogue boar. That was my point.

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Vladimir
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by JRTASTER »

Gary,

reading your comments about your departed Tweezerman brush,
tears welled-up in my eyes...

lol, we CAN get so sentimental about inanimate objects, especially if
they remind us of "the good old days!"

all the best,

jr/John
Enjoying wet shaving, again.
jr/John
Rufus
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by Rufus »

I recently purchased an Omega B&B Essential boar brush from West Coast Shaving and what a pleasant surprise. In my +45 years of wet shaving I'd never used a boar brush; after using the Omega for a week I really regretted that I hadn't and the Omega is now a permanent member of my rotation.
Bryan
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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by vferdman »

Rufus wrote:I recently purchased an Omega B&B Essential boar brush from West Coast Shaving and what a pleasant surprise. In my +45 years of wet shaving I'd never used a boar brush; after using the Omega for a week I really regretted that I hadn't and the Omega is now a permanent member of my rotation.
B&B Essentials sold by WCS is one the best boar brushes I have ever tried. I think the handle could have been shaped a little better, but it's a beautiful handle (mine is smoke color, the second one in the series) and I am now used to it. The knot is an absolute pleasure. Breaks in very quickly (perhaps Omega does something to these to make them break in fast) and is just fantastic at creating beautiful lather and feels just superb on the face. I have restored some old brushes with Omega knots from TGN, which are made with the same exact lovely bristle as the B&B Essentials, only 5 mm shorter in the loft (same knot diameter). These too make an amazing brush. Seems that blond boar bristle Omega has is just very good stuff and any brush with it should be good. That said, I have not been able to find any other regular production Omega with the same knot as the B&B essentials (same dimensions and same bristle), so they got something special going there. It's a really good boar brush to start with. You may be spoiled for other boars after it and even some badgers.
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by Rufus »

vferdman, you are quite correct in your observation about the knot. The B&B website states, "This is a custom knot (not just a production knot jammed into a fancy handle) with extra hair that was developed by a group of boar afficianados who tested prototypes before being satisfied. This brush is made entirely by Omega."

Knot ~ 22 mm
Loft ~ 54mm

At a price of $20 plus shipping ($8.55 to Canada) you can't go wrong. This is a very high quality brush, which performs amazingly well; it competes comfortably with my badger brushes costing 3 to 15 times as much. I think I could well be spoiled for other boars.
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JarmoP
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by JarmoP »

Myself my only boar brush, omega 48, feels like mob on my face, too big, cannot hold lather. As a face latherer I am, but it is a gentle mob lol.

Regarding Tweezerman cheap badger, mine too has not much shed. And I love it, I shave with it every other time. I have done for 4 years now I think. My other badger brush is of much more quality one but I really like my tweezerman too. Guess i am not so picky about brushes as long as they are badger, except one black haired small EJ badger brush i never use. I have been thinking it was sent it to me as a joke. Says 'best badger', but eh I can think different. My Tweezerman cheapo is a much better brush.

As told brushes made are individuals by built and some can shed, at first at least.
I seldom post in this forum about brushes because i am just fine with what I have and need no more higher quality ones.
Jarmo
Oscar11
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by Oscar11 »

Boar love, oh sure. I grew up using boars so they're the "normal" brush for me. Right now, I'm badgerless but will make myself another in the next month or so (shavemac 22mm D01 3 band fan). I have some boar brushes coming so I'll probably harvest the knots out of them and make some handles adjusting the loft to where I prefer. I enjoy experimenting. I don't have any bloom pics right now but this is my latest 22mm natural bristle @ 52mm. It's not broken in 100% yet. I like the banded boar a little shorter for a given knot size.
Image

Most of the time your can buy brushes as cheap or almost as cheap as the knots and have more sizes available. You can leave the collars on or cut them off.
Image

The green handle is the big 28mm knot shortened to around 60mm if I remember correctly.
Image
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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by vferdman »

Oscar, great to see you here on SMF. I love your brushes and I am so happy you are putting these fancy handles under the boar knots! Those blond Omega knots are simply amazing. I hear you about buying whole brushes for the same cost as knots at TGN, too. I've considered that option. I really, really like 22mm/55mm setup that B&B Essentials boar (Omega) uses. I have one of those brushes and it's really great. Love the 22mm/50mm knot as well. I think between these two I can be set for life, but I do want to try the big 48 knot also. Not a big fan of huge brushes as I face lather, but still, that Omega Pro line looks mighty nice.
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by Oscar11 »

Vlad, I agree about the blond Omega, nice knot with the proper loft. I have a 25mm banded boar coming that I'm looking forward to experimenting with. I'm thinking about 5 or 6mm reduction in loft will make a great brush. Also have a couple of 23's and24's coming too. Have a good one.
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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here? - mini review of Semogue 1800

Post by vferdman »

I have recently received a brand new Semogue 1800 boar brush in trade for one of my Omega restores (the one in my avatar, actually). I had two Semogues before. The 1305 and the 1470. I did not care for the 1305 so mcuh as it was too loose and fanned out too much for my face lathering needs. The 1470 took a long time to break in and I could not make friends with it, but it felt very good. I had a problem with it keeping enough lather in it for 3 passes. It could have been my fault, but it just didn't quite work for me. I sold both Semogues, but have always missed the handle that 1305 utilized. Most comfortable shaving brush handle ever. So I decided to try the 1800, which has a very similar (if not identical) handle and a slightly different grade of boar bristle than the 1305. So far I have been breaking it in and used it about half a dozen time or fewer. I like it so far. The bristle on this brush is a bit stiffer than on the 1305, which is a good thing. It is not fully broken in, so I can't pass a final judgement, but I still think Omega boars are superior in the loft and inferior in construction. Having said that, there are Omegas out there that I have not tired that have higher quality handles than the cheaper ones. In any case, I think it's hard to beat the Omega blond boar knot. I have a few 22mm/50mm ones and they are excellent and I also have a B&B Essentials Omega boar brush that is a unique 22mm/55mm brush made specifically by design of that forum's Omega lovers. That brush is simply wonderful and I highly recommend it. The Semogue 1800 is a close contender to it, but so far it's not quite there in the loft department, but the handle is simply perfect ergonomically. If you've been wanting to try a Semogue, I would say the 1800 is a great one to start with.

--
Vladimir
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by Antique Hoosier »

Been using my Omega 49 90% of the time lately... Preferring it over my Somerset Duke 3 and Simpson AS2 Vintage Butterscotch. I even purchased an Omega 48 on eBay just the other day and it is headed my way!
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by brothers »

I just received an Omega 20107, just a tad shorter loft than the 20106. I haven't decided whether I want to remove the brush and put it in a vintage handle. I'll take my time and see what happens.
Gary

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vferdman
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by vferdman »

Antique Hoosier wrote:Been using my Omega 49 90% of the time lately... Preferring it over my Somerset Duke 3 and Simpson AS2 Vintage Butterscotch. I even purchased an Omega 48 on eBay just the other day and it is headed my way!
brothers wrote:I just received an Omega 20107, just a tad shorter loft than the 20106. I haven't decided whether I want to remove the brush and put it in a vintage handle. I'll take my time and see what happens.

Those Pro Omegas are amazing. A bit too big for me. I like smaller brushes, but the grade of bristle in them is top notch. That's what is in the B&B Essentials boar. Enjoy them, guys!
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by rsp1202 »

Boars have always been an uphill battle for me. I can't deny that my Omega/Proraso Pro lathers up soaps (and creams) splendidly. I've been considering a smaller boar like those mentioned above as an addition -- but I have a custom badger en route right now and my eyes on another Savile Row, an M&F with Emperor handle, and a Muhle synthetic. So the poor boar will have to wait in line again.
Ron
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by fireMedic1343 »

Omega 48 Boar, my first and only brush. It's been excellent so far with Italian cream. I wouldn't be surprised if Italian companies tested with Boar, since it seems like the Italian barber's prefer Boar. I mainly bought boar because you get much more for the money. I spent $15 and got free Proraso shaving cream with it, a low cost way to get into high end wet shaving imho.
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Re: Any boar love here?

Post by brothers »

Medic, I like the boars because once they're softened by being broken in and also just by being saturated with water at the time of the shave, some folks say they're just as nice as a much more expensive badger brush. I love the boars and badgers (and my black horsehair brush) all the same. They're all good, just different. :D
Gary

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