In Praise of the Kent BK4

[Nitrox]

Come on guys, don't they make one in black?
So this is our next acquisition for us BK4 lovers. I wonder if there's a tortoise version, that would be great as well.

[kronos9]

A BK4 in tortoise? Be still, my credit card.

[jww]

A BK4 in tortoise? Be still, my credit card.

Indeed - the Kent website shows the BK-4 as one of their best sellers.

Horn handles are available for the 12, 8, and 4 sizes. The H4 is a smaller brush than the BK but it does have a horn handle.

[brothers]

I prefer the Horn over the BK, white or black.

[jww]

Me 2.

[Rufus]

I'm headed for Scotland next week and there is a brand, spanking new BK4 waiting there for me. I found one for £55 or about C$90 versus C$140 from local vendors here.

[Squire]

Good deal, both on the brush and the trip.

[bernards66]

Indeed. Those suffering from SBAD are no different from other addicts in that we too are slick and crafty and always find ways and means....and rationalizations....sigh. But even for 'normal' wetshavers...you know, those odd blokes who have one brush that they use daily for years, the Kent BK4 has a lot to recommend it. It would be a contender for me if, under threat of death, I had to choose just one shave brush. It lathers creams, soft soaps, and hard soaps equally well, the lather is always abundant, the handle is comfortable to use ( I think ) and nice looking and I don't think my BK4 has lost a single bristle since I've had it. Like Squire said, you really have to use one for awhile to fully appreciate how well it does it's job.
Regards,
Gordon

[brothers]

Kent has a great strategy going, and I suspect it's been a great success for them. Make a brush that's so versatile and well-made that anyone, pretty much, who uses it will never stop using it and never stop being amazed at how sweet a brush it is. So you're Kent, and you 've got this great brush, what do you do? Keep selling it? Sure, but how to capitalize on it is the question. So, do what everyone else does when they've got a gem on their hands, offer it in slight variations. Kent then makes the whole range of BK brushes, based on and built around the BK4: BK2, 8, and 12. Get the satisfied customer to buy more brushes. Offer it in different colors and materials, but never stop selling the meat and potatoes of the line, the mighty BK4. Well done!

[fallingwickets]

maybe marc will post a comment about his experience soon......he wasnt a fan

clive

[bernards66]

Clive, There is always the exception, in this as with just about everything else. But, thinking back over the years of these shave forums there have not been very many members who used the BK4 that really didn't like it. Generally those who did not have been staunch fans of very firm feeling brushes and who could not abide any other type. I've always been a bit more eclectic in this regard. I thought my old 'floppy' T&H/Vulfix 2234 was just aces with creams but I also liked the very dense/firm CH1 Best I had for awhile. About the only types of brushes that I really don't care for are the really 'scritchy' ones and boar bristle brushes don't really do it for me either. But the BK4 comes about as close as any brush I can think of to being a 'best all around' shave brush.
Regards,
Gordon

[fallingwickets]

totally agree with you Gordon. Since it was out in plain sight yesterday, i decided to give it a whirl instead of using the t3.....wow! The handle felt a bit off in my hands, but the lather it produced was incredible. And one other thing about the bk4 that i was thinking about this morning while walking the dogs........it is the least lather hogging brush that i have ever used. When i squeezed the brush there was almost no lather.

clive

[jww]

totally agree with you Gordon. Since it was out in plain sight yesterday, i decided to give it a whirl instead of using the t3.....wow! The handle felt a bit off in my hands, but the lather it produced was incredible. And one other thing about the bk4 that i was thinking about this morning while walking the dogs........it is the least lather hogging brush that i have ever used. When i squeezed the brush there was almost no lather.

clive

Interesting --- sometimes I think lather-hogging is a good thing, and then there are those times when I admit that I do wish that I didn't have to squeeze the brush to get the uber-thick lather that often sits inside the badger bristles.

[brothers]

Momentarily departing from the BK4, on the point of retaining the good lather until the very last, My horsehair brush is the opposite of a lather hog, it makes lots of lather and easily parcels it out on demand, ending up with hardly any left at the end of the shave. Back to the BK4, as with other smaller knotted brushes, they just naturally have less hogging capacity, hence not much storage space down among the roots for the lather to hide in.

[rustyblade]

I've also gone back to my BK4 for several months now. It is my most reliable brush, it rarely sheds a hair, unlike my two newer Simpsons (Colonel and Duke) which shed multiple bristles per shave. As with any decent shave brush used daily, you just get used to it and it just becomes "a brush".

[jww]

... my two newer Simpsons (Colonel and Duke) ... shed multiple bristles per shave. As with any decent shave brush used daily, you just get used to it and it just becomes "a brush".

My Simpsons Duke 2 has shed max 3 or 4 bristles total since I received it back in May. Guess I'm lucky.

[bernards66]

Clive, Well, my BK4 does retain some lather but it generates so much that it hardly matters. There's certainly always ample amounts available on or near the crown. Of the brushes I have the one which retains the least lather is that Plisson #14 EW. Basically, it generates a bit less lather than most of my other brushes but what it does produce is unusually rich. When I squeeze it for the final pass there ain't much left.

Richard, Nice to hear from you!
Regards,
Gordon

[fallingwickets]

I would have liked to try a 14 or 16 plisson but i cant afford one......I have a 12, but it didnt wow me and sits on the pseudo DrP shelf

maybe one day i'll try a non badger brush to see what all the 'fuss' is about

clive

[jww]

...
maybe one day i'll try a non badger brush to see what all the 'fuss' is about

clive

The Semogue 1305 is brilliant --- if you do go boar, remember you will have a break-in period of a few weeks as the bristle ends split and softening results.

[fallingwickets]

The Semogue 1305 is brilliant

thanks, Wendell . I appreciate you giving up names....saves me from the www

clive