You are also paying for handmade knot, handle and holds it's value over a $25 AliX brush.
Working conditions and where it's made can also add to value or price.
Does Simpsons Duke 3 Best worth it?
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Working conditions and where it's made can also add to value or price.
What he said.
"Worth it" is pretty subjective. To me it was worth it.
I've owned brushes by many manufacturers. My favorites are Simpson. I've reduced my collection to a dozen or so Simpsons, 2 Shavemac and 1 Semogue; all in badger hair.
I've owned brushes by many manufacturers. My favorites are Simpson. I've reduced my collection to a dozen or so Simpsons, 2 Shavemac and 1 Semogue; all in badger hair.
Duke 3 and Chubby 1, both in Best, are great brushes. Both are in my regular rotation. Fantastic face latherers, if that’s your thing.
The Duke 3 is a 21x44 knot, the Chubby 1 is a 22x46; not a big difference in size. As I recall, the price difference was ~$15. The Chubby is a denser knot.
I don’t want to be without either of them.
The Duke 3 is a 21x44 knot, the Chubby 1 is a 22x46; not a big difference in size. As I recall, the price difference was ~$15. The Chubby is a denser knot.
I don’t want to be without either of them.
Two things.
The OP is contemplating a Chubby 2 not a Chubby 1 for force difference.
I'm positive the Duke 3 is more than a 21mm knot.
You are correct. That was supposed to be 23 mm.
I mentioned the Chubby 1 because he said it was too small. The sizes are pretty close.
With all due respect to the gentleman that have posted above on this thread, I believe you can own and limit yourself to a single badger brush and continue to live a happy and successful life while achieving great lathers and shaves. I have managed to do so with, coincidentally, a Simpson's Duke 3 in best. It checks off all my badger brush needs. Good backbone, a tiny bit of scritch, decent splay (although Simpson will let you know that is a no-no I believe). I highly recommend the brush. If it is your entry into a rabbit 🕳 so be it. But not everyone need chase the next best thing if they don't want it or may not have the means to fork over the dough for yet another badger brush.
I have the Duke 1,2 and 3, and I also have the Chubby 1,2 and 3 all in best. From my experience I would urge you to buy the Duke 3 first. I believe this is Simpson’s answer for a “do all brush”. The size, the backbone and the flow through are just about perfect.
The Chubbies are a lot of fun because of their dense size, but that dense size while fun also has some drawbacks to consider. They need a heavier soap load, the flow through is not as good as the Dukes and they take more time to rinse out and to dry.
One other thing I would mention. My Chubby 3 in best hair feels just like Super Badger. It’s one of those Best hair knots that come up once in a while that are very close to Super hair. It is so soft and luxurious, but does not have the backbone I like for face lathering Hard soaps.
Hope this helps a little.
I have both, and they perform brilliantly - but very differently.I want a nice badger brush so that i can never look back at badger brushes again, I want one brush to rule them all
I love both brushes however, the Chubby is very dense and because of it, personally took me time to learn its characteristics.
The Duke was very good pretty much right out of the box. Hate to toss this one in, but the Commodore 3 is my fave of this trio.
Just like yours, my Chubby 3 (Best) feels like a super badger. Very soft tips, ect. My only issue is that it is too large a brush.
Yeah my Chubby 1 in best has the same situation- practically on par with my brush in super grade. My Chubby 2 also seems to be a step up in "best" grade compared to my others, although not as far into the spectrum to be as close to super as my Chubby 1. I wonder if they save the higher quality best hair for their Chubbies and leave the scrubbier type closer to pure for the cheaper variants?
I don’t know if they do that or not. My particular Chubby 3 goes back to the “grey box” time with the label reading “ Made in England”.
Antique Hoosier
“Aircooled”
You honestly can’t go wrong with the Duke. Get one and use the hell out of it.
My guess from what I’ve heard. Duke 2 in best is a good all around brush. So, I purchased it for that, 11 years ago. Still use it from time to time between the synthetic brushes.
I enjoy my Duke 3 in best. I think it’s totally worth
The Duke 3 in best is a good brush. You would have to be crazy to pay full retail for one (approaching $140). Sign up for Maggard and WCS email alerts- this brush goes on sale every so often. You could also wait for the Simpson black Friday sales and pick one up from them directly. This brush is solid at the $90-100 price point- beyond that you can do better. Mine sheds and breaks hairs although i'll probably get some good use out of it before its time for that badger to cross the rainbow bridge.
The Chubby is going to have a much larger bloom and little more backbone due the added hair packed into the knot. If you're into the larger knots pushing into the 30 mm realm this would be the better choice although the price will reflect the additional hair. It will be a lather monster.
The Chubby is going to have a much larger bloom and little more backbone due the added hair packed into the knot. If you're into the larger knots pushing into the 30 mm realm this would be the better choice although the price will reflect the additional hair. It will be a lather monster.
Shavemac is always an excellent choice and, unlike Simpsons (which I love dearly), you will hardly find any reports of hair loss. Shavemacs are IMO also more attractively priced and give the buyer significantly more choice (at least until the Shavemac Configurator is switched off at the end of the month).
As I said, I do love my Simpsons, but the ratio of Shavemacs to Simpsons in my den is 14 to 6, not counting other brush brands, which says it all.
I also own both a Duke 3 and Chubby 2, but my Duke 3 is Best Badger and my Chubby 2 is Platinum Synthetic, so I cannot offer you much help in choosing here. I can tell you however that I find the dimensions of the Duke 3 better suited to apothecary style shaving mugs than the Chubby 2.
Generally, I have always considered Simpsons Best Badger as their sweet spot, but their Supers and Manchurians are nothing to scoff at.
Since the Shavemac configurator has only about two weeks left, this might be a good time to take a look at Shavemacs.
B.
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The Simpson Duke 3 Best badger was my first premium brush almost 12 years ago. I bought it off the B/S/T of one of these wetshave forums.
I absolutely love it. Great for face lathering and bowl lathering alike. It is my favorite shaving brush.
I absolutely love it. Great for face lathering and bowl lathering alike. It is my favorite shaving brush.
Any Simpson lover should own a Duke 3 Best. I love mine entirely... 
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