Is silvertip *worth it*?

[huntmol]

I'd say it depends. Some guys swear by their $11 Tweezerman or $15 Omega boar, but others say that you can't get a good shave without a $350 Plisson!

Personally, I started off with a Pure badger brush, and for me the switch up to Silvertip was definitely worth it.

A good badger brush with a short loft, soft tips, and a dense knot is something that I think everyone should experience.

 

[strat1117]

Worth it = very subjective. I say yes because I don't mind spending a lot more money for a marginal improvement (relatively speaking) on luxury items. If I were just approaching this from a strictly utilitarian standpoint, I'd say definitely not. The other problem is that some silvertips are super floppy. I've got one that is really floppy and one that is semi-floppy, and it really chaps my hide. Personally, I've got several silvertips, but my workhorses are my super Rooney and a Boar.

Good luck answering this for yourself.

+1. I think Paul has it right. There is a point at which diminishing returns sets in, and then you have to decide whether the difference is worth it to you. There is nothing objective about it.

I have several top notch brushes, including a Shavemac silvertip, a Rooney super silvertip and a Simpson 2-band, and they are all great, and, to me, all worth what I paid for them. However, the Shavemac silvertip, which is the softest of the three, is not great for soaps. On the other hand, nothing beats it for pure luxury when used with something like Penhaligon's Endymion SC.

Be like Goldilocks -- keep trying different brushes until you find the one that is "just right" for you. After all, that's where the fun is!

Enjoy!

 

[kooshman7]

Be like Goldilocks -- keep trying different brushes until you find the one that is "just right" for you. After all, that's where the fun is!

Enjoy!

Currently in this stage. Not sure if I'll get out of it anytime soon.

 

[flcrx]

Be like Goldilocks -- keep trying different brushes until you find the one that is "just right" for you. After all, that's where the fun is!

Enjoy!

Trying and searching, is ABSOLUTELY, part of the fun...

 

[CzechCzar]

Trying and searching, is ABSOLUTELY, part of the fun...

My brush's link is here. I think I made a wise choice considering I'm a tabac man. If I ever feel the urge I'll consider a silvertip though... thanks to everybody for the outstanding help!

 

[SRock]

Less of a difference between silvertip and badger than there is with badger and boar. But for the connoisseurs, this difference is worth it.

+1, it totally depends on what you will use it for and what type/size (knot, loft etc.) you go with.

There is a very noticeable difference between Pure/Best and Silvertip from the big manufacturers but the smaller operations don't seem to have as great a quality difference between them. For example I think most of the Silvertip replacements knots that are often used aren't much different or better than Best, but the difference between one of those Silvertip knots and a Kent, Shavemac, Plisson, Rooney, Simpsons etc. etc. is very noticeable.

As always, YMMV.

 

[Flyfisherman]

My brush's link is here. I think I made a wise choice considering I'm a tabac man. If I ever feel the urge I'll consider a silvertip though... thanks to everybody for the outstanding help!

Great choice!

 

[WhosYerBob]

For years and years I used a low-end boar bristle brush and it was perfectly adequate for use with inexpensive hard soaps, though it didn't create much in the way of lather. A thin watery foam, yes - but not thick lubricating lather. And I could never get it to foam up (let alone lather up) any of the creams I tried.

Then I used a real badger brush for the first time. Wow - what a revelation! The lather was amazing! And I got superior results from both hard soaps and creams.

Then I tried a silvertip and realized nirvana. Luxury beyond luxury. It just feels amazing on my face.

 

[huntmol]

I have several top notch brushes, including a Shavemac silvertip, a Rooney super silvertip and a Simpson 2-band, and they are all great, and, to me, all worth what I paid for them. However, the Shavemac silvertip, which is the softest of the three, is not great for soaps.

You've gotta try a Shavemac in D01, then - amazing with soaps and creams, and just as soft as the Silvertip!

 

[rbaloha]

For tabac a stiff professional boar from Omega more than suffices.

 

[andrew98]

You've gotta try a Shavemac in D01, then - amazing with soaps and creams, and just as soft as the Silvertip!

A big +1 for D01.

Currently in this stage. Not sure if I'll get out of it anytime soon.

The one downside to trying everything is that it can get expensive.

-Andy

 

[DSB]

A good quality silvertip is worth the extra money to me. It may or may not be worth the extra money to you. It's a very subjective question. I would rather have a good boar than a cheap silvertip (yes, there are cheap Chinese silvertips on ebay). On the other hand, nothing feels better on my face than my Rooney 3/1 super silvertip. It does NOT improve my lather making. It just feels great on my face. That being said, I also enjoy using my boar brushes. This may be the ultimate YMMV question.

 

[CzechCzar]

Thanks so much for the feedback. Money and time aren't so much issues for me, unless it's absurdly large amounts of either. Just want the brush that will generate the best possible lather.

 

[henkverhaar]

Less of a difference between silvertip and badger than there is with badger and boar. But for the connoisseurs, this difference is worth it.

So this means that if you don't notice the difference, or can't be bothered, you're not a connoisseur?

 

[English]

You really need to go to a good shaving accessories shop and look at the range of brushes. The vast majority are silver tip in various grades.

Silver tip is thin, floppy and very soft on the face. The softer the feel the more expensive the badger hair.

All the other badger hair is springy, resilient and generally thicker. This offers the advantage of being great for mixing a lather with a hard soap and exfoliates and brushes the skin in use, working the lather under the stubble on your face.

Price wise. silver tip covers the middle ground. The vast majority of badger hair is silver tip.

The resilient haired badger brushes are either relatively inexpensive or the most expensive. A great example of an inexpensive resilient haired badger brush is a Kent BK2. A great example of an expensive resilient haired badger brush is a Rooney "finest".

Is silver tip worth it's price? All comes down to personal taste, but no silver tip really works well making lather with a hard soap, because of its lack of backbone.

 

[andrew98]

...no silver tip really works well making lather with a hard soap, because of its lack of backbone.

I have to disagree. A short-loft Shavemac with D01 (variety of Silvertip) or a Rooney with Super Silvertip will positively murder soap. Both also have great backbone. That's why loft is important. I only use hard soaps, btw.

-Andy

 

[English]

I have to disagree. A short-loft Shavemac with D01 (variety of Silvertip) or a Rooney with Super Silvertip will positively murder soap. Both also have great backbone. That's why loft is important. I only use hard soaps, btw.

-Andy

I have owned the Rooney "Super" silvertip and the Rooney "Finest" and at the same time.

As I have said, silver tip is naturally floppy compare to "finest" badger hair.

The Rooney super is very well packed and hand selected with all the poorer quality and not silver tip hairs removed. As a result it is very soft tipped and the heavy packing stops it flopping a bit. But the badger hair is naturally floppy. It has no similarities with the "finest" type badger hair whatsoever. The finest badger hair is thicker, a different color and a different banding, it is springy and not floppy and it is not as soft tipped.

I agree the Rooney and the Shavemac are good brushes but please don't say they are not floppy. They are less floppy then other silver tipped brushes not made the shavemac way or not packed as heavily as the Rooney super.

 

[andrew98]

...As I have said, silver tip is naturally floppy compare to "finest" badger hair.

...I agree the Rooney and the Shavemac are good brushes but please don't say they are not floppy. They are less floppy then other silver tipped brushes not made the shavemac way or not packed as heavily as the Rooney super.

I think I see what you're saying. An individual Rooney Super Silvertip hair is generally floppier than a single Rooney Finest hair. You weren't saying brushes made with those hairs are necessarily floppy, right? You're also only talking about Rooney hair grades above, right? Because there's also a Shavemac Finest, which is a non-silvertip grade that's a world apart from Rooney Finest. That distinction may be part of the source of my confusion.

Whether any brush, made with any grade of hair, is floppy or not depends on packing density and loft more than anything else. A Rooney Super Silvertip 1/1 is not a floppy brush (because it's densely packed and has a short-loft), nor is a short-loft (45-50mm loft) custom Shavemac , made with either Shavemac Finest or Shavemac D01 (also densely packed with a short-loft). That is the consensus on B&B regarding those 3 brushes.

If you're calling a 1/1 Rooney Super Silvertip floppy, a brush made with Rooney Finest Sivertip must be insanely firm (non-floppy, lots of backbone, stiff, however you like to say it).

A standard Shavemac made with Shavemac Finest hair is somewhat floppy because it has about a 60mm loft. In fact, Kent brushes are regarded as leaning toward the floppy side, with the exception of the B&B '08 LE. Kent silvertip hair may be resilient, but for whatever reason, their brushes are somewhat floppy, compared to brushes made with Rooney Super Silvertip. I'm talking about whether finished brushes are firm or floppy, not whether individual hairs of different grades are firm or floppy. I'm truly not trying to be argumentative. Please don't read any of this that way. I'm just baffled by you calling a Rooney brush, made with Super Silvertip, floppy.

If you are, then it means I need a Rooney made with Finest... one day far from now ($$$).

-Andy

 

[huntmol]

You really need to go to a good shaving accessories shop and look at the range of brushes. The vast majority are silver tip in various grades.

Silver tip is thin, floppy and very soft on the face. The softer the feel the more expensive the badger hair.

All the other badger hair is springy, resilient and generally thicker. This offers the advantage of being great for mixing a lather with a hard soap and exfoliates and brushes the skin in use, working the lather under the stubble on your face.

Price wise. silver tip covers the middle ground. The vast majority of badger hair is silver tip.

The resilient haired badger brushes are either relatively inexpensive or the most expensive. A great example of an inexpensive resilient haired badger brush is a Kent BK2. A great example of an expensive resilient haired badger brush is a Rooney "finest".

Is silver tip worth it's price? All comes down to personal taste, but no silver tip really works well making lather with a hard soap, because of its lack of backbone.

I have owned the Rooney "Super" silvertip and the Rooney "Finest" and at the same time.

As I have said, silver tip is naturally floppy compare to "finest" badger hair.

The Rooney super is very well packed and hand selected with all the poorer quality and not silver tip hairs removed. As a result it is very soft tipped and the heavy packing stops it flopping a bit. But the badger hair is naturally floppy. It has no similarities with the "finest" type badger hair whatsoever. The finest badger hair is thicker, a different color and a different banding, it is springy and not floppy and it is not as soft tipped.

I agree the Rooney and the Shavemac are good brushes but please don't say they are not floppy. They are less floppy then other silver tipped brushes not made the shavemac way or not packed as heavily as the Rooney super.

If it's war you want, then it's war you'll get!

Rather than try to dispute each point individually (especially because I think Andy did an excellent job at describing density and loft as it relates to how floppy a brush is), I'm just going to disagree with your use of the term "Silvertip." Because this word is used so often, and because different manufacturers use many different terms for it, the words Finest/Best/Super/Pure/etc. on their own mean nothing. Each term must be attached to the brush manufacturer to have any meaning. I have no problem with you saying that Rooney's Finest has more backbone than Rooney Silvertip, but if you're going to go around saying things like:

"Silver tip is thin, floppy and very soft on the face. The softer the feel the more expensive the badger hair."

"The vast majority of badger hair is silver tip."

"no silver tip really works well making lather with a hard soap, because of its lack of backbone."

"I agree the Rooney and the Shavemac are good brushes but please don't say they are not floppy."

Then I will have no choice but to disagree with you!
*removes glove, tosses it onto the ground at your feet*

The Art of Shaving
* Silvertip Badger
* Fine Badger
* Pure Badger

Col. Ichabod Conk
* Silver Tipped Super Badger
* Super Badger
* Pure Badger
* Bristle/Badger Blend

Edwin Jagger
* Silver Tip Badger
* Super Badger
* Best Badger

ê Shave
* Silvertip Badger
* Finest Badger
* Pure Badger

Kent
* Silver Tip
* Super Badger
* Best Badger

Mühle
* Handcrafted silvertip badger
* Fine best badger + fine badger
* Pure badger + pure black badger

Omega
* Silver tip bristle
* Fine badger
* Pure Badger

Plisson
* High Mountain White
* The European White
* The European Gray
* The Chinese Gray
* The Black Quality

Rooney
* Finest Badger Hair
* Super Badger Hair
* Silvertip
* Best Badger Hair
* Pure Badger Hair

Savile Row
* Super badger
* Pure Badger

Shavemac
* D01
* Silver Tip Badger
* Finest Badger
* Pure Badger

Simpsons
* Two-Band Super
* Super badger
* Best badger
* Pure badger

Superior Brushes
* Super
* Best

Taylor of Old Bond Street and Cyril R Salter
* Silvertip Badger Hair
* Pure Badger Hair

Vie-Long
* Badger Hair
* Horse & Badger Hair Mixture

Vulfix
* Silver tip badger
* Super badger
* Pure badger

Source:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Shave_Brush_Hair_Grades

 

[kooshman7]

Semogue gets no love.