I like small brushes. They tend to be less fussy.
Yaqi: Two Band Badger or Silvertip?
- Thread starter TinyT
- Start date
I like small brushes. They tend to be less fussy.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
I have both silvertips and two bands. Two bands are also called finest by some vendors (Stirling finest are two band for sure). I have two Yaqi two bands but no Yaqi silvertip.
Silvertips can definitely have plenty of backbone depending on how the knot is set in the handle and on the density of the knot (the density of the packed fibers, how many fibers are in the knot). In general, silvertips, all things being equal, will be maybe softer than two bands.
The MS 30 mm silvertip pictured ^ is as soft as cloud but it has plenty of backbone and scrub.
That said, two bands are quite soft. Certainly soft enough for me as a face latherer.
Two bands tend to have perhaps more backbone and scrub than silvertips all things being equal.
The problem is this: All things are not always equal. The brush above with the ivory handle ^ is a cheap VigShaving silvertip. It's not a terrible brush. It's plenty soft, but its backbone and scrub are marginal at best. The Yaqi two band next to it is a much better brush in my view, being soft enough and also having a lot more backbone. Both brushes are pictured brand new before they were used at all.
Reports on the Yaqi silvertip vary. Some love it. Some say it doesn't have sufficient backbone in which case it might not have enough scrub for me. It also might be floppy. What you like in regard to scrub, softness, backbone, floppiness, etc. is subjective.
I agree entirely with the poster I quoted, a gentleman who knows his brushes.
Switching gears just a bit here...
These two brushes are Manchurians. That may mean they're much like two bands but also somewhat different. The copper handled brush is my favorite brush of all the brushes I own. It began with the backbone of a jackhammer and took some getting used to. Now it still has a ton of backbone and scrub but it's much softer.
These two brushes are the same in that both are Manchurian and both are Zeniths, but they're also different in performance. Both are great, but they're not the same. The difference might be in density or it might be the knots are set differently in the handle; I don't pretend to know.
If I have to offer an opinion on which Yaqi to buy I'm going with the two band. Both of mine are very good brushes.
Happy shaves,
Jim
Last edited:
This thread is very encouraging, as I am waiting for the arrival of my Yaqi Moka Two Band. I had the Moka Synthetic, and while I didn't love that knot I did love the handle.
Both Yaqi 2-band and Silvertip are soft in my standard. 2-band has a bit more scrub and a bit more backbone. Silvertips feels softer and has less backbone. Out of the two, I enjoy the 26mm 2-band Moka Express the best.
- Thread starter
- #26
- Thread starter
- #27
When you say the 2-band has a bit more scrub and a bit more backbone, are you talking brand new Omega boar levels? I don't mind a bit of scrub or backbone, infact I might slightly prefer it, providing the tips are soft enough.
Comparing 2-band to a new Omega boar, I'd say the 2-band is softer and has slight more backbone because of its density.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
I know most people correlate backbone and scrub. I usually do, too, but not always. I'm not sure how closely they're linked. No, I'm not saying they're totally not linked, but I think there's more to it than just that backbone/scrub lineage although I'm not sure what more to it means.
A brush can be soft enough and have enough backbone and enough scrub.
Problem is this: The word enough. What's enough for me might not be enough for you.
I have a brush or two or three which is soft as soft can be but without enough backbone and scrub to make the brush useful to me. However, these brushes might suit you just fine even though I doubt it.
I thought I understood this stuff better until I acquired a horse. That Zenith brush has taught me a lot.
The big deal is whether the brush works for you and you like it.
Yes, there are all sorts of objective (more or less) things which can be said about a given brush and its characteristics but they are sometimes less important than I sometimes think they'd be. Also they're less universally meaningful and agreed upon than I might think they'd be.
Of course, there's enough agreement to make conversation and comparison interesting or we wouldn't be here.
Some depends on how we use the brush (bowl or face lathering), whether we use very hard soaps or very soft creams, and our skin. Much depends on our preferences.
Of course, there are good brushes and bad brushes. Even great brushes and terrible brushes. Mostly here we're talking knots of course.
These brushes - Zenith Manchurian, Zenith extra soft horse, Stirling finest - are quite different in their characteristics but I like them all.
- The Manchurian has backbone vastly beyond the others but it's soft enough. It wasn't soft enough to begin with, but it was useable from the get go and I'd been told it would break in which it did.
- The horse is the weirdest of brushes and I have no idea why I like it, but I like it very very much. I liked it from the very first shave.
- The Stirling is very soft and almost floppy (but not quite). It should be denser I think, but I still enjoy using it. Somehow it has just enough scrub to be useful. It's a brush which has grown on me.
I have no idea that everyone likes the same thing or that what's "enough" for one guy is right for others.
Happy shaves,
Jim
Dearest Jim
You may have ever so slightly over explain your POV. I’m pretty certain he’s going to like whatever he ends up with. Don’t get me wrong with no sports on I do like a good read.
*wink
I have a Yaqi two-band badger, silver tip, and high mountain white, all as 24mm but all in different handles. Of the three, my clear favorite is the two-band badger. Here are my subjective opinions as a bowl-latherer, and placing them in order of my favorite to least favorite.
Two-band (fan style): soft on the face, dense, not floppy, has that bit of 'scritch' that is just right, releases soap well, easiest of the three to load (particularly with harder soaps), splay is fine but does not do so as easily as other two (this is a mark in its favor to me). Overall word for it: Ideal.
Silvertip (bulb): very soft, not floppy, pillowy on the face, releases soap well, marginally less dense than the two band. Overall word for it? Plush.
HMW (bulb): not as soft as silvertip, not as dense as two-band, splays the best of the three, marginally the most floppy without being floppy (if that makes sense), delivers soap to the face better than the other two. Overall word for it: Efficient.
Of the three, the two-band was the cheapest when I bought it only sale (~US$12 for two-band, ~$16 for HMW, ~$22 for silvertip—again, all were from the amazing sale of Nov. 11). Pretty much unbeatable performance and value for the price.
Two-band (fan style): soft on the face, dense, not floppy, has that bit of 'scritch' that is just right, releases soap well, easiest of the three to load (particularly with harder soaps), splay is fine but does not do so as easily as other two (this is a mark in its favor to me). Overall word for it: Ideal.
Silvertip (bulb): very soft, not floppy, pillowy on the face, releases soap well, marginally less dense than the two band. Overall word for it? Plush.
HMW (bulb): not as soft as silvertip, not as dense as two-band, splays the best of the three, marginally the most floppy without being floppy (if that makes sense), delivers soap to the face better than the other two. Overall word for it: Efficient.
Of the three, the two-band was the cheapest when I bought it only sale (~US$12 for two-band, ~$16 for HMW, ~$22 for silvertip—again, all were from the amazing sale of Nov. 11). Pretty much unbeatable performance and value for the price.
I gatta interject now with the obligatory “while you’re at it” the synthetic options they have are superb.
What I’m saying here is that I give you permission to buy at least two.... or more. lol
What I’m saying here is that I give you permission to buy at least two.... or more. lol
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
I'm fully capable of simultaneously over explaining and being unclear. It's a unique talent.
Every think of a career in politics? Or you could head the Federal Reserve like Alen Greenspan did. God I loved listening to him. He spat out pure poetry all the damn time.
- Thread starter
- #35
Exactly this. I know that I want the softest brush possible, while still being able to load and lather effectively, within the price that I'm willing to pay.
Not everyone will agree on what the softest possible is or even what effective is. But if I have some idea of the general differences I'll be able to start to make a decision based on my wants and needs. The consensus seems to be that the silvertip is marginally softer with perhaps less backbone, but not necessarily so, the two band almost as soft with a little more backbone.
The most important thing, and it's subjective, entirely.
This I will only be able to determine if I have the brush in hand. I don't expect to know exactly what I will be getting but I'd hope to at least not be disappointed and, from what I've read, doubt that I will be regardless of my decision.
I'll continue to mull it over.
- Thread starter
- #37
I sometimes need that, just for the sake of completeness, lol.
You'd like to think so, and so would I, but I can be very hard to please, on occasion.
- Thread starter
- #38
Thanks, that sounds good. Soft and dense.
- Thread starter
- #39
Thanks, very good descriptions.
I expect I'll get both the two band and the silvertip in time, but not definitely and ceratinly not to start with. Splay is not so important to me, soft face feel is but so is ease of loading.
- Thread starter
- #40
Precisely why I am a firm believer that you should simply buy them all
It's the only way to be sure. But when being sure costs money I start to become careful. It's a reflex.
