I like the handle on that Morris and Forndran. Thanks for posting this review of two band brushes. It is very useful! 
2 band comparison
- Thread starter ctkelly
- Start date
Awesome thread. I cannot wait to hear your final thoughts when everything is said and done.
- Thread starter
- #44
5/14/11 Update
Simpson Chubby 1
After spending some time with this particular brush, I do have some complaints. At first I didnt think the odd knot shape bothered me much, but after a few days of using the brush its actually quite annoying. Its probably amplified by its density and great backbone, but it feels like I'm constantly jabbing myself in the face with a spear tip brush, which is what the knot resembles. I know others have complained of this and I am also one that doesn't care for the shape either. Strangely, when you go to the chubby 2 you get a huge golf ball of hair, perfectly round. I think they need to tweak the knot design on this a little bit. While looking at it today I also noticed that the knot isn't very evenly shaped either.
My second complaint is with flow. This brush absorbs a ton of water, a ton of soap and needs coaxing to release either. Some of the other brushes exhibit this to a degree, but here simpson takes the crown for hogging. It can be worked around, just something you get used to. Couple this with the knot shape and I'm fairly disappointed with the simpson brush. If the knot was the shape of the chubby 2 I would happily change my methods to get the simpson to work as it has excellent back bone, soft tips.....but those two complaints really annoy me.
New Forest Tubby 1
Spent more time with this brush also....shedding has slowed, but still pops 2-3 hairs a shave. Backbone is ok, tips are good....excellent flow, very easy to whip up nice lather with a variety of soaps/creams. Pretty decent brush at its price point, unfortunately the shedding issue is present and should be considered when looking into the new forest line. I will state that Peter seems to be striving to improve his products, as evidenced by the vastly superior handles he is using for the tubby line. He has been talking to his knot maker/source to address the shedding issue so perhaps future brushes will be better in this regard.
Morris and Forndran 25x48mm extra hair
WOW.......'nuff said for now.
Next up some more quality time with the TGN brush and the vie long 2 band.
Simpson Chubby 1
After spending some time with this particular brush, I do have some complaints. At first I didnt think the odd knot shape bothered me much, but after a few days of using the brush its actually quite annoying. Its probably amplified by its density and great backbone, but it feels like I'm constantly jabbing myself in the face with a spear tip brush, which is what the knot resembles. I know others have complained of this and I am also one that doesn't care for the shape either. Strangely, when you go to the chubby 2 you get a huge golf ball of hair, perfectly round. I think they need to tweak the knot design on this a little bit. While looking at it today I also noticed that the knot isn't very evenly shaped either.
My second complaint is with flow. This brush absorbs a ton of water, a ton of soap and needs coaxing to release either. Some of the other brushes exhibit this to a degree, but here simpson takes the crown for hogging. It can be worked around, just something you get used to. Couple this with the knot shape and I'm fairly disappointed with the simpson brush. If the knot was the shape of the chubby 2 I would happily change my methods to get the simpson to work as it has excellent back bone, soft tips.....but those two complaints really annoy me.
New Forest Tubby 1
Spent more time with this brush also....shedding has slowed, but still pops 2-3 hairs a shave. Backbone is ok, tips are good....excellent flow, very easy to whip up nice lather with a variety of soaps/creams. Pretty decent brush at its price point, unfortunately the shedding issue is present and should be considered when looking into the new forest line. I will state that Peter seems to be striving to improve his products, as evidenced by the vastly superior handles he is using for the tubby line. He has been talking to his knot maker/source to address the shedding issue so perhaps future brushes will be better in this regard.
Morris and Forndran 25x48mm extra hair
WOW.......'nuff said for now.
Next up some more quality time with the TGN brush and the vie long 2 band.
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Are you still going strong with these brushes or did you sell some of them off? I would love to hear your thoughts after having gotten to use some of them for an extended period of time, and once the brushes were broken in a little bit.
I'm sure experiences vary. I've got a Tubby 1 that I've used 4 times so far. It hasn't lost a single hair that I've noticed.
- Thread starter
- #47
Some brushes have been sold off as I had generated a solid opinion on them and no longer needed them. Not necessarily a bad thing mind you, I had just come to the conclusion about them and have moved onto further testing of some of the others.
- Thread starter
- #48
Well its been a month since my last update I suppose I should chime in again. I have generated some thoughts and this is pretty much how things set with me.
The Morris and Forndran is the overall best performer for me. I had a custom spec made at 25mm x 46mm loft with extra hair and its a real delight to use. Tips are soft, tons of backbone, price was plenty fair and I liked the styling of the brush. This one gets used a lot. The tips are only second to the rooney heritage brush.
The best brush for under a 100 dollars came to light after some time with the brush. I give that award to the Semogue 2 band brush. There is backbone there to rival the higher end brushes, tips are decently soft and features an attractive wood handle. Another all around performer just under the 100 dollar mark.
The most unique brush experience is the Shavemac flat top brush 2 band. Great density, good backbone but like M&F, tips have a little scritch to them but over time they do break in to become softer. The flat top brush is totally different than any of the others and is a real treat to use. Gives you the feeling of using a much much larger brush than the 24mm knot. Go with the shortest loft offered for the knot size, after break in these do soften up a bit in the backbone dept.
The softest tipped brush here was the Rooney heritage 1XL. Great density, fan shape, good backbone, excellent tips. If you require a soft tip brush but want backbone this is the brush to go for.
Now out of these four, I feel a guy cant go wrong here really. All had good to excellent flow also. I'll breeze threw the rest but for the most part the winners are listed above.
New Forest I never could get past the hair shedding of my model. Peter continues to make improvements to his brushes so maybe this problem has been solved by now, but the model I have exhibited shedding every shave. Aggravating a shaving brush should not be.
The Chubby 1 fell into a different category of aggravating. Entirely due to the shape of the tip which was like a spear point for me, as I used it more and more I realized just how annoying it was. It was also a bit of a hog in the flow dept. Perfect the bulb shape simpsons!
TGN 2 band finest. A great knot at its price point. Excellent soft tips, good flow. Unfortunately not the best in the backbone category even with a short loft of 44-46mm. If you're on a tight budget, not a bad option really but I think the Semogue 2 band gives you the best 2 band experience under the 100 dollar mark.
Vie long 2 band - nothing really good to say here. Tips are ultra soft when dry, but come time to get wet they are no better than any other brush in the contest. Backbone is lacking, density is poor. Flow is excellent, but at the cost of everything else I think you're better once again to step up to the Semogue.
As time permits I'll try and photograph all the brushes again to show the bloom.
The Morris and Forndran is the overall best performer for me. I had a custom spec made at 25mm x 46mm loft with extra hair and its a real delight to use. Tips are soft, tons of backbone, price was plenty fair and I liked the styling of the brush. This one gets used a lot. The tips are only second to the rooney heritage brush.
The best brush for under a 100 dollars came to light after some time with the brush. I give that award to the Semogue 2 band brush. There is backbone there to rival the higher end brushes, tips are decently soft and features an attractive wood handle. Another all around performer just under the 100 dollar mark.
The most unique brush experience is the Shavemac flat top brush 2 band. Great density, good backbone but like M&F, tips have a little scritch to them but over time they do break in to become softer. The flat top brush is totally different than any of the others and is a real treat to use. Gives you the feeling of using a much much larger brush than the 24mm knot. Go with the shortest loft offered for the knot size, after break in these do soften up a bit in the backbone dept.
The softest tipped brush here was the Rooney heritage 1XL. Great density, fan shape, good backbone, excellent tips. If you require a soft tip brush but want backbone this is the brush to go for.
Now out of these four, I feel a guy cant go wrong here really. All had good to excellent flow also. I'll breeze threw the rest but for the most part the winners are listed above.
New Forest I never could get past the hair shedding of my model. Peter continues to make improvements to his brushes so maybe this problem has been solved by now, but the model I have exhibited shedding every shave. Aggravating a shaving brush should not be.
The Chubby 1 fell into a different category of aggravating. Entirely due to the shape of the tip which was like a spear point for me, as I used it more and more I realized just how annoying it was. It was also a bit of a hog in the flow dept. Perfect the bulb shape simpsons!
TGN 2 band finest. A great knot at its price point. Excellent soft tips, good flow. Unfortunately not the best in the backbone category even with a short loft of 44-46mm. If you're on a tight budget, not a bad option really but I think the Semogue 2 band gives you the best 2 band experience under the 100 dollar mark.
Vie long 2 band - nothing really good to say here. Tips are ultra soft when dry, but come time to get wet they are no better than any other brush in the contest. Backbone is lacking, density is poor. Flow is excellent, but at the cost of everything else I think you're better once again to step up to the Semogue.
As time permits I'll try and photograph all the brushes again to show the bloom.
Thanks for the update! I agree about the SOC 2 band. It is a really good bargain for a 2 band brush.
Why not contact Semogue for a custom made SOC2? I mean all your other recommended brushes are custom jobs...
I don't see the point of this experience, comparing brushes based on the color of their hair, different brushes tested with different soaps... the only good information on this topic is contained on the two posts Du212 made.
You like the M&F better, that's fine, I'm glad you found a brush that you really like, but don't call it a comparison, call it the search for your ideal two band brush.
I don't see the point of this experience, comparing brushes based on the color of their hair, different brushes tested with different soaps... the only good information on this topic is contained on the two posts Du212 made.
You like the M&F better, that's fine, I'm glad you found a brush that you really like, but don't call it a comparison, call it the search for your ideal two band brush.
- Thread starter
- #51
All the brushes were tested with a set of soaps and creams, its not like i randomly used this brush with this soap and another with a different. They were all used with the same set over the period of time.
Only two of the four recomended were custom jobs, the rooney heritage 1xl is available from a vendor here in the us and the semogue is available from the usual vendors. All m&f's are made to order last i checked, so thats not really a true custom. Same with the shavemac, its a readily available set of options straight from shavemac.
I dont recall making any comparison based on color of the hair.
Im sorry this comparison didnt help you any, but a few here have voiced their thanks for the experiment so at least it helped someone.
Only two of the four recomended were custom jobs, the rooney heritage 1xl is available from a vendor here in the us and the semogue is available from the usual vendors. All m&f's are made to order last i checked, so thats not really a true custom. Same with the shavemac, its a readily available set of options straight from shavemac.
I dont recall making any comparison based on color of the hair.
Im sorry this comparison didnt help you any, but a few here have voiced their thanks for the experiment so at least it helped someone.
ctkelly-
Thank you so much for this! I've been researching brushes for weeks --- picked up a CH1 2band and CH2 best to begin my own evaluation. I like the 2band and the higher density (as compared to my TGN). I'd been looking at an XL1 but you (and some folks on another thread) have me looking in the M&F direction... Might just have to make a custom order....
Thank you so much for this! I've been researching brushes for weeks --- picked up a CH1 2band and CH2 best to begin my own evaluation. I like the 2band and the higher density (as compared to my TGN). I'd been looking at an XL1 but you (and some folks on another thread) have me looking in the M&F direction... Might just have to make a custom order....
I didn't mean to sound so caustic, but I didn't understand the "They were all used with the same set over the period of time." part, so I apologize for it! I felt it lacked a certain scientific approach!
You are right about the M&F's, but the most popular, almost production brush is the 24/52mm model, and that could be bought in certain stores, that and and a similar non custom Shavemac would have made the sample more homogeneous. Or you could go the other way and have a custom made Semogue and Rooney (I know Semogue does it, not sure if it is possible with Rooney, I guess not).
I didn't mean to diminish your efforts, and it is an interesting read, it's probably that my scientific background and current job in the same area got the best of me!
I'm sorry and thank you for all your work and sharing!
I am a 2 band convert. Have a Simpson Polo 8, Rooney 2XL, and a (cough) few M&Fs with a (cough cough) couple on the way.
And you are not alone in this, my friend
Excellent mea culpa. Thing here is, brushes are so far from "science" it isn't funny. Two 2 band CH2s can be completely different from one another (or any two, I just picked a CH2 at random
) This "experiment" is simply one man's journey with available offerings. It has nothing to do with custom/production. Comparing the brushes like this is the very best information we can get without actually owning them all ourselves (and no one would do that right?) It gives folks a nice place to see what may or may not be general trends but I'm loving this. It's a great read. I really should put together a similar comparison with larger knots (someday) Well done CT!Cheers,
Ken
I just wanted to let you know this thread was very helpful, despite what one critic said.
Thanks again!!
Thanks again!!
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