Well, of sorts anyways. I generally like 24mm knots so all of these are close to that save the chubby 2 which has been sold as of yesterday, but I included it in the pictures for the benefit of the community.
The contenders in no particular order: New Forest Tubby 1, Simpsons Chubby 2, Rooney Heritage Stubby 1XL, Vie Long 2 band, Custom Shavemac, M&F blonde badger, TGN 24mm fan in vintage handle, and a Semogue 2 band.
Overhead shot order as follows: 1st row: M&F, 1XL Rooney, Semogue SOC. 2nd row, Shavemac, Simpson, New Forest. Third row, TGN 24mm Fan, Vie Long 16726.
Update 3-29-11, New Forest Tubby 1
Okay today was my first time with the tubby. No pictures of lather shots for the simple reason it was the first time...all brushes may require a little different technique than others so I wanted to be fair.
I use somewhat of an oddball lathering technique, I typically load the brush and make a small amount of lather in a bowl...then reload and proceed to lather my face. In between passes I may dip into the small bowl and pick up a little extra lather, but this typically doesnt happen to the 3rd or 4th pass. On this round, I would use Acca Kappa 1869 out of the tub....and I learned right away that my usual technique was a bad choice with this brush.
This brush holds a decent amount of water, retains heat well...and will absorb a deceptive amount of product. Suffice to say, I did not need my small bowl and all 4 passes were done with the brush, no reloading. And in fact when I rinsed it out, there was still a ton of product in the brush. I was really surprised by the amount this 24mm knot would hold....at one point I had so much lather the brush handle had become engulfed and I actually dropped the brush....luckily I caught it before it struck anything.
Backbone is decent...by that I mean nothing stellar, but not entirely lacking either. The tips are very soft. Its not a scrubby brush.
The biggest complaint...its a shedder so far. 10-15 hairs on the initial loading and first pass. After that things seemed to have settled down.....I'm hoping so, I've never had a brush shed this much on its initial use.
Update 3-30-11 Semogue SOC 2 band
Peter had contacted me last night about the shedding problem, something he is concerned with and has contacted his knot maker about combing out the loose hairs more effectively. So hopefully future brushes will not exhibit this problem, or at least not in the extreme I have noticed.
Onto todays test....Semogue SOC 2 band. Soap used today was Benton Clays vetiver paradasi....a lovely smelling grapefruit/vetiver combination. The tips have a bit of scritch to them, but being a new brush this may very well go away with more time. Backbone was decent.....I should clarify this comment, I typically use 3 band brushes....a TGN extra stuffed super badger and a Semogue 2010 LE. When I say decent, I am comparing to these brushes I normally use..meaning, theres a little more backbone but nothing earth shattering there. Its not floppy by any means, just nothing spectacular either. Density on this brush as I said in another post is about average for its price range. It did not shed a single hair. It did have some badger funk to it, but this is pretty common and it wasnt as hideous as a vie long funk. It absorbed an decent amount of water, absorbed a normal amount of soap/cream product and retained heat nicely. As with the New Forest tubby, I dont find this to be a real scrubby brush.
In direct comparison to the New Forest Tubby 1, the tubby wins in tips dept, backbone is even between the two as is density. The tubby will absorb more product which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you lather, I found it useful that I could make 3 passes and a 4th touch up pass without having to reload the brush. The Tubby did not have any badger funk to it. BUT, the Semogue did not shed a single hair which may end up being the achilles heel of the new forest tubby brush.
The last thing I forgot to mention was a price comparison...the Tubby 1 was sold to me for 43 GBP, around 70 dollars shipped which is a good chunk of money less than the SOC. In fact, the tubby 1 is the second cheapest brush in the round up, only one being cheaper of course the TGN knot and vintage handle. If Peter can remedy the potential shedding problem, it would be very easy to recommend the tubby 1 for those on a budget.
Simpson Chubby 1 on order from bullgooseshaving, simpson needs to be represented in this shoot out
Update 3-31-11 Morris and Forndran blonde badger
Going into the shave this morning I was hoping to be surprised by the M&F....it just wasnt too impressive sitting there with the rest of the brushes. I was in for a surprise, good and not so good (bad is too strong).
This brush like the others absorbed water well, retained heat well, and absorbed a good amount of product....not as much as the new forest, but more than the Semogue. On the first lather pass I immediately noticed two things. This brush had more backbone than I initially would have guessed which is the good......the not so good is the tips were rather scritchy. I'm hoping this goes away once its broken in, but its more than tolerable at this point. This brush is more of a scrubber than the other two, which is a good thing for the face lather crowd. If the tips break in nicely and soften up I think its a real winner. One single hair shed during the usual 3 pass shave.....this brush did have a bit of funk to it, but we all know that eventually goes away.
The handle is simple yet elegant....I like that its a white white and not an ivory like so many other brushes. I really like the font used for the logo/writing, very nicely done.
Overall this brush is interesting...it puts up good backbone, more of a scrubber than the other two, but has scritchy tips and less density than the other two. The last thing to factor in is cost...price on these brushes has varied wildly, but at the time I bought mine I paid 105 shipped to my door. That makes this brush the most expensive tested THUS far. If the tips can soften up over time I would rate this above the semogue and a little advantage over the new forest (pending the shedding stops) since it has better backbone and a classier handle shape/logo.
The contenders in no particular order: New Forest Tubby 1, Simpsons Chubby 2, Rooney Heritage Stubby 1XL, Vie Long 2 band, Custom Shavemac, M&F blonde badger, TGN 24mm fan in vintage handle, and a Semogue 2 band.
Overhead shot order as follows: 1st row: M&F, 1XL Rooney, Semogue SOC. 2nd row, Shavemac, Simpson, New Forest. Third row, TGN 24mm Fan, Vie Long 16726.
Update 3-29-11, New Forest Tubby 1
Okay today was my first time with the tubby. No pictures of lather shots for the simple reason it was the first time...all brushes may require a little different technique than others so I wanted to be fair.
I use somewhat of an oddball lathering technique, I typically load the brush and make a small amount of lather in a bowl...then reload and proceed to lather my face. In between passes I may dip into the small bowl and pick up a little extra lather, but this typically doesnt happen to the 3rd or 4th pass. On this round, I would use Acca Kappa 1869 out of the tub....and I learned right away that my usual technique was a bad choice with this brush.
This brush holds a decent amount of water, retains heat well...and will absorb a deceptive amount of product. Suffice to say, I did not need my small bowl and all 4 passes were done with the brush, no reloading. And in fact when I rinsed it out, there was still a ton of product in the brush. I was really surprised by the amount this 24mm knot would hold....at one point I had so much lather the brush handle had become engulfed and I actually dropped the brush....luckily I caught it before it struck anything.
Backbone is decent...by that I mean nothing stellar, but not entirely lacking either. The tips are very soft. Its not a scrubby brush.
The biggest complaint...its a shedder so far. 10-15 hairs on the initial loading and first pass. After that things seemed to have settled down.....I'm hoping so, I've never had a brush shed this much on its initial use.
Update 3-30-11 Semogue SOC 2 band
Peter had contacted me last night about the shedding problem, something he is concerned with and has contacted his knot maker about combing out the loose hairs more effectively. So hopefully future brushes will not exhibit this problem, or at least not in the extreme I have noticed.
Onto todays test....Semogue SOC 2 band. Soap used today was Benton Clays vetiver paradasi....a lovely smelling grapefruit/vetiver combination. The tips have a bit of scritch to them, but being a new brush this may very well go away with more time. Backbone was decent.....I should clarify this comment, I typically use 3 band brushes....a TGN extra stuffed super badger and a Semogue 2010 LE. When I say decent, I am comparing to these brushes I normally use..meaning, theres a little more backbone but nothing earth shattering there. Its not floppy by any means, just nothing spectacular either. Density on this brush as I said in another post is about average for its price range. It did not shed a single hair. It did have some badger funk to it, but this is pretty common and it wasnt as hideous as a vie long funk. It absorbed an decent amount of water, absorbed a normal amount of soap/cream product and retained heat nicely. As with the New Forest tubby, I dont find this to be a real scrubby brush.
In direct comparison to the New Forest Tubby 1, the tubby wins in tips dept, backbone is even between the two as is density. The tubby will absorb more product which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you lather, I found it useful that I could make 3 passes and a 4th touch up pass without having to reload the brush. The Tubby did not have any badger funk to it. BUT, the Semogue did not shed a single hair which may end up being the achilles heel of the new forest tubby brush.
The last thing I forgot to mention was a price comparison...the Tubby 1 was sold to me for 43 GBP, around 70 dollars shipped which is a good chunk of money less than the SOC. In fact, the tubby 1 is the second cheapest brush in the round up, only one being cheaper of course the TGN knot and vintage handle. If Peter can remedy the potential shedding problem, it would be very easy to recommend the tubby 1 for those on a budget.
Simpson Chubby 1 on order from bullgooseshaving, simpson needs to be represented in this shoot out
Update 3-31-11 Morris and Forndran blonde badger
Going into the shave this morning I was hoping to be surprised by the M&F....it just wasnt too impressive sitting there with the rest of the brushes. I was in for a surprise, good and not so good (bad is too strong).
This brush like the others absorbed water well, retained heat well, and absorbed a good amount of product....not as much as the new forest, but more than the Semogue. On the first lather pass I immediately noticed two things. This brush had more backbone than I initially would have guessed which is the good......the not so good is the tips were rather scritchy. I'm hoping this goes away once its broken in, but its more than tolerable at this point. This brush is more of a scrubber than the other two, which is a good thing for the face lather crowd. If the tips break in nicely and soften up I think its a real winner. One single hair shed during the usual 3 pass shave.....this brush did have a bit of funk to it, but we all know that eventually goes away.
The handle is simple yet elegant....I like that its a white white and not an ivory like so many other brushes. I really like the font used for the logo/writing, very nicely done.
Overall this brush is interesting...it puts up good backbone, more of a scrubber than the other two, but has scritchy tips and less density than the other two. The last thing to factor in is cost...price on these brushes has varied wildly, but at the time I bought mine I paid 105 shipped to my door. That makes this brush the most expensive tested THUS far. If the tips can soften up over time I would rate this above the semogue and a little advantage over the new forest (pending the shedding stops) since it has better backbone and a classier handle shape/logo.
Last edited:
