This may be a silly question, but thought brushes were simply pure, best, or silver tip?
What is the difference between 1 band 2 band 3 band brushes?
- Thread starter sdaniels
- Start date
Ah. Not a silly question. I've posted a quote from Superior Shave:
Two- and three-band refers to the visible bands in the coloring of badger hair as it emerges from the brush. There's no such thing as a one-band. Continuing on the Simpsons theme:
(Two-band Chubby on left, three-band Chubby on right; both Super)
Two-band is a coarse, springy hair with a relatively soft tip. The thickness of the bristle gives it great backbone. Two-band can be too scrubby/scritchy for some people.
Three-band hair has a fine thickness and very soft tips. Three-band knots need to be much more densely packed than two-band in order to have good backbone. Some people do not like overly dense brushes.
Those are the main pros and cons as I see them. HTH.
(Two-band Chubby on left, three-band Chubby on right; both Super)
Two-band is a coarse, springy hair with a relatively soft tip. The thickness of the bristle gives it great backbone. Two-band can be too scrubby/scritchy for some people.
Three-band hair has a fine thickness and very soft tips. Three-band knots need to be much more densely packed than two-band in order to have good backbone. Some people do not like overly dense brushes.
Those are the main pros and cons as I see them. HTH.
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All you need to know in those two replies.
Excellent response Francesco! Very accurately summed up indeed!
Fantastic, I've been meaning to ask this. Thanks gents!
I just did a search for this answer. Thanks guys.
Just picked up a 2 band and was not really suren the difference. Great explanation!
This is a helpful post, but I have a further question. If for discussion we look at the Chubby 1 on the Superior Shave site. They are available in Best and Super. I don't see any mention of 2 band vs. 3 band. Looking at the bands of the pictures of the brushes, the Best and Super both look to have 3 bands. What am I missing?
Thanks for your help!
The Simpson 'Best' grade of badger hair doesn't come in 2-Band. The Superior Shave just doesn't have any Chubbies in 2-band for sale; they're all 3-band Super. Check out the Chubbies for sale at West Coast Shaving instead. They have 2-band and 3-band Chubbies for sale.
Great thread. I've yet to try a 2 band but now I feel a need to.
Same here.
Just to keep adding to the thread, here is Shavemac's take on their hair grades:
http://www.shavemac.com/badger_qualities.html
and a citation from the D01 2-band description in particular:
Distinctive features are:
http://www.shavemac.com/badger_qualities.html
and a citation from the D01 2-band description in particular:
Silvertip D01 2-Band Shaving Brushes
In contrast to the usually 3-band hair shaving brushes, consisting of light-dark-light sections, the 2-band shaving brush has only silver shimmering tips and a long dark section down to the handle. To achieve this effect, you need specially long badger hair as only these do have the appropriate long sections. These long hair are in addition very dense and firm creating a uniquely sturdy shaving brush. As most of the badger hair parts are lost - the end of the badger hair and not the tip is trimmed to its final length - more weight in hair is needed. Therefore this brush is more expensive. Furthermore, these long hair are very rare and are not always available.Distinctive features are:
- different appearance
- perceptively stronger hair
Thanks EdgeRunner. Helpful. I'm gathering the 2 band provides a little more scritch, and more backbone then, assuming the same knot and loft.
Yes and no, in general the 2-banded hair is stronger and doesn't bloom that much. BUT it's not necessarily scritchy. The Thater 2-band, current Simpsons 2-band, and some TGN 2-bands are VERY soft. The M&F Blonde and current Heritage have very light scrub and some of them some scritch. My D01 2-band is very scrubby but I don't find it prickly at all. Basically, the hair strength of the 2-bands allows for making knots with better backbone that are not very dense and not lather hogs. The 3-banded feel more luxurious on the face, bloom more, typically with greater density, but again, the softness is different and depends on the particular brand and hair quality.
Thanks Edgerunner. All, very helpful. I'm thinking of trying a TGN 2 band XH. I can't see spending $$ for a Simpson or Shavemac until I've had more experience. I guess I'm not looking for the Holy Grail yet. I'm sure that too will come.
Interesting that you say the 2 band is packed less densely. Better flowthrough?
Again, typically - yes, they have very good flowthrough, but I wouldn't say necessarily and always better. Although not my favourites, Shavemac Silvertip (3-band) and Thater 3-band have the best flowthrough I've experienced. OTOH, the good flowthrough of 2-band and 3-band doesn't apply to the extra dense and big Stubbies and Chubbies, which I don't have experience with. Furthermore, it's about priority, besides the softness, you have to decide whether you like stiff, resilient, big, small, high, short, dense, etc. In general, the more density and shorter loft, the less flowthrough. But then you have to know how much backbone you're willing to sacrifice because there's trade-off between the backbone and the good flowthrough. Some tolerate floppiness, some don't. Unfortunately, gathering opinions helps to a certain point. With that many related variables and available selections, you need to try some different brushes, and find out what you like. Buying a TGN Finest XH brush is an excellent choice that can give you a base for comparison further for a very good price. And God help you, if you get curious and get bitten by the SBAD bug!
Some two band brushes can be prickly for the first 7 uses, but most of them are almost as soft as silvertip once broken in and have a much firmer backbone which lifts the whiskers for a cleaner cut. To get a silvertip to have comparable backbone, the knot needs to be very dense resulting in lather hogging which wastes the soap and/or cream you're using.
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Two- and three-band refers to the visible bands in the coloring of badger hair as it emerges from the brush. There's no such thing as a one-band. Continuing on the Simpsons theme:
(Two-band Chubby on left, three-band Chubby on right; both Super)
Two-band is a coarse, springy hair with a relatively soft tip. The thickness of the bristle gives it great backbone. Two-band can be too scrubby/scritchy for some people.
Three-band hair has a fine thickness and very soft tips. Three-band knots need to be much more densely packed than two-band in order to have good backbone. Some people do not like overly dense brushes.
Those are the main pros and cons as I see them. HTH.
I was wondering the same thing. I went to google and came back here. Thank you for the pictures once I saw them I got it right away
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Since diving deeper into wet shaving I realized I had no idea what a 2 band vs what a 3 band brush was......This is a great post for Newbies like me. All you need to know in the first 3 posts.
