Rooney 3/1: soft or dense?

[ru with me drhoo]

Just started DE wet shaving this year, and my starter brush is a Rooney 3/1 in Pure. In my mind, this brush feels very "non-backbone;" it splays out very softly and I get no sense of density or scruffing as I face lather. Since I am a noob, I don't know where this falls in the density world, but I think I want something much denser/stiffer. Based on my reading here, I was thinking Simpson. Am I way off, and my Rooney is actually fairly dense? Or is it a softy in the world of brushes? Thanks in advance for input.

[njpaddy]

My Rooney 3/1 Super feels moppy next to a Simpson. If you want a Simpson with backbone and some scritch at a good price, try a Berkeley.

[mblakele]

Dense and soft are not antonyms - at least not for me. A brush can have a medium dense knot with soft tips, like my Rooney 3/1 super. Or it can be dense with scrub, like my Simpsons Classic 2. Or it can be sparse and scratchy, like a VdH boar. Any combination is possible.

So I am not sure if what you want is more density, or more scritch, or simply more backbone? If you want a similar handle to the 3/1, you could try a Simpsons Colonel - but it will cost about the same as a Rooney 3/1 in Super. At that price point most brushes will have good density. But Rooney's lowest-priced brush?

[takeshi]

Dense and soft are not antonyms

^ This.

[ru with me drhoo]

Perhaps I should throw out the terms "dense, soft, scritch" and simply describe what I am looking for. I would like a brush that feels firm when I face later, one where the bristles do not splay out like a wet mop the way my Rooney does. It's like a wet noodle. I want something with stiff, resistant bristles when I lather. Not a metal brush, but "backbone" seems like a fair description. So perhaps dense and scritchy if I have to choose the terms I see commonly used here.

[Oscroft]

Perhaps something like a Semogue SOC in 2-band badger? It's very well packed and firm, with plenty of backbone and reasonably soft tips, but it's not what I'd call scritchy.

Or maybe even a good boar? The SOC boar is excellent too.