Col. Ichabod Conk Brushes???

I wish I would have found this forum earlier!!

I purchased my first brush a few weeks ago, and not wanting to wait for shipping, bought it from a local brick and mortar store (a cutlery store franchise in the mall...I know... I know...).

The brush is a Col. Ichabd Conk "Winter Coat Deluxe Head Badger Brush" (http://www.coolshaving.com/detail.cfm?ID=55).

I'm pretty happy with it, but since it isnt reviewed in the reviews section, or readily available on good shaving websites, I wanted to see if anyone has had any experience with this brush/brand, and how it stacks up against some of the more popular brands talked about on this site.

Thanks!

Welcome to B&B. The link comes up with a blank page.

http://www.coolshaving.com/detail.cfm?ID=55

Warned you I was new

Here is what one of their(?) websites says about the brush composition:

http://www.coolshaving.com/shavingbrushes/shavingbrushes.html

I'm pretty sure the Col. Conk brushes are made by Vulfix, and Vulfix brushes are good brushes (a lot of people get started on various Vulfixes). Looking at the price I'd guess the brush you have is similar (or identical) to a Vulfix #405 or #406.

Conk was once a well respected name in shaving gear but that was long ago. The original company closed the doors many moons ago and the current offerings are by people who either bought the name or pirated it. They are located near me. They manufacture nothing. Eveything with the conk name is just rebranded mdse. Some is good some not. The brushes are made by Vulfix and the razors by Dovo. Personally I find the Vulfix brushes though good quality to be kind of floppy.

Interesting. I looked at the brush descriptions and it talked about the summer coat hair and winter coat hair. I guess I didn't know this mattered. Does anyone know if this makes a difference?

I think what they call summer coat is what Vulfix calls "pure badger", and winter coat is what Vulfix calls "best badger". Not sure if there is a difference other than in colour, and that they've misunderstood the pure/best distinction...

Perhaps someone else with more badger hair knowledge will enlighten us.

I wondered about the re-branding aspect. The website talks about being American, but the brush clearly says "Handmade in England".

It does feel a little 'floppy', but as mentioned, this is my first brush, so I'm making observations without context.

I have a Conk Badger and Bristle brush. The bristle part is nylon. The reason that I picked it up was because I had left my badger brush at my parents house and needed something fast!

The brush performs OK, but it can't take real hot water. That causes the nylon bristle tips to curl.

I bought one of these somewhere around 1990 and used it daily until I bought my Art of Shaving pure badger brush this past January. It is now my travel brush, which I just used this weekend. After so many years of faithful service it has lost some hair in the middle and is getting floppier.

Since this is your first brush, I'm sure you will enjoy it very well. Use it in good health and don't look back. Don't worry about what everyone else is using. Everything else, as far as badger is concerned, is only marginally different, whether better or not.

Thought i'd weigh in on this brush since i got one in a kit i got for christmas. It came with col conk almond soap, a shaving mug, a conk strop, straight razor and that brush. All of the contents of the kit turned out pretty well.. the brush i believe is a vulfix #403 and the razor and strop were dovo. The brush is actually the best part of the kit IMHO. the only other thing is the link on their site that states that they shave badgers amd summer winter coat is all BS. From what i've gathered.. the chinese eat badgers.. and then sell us the hair. That is where 90% of the badger hair comes from even for the high end brushes. check wikipedia for shaving brushes for more info.

bjrn said:

I'm pretty sure the Col. Conk brushes are made by Vulfix, and Vulfix brushes are good brushes (a lot of people get started on various Vulfixes). Looking at the price I'd guess the brush you have is similar (or identical) to a Vulfix #405 or #406.

Click to expand...

Conk's badger brushes are definitely re-branded Vulfix Brushes. I've used one for several years and they seem decent enough.

I picked up a "Full Volume" Conk brush at my local place, Knoxville Cigar, for around $45-50. I believe it's just "Pure" grade, but it's a really good brush. Stiff enough to hold up to triple-milled soaps just fine - in fact, my go-to brush (admittedly, not many in the stable) for soaps. I use my C&E BBB for creams, but the Conk/Vulfix seems to hold more lather, and is less floppy than the C&E, so just works better on soaps.

A from me on the Conk brushes.

I use one myself. Honestly, I'd prefer a slightly softer brush but it gets the job done well. I'm still saving for that silvertip though.