Why some prefer boars to badgers.

[Foyle]

Ok, we all had fun with the "Why badgers are better than boars" thread a while ago but I thought I'd give an opportunity for boar fans to express their voice in thread dedicated to them.

Personally, I think both badgers and boars have their place and I have both in my den. Having used both, I find that boars offer some distinct advantages over badgers.

1. Cost: obviously one can build a nice collection of boar brushes for a fraction of the price of badgers.

2. Soft tips: even the stiffest boar I've used doesn't have anything like what I'd call scritchy tips. You can get great backbone and scrubby tips without the scritch of badger. Every boar I've owned has comfortable tips. Boy, when a badger is scritchy it feels like needles on your face.

3. Flow-through: boars release lather more easily. Even my SOC, which is a very dense boar, doesn't hog lather. Connected with this thought boars are a lot easier to rinse out. It takes me half as long to rinse out my boars as it does my badgers. Further evidence that badger hair really seems to absorb lather.

4. Quality of lather: I don't have any scientific evidence for this but I find that boars produce a denser lather than badgers, especially with soaps. Badgers seems to produce a more airy lather. Some may disagree but I find this is almost always the case for me.

5. Ease of loading: I find that even the floppiest boar loads soap far more easily than badgers. My old Omega 31025 was really floppy and still loaded soaps with incredible ease. My Simpson Duke 2 is a real challenge to load soaps with. It makes soup rather than lather unless I spend a long time on the puck. If I use a my Duke drier, I pick up soap pretty easily but I tend to lose hairs that get stuck in the puck and I have trouble pickup up enough soap to make a really substantial lather. A more wet brush allows for better charging of the brush and I find boars excel in this realm.

6. Boars make short work of cream just as well as badgers so, why not use a boar for creams? I do.

So, those are my opinions. Feel free to opine for or against boar brushes.

[Gissy]

I use both. One of the things I love about the boars are the breaking in period. To me it gives the boar a more personal feel. I think some people will think this is really stupid, and it might very well be, but still true for me ;)

[drocu]

I agree with Gissy about the personal feeling with boar brushes. Sometimes I find myself reaching for my boar brush just because I know it will get better the more that I use it.

I don't have a lot of badgers but I'm not sure I agree with your quality of lather statement. I think both types of brushes are equally proficient, just different. The rest of your statements are spot on though.

[Cochese2323]

I only have one boar brush, a Semogue 620 and I purchased it specifically for hard soaps like MWF, DR Harris, etc. The extra backbone it has really makes it shine using those products. It does work just as well for any product though, soap or cream. I do enjoy using my boar brush a lot and will continue to use it often, but I usually use the boar brush with the hard soaps and my Thater 49125 for soft soaps and creams. Hard to beat the cloud-like feeling of the Thater.

[oscar11]

While I like boars and have used them for a lot of years, if it came down to one brush, it would be a 2 band finest. That said, I'd just as soon use a boar as most silver tips I've known.

[dundak]

The one thing I like about boars is you can get a really long loft with good backbone that gives a great feeling when you splay the brush on your face.

[Mike_P]

I'm currently loving my Semogue 1305. It's a beast when it comes to bowl lathering and doesn't feel rough at all. Now with that said, I will admit my current badger brush isn't of the best quality. (VDH, I hate it...) HOWEVER, with that said, since I load off soap and not cream, I enjoy the nice back bone the boar brush has.

[California Cajun]

While I like boars and have used them for a lot of years, if it came down to one brush, it would be a 2 band finest. That said, I'd just as soon use a boar as most silver tips I've known.

I have pretty much settled on a finest badger as my favorite brush. A silvertip is too soft for me by comparison. It seems to collapse and not retain enough water in the soap and on my face. Maybe it would do better with creams but I prefer soaps.

My boar brush is an Omega 10005. Although I don't use it often, I am never disappointed.

Another thing I have noticed is that on YouTube videos where a barber uses a brush prior to shaving a customer, he uses a boar brush most often. I don't know if that is for durability and/or economics, but there has to be a reason.

[Absolute Mustard]

I just like the way badger look and feel

I couldn't get behind boar

[Marco]

In my modest opinion a quality brush is simply a quality brush, no matter if boar or badger. There are plenty of good and bad brushes in both categories. I love my Semogue boars and my Simpson badgers.

[Neognosis]

My current favorite brush is actually a caswell-massey boar/badger combo.

[celestino]

Great Semogues you have there!

[jsj_297]

I have fallen in love again with boars.....something about a good boar brush, not sure what it is actually. I love the sound u get from a loaded boar brush with stuff bristles swirling over a few days growth.....t just sounds like its working!!! I dunno, I love my silvertip kent badger, but I'm steadily building a boar den...Vulfix 404, semouge 1305, shave factory S, (jaguar 1071 rebrand), and just ordered two more, a omega 20106, and a best shave #1 large. I LOVE LARGE BOAR brushes!!

[Watasha]

There is certainly a place for both. I was all about my Omega #49 & still like it today. I most likely would have bought more boars if I hadn't bought my first Simpson. I now know that I like a smaller brush & am more of a badger guy. That said, I still use the Omega from time to time & I'm sure I'll end up with a Semogue or 3 at some point...if I can ever stop buying friggin' Simpsons that is.

[lt114]

All very valid points about boar brushes. I love my Semogues and I use them most of the time.
My Rooneys and Simpsons get used about 10%-15% of the time.
There is definitely a place for both in my den though. Sometimes I wake up and the face feel of the badger just appeals to me more.

[OldGreyGuy]

Room for both in my bathroom.

[Blondie]

Ah yes, the inevitable counterpoint to this thread. I finally picked up a Semogue 620, to have a rounder stable of boars, as I was Omega heavy and had never tried a Semogue. The only other boar out there of notoriety I have not tried is the Koh-I-Noor now. Probably the most expensive manufacturer of boars there is. Here are my two cents since getting the Semogue.

[QUOTE=Foyle;4258673]Ok, we all had fun with the "Why badgers are better than boars" thread a while ago but I thought I'd give an opportunity for boar fans to express their voice in thread dedicated to them.

Personally, I think both badgers and boars have their place and I have both in my den. Having used both, I find that boars offer some distinct advantages over badgers.

1. Cost: obviously one can build a nice collection of boar brushes for a fraction of the price of badgers.

Can't argue this point at all. I fully concur that you could have a dozen brush collection of boars for the price of a Simpson two band, or Rooney Heritage. You can however experience almost all the best badger has to offer with something like a TGN finest, at a fraction of the cost of a Simpson, and less than a Koh-I-Noor.

2. Soft tips: even the stiffest boar I've used doesn't have anything like what I'd call scritchy tips. You can get great backbone and scrubby tips without the scritch of badger. Every boar I've owned has comfortable tips. Boy, when a badger is scritchy it feels like needles on your face.

Again, I concur. Maybe I have a tough face, but neither Boars nor Badgers have ever been anything unbearable for me. The prickliest was an Omega in Pure Badger, but even that was nothing that harsh.

3. Flow-through: boars release lather more easily. Even my SOC, which is a very dense boar, doesn't hog lather. Connected with this thought boars are a lot easier to rinse out. It takes me half as long to rinse out my boars as it does my badgers. Further evidence that badger hair really seems to absorb lather.

As primarily a face latherer, this is my chief complaint with boars. They put out so much lather, you almost inevitably end up going back to the puck for a recharge.

4. Quality of lather: I don't have any scientific evidence for this but I find that boars produce a denser lather than badgers, especially with soaps. Badgers seems to produce a more airy lather. Some may disagree but I find this is almost always the case for me.

I find lather quality to be equal between the boar and the badger.

5. Ease of loading: I find that even the floppiest boar loads soap far more easily than badgers. My old Omega 31025 was really floppy and still loaded soaps with incredible ease. My Simpson Duke 2 is a real challenge to load soaps with. It makes soup rather than lather unless I spend a long time on the puck. If I use a my Duke drier, I pick up soap pretty easily but I tend to lose hairs that get stuck in the puck and I have trouble pickup up enough soap to make a really substantial lather. A more wet brush allows for better charging of the brush and I find boars excel in this realm.

I think the badger loads a tad quicker, but I load all brushes the same amount of time whether badger or boar. I really look for a certain consistency in what is charged, rather than counting the seconds, if that makes sense. I seem to get where I like to be a hair sooner with the badger.

6. Boars make short work of cream just as well as badgers so, why not use a boar for creams? I do.

Me too. Soap or cream, badger or boar, other than a longer handle and higher loft being quieter when bowl lathering, I categorically reject the theory that one brush is more suited to soap or cream.

So, those are my opinions. Feel free to opine for or against boar brushes.

[the_edski]

I completely agree. As silly as it sounds, it is true.

I use both. One of the things I love about the boars are the breaking in period. To me it gives the boar a more personal feel. I think some people will think this is really stupid, and it might very well be, but still true for me ;)

[Alucard73]

I have both, of the best quality,and I love my Boars...all Semogues.

[Rev. Jim Ignatowski]

I use both. One of the things I love about the boars are the breaking in period. To me it gives the boar a more personal feel. I think some people will think this is really stupid, and it might very well be, but still true for me ;)

+2. I thought that I was the only one with this thought - good to hear I'm not alone!