Boars without a backbone

BRITD · Apr 19, 2014

I have two Omega Boars. One is a 31064 (25mm knot, 59mm loft) that I acquired in a PIF and the other, which I quite like is a 10005 (24mm knot, 55mm loft). They are both nicely broken in and yet are opposite end of the spectrum as far as feel and backbone are concerned.

I find the Omega 31064 lacks any backbone, very floppy and has a synthetic softness feel to it.
I find the Omega 10005 totally different. Strong backbone, course hair with soft split tips.
I know the 31064 has a bigger loft but can 4mm loft make that much of a difference to the backbone of a boar brush? I would not mind trying some more boars but I am apprehensive about buying any with a significant loft for fear that it turns into a floppy mess. What is your experience when it comes to boars without backbone?

shaversnapper · Apr 19, 2014

I have an omega 10098, which I believe is the biggest one they make. Not sure of the loft but I don't feel it's floppy at all. Although I wouldn't say it's totally broken in yet either.

Atalk · Apr 19, 2014

Dave - I agree with you. I have 2 posts in the below thread highlighting my negativity of my 31064:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/395211-Omega-310-series-brushes-e-g-the-Omega-31064

I believe Omega succeeded in making a boar bristle "act" like badger hair...now they just need to shorten the loft and/or increase density. Their banded boar bristles are the softest boar bristles that I have felt but their resilience is very low compared to other boars.

Jinx18 · Apr 19, 2014

That brush is well known to be very soft. Any non dyed omega will be the stiff boar that requires a little more break in. The 31064 comes out of the box very soft with no real break in. It is still a great brush but very different from most boars.

Mick · Apr 19, 2014

I've found that boar brushes once broken in are usually on the softer side.

I had a 31064 and it was a decent bowl lathering brush because, as you say, it is soft once broken in.

I did have a short loft Semogue that never did soften up and it was a fantastic face lathering brush.

I guess it is all in what you are after.

If you want stiff get shorter loft or buy a pure badger (lower grade badger)

Reevers · Apr 19, 2014

Steer clear of the Semogue 830, that has turned into a floppy unruly brush for me. It has seen some action over the last 12 months, but I would have hoped it would've lasted longer.

branford · Apr 19, 2014

4mm, along with other factors, can certainly be demonstrably different. Omega brushes dyed to look like badgers, such as your 30164, also tend to be much softer/less firm than Omega's undyed knots.

If you still want to experiment with boars, I would recommend trying some Semogue boar brushes. The taller loft brushes are very soft, but the lower loft offerings such as the 1460, 1520 and 620 are quite scrubby (with soft tips).

Leon, the proprietor of Vintage Scent, a B&B member and primary Semogue dealer, wrote the following helpful explanation of Semgoue brushes and provided the included chart.

Hi gents,

Here's a list of the different grades Semogue currently uses to make their wonderful boar brushes:

Premium 90% tops

Best 90% tops

Extra 75% tops

Super 70% tops

Special Grade 90% tops

Now, let me explain the main differences between them.

First, the meaning of "percentage tops". This measures the amount in percentage of bristles that have the full length. The bigger the percentage, the more homogeneous and compact the knot feels because most of the tips are at the same level.

The Premium grade appears in the iconic 1305. Following the success of the 1305, some asked me if it was possible to have the same knot, but in a acrylic handle, so the 830 was born. This grade usually has a dyed band, but it appears undyed in the 2000 mixed with other grade hair.

The Best is also a hair that gets great remarks. It appears on the 1460, 1470, and 1250 brushes. It's undyed. Owners of these brushes speak highly of these knots, having great amount of lather easily, usually in bowl, but it's just as efficient directly used in the face.

The Extra grade is scratchier than other grades, but over the time will soften a bit. It appears in the 1520, 1438 and 620 brushes. It's also used in the 1800 mixed with Premium 90. This boar grade provides good backbone and having an extra scratchiness is often chosen by the face lathering fans. This is usually dyed.

The Super grade is used in the 2000 knot mixed with the Premium.

The Special grade appeared first in the 2009 LE. Later, some more of this boar grade was stocked and eventually turned to a new regular production brush: the Semogue Owners Club. It's an undyed bristle with a very high quality. Equally soft as the Premium and good backbone provides good lathering ability in both bowl and face lathering.

It's hard to decide what's the very best grade. Both the Premium and Special grades have many fans.

Any questions, let me know. I'll try my best to answer them.

Enjoy!

oscar11 · Apr 19, 2014

I find the banded boars to be softer than the naturals and have less backbone. Last summer I did quite a bit of experimenting with various boars (Omega & Semogue) and shortened the lofts quite a bit. My favorite so far has been the Omega 20248 which is banded and has a factory loft of 64mm and is listed as a 27mm knot (it's not). Mine is set at 50/52mm and I like it's performance, it's no where near floppy.
I just relofted this SOC and shortened it up.

sgtd · Apr 19, 2014

oscar11 said:
I find the banded boars to softer than the naturals and have less backbone. Last summer I did quite a bit of experimenting with various boars (Omega & Semogue) and shortened the lofts quite a bit. My favorite so far has been the Omega 20248 which is banded and has a factory loft of 64mm and is listed as a 27mm knot (it's not). Mine is set at 50/52mm and I like it's performance, it's no where near floppy.
I just relofted this SOC and shortened it up.

That's one fine looking brush.

jeff2011 · Apr 19, 2014

Semogue Cerda has great backbone....my current favorite. I agree about the 830 being floppy as well.

TacticalPanda · Apr 19, 2014

Many will say the 830 is floppy when broken in, which I can't disagree with, but I actually really like it. It still works lathers like magic, is super soft, and has no problems giving you the lather back.

Glaze3 · Apr 19, 2014

Blasphemy I know, but I find a well broken in SOC to be quite floppy and a little unruly.

BRITD · Apr 19, 2014

Jinx18 said:
That brush is well known to be very soft. Any non dyed omega will be the stiff boar that requires a little more break in. The 31064 comes out of the box very soft with no real break in. It is still a great brush but very different from most boars.

I wonder if the band dyed boars are chemically treated or something? Because, backbone aside, I could easy pick the 31064 while blindfolded just by the softer feel of the bristles. There has got to be something different done to the bristles. My non-banded 10005 has probably 200 full lathers under it today but it took a good 100 lathers to get it to where the bristles finally felt nicely broken in and not scratchy.

Jinx18 · Apr 19, 2014

BRITD said:
I wonder if the band dyed boars are chemically treated or something? Because, backbone aside, I could easy pick the 31064 while blindfolded just by the softer feel of the bristles. There has got to be something different done to the bristles. My non-banded 10005 has probably 200 full lathers under it today but it took a good 100 lathers to get it to where the bristles finally felt nicely broken in and not scratchy.

They must be because they are way different then the non treated omegas.

rm71 · Apr 19, 2014

Try the omega 10018. A great little brush with backbone.

Sir_Eider · Apr 20, 2014

Mmmm... How curious

I own an omega 31025 banded boar and I find it nice: yes, it has not much backbone but enough to not feeling it too floppy like a broken semogue 830 for example. No problem with soaps and facelathering at all. For me acts like a Silvertip with extra of density /backbone

I tried the undied omega boars and didn't like them. Too scrubby for my taste and long time to break in.. I prefer undied 90% tops semogue ones.

Fortunately, there are many options in boars to choose

BRITD · Apr 22, 2014

Sir_Eider said:
I tried the undied omega boars and didn't like them. Too scrubby for my taste and long time to break in.. I prefer undied 90% tops semogue ones.

I found undyed Omega's take a long time to break in too but you are rewarded months down the line with a scrubby stiff brush with soft tips if that's your preference.

mswofford · Apr 25, 2014

Atalk said:
Dave - I agree with you. I have 2 posts in the below thread highlighting my negativity of my 31064:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/395211-Omega-310-series-brushes-e-g-the-Omega-31064

I believe Omega succeeded in making a boar bristle "act" like badger hair...now they just need to shorten the loft and/or increase density. Their banded boar bristles are the softest boar bristles that I have felt but their resilience is very low compared to other boars.

Just a thought and not to start an argument: I have an Omega 31064 and have no problems with floppiness. It may be the way I use it; After soaking I load the lower one third with lather and don't press very hard when putting it on my face and swirling; It gives up lather very easily and holds plenty. Maybe this lack of pressing hard makes a difference or ignorance is bliss in my case. For reference I use Tabac soap and Biotique Bio Palmyra cream and have hard water.

Atalk · Apr 26, 2014

mswofford said:
Just a thought and not to start an argument: I have an Omega 31064 and have no problems with floppiness. It may be the way I use it; After soaking I load the lower one third with lather and don't press very hard when putting it on my face and swirling; It gives up lather very easily and holds plenty. Maybe this lack of pressing hard makes a difference or ignorance is bliss in my case. For reference I use Tabac soap and Biotique Bio Palmyra cream and have hard water.

I do think the lack of pressing makes a difference by minimizing the splay of the knot. In order for the brush to be serviceable when face-lathering (in my experience), I cup the handle in my palm and use my fingers to hold the knot in the area between the o-ring and dyed band. This helps quite a bit...somewhat inconvenient but not too bad overall.

Now when bowl-lathering, this brush is really darn good. The bowl itself keeps everything compact and whipping around fast generates tons of lather.

feltspanky · Apr 26, 2014

If you want a brush with a strong backbone and great knot. Check out the Semogue Cerda from Vintage Scent. I haven't read one bad review from a B&B member who ordered this brush.

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Boars without a backbone

BRITD

shaversnapper

Atalk

Jinx18

Mick

Reevers

branford

oscar11

sgtd

jeff2011

TacticalPanda

Glaze3

BRITD

Jinx18

rm71

Sir_Eider

BRITD

mswofford

Rest in Peace

Atalk

feltspanky

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