Old faithful - first or longest used brushes

I'd be interested to see everyone's oldest brush that they have in their collection.

Be it your first brush that you still have, or the brush you currently have been using the longest.

This is mine. At 17 or 18 years old I bought my very first shaving brush. A Men-ü boar brush from Boots.

I've been using it for more than a decade now and despite it having lost what seems like a ton of hairs it still looks good and creates a decent lather.

The tips are beautifully soft, though any backbone it once had is now gone, and it really feels luxurious when I use it.

Though I have now have some newer, and better, brushes I do still try and use this once every few weeks.

It also came with a plastic stand. Which I still use for pretty much all of my brushes after shaving.

My oldest brush was purchased from a Hoffritz cutlery store that was located in the World Trade Center in Manhattan. In 1994 Hoffritz started to close its NYC stores and I picked this up during a 50% off sale. It has served me faithfully since 1994 and for many years was my primary brush. I have no idea who made the brush (some thought Rooney) but the bottom of the brush appears the word "Germany" in faded type.



This brush has served me well over the years and the bottom of the brush says it is custom-select badger, whatever that means. It has never lost a hair during all of those years of use. I only wish I had bought another one at that time, only larger.

I've used a Burma Shave and Van Der Hagen for 20 years before joining B&B and learning that they are boar brushes and should be soaked before using! They have survived all those years and are still serviceable.

one of my 'old faithfuls', an Art of Shaving travel badger.

My first brush is a Rooney 3/1 in Super, which I bought about 10 years ago (give or take). I still use it, but it's not in full rotation.

ackvil said:

My oldest brush was purchased from a Hoffritz cutlery store that was located in the World Trade Center in Manhattan. In 1994 Hoffritz started to close its NYC stores and I picked this up during a 50% off sale. It has served me faithfully since 1994 and for many years was my primary brush. I have no idea who made the brush (some thought Rooney) but the bottom of the brush appears the word "Germany" in faded type.

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This brush has served me well over the years and the bottom of the brush says it is custom-select badger, whatever that means. It has never lost a hair during all of those years of use. I only wish I had bought another one at that time, only larger.

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Could it be a Thater? It reminded me a lot of this small pure badger brush they still sell. It has another handle style than yours. Your handle style is the same as many larger Thater's as well as Shavemac's.

Rooney 3/1 super, going strong for 8 years!

joost said:

Could it be a Thater? It reminded me a lot of this small pure badger brush they still sell. It has another handle style than yours. Your handle style is the same as many larger Thater's as well as Shavemac's.

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I don't know. I have a Shavemac and the Shavemac has more backbone. However, that could also be because my Hoffritz has been is use for so many years.

I guess I am the 'youngster' in this bunch since my oldest brush is a Vulfix 2236s I have had for about ten years. It is not my most used one though. That honour goes to an original Savile Row 3824, not the newer models with slightly shorter loft. I have had it for probably seven or eight years. To say it does yeoman duty is to dishonour it. It does much more than that. Soaps, creams, you name it. It lathers them all like a dream and feels super luxurious doing it. Other than the initial bristle or three that all brushes lose this thing has all its topknot intact. I cannot imagine a more versatile lather maker.

My oldest brush. This was the first brush I ever purchased from Lee and unless I can get one in butterscotch or some other funky color I highly doubt it is going anywhere. Now for the real question - am I faithful to her? And the answer - hell no, what fun would that be

I don't have years of experience but my Semogue 2012 Special Edition (acrylic SOC handle with a badger/boar mixed knot) is the brush I've been using the longest. For me, it is perfection in every way and I bought a spare that I plan to keep safe until it's needed years (decades?) down the line.

Is it wrong of me to say that I have only the one, which is both newest and oldest. It's a Vulfix 660S Super in small.

The brush I have used longest -- and enjoy the most -- is an Ever Ready 750 "Pure Badger" that belonged to my late dad. It probably dates to pre-1960 and has its original knot, which appears to be a silver tip. It lathers beautifully, never sheds and carries a load of cherished memories.

My most used brush was the second brush I bought, a Saville Row 3324. I used it every shave for the past 6 years. Unfortunately I didn't clean it during the past 2 years, and when I went to give it the vinegar treatment, it didn't go back to its usual luxuriousness. I feel I was too rough on the brush, taking cues from Mantic's videos, the wear and tear on one brush was too much and the most central bristles became bent and broken. This caused me to try my standby boar, and I discovered I am a boar man, which has jumpstarted my first real AD, semoguitis. It's a miserable thing, in total seriousness, to have to choose between equivalent tools. I never appreciated it before. I don't know how you guys with 20 straights, 15 DEs and 400 soaps cope. Maybe there comes a point where you let go and stop caring?

I will say though, that the 33xx Saville Row handle is the best handle I've used, by far. Don't care for the faux ivory color, but man is it ever functional.

frank shaving finest badger

sarimento1 said:

one of my 'old faithfuls', an Art of Shaving travel badger.

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awesome shave pics

Old faithfull's

A Rooney style 1/3 super and a Simpson Chubby 2 super both still in fantastic shape.


Charles U.K

Simpson Chubby1 Best Badger

Steve

I don't know exactly. When I started shaving, the Omega 10019 brushes were already available, and were inexpensive then as well.
Vero brushes were still made in the Netherlands back then (by Sorbo), and I definitely had one of those a long time ago. Might have started with one.

My oldest brush, and the one I started my wet-shaving journey with. Compared to most of you, I am a real newb as I started with this in November of 2011. A Rooney 3/1 in Pure Badger from Vintage Blades, LLC. It was part of a Safety Razor Set.