Thater 2-Band vs Vintage Blades Brand

If you have been considering, or wondering about a Thater 2-band silvertip brush, I present my comparison/observation and opinion between a Thater 2-Band and a Vintage Blades Brand Finest. I’ve got thick skin and am sure that some folks will have differing opinions, but this one is just mine. This is primarily targeting those who feel that these higher priced brushes are a real investment and are unsure if they want to spend their hard earned cash on one.

A few weeks ago I purchased a Thater 4125/1, 2-band silvertip bulb. While using it the other day, it occurred to me that it felt familiar, but I couldn’t quite place the comparable brush. Then it dawned on me – my Vintage Blades Brand Finest Badger.

I have to admit up front that the VB has been languishing in the shadows of my stable for several months whilst I used other brushes. But the use of the new Thater called me to action to conduct a side by side comparison – literally.

First, the brush specs and prices.

The Thater 4125/1, 2-band silvertip is a bulb, with an advertised knot size/loft of 24/52 (mine specs out, post bloom at almost 26/52), and has a retail price tag of $155.99.

The Vintage Blades Brand Finest Badger that I got is also a bulb, and has an advertised knot size/loft of 22/52 (mine specs out, post bloom at 23/53), and has a retail price tag of $34.99.

I used the same soap (Catie’s Bubbles La rose du Mechant) for this test, and both face lathered and bowl lathered.
The “face feel” result is that both brushes feel virtually the same! I wish that I were kidding. But I detect no significant difference in backbone, tip softness, or flow through between the two. If there is any difference, it is just nuanced (perhaps the Thater is ever so slightly denser – maybe?), and IMHO, in no way outweighs the cost differential at this point in time. I’m hoping that after a month or two of uses with the Thater, I’ll be able to discern a “significant” difference.

So my point of all this is that if you’ve been wondering what the Thater 2 band feels like, I’d recommend the economical course of action and try the VB. I’ve always said that the VB is perhaps the best “value” brush (off the shelf) there is.
Just for clarification: Don’t think that I’m giving a “thumbs down” to the Thater 2-band – it’s an outstanding brush! – but is it $120 better? YMMV.

Now the Thater-3 band? That’s a whole different story! I love my Thater 4292/3, but that’s for a different thread.

Disclaimer: I'm not a vendor/hobbyist, nor affiliated in any way with Vintage Blades, nor know anyone who is. I'm just a John Q. Customer that suffers from SBAD.

thank you chris, I was looking just now at a thader and will try your brush first. what are the differences between a thader 2 and 3 band to you?

The two brushes share more similarities than differences. But in knot shaping, Thater's are consistently more symmetrical, just about the best out there.

How is the quality of the VB handle, and do the knots have comparable density?

daveinsweethome said:

thank you chris, I was looking just now at a thader and will try your brush first. what are the differences between a thader 2 and 3 band to you?

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There is noticeable difference, to me, between the Thater 2-band and 3-band. Primarily it's the level of backbone. The 2-band backbone is not just "slightly" more firm, but "significantly" more. This is not a bad thing, just a difference. It depends on what you like or want. You get a bit more scrub with the 2-band. For me, the 3-band works perfectly. Some say it's "floppy", but I do not characterize it as such. For a point of reference, it's definitely not floppy like my Vulfix or Whipped Dogs (which are drilled to a 2:1 ratio). It works equally well with soaps and cream, bowl or face lathering........The next level of difference is the "perceived" softness of the tips. I feel that the 3-band has much softer tips than the 2-band (which the 2-band certainly has soft tips, just not as soft), and this is a very good thing for me. I dare say that the Thater 3-band "may" have the softest feeling tips of any brush I own - only my Savile Row rivals it - but softer than my Shavemacs. The Thater 3-band is luxurious - that's the best word I can use. If you want a brush that has equally soft tips and is between the Thater 3-band and 2-band in terms of backbone, that would be Savile Row, but that's for another thread.

rsp1202 said:

But in knot shaping, Thater's are consistently more symmetrical, just about the best out there.

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Definitely agree - Thater bulbs are the benchmark.

TheLegalRazor said:

How is the quality of the VB handle, and do the knots have comparable density?

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The VB handle is actually more comfortable for me. The length of the VB handle is 50mm, and the Thater is 44mm. The VB feels slightly heavier, is well balanced, and has a nice solid feel.

IMHO, the density of the knots is comparable. If we're talking nuance, I'd say the Thater is ever so slightly more dense feeling, but I might just be imagining that because it is a larger knot than the VB that I have. Here's a pic (Thater on left, VB on right).

I think that reviews like this are both informative and part of the fun with the journey in acquiring the hardware and software of shaving. I had a similar framed discussion with a friend of mine the other day as we compared a twenty something dollar range cabernet sauvignon vs a ninety dollar bottle.

Chris, thanks for what I think was a well balanced and interesting review of the two brushes. By the way are the grits in the tips of both those brushes altering your lathering ?

Maybe its time to call for an Atlanta get together with members of the B&B brotherhood! First round on me....

By the way, I just jumped on the Vintage Blades web site - per their description "We contracted to have this line of shaving brushes made entirely to our specification." Any ideas who is doing this for them? Just curious.

Hmm... Thanks for the info. I definitely want to check out the Vintage Blades even more now.

I've been willing to pull the trigger on a Thater 2 band recently. I just can't seem to justify $160 for a shaving brush that will do essentially the same as my beloved Semogue and Omega.

Great write-up!

yes.i couldnt agree more.i never have seen the need to pay big bucks for a good brush.plus the vintage ones have way more style.IMO

Interesting that your WD silvertip drilled down to a 1:2 ratio is floppy. Does the WD brush just feel less scrubby, or load soap really slowly ?

Also, any idea how the VB 2 band compares to TGN 2 band ?

I face lather with hard glycerin soaps. Which brush (WD, VB, TGN) do you think would produce the most good lather the quickest ? Face feel isn't a big deal to me, but long loading and lathering times are annoying...

i use tgn silvertip finest black pure,ect all work well with hard soaps

Armiger said:

By the way are the grits in the tips of both those brushes altering your lathering ?

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No alteration on lathering - both perform equally.

Armiger said:

By the way, I just jumped on the Vintage Blades web site - per their description "We contracted to have this line of shaving brushes made entirely to our specification." Any ideas who is doing this for them? Just curious.

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Sorry - I don't have any idea who the contractor is.

JohnG10 said:

Interesting that your WD silvertip drilled down to a 1:2 ratio is floppy. Does the WD brush just feel less scrubby, or load soap really slowly ?

Also, any idea how the VB 2 band compares to TGN 2 band ?

I face lather with hard glycerin soaps. Which brush (WD, VB, TGN) do you think would produce the most good lather the quickest ? Face feel isn't a big deal to me, but long loading and lathering times are annoying...

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I will conduct a test tomorrow with all three (WD, VB, and my TGN Finest) using a hard glycerin soap (Mama Bear Dublin Tweed) and will post my findings for you.

Thanks !!

Thank you for your very true impressions Looking forward to the 3 band comparison. Good Luck!

Thanks for a very good write up.

I think the format of comparing two (or a few) brushes side to side is very useful. And as always the face feeling is the one that counts.

Nice review and comparison.

JohnG10 asked how the Vintage Blades Brand compared to Whipped Dog and TGN 2-band in terms of loading/lathering capabilities and time with hard glycerin soap. Today I conducted such a comparison, using a puck of Mama Bear Dublin Tweed glycerin soap.

The brushes (and knot size spec) that I used for this comparison were:

Vintage Blades Brand Finest: 22/52 bulb
Whipped Dog: 22/45 bulb
Whipped Dog: 30/50 bulb
TGN Finest 2-band: 24/48 fan
Semogue 1250 boar (just because): 22/55

The bottom line is that all brushes performed equally. There were no discernible differences.
The time it took to load off the puck was the same for all brushes. The time it took for the lather to become shave-worthy was virtually the same for all brushes (all were within 15 seconds of each other).

Hope this info helps.