My New 24mm Whipped Dog High Mountain Badger Brush

mjrinehart27 · Aug 24, 2016

tetraodon said:
can you compare the WD to VDH badger or boar? i have both VDH, and want to get a picture of the back bone and softness

As promised, here's my comparison between the two from tonight's shave. The first two passes were with the WD, while the third pass was with the VDH Badger. I had planned to do a fourth pass with the VDH, but some irritation left over from last night's shave convinced me a fourth pass wasn't a good idea. I tried my best to keep soaking and loading times pretty even.

Prep: Hot shower, washed my face with Dove Care for Men bar soap, and proraso pre-shave cream
Shave soap: VDH Luxury Soap
Razor: VDH Razor with Astra SP

I let each brush soap in hot water for about three minutes each. I squeezed the excess water from both brushes, and loaded with the VDH soap for about a minute each.

This is what the WD looked like after loading.

And this is what the VDH looked like after loading.

I then splashed my face with hot water, left it dripping wet, and proceeded to face lather. The WD has significantly more backbone than the VDH, while somehow managing to be softer against my face. The VDH had a very slight scratchy feeling, but to be fair, I never noticed it before I used my WD brush. The WD also kept my lather warm for both passes, while the VDH has never retained any warmth at all since I've used it. The WD had enough lather for both passes, and probably a third if I needed it, while the VDH looked like it needed to be reloaded had I decided to do more than one pass with it.

The WD after lathering.

I apparently forgot to take a picture of the lather on the VDH. My mistake.

And here's the lather on my face from both.

WD.

VDH

The biggest difference between the two brushes is the density. After using the WD, the VDH feels like it has no density at all. The VDH isn't close to being as soft as the WD either. I think the VDH works as a decent starter brush for someone trying to decide if DE shaving is for them, but anyone who enjoys this hobby should definitely upgrade. However, if you're looking for a more scritchy brush, the High Mountain Badger probably isn't the brush you should upgrade too, as it has next to none IMO. But if you want a luxuriously soft brush that still had good backbone for under $50, this is the brush I'd recommend. Honestly, I probably would have paid double what I did for the WD High Mountain Badger. I like it that much.

tetraodon · Aug 24, 2016

mjrinehart27 said:
As promised, here's my comparison between the two from tonight's shave. The first two passes were with the WD, while the third pass was with the VDH Badger. I had planned to do a fourth pass with the VDH, but some irritation left over from last night's shave convinced me a fourth pass wasn't a good idea. I tried my best to keep soaking and loading times pretty even.

Prep: Hot shower, washed my face with Dove Care for Men bar soap, and proraso pre-shave cream
Shave soap: VDH Luxury Soap
Razor: VDH Razor with Astra SP

I let each brush soap in hot water for about three minutes each. I squeezed the excess water from both brushes, and loaded with the VDH soap for about a minute each.

This is what the WD looked like after loading.

And this is what the VDH looked like after loading.

I then splashed my face with hot water, left it dripping wet, and proceeded to face lather. The WD has significantly more backbone than the VDH, while somehow managing to be softer against my face. The VDH had a very slight scratchy feeling, but to be fair, I never noticed it before I used my WD brush. The WD also kept my lather warm for both passes, while the VDH has never retained any warmth at all since I've used it. The WD had enough lather for both passes, and probably a third if I needed it, while the VDH looked like it needed to be reloaded had I decided to do more than one pass with it.

The WD after lathering.

I apparently forgot to take a picture of the lather on the VDH. My mistake.

And here's the lather on my face from both.

WD.

VDH

The biggest difference between the two brushes is the density. After using the WD, the VDH feels like it has no density at all. The VDH isn't close to being as soft as the WD either. I think the VDH works as a decent starter brush for someone trying to decide if DE shaving is for them, but anyone who enjoys this hobby should definitely upgrade. However, if you're looking for a more scritchy brush, the High Mountain Badger probably isn't the brush you should upgrade too, as it has next to none IMO. But if you want a luxuriously soft brush that still had good backbone for under $50, this is the brush I'd recommend. Honestly, I probably would have paid double what I did for the WD High Mountain Badger. I like it that much.

thanks a bunch, that really helps, wonder how it compares to my boar for backbone, what handle did you get with the brush?

mjrinehart27 · Aug 24, 2016

tetraodon said:
thanks a bunch, that really helps, wonder how it compares to my boar for backbone, what handle did you get with the brush?

I have the Luna handle. It's a bit taller than my VDH handle, and fits in my hand a little better, but the handle is probably going to be a personal preference. I've never used a boar brush, but I don't have any problem lathering the hard VDH Luxury soap with the High Mountain Badger brush. I would recommend e-mailing Larry at WD and asking him how the backbone of his HMB brushes compare to the backbone of a boar brush.

tetraodon · Aug 25, 2016

as long as the backbone is better than the VDH badger i think it will be good, i dont face lather often but still want to feel im using a brush rather than a floppy mop. thanks again for the comparison.

SpeedyPC · Aug 25, 2016

[MENTION=103988]tetraodon[/MENTION] if you get your WD HMB make sure you get a 24mm knot with a 50mm loft is not very floppy as a mop, best of all you can face or bowl lather and the backbone is FANTASTIC :thumbup:

you cannot go wrong with this.

tetraodon · Aug 26, 2016

SpeedyPC said:
@tetraodon if you get your WD HMB make sure you get a 24mm knot with a 50mm loft is not very floppy as a mop, best of all you can face or bowl lather and the backbone is FANTASTIC you cannot go wrong with this.

looks great, is that the tall handle? im still in debate about handles

SpeedyPC · Aug 26, 2016

tetraodon said:
looks great, is that the tall handle? im still in debate about handles

[MENTION=103988]tetraodon[/MENTION] you're correct that's the Tall Resin Handles from Larry is about 65mm in length, and is bloody perfect :thumbup:

and very comfortable holding without stress while face lathering.

JohnG10 · Aug 27, 2016

I have a 24mm HM badger from WD set at the "standard loft" WD uses.
It's got slightly less backbone than my VDH deluxe boar (i.e.: the white handle one). However, it has more than enough backbone to quickly load glycerin soaps like VDH deluxe (pink) and VDH luxury (white, bigger, harder) - without needing to "bloom" the soap by putting some water on top of it and waiting a few minutes.

The tips of the WD HM brush are also softer than my broken in boars (VDH deluxe and Semogue 1305).

If you are looking for a scrubby feeling when you lather though - the. I'd recommend getting the knot sunk 5mm deeper than standard. 10mm would be too stiff for me, but YMMV.

I have his standard handle. I wouldn't want a taller handle for face lathering - but if you bowl lather, then I can see how the new tall handle or barber handle in the pic above would be better.

Ps: WDs standard handle is very comfy, but I have some arthritis in 1 hand and the indent isn't quite deep enough to keep from having to grip the brush with medium pressure when it's soapy. I can see how the barber handle would be better in that respect.

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My New 24mm Whipped Dog High Mountain Badger Brush

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