Paladin Chief 26mm

Wanted to post some thoughts on a brush I was lucky enough to be the high bidder this past auction season. I must admit, I get completely frustrated by how super quick these brushes go once posted on the Paladin site, many times its in the cart only to be denied. I knew there's a good reason why there's such demand for these brushes, just wanted in on the action. So, the only better way to get my hands on one, other than being lucky, was to go through the auction, and make a donation to a worthwhile cause, and we're all better in the end!

packaged super secure, nice black rigid tube, tissue over wrap, nice and secure. No real funk, but did a cleaning with some shampoo and then lathered some SV Felce Aromatica and let it sit a few hours before tonight's shave.

Color....butterscotch. I'm no color expert and have no other brush this color. It's a nice deep color.
In the hand.....it's a smaller handle than my other brushes yet presents no problems holding
soap loading.....loaded CRSW Le Chypre Sombre, picked up soap with ease
face lathering.....ok, here's where this brush shines! Nice backbone, not scratchy, tips soft enough for me, held enough lather for my three passes. I probably could have loaded more soap, but I made it through without issue.

Overall....very pleased, unlike the other brushes I have it fits in with what I like. I would definitely look to add another to my line up most likely a 28mm. Also, ken is great to deal with, super nice and really appreciated how he wanted to make sure all was well.

Is is it my favorite bush? Unsure, only time will tell. It's got that potential though. Any regrets? Not getting one sooner!


View attachment 698611

Comparisons to the other brushes in my rotation
from left to right
Wolf Whiskers 1301 26mm Nathan Clark envy white
Paladin Chief 26mm
Simpson M7 manchurian
Simpson Persian Jar 3 super badger

Nice.

Very nice.

Enjoy!

Beauty!

Thanks. I now know why those that have a paladin are such fans. My opinion, its a reasonable cost considering what you get.

Very nice rotation. Which hair type is it? Long or short? Also, how does it compare to your M7?

LOVELY collection! Enjoy!

Very nice. Enjoy.

Beautiful brush. I have a butterscotch PK47 and its by far my favorite. Enjoy it!

azwetshaver said:

Very nice rotation. Which hair type is it? Long or short? Also, how does it compare to your M7?

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It says select badger on the paladin handle. Hair grades seem to vary widely. I would say backbone wise, its about even. The shape of the knot is a bit different, the paladin seems more bulb like.
Maybe a good description would be a cross between the m7 Manchurian and the Nathan Clark envy supreme in bulb I have in a wolf whiskers brush.
Unsure which I would say I prefer still.

Rxdude said:

It says select badger on the paladin handle. Hair grades seem to vary widely. I would say backbone wise, its about even. The shape of the knot is a bit different, the paladin seems more bulb like.

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"Select Badger" isn't a grade. It's more like an un-grade. In our view so-called grade nomenclature has been used so variously it's largely devolved into emotive noise, except in relation to a few well established brands, like Simpsons or Shavemac. (Simpsons' "Manchurian" is meaningful to me.)

"Select Badger" just means we selected it. Since July of last year, we've engraved "Select Badger" on every handle we've made with only a few special exceptions (e.g., Mo Bettah Badger). We provide a Knot Code with each brush we sell, and we post Knot Notes on our website that provide information specific to different codes. The Chief in lot #146 has a 2CSNL2 knot. That means it's a 2-band sourced from China of the S-type (our source/sort designation), which came in the first order ("L2" is a date code). What that allows owners to do is write reviews specific to a knot code, which we hope, when the the codes are better understood, will make reviews more useful. FWIW, 2CSNL2s were/are different in some significant respects from 2CSND3s (from our second order received in May of this year), even though the hair was clearly of the same grade. That isn't to say better or worse, just different.

As for shape, since we post front and back photos of every brush we offer for sale on the Paladin Shaving website, we don't have to worry about choice of words we use to describe them (e.g, hybrid vs. semi-bulb, vs. bulb). They simply are what they are, and what you see is what you get.

That said, I'd call the this Chief's knot a semi-bulb as its canopy is shaped kinda like a scoop of ice-cream (not pointy at all).

Thanks again for bidding on the brush in support of a great cause.

ChiefBroom said:

"Select Badger" isn't a grade. It's more like an un-grade. In our view so-called grade nomenclature has been used so variously it's largely devolved into emotive noise, except in relation to a few well established brands, like Simpsons or Shavemac. (Simpsons' "Manchurian" is meaningful to me.)

"Select Badger" just means we selected it. Since July of last year, we've engraved "Select Badger" on every handle we've made with only a few special exceptions (e.g., Mo Bettah Badger). We provide a Knot Code with each brush we sell, and we post Knot Notes on our website that provide information specific to different codes. The Chief in lot #146 has a 2CSNL2 knot. That means it's a 2-band sourced from China of the S-type (our source/sort designation), which came in the first order ("L2" is a date code). What that allows owners to do is write reviews specific to a knot code, which we hope, when the the codes are better understood, will make reviews more useful. FWIW, 2CSNL2s were/are different in some significant respects from 2CSND3s (from our second order received in May of this year), even though the hair was clearly of the same grade. That isn't to say better or worse, just different.

As for shape, since we post front and back photos of every brush we offer for sale on the Paladin Shaving website, we don't have to worry about choice of words we use to describe them (e.g, hybrid vs. semi-bulb, vs. bulb). They simply are what they are, and what you see is what you get.

That said, I'd call the this Chief's knot a semi-bulb as its canopy is shaped kinda like a scoop of ice-cream (not pointy at all).

Thanks again for bidding on the brush in support of a great cause.

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Semi bulb is a good description. It face lathered well and when I used today to load and start my lather from a sample in a bowl I was very pleased.
I probably have not used a true bulb yet. The shape is great to place lather right where I wanted and it held enough for my 3 passes with extra for touch ups.

I like to think about the shavings items I get in terms of, does it work well for me, do I look forward to using it.
The answer i have is yes and yes.

Thanks for donating a great item!