Kent BLK8 and Simpsons Duke 3

[mwhals]

I think I will pass on a Simpson right now. Also the Kent seems not much different from my current brush. As a result, I prefer to get something with more backbone, but still in between soft and scritchy. Maybe a Thater is going to be the next brush. I am open to Rooney too, like maybe a Rooney 3/1. I found the below as a sticky on this forum, so that may help with recommendations:

1. My current brush is a Merkur brush with a metal handle that came with my first razer and stand. It is a silvertip badger brush. This looks to be the brush: http://www.royalshave.com/p/411-229...rome-barber-pole-silvertip-shaving-brush.html
2. I want the ability to face lather and bowl lather. I also want to use soaps and creams for variety. I am open to a couple of brushes that may be better suited for one rather than a jack of all trades that may be decent in both.
3. I want my next brush to have more backbone and be more scribby on the face when face lathering. I would also like a brush that is long enough for comfortable bowl lathering. I want the flexibility to be able to face lather, bowl lather and use soaps and creams depending on my mood.
4. I am open on brush aesthetics as it will be secondary to function and comfort.
5. I am willing to go up to $200 for a really good brush or $250 to $300 for a couple of brushes thanks to some gift cards from Christmas and a small thank you from work.
6. I am looking for a brush small enough to face lather and big enough to bowl lather - this gets back to maybe getting two brushes.
7. Thater and Rooney brushes have peaked my interest. I am open to others as well since I do not know all the brands that well. I think I am going to steer away from Simpson based on comments in this thread. Since I only have one brush, I can't afford to have a Simpson be a little unpredictable on the softness. It would be OK if I have several brushes already.
8. This will be my last brush or two - I promise. No, really!

 

[brucered]

Neither of these will do a respectable job at both methods of building lather.

sorry, didn't see this statement, but if i'm reading it correctly i strongly disagree.

both of these brushes can work with soaps or creams and face or bowl. it's just a matter of how you want it to perform. soft and luxurious or scritchy and tough. the D3 is widely regarded as a Swiss Army Brush that can both bowl and face lather and works well with soaps and creams. The Kent is regarded more as a bowl lathering brush, but believe most (not all) have not even attempted to face lather with it and may be pleasantly surprised if they did. it takes a bit of a different technique then the D3, as instead of mashing the brush, you just face use the tips gently and then use painting strokes.

@ mwhals....glad to hear you are looking outside just the 2 brushes for other options (not that either would be a bad choice by any means), and now expanding to Thater and Rooney....I'll like to throw Shavemac Silvertip and D01 in the mix too, just to make the decision even more difficult (custom brush selector). take your time, look around, there are plenty of great brushes out there and regardless of which you pick, you will likely end up with more. but to be honest, for the $150 price range, I don't think there is a better brush currently available then the Shavemac D01 Fan and you can customize it to your wants and desires with various lofts and handle shape and material and even get it custom engraved or stock engraved. not that engraving makes it a better brush, but it adds an extra touch of class to the brush if you ask me.

good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

 

[mwhals]

I just saw a thread about Thater having bad customer service and releasing personal information. If there is anything to it, they will not get my business.

 

[brucered]

I just saw a thread about Thater having bad customer service and releasing personal information. If there is anything to it, they will not get my business.

I ordered mine thru BullGoose when everyone was complaining about the crunchy tips of their dry brushes (why, I don't know) and a few other things (i forget what exactly).

I've never had any issue with my brush but i've also never had to contact them for anything, so they don't have my info anyway. as for the "bowl lather this brush only". i threw that away and face lather with it regularly.

I don't believe they woulde comprise their customers info. if they were hacked, that's one thing, but don't believe for a second they would release it willingly.

 

[Mick]

Neither of these will do a respectable job at both methods of building lather.
.

sorry, didn't see this statement, but if i'm reading it correctly i strongly disagree.

both of these brushes can work with soaps or creams and face or bowl. it's just a matter of how you want it to perform. soft and luxurious or scritchy and tough. the D3 is widely regarded as a Swiss Army Brush that can both bowl and face lather and works well with soaps and creams. The Kent is regarded more as a bowl lathering brush, but believe most (not all) have not even attempted to face lather with it and may be pleasantly surprised if they did. it takes a bit of a different technique then the D3, as instead of mashing the brush, you just face use the tips gently and then use painting strokes.

good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

I can whip up a bowl full of lather with my Wee Scot if I don't mind getting lather from my elbows all the way down to the brush

I can bowl lather with my Duke 3, I just don't enjoy doing it as much I do with other brushes that do a better job

Same goes with my BK8. My max enjoyment with that brush is creams in a bowl.

With the large selection of brushes I have, I see no point in using one for a job that others are much better at.

But as my sig says YMMV

 

[brucered]

With the large selection of brushes I have, I see no point in using one for a job that others are much better at.

I understand that, and it makes sense. I guess what i was disagreeing with was you saying "respectable job at both methods of building lather".

any of these brushes or any $5 brush can make decent lather if in capable hands, in a bowl or on the face. it's a matter of personal preferance in handles and more importantly how it feels on the face, to the user.

in this case, both of these brushes did more then a respectable job of building lather on my face and in a scuttle. i just didn't find the D3 appealing after obtaining a few other brushes, but it still made lather perfectly fine.

 

[Mick]

Yea, I agree with you.

I am just a little too picky sometimes.

 

[mwhals]

I am now thinking Thater 4125/2 or Shavemac D01.

 

[brucered]

I am now thinking Thater 4125/2 or Shavemac D01.

the nice thing with a D01 is you can customize it. handle, knot, height, material etc.

the nice thing with a thater 2 (which i have), it's an amazing brush. i use it mainly for face lathering as it's a shorter handle and i find it quite dense. it's everything the Duke 3 wants to be but couldn't.

you can't go wrong with either.

my thater is a 3 band bulb. my D01 is a 3 band Fan.

 

[mwhals]

I see you have both, so how are they different in use?

 

[brucered]

I see you have both, so how are they different in use?

the D01 Fan, 24/50 is much more traditional in it's knot. soft, yet dense, great face lathering brush with the fan shape. mine has gel type feel to it, so it's not scritchy in the least. this one has more backbone then the thater and is denser, but still very very soft.

the Thater is a shorter handle, very bulbous (extreme bulb i'd say) and soft and a great face lathering brush. i only face lather this one, as the handle is on the shorter side and i enjoy the knot enough to only want it rubbed on my face, not the bowl. the Thater is softer in my eyes and experience, but not by much.

i have no experience with the 2 band, and only a few weeks with the D01, but i can highly recommend the D01 3 band. i have used the silvertip shavemac for much longer, but it's not as dense, i'd go so far as to say mine is a cross between the D01 and Kent.

the D01 fits everytihng you want, and you can order it any way you like with handle and knot and will likely come in around $150 for a 24/50 D01 in 3 band, plus $10 shipping. the higher loft and bigger the knot, the price will go up, but that's easy enough to play around with in the expert selector.

hard for me to pick a favorite between the two.

so, as what was recommended to me, i'd recommend a 3 band D01 24/50-52 Fan in the handle of your choice. longer handle for bowl lathering. shorter handle for face lathering. or something in between for use in both.

perhaps others that have both will chime in as well.

 

[edgerunner]

I sold my Thater 3-band in favour of the 2-band version which has a better backbone, and similar incredible softness and flow. The 3-band density and backbone are very similar to Shavemac Silvertip. If softness is important to you, go for the Thater.

My D01 3-band fan is my favourite brush. It's dense but blooms nicely which helps for the flowthrough. What I like about it the most is that it splays like typical 3-banders but the hairs are springy and envelope the face retaining the knot shape well. The tips are soft without scritch but feel a bit scrubby on the face very similar to M&F Blonde.

The Kent is a totally different beast. It's incredibly luxurious, fun to use, unique, and requires less brutality and more refinement in use. When I use my BK8, I exclusively face lather with it. I believe that if you try a current regular Rooney 3-band Medium size brush, and like it, then you're ready for a Kent.

 

[mwhals]

It sounds like a Shavemac is in my future and maybe a complimentary brush.

 

[mwhals]

Shavemac D01/3 looks like the one I will order.

 

[mwhals]

Contacted Bernd at Shavemac and he recommended a standard silvertip with at least a 24 mm knot for creams and a Silvertip D01 3-band for hard soaps. For a compromise between the two, he recommended a 25 mm knot Silvertip D01 3-band with a loft of 58 mm.

Any thoughts? I face lather but want to try bowl lathering as soon as I find a good mug.

 

[Oscroft]

i know the D3 outsells the Kent by a long shot, but ever wonder why you see a lot of Dukes on the BST and rarely any Kents

Possibly because there are far more D3s out there, and you'd therefore expect there to be far more for resale? The comparison only makes sense if there are disproportionately more D3s for sale than BK8/BLK8s. Are there?

 

[brucered]

Contacted Bernd at Shavemac and he recommended a standard silvertip with at least a 24 mm knot for creams and a Silvertip D01 3-band for hard soaps. For a compromise between the two, he recommended a 25 mm knot Silvertip D01 2-band with a loft of 58 mm.

Any thoughts? I face lather but want to try bowl lathering as soon as I find a good mug.

personally, i think 58 sounds too tall for 2 band brush. but i'm not familiar with the D01 2 bands.

for your first, i'd say get a D01/3band FAN and see how you like it. i'm not one to get 2-3 brushes from the same maker, especially right off the bat.

i have 2 shavemacs, a 24mm D01/3 band FAN and a big 26-28mm Silertip Bulb. they over a variety to me and feel different as well.

for face lathering, i'd say a D01 3 band FAN and somehthing softer, Silvertip, bigger knot and longer loft for bowl lathering.

as for one brush for soaps and one for creams, i say that's nonsense. any brush will work with both.

 

[mwhals]

personally, i think 58 sounds too tall for 2 band brush. but i'm not familiar with the D01 2 bands.

for your first, i'd say get a D01/3band FAN and see how you like it. i'm not one to get 2-3 brushes from the same maker, especially right off the bat.

i have 2 shavemacs, a 24mm D01/3 band FAN and a big 26-28mm Silertip Bulb. they over a variety to me and feel different as well.

for face lathering, i'd say a D01 3 band FAN and somehthing softer, Silvertip, bigger knot and longer loft for bowl lathering.

as for one brush for soaps and one for creams, i say that's nonsense. any brush will work with both.

Typo. It was supposed to be 3 band. I edited my post.

 

[mwhals]

Thinking of the following Shavemac:

handle 173
imitation ivory color
24 mm knot
50 mm loft
D01 3-band Silvertip

I may add a Simpson Duke 1 with the Simpson case for travel. Also may get a Muhle R41 open comb razor.

 

[brucered]

Thinking of the following Shavemac:

handle 173
imitation ivory color
24 mm knot
50 mm loft
D01 3-band Silvertip

I may add a Simpson Duke 1 with the Simpson case for travel. Also may get a Muhle R41 open comb razor.

Bulb or Fan?

if you are going bulb, I'd get a Thater as it's pretty much everything you described in measurement and handle style and save a Shavemac for something different.