DOOD.CA: Guy Stuff

My latest TGN Knot is the Silvertip Premium which, confusingly, is in TGN’s “Premium Silvertip” knots category along with a couple other Premium silvertip knots – the Silvertip Grade A and the Super Silvertip. All these names quickly get confusing, especially when they use the same name twice (in this case, “premium”). So, inevitably, this knot will be compared with its Premium Silvertip brethren, so I’ll just compare them in this review. First, you can see the mounted 26mm knot here in a Rudy Vey handle that I purchase. This 26mm example is the only Silvertip Premium knot I own.

As you can see, the knot has a fairly strong bulb shape, creamy white tips and a well-defined three-band appearance. It has a pretty potent badger smell when new, and very good density – I believe this is the densest of the premium badgers based on this 26mm example. While it is the densest, it doesn’t have the strongest backbone but it isn’t a big issue because there is so much hair there it simulates a stronger backbone in use.

I quite like this brush and would probably consider picking up another one in a smaller knot size for more regular use. This is a very large and dense brush and certainly requires a lot of product to get a good lather. It does feel very pleasing on the face though because the brush is extremely soft. The tips don’t hook quite as much as the Silvertip Grade A tips do, but the overall softness is greater. The hair is less “springy” than both the Super Silvertip and the Grade A knots from The Golden Nib. The Silvertip Premium is sort of a super soft thick pillow in comparison.

EDIT (10/1/2014): I have made an edit after more use and trying newer versions of hair. This hair grade is the thinnest of the Silvertips available at TGN (more so than Grade A). Very very soft because of this, but also more fragile.

Here is the macro shot of the hairs, and as you can see there appears to be some “hooking” of the tips. They definately clump together when wet and lathered, but they don’t quite have that gel tip sensation. I think because the general property of this hair tends to be less springy, it has a very soft pliable feel on the face that probably makes this one of the softest feeling brushes of all the shaving brushes I own – big names and all. Having said that, I have not tried any of those fabled “High Mountain White” brushes yet as of this writing, so if I do in the future, this might not hold true anymore.

I mounted the brush at about 52mm loft, and the brush performs fantastic. While I really do love the TGN Finest 2-Band knots, I really love the variety of brushes that TGN offers and all of the Premium Silvertip Brushes they offer are very good performers with slightly different characteristics that are noticeable to the brush enthusiast. Of all the Silvertip Premium knots that The Golden Nib offers, the Silvertip Grade A is still my favourite, but I still love this knot for its different feel. It is an ultra plush luxurious knot, that makes me wonder what the High Mountain White would feel like.

TGN Silvertip Premium Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 9
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 6
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 2
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 8
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 3
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 4
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

Click here to see a list of all TGN Knot Reviews here.

Shavemac D01 3-Band Silvertip Badger Series 25
Specs:
Hair Type: D01 3-Band Silvertip Badger
Knot Size: 26mm
Loft: 52mm
Handle Height: 49mm
Glue Bump: None
MSRP: $170USD

Here’s a review I’ve been pretty eager to write since I acquired my Shavemac a couple months back. This is a custom Shavemac brush, with a D01 3-Band 26mm knot set at 52mm loft – the golden ratio of 1:2 for knot size to loft. Shavemac brushes are handmade in Germany and that legendary meticulous German craftsmanship certain shines through here.

I’ve got the Shavemac pictured above in my Anderson Pottery shaving mug, which I used for the leather generated in this review. The grey, faux horn series 25 handle looks fantastic and suits the densly packed fan-shaped 3-band D01 knot.

I love the Shavemac knot profile. Shavemac does such an amazing job with construction of their knots. Of all the brands, their knots seem to have the most perfect profile, and looks almost like a fresh haircut, even though the hairs are all naturally terminating. Most knots are a little bit less uniform in length and have a more straggly appearance. My Simpson Best Badger knots are also quite uniform, but they have some trimmed hairs so that might be why.

As you can see the infamous D01 3-Band knot is quite dense, and by my estimation, it is one of the densest knots I have ever experienced, tied with the Simpson Chubby CH1 in Best that I own. I can’t tell for sure which one is denser, but they are very close. Both have that solid feeling to them when brushed around on the face.

And for kicks, as usual I like to show the brush lathered up, so here is the Shavemac D01 loaded up with some D.R. Harris Arlington Shaving Cream, ready to be lathered. It loads very nicely, even with harder triple milled soaps. I have not had any problems loading with this brush. It does need a lot of product, because the thing soaks is all up, and the density of the brush makes it quite a bit more difficult to build lather than other less dense brushes that I have. However, once you’ve got that lather, the face feel is incredible and worth the extra work.

Here’s a lather shot, most of it is inside the brush itself, but there is plenty there. The Series 25 handle is one of my favourites from Shavemac, one of their classics. Its great for both face lathering and there is plenty there for bowl lathering as well. The weakest point of the brush is probably flow through… this brush doesn’t always like to give up the lather, but that’s kind of expected with a brush of this density as is the more difficult lather generation. Overall, however, this is an exceptionally crafted brush with fantastic face feel and performance for an ultra-dense luxurious brush. One of my favourite brushes ever.

Shavemac D01 3-Band Silvertip Badger Specs and Rating:

Handle Comfort: 9
Uncomfortable		Comfortable
Soap Performance: 9
Poor		Excellent
Cream Performance: 8
Poor		Excellent
Bowl Lathering: 9
Poor		Excellent
Face Lathering: 9
Poor		Excellent
Softness: 7
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 8
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 8
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 10
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 6
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 6
Lather Hog		Lather Giver
Value: 6
Rip-Off		Steal
Overall: 9
Mediocre		Excellent

Ace shaving is another contender in the Shaving Brush knot arena, and while doesn’t have as many followers as The Golden Nib, is still a respected and popular source of shaving brush knots. I’m not sure if Ace Shaving is a manufacturer and distributor or just a distributor of knots like TGN. However, Ace Shaving’s knots do all appear to be from the same factory as the base plug looks the same on all of them, unlike The Golden Nib who sources from several different manufacturers. Ace Shaving has a much more limited selection of hair grades as well as knot sizes, but I have heard that they may be expanding.

I have not bothered with any of the lower grades of hair from Ace, but have bought and tried out the Best, Finest and their Silvertip as well as their Extra Density Silvertip. Here are my reviews and I will be adding more as I try them out.

1. Ace Shaving Extra Density Silvertip Badger 24mm Shaving Brush Knot Review
2. Ace Shaving Finest 2-Band Badger 24mm Shaving Brush Knot Review
3. Ace Shaving Best Badger 21.5mm Shaving Brush Knot Review

Rooney has an almost legendary reputation amongst shaving enthusiasts, mostly for their Heritage line of brushes that can cost several hundreds of dollars, depending on condition and rarity. While those fancy brushes command a premium, Rooney does make a main line for the less inclined.. those of us that choose to spend $100 rather than $300 on a brush. After careful consideration, I picked up a Style 3 Size 1 in Silvertip Badger, also called the 3/1, and that is the brush I will be reviewing today. Here is a basic list of specs for the Rooney 3/1 Silvertip:

Specs:
Hair Type: Silvertip Badger
Knot Size: 22mm
Loft: 44mm
Handle Height: 49mm
Glue Bump: None
MSRP: $90USD

Here is a shot before the first use, showing the fan shaped silvertip badger knot. Its a cool shot, and what’s interesting about this brush is the shape of the knot and orientation of it is quite different than any other I’ve used. While most knots stay splayed out a bit after the first use, but this one is like the most splayed brush I own now. The brush is wider than it is tall now, and consistently has the widest splay of all the brushes in my collection. It feels very different than any other brush I use because it even feels wide when I am using it now, and when I use paintbrush strokes is almost feels like a squeegee.

Here’s a closeup of the cool Rooney Silvertip Badger logo on my brush, slightly crooked just like many if not most of the Rooney’s I’ve seen pictures of. Funny that.

The density of the Rooney isn’t that great but it has great flow through. I read that others feel that it has a well-packed knot, but this is one of the least dense brushes I own. It doesn’t feel floppy on my face, but when I do circular swirls, the knot completely splays out and flattens out on my face.. so I prefer to use more paintbrush strokes with it, which it does really well. It does have an interesting feel on the face and whips up lather quite efficiently. The hairs are some of the softer silvertips I’ve experienced as well.

Overall its not one of my favourite brushes, but it is interesting to use and do to the combination of short loft, soft tips and efficient lathering it is good for face lathering I think. Its okay at bowl lathering too, but I generally prefer slightly more loft and a larger knot. While this is supposed to be a 22mm knot, it feels a bit smaller than that to me.

Rooney Silvertip Badger Shaving Brush 3/1 Specs and Rating:

Handle Comfort: 7
Uncomfortable		Comfortable
Soap Performance: 6
Poor		Excellent
Cream Performance: 8
Poor		Excellent
Bowl Lathering: 6
Poor		Excellent
Face Lathering: 9
Poor		Excellent
Softness: 9
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 6
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 5
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 3
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 4
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 8
Lather Hog		Lather Giver
Value: 5
Rip-Off		Steal
Overall: 6
Mediocre		Excellent

After experiencing both the Ace Shaving Best Badger and the Extra density Silvertip knots, I thought it was time that I also tried out their two-band offering, the Ace Shaving Finest. The largest size they offer is the 24mm, which is sort of the perfect mid-sized brush for many. Its not too big, but not too small. I personally really enjoy all sizes of knots for all occasions, though I would have to say 26mm knots tend to have the right amount of luxuriousness for me.

The knot is a medium-ish sort of density, with perhaps a touch less density than the TGN Finest knots. The appearance is similar as well, but with the Ace Shaving having slightly less dark banding. The bands are sort of a medium-dark brown as opposed to the very dark brown of the TGN knots.

Tips are a creamy off-white, and are all naturally terminating – a nice looking and feeling knot. The plug is a solid off-white color, as are all of Ace Shaving’s knot bases. This is different than what TGN used to use, but looks similar to some of the newer knots they are stocking.

There is a close-up of the plug, which on one of them has a hairline crack. It doesn’t appear to be splitting, it just looks like it might be. Knot is still solid. The knot bases measures 23.5mm, but there is quite a bit of flare out after the plug, due to the “glue bump” and probably would need another 2mm at the hole to mount this knot properly. I have not mounted one yet, but plan to soon.

Here’s a shot to give you an idea of the density. I have plugged it into a handle to try a test lather and it works quite well. Its a pretty soft knot with less backbone than the TGN Finests, but I believe they don’t feel as soft but are less scrubby. Neither has much scritch. So far, this knot does not exhibit the gel-like tips that have made the TGN Finest such a popular knot.

Overall a superb knot, worthy of a good handle and worthy of your best shaving cream. The knot is priced nicely, slightly below TGN’s prices but offers a comparable but slightly different experience. Once I’ve mounted this knot I will go into a more in-depth review of the performance based on the way I mounted it.

Ace Shaving Finest Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 6
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 8
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 7
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 6
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 8
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 7
Lather Hog		Lather Giver