DOOD.CA: Guy Stuff

The TGN Super Silvertip was originally The Golden Nib’s Flagship Silvertip knot. This knot is not to be confused with the TGN Super Badger knot, which, while also uses Silvertip hair, does not have the word “Silvertip” in its name. This is a bit of a confusing naming convention, but I expect this happened due to slow expansion of the product line and names becoming jumbled. This knot does not have the avid amount of followers that the TGN Finest or even the Silvertip Grade A seem to have, yet was tied with the Grade A as TGN’s most expensive Silvertip (Now superceded by the High Mountain White). The new Silvertip Premium knot is priced the same as as well but I haven’t tried any of the new knots yet.

Now down to the meat and potatoes. How does this sucker stack up to the TGN Silvertip Grade A and Finest knots? Well, I think it fares quite well. Unfortunately I only have experienced this knot in a 20mm size set at a low loft of around 42mm, so I can’t give quite as good an impression of it as I can the Grade A and Finest, both of which I have several of. One limiting factor of this is that this knot is only available in three sizes: 20mm, 22mm and 24mm. Another is that there are just too many choices and the descriptions from TGN are all the same, so a lot of buyers will gravitate towards the tried and true which are the Grade A and the Finest in this case.

While I don’t own a 20mm Silvertip Grade A to compare directly, the Super Silvertip appears to me to be more densely packed. My reasoning is because it has that quality that when you rub the hairs around when wet it feels a bit like a Simpson Chubby or a Shavemac D01 where the hair kind of stays where you moved it and it feels kind of “solid”. While its not as dense as the aforementioned brushes, its still dense, and has somewhat poor flow through for a brush of this size. My other 20mm brushes give up lather more easily.

Here is the close-up of the Super Silvertip. You’ll notice that there aren’t quite as many hooked tips as the Grade A knots, which means the knot doesn’t have the same gel-like tips that the Grade A develops. However, the tips are a bit twisty and they do stick together a bit. That’s a quality that the TGN Super Badger, with its treated tips, seems to lack altogether.

The tips are all natural on the Super Silvertip, and overall the knot seems to have slightly thicker hair than the Silvertip Grade A. I don’t notice as many hairs breaking in use, and the knot seems to lather soaps a bit better. This is an interesting knot, however, because I find that while it doesn’t have the heavily hooked tips, it still feels very soft on the face, but has a bit of scrub as I can still feel the hair fibers on my face. I wouldn’t describe this as “pillow soft”, but it has zero scritch. The backbone on this knot is also a bit hard to describe. While its not floppy at all, it doesn’t have the springyness of the Grade A, but it really handles itself well with soaps due to the density. The backbone is actually very good, but it just shows it slightly differently. Overall its a very satisfying knot that builds me some fantastic lather and does a great job with soaps as well as creams. I don’t think it holds as much water as the Grade A, but its no slouch.

TGN Super Silvertip Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 8
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 8
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 7
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 8
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 6
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 4
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

EDIT (10/1/2014): I have received a newer version of the Grade A hair, and while Anthony at TGN says that they try their best to keep the hairs consistent, this one is noticeably different than previous grades. Its still a very good hair, but its not as soft, and the tips don’t hook. This hair is different than the one reviewed.

Most guys on the forums are always talking about how the 2-band TGN Finest is the best knot from TGN, and little is often shared about the other knots, including the Silvertip Grade A. While the TGN Finest is a great knot, I often think that the 2-Band entourage and its proponents are just more outspoken than those that prefer 3-Band Silvertips like the Grade A knot, which gives the impression that it is a flat out more superior knot. I’ll admit, I have more TGN Finests than any other TGN knot in my collection, but the TGN Silvertip Grade A is an exceptional knot, that more than holds its own against the Finest.

The TGN Silvertip Grade A is a dense silvertip badger knot, that features relatively fine hairs. Of all the The Golden Nib’s knots I’ve tried, the Grade A has the most fragile hairs and some care should be taken when using it. I wouldn’t be quite as aggressive with this knot as I would be with a TGN Finest, so generally that means avoiding triple-milled soaps and sticking with creams or croaps. This is a great cream brush, and actually does well with soaps but I found that I was losing about one hair each time I used it with soaps, and they weren’t falling out of the knot, they were actually breaking from loading the brush.

The hair has a general springyness to it, and has good bounce. It actually has very good backbone compared to most 3-Band Silvertip brushes, more than what I’ve seen from Shavemac Silvertips and Rooney Silvertips. While its got some decent backbone, its not a Shavemac D01, but its not far off. The knot actually kind of reminds me of the D01 knot, but with less density and less thickness. Its not quite as scrubby.

As you can see from the close-up, the hairs are almost all hooked, and I do get the gel-tip sensation from the TGN Silvertip Grade A. Its softer than the TGN Finest XH at the tips, and its probably around the same density, though the hairs are much thinner. It feels pillowy soft on the face, and the hooked tips really feel great on the face. If this knot was available in the density of a Simpsons Chubby, this would be an amazing brush. I think it would be the ultimate face lathering cream brush.

As it is, however, it is still a fantastic brush, but I would keep it away from hard soaps. It seems to work well set at short or higher lofts, though if you’re a short lofting face latherer, you’re probably going to prefer the TGN Finest knot or even the TGN Super Silvertip more. This, is probably one of the TGN’s softest knots. If you want pillow soft, get a Grade A and set it at a higher loft. There are some new knots that just arrived at TGN including the pricey High Mountain White that I have not tried yet… so these may be softer. However, the Grade A has a great combination of softness combined with backbone.

TGN Silvertip Badger Grade A Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 8
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 7
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 6
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 7
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 4
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 5
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

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

The TGN Super Badger was actually the first knot I had actually purchased from The Golden Nib. While I saw the numerous amounts of posts promoting and lauding the TGN Finest 2-Band Badger Knot, I decided I wanted a 3-Band knot for myself, and being a bit of a contrarian (but not a hipster) I decided to buy the Super Badger in a 26mm size. The Super Badger is described by The Golden Nib to be a treated silvertip knot, which makes the tips whiter and softer than a typical silvertip. Lets see how it stacks up.

Since it was my first TGN knot, I didn’t really have anything to compare it to at first, besides the various bigger brand shaving brushes I had purchased before, which were all quite different. Now that I have a lot more brushes and experience, I can share my thoughts a little bit better. This is not simply a “treated” version of the standard TGN Silvertip, which is not a very good knot. This Super Badger is a significantly different animal than the regular silvertip, and more closely resembles TGN’s Silvertip Grade A knot, with slightly less soft tips. The TGN Super Badger is a very densely packed knot, with very white tips that are quite robust. This knot is not as fragile as the Silvertip Grade A.

As you can see, all naturally terminating tips but they’re very white and treated. The knot has good backbone and “spring” to it, so it lathers soap very well. It has “okay” flow-through, but my super badger is a 26mm knot, it requires a LOT of lather so its a bit harder for me to judge compared with my others which are all in 20-24mm size. The tips aren’t hooked, so they don’t develop those gel-like tips that many really love and look for. That makes this knot slightly less soft feeling in my books, but very tough to tell the difference on the face. When hand-lathering I detect a slightly less “slick” feeling when brushing the lather on because it doesn’t gel at the tips – that’s it. Otherwise a great soft brush knot with decent backbone.

TGN Super Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 8
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 7
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 6
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 7
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 5
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 6
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

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

This is The Golden Nib’s entry level Silvertip Knot – the Silvertip STD XH. I believe the STD stands for Standard, and XH stands for Extra Hair – meaning higher density. This is also one of TGN’s most affordable badger knots, next to the Pure and Black badger knots. Its also the only knot that I’ve purchased from TGN that I have been disappointed with.

While the knot is called XH, it doesn’t feel all that dense to me. I think this is actually the floppiest, most uncomfortable badger knot that I have ever experienced. I don’t think this knot is a good value and I personally wouldn’t buy it again. Perhaps if I had mounted it at a lower loft it would have performed better, but it is so prickly, that I almost find it unusable in its current state.

Notice that the hairs are also trimmed, and not all naturally terminating. This is uncommon for a silvertip knot from any company since most silvertip knots are supposed to have natural tips. The knot actually looks a lot like the TGN Best Badger knot, but with more scritch and more flop – two things in my book that should be limited. I don’t mind a little scritch, but this one has too much.

Overall, its pretty obvious that I don’t like this knot and I don’t recommend it. Its one of TGN’s least expensive badger knots, however, so that should be taken into account. Its the cheapest TGN knot I’ve purchased, and it performs like it – so I guess I got what I paid for. However, it wasn’t that cheap at $18, and I’ve bought brushes for $18 that I felt performed better, like many of the Omega Boar Brushes. At any rate, if you’re thinking about this knot, I would recommend spending the extra few dollars and buying the TGN Best Badger, or better yet, the TGN Finest.

TGN Silvertip STD XH Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 3
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 2
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 2
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 3
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 5
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 7
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

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

The Golden Nib’s Finest XH Badger knot (EDIT: These are now just called “Finest”) is probably the most popular and well known of all their knots and possibly one of the most talked about shave knots in all of shavedom, and for good reason. This is a fantastic 2-band knot with very nice density, scrub and soft tips that compares (in my opinion) with some of the top brands out there. 2-Band knots are usually sold at a premium with the high end brands, and have a very solid and loyal following.

TGN brings to the table a high quality 2-Band Badger in the mid $20 range, which is several times cheaper than the big brands. TGN has released a new Premium Finest 2-Band knot as well recently that I have not yet tried and won’t be able to compare this to those slightly more expensive knots yet – but I can’t wait to try them too!

This knot has a good amount of density, just enough for it to feel good on the face, and not too much to affect flow-through and latherability. When set at a low loft, it has incredible scrub and amazing exfoliation – when set at higher loft, it makes a great bowl latherer and still scrubs and exfoliates well because the hair has such great backbone. All tips are natural and not trimmed in the TGN Finest.

As you can see, this knot has creamy white tips that are hooked and twisty. The hooked tips occur after a few uses and the result is the gel-like tips that compare with the lengendary Rooney 2XL. One Caveat: Not all TGN Finests develop the gel-like tips, as some batches vary. I have four TGN Finests, and three of them have gel-like tips, one does not.

The TGN 2-Band is an interesting hair because it is quite a coarse grade of hair providing plenty of backbone that face latherers in particular seek out. However, the TGN finest also exhibits extremely soft and fine tips which result in the gel-like experience. I remember when I first got this knot, I worried because the tips would always dry hard and it was difficult to get the soap out because of the gelling of the tips. Now I just enjoy it!

TGN Finest Badger Knot Specs and Rating:

Softness: 7
Scratchy		Soft
Backbone: 9
Floppy		Strong
Scrub: 8
Gentle		Scrubby
Density: 7
Sparse		Dense
Hair Thickness: 9
Thin		Thick
Flow-Through: 6
Lather Hog		Lather Giver

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