Broke Down and Bought One...

I've always said I didn't own a badger brush because I didnt see a reason to spend the money on one. 99% of the time, that statement is true for me. I love using my boar brushes and synthetics. So it would take a pretty special situation for me to buy a badger brush...That situation presented itself over the weekend. Every year, my small town (population 4,000) hosts the largest non-motorized parade in the country along with several rodeos and competitions, concerts, and what have you, all in honor of the mighty Mule. I'm not a big fan of Mule Days as it is called, because to me it is just a week of out-of-towners flooding the area and not caring one hoot about anything but themselves and their mules.

BUT...we host a local artisan/craft market this weekend, and people sell photographs and paintings and antler chandoliers and wooden thing-a-majigs and hats and boots and leather goods and all manner of stuff that they make.

I've been going to this market for the last 12 years, and this year is the first time I have ever seen a local artisan with a selection of wet shaving products, including stands and razor handles, with Mach 3, Fusion, and DE heads. And he had a few badger brushes.

Always one to support local artisans, I bought one of the brushes. My thought was that this purchase, and the half-hour conversation we had about shaving, might just be the catalyst to keep more goods coming from this guy.

So I now own my first badger brush. A 24mm Silver Tip in stabilized Burl Box Elder. Hand lathering proved it to be an exceptionally soft-tipped knot. It does feel to have pretty good backbone, and no scritch, but I have only washed it and palm lathered it with Italian Barber Amici so far. If it feels as soft on the scalp as it does on the palm, I will be very happy with it. It has a little funk, as expected, but after washing it with dish soap and lathering it, it has already started to dissipate. Hopefully, it wont take long to disappear, and also hopefully, lathering the top of my head it won;t bother me so much...

Anyhow...On to the pictures!!


Dry brush, never been wet, yet...


Loaded with IB Amici. Loaded super fast and thick. So far so good!


Yea...really nice lather. Super slick, super fast. If it feels as good on the scalp as it does in my palm, it will be a treat...


Bloomed out, shook dry.

I don;t expect to start a collection of badger brushes because honestly, this brush was definitely outside of what I would normally budget for any piece of gear, even though it was still very reasonably priced. The handle alone was worth the asking price, and coming from a local artisan, the situation pushed me over, and called for a little splurging on my part. I discussed my love of boar brushes with the artisan, so possibly he will bring a few next year...we will see...

Anyhow...it was really nice to see a local artisan making shaving gear, and I think my investment in this brush will be rewarded. Hopefully, my small investment in the local artisan will convince him to continue pursuing the wet shaving tools...

I also found a source for impregnated, stabilized burl box elder that I can get in scale size panels, so I think after some practice, I will make a set of "matching" scales for one of my razors. Have a set...

I love the look of that brush. I would love to find a person in my area doing the same.

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I love resin stabilized wood. Too bad not many vendors offer it.

I mostly get brushes made by Rudy Vey.... Nice guy, gets less recognition than some other one man shops but just as excellent if not better.

I love resin stabilized wood. Too bad not many vendors offer it.

I mostly get brushes made by Rudy Vey.... Nice guy, gets less recognition than some other one man shops but just as excellent if not better.

Well said. 75% of my brushes are made by Rudy. With him I know what to expect every single time.

beautiful handle...has a persian jar feel to it, which is a handle style I love.

I was like you before in that I was happy and could probably be fine using just my boars or synthetics. But curiosity got the best of me and I eventually got a badger brush. To be honest, I like each of my brushes for different reasons but they will all be staying because I enjoy the variety. So congrats on the new addition, the handle looks sweet! Enjoy it!

First, Chris, I have to say 'good on you' for doing this.  You have supported a local artisan while also opening up yourself to new experiences (something you are obviously not shy about doing ).

However, getting down to the nitty-gritty, that brush handle is stunning!  If you ever do make scales from this type of wood there had better be bucketloads of photos or a lot of us are really going to be ticked!

Nice looking brush and very cool handle.