Is one-band badger upon us?

I hear you on that.  My guess is it will not be much more special than any other high quality badger not, part of the consideration im sure is asthetics on price point which I'm ok with, lets he honest a T2 would have only been 40$ cheaper and it was already a luxury purchase so if it isn't hands down the best knot I've ever owned I'll still be happy if it's just very good.  The DG B15 is going to cost me about the same as the MERI and I'll actually be expecting that to be one of the best knots ive ever experienced considering the cost, That's why it's going in that special handle from ARNO.  This will be my first Declaration grooming knot so I'll be kind of disappointed if it doesn't live up to the hype.

Got an update on the status of my order. It says it has now been shipped. I bought it alongside one of their combs. Delivery is estimated for Jun 05.

That's awesome, and interesting cause on his website he says it will take at least 30 days, guess he has some pre-bundled now though. Gives me hope I'll see mine soon too.

Yeah, that is a fast time indeed. Not 30 days at all. I ordered on May 14, so not even 14 days to get it shipped.

This will be fun to see how the different configurations come out for everyone. Looking forward to your thoughts on it Joe kooshman7

So the Meri knot arrived last Wednesday and I've been breaking it in and using it since.
Pictures first:





What I would describe the knot as is a crossover of Badger and Boar. The hair is generally a bit more stiff than badger when dry but it loosens up when soaked for a bit. Which I think with this knot is necessary. 

The tips are a mix of soft and scrubby, as intact tips tend to be very soft but it's about a 50/50 split between intact and blunt tips. If those blunt tips split (like on a boar) it would soften considerably and I've mentioned this to Oumo as they might want to increase their processing a bit. This might also change with further use.

It's an absolute lathermachine with perfect flowthrough (and this is the Ex density version) and superior lather release. 

Oumo has also mentioned they are considering improvements for a Meri 2 knot in the future and purchasers of the Meri knot will get a discount on that.

Love that handle, I'm waiting on delivery of one of those myself now that I'm going to have a DG knot installed in.

Your description of the knot sounds right up my alley as I like a scrubby knot as long as its not poking me, but from your pictures I'm noticing a fair amount of inconsistency in the length of the hair. I have a T1 knot from him and only one or 2 hairs protrude beyond the bulk of the tips, it doesn't look horrible or anything but still less consistent than my other knot from him.

I ordered my handle from him and had him install the knot, its out for delivery so hopefully in the next week or so it will make its way to me. I have a feeling I will like the current feel but I'll take a discount on a future knot no problem.

I got mine delivered a few days back, but my time has been going towards something else pressing at the moment. Doesn't help that I need to bust out the dremel and sand the inside of the handle I want it to go into. Too tight for my first choice, much too loose for my second choice.

Just received mine today, haven't had a chance to use it yet.  Here are a couple pics right out of the box.

Just used it for the first time today, I think the bundle of hair I got is completely different from yours Navitimer.  I have absolutely 0 boar hair vibe from mine in fact mine is quite a soft knot.  Its actually very tough to describe but I think its somewhere between a 2 band and silver tip with some treating, my tips are decently gelled, and maybe just less of my hairs have blunted tips, the fine tips seem to be a bit longer than normal for a 2 band badger.  I wouldn't go as far as to call it floppy, but its a very gentle scrub not like you would expect from an untreated or even lightly knot. 

Mine too is also a great lather producer and the flow through is impressive, I too have the 27mm EX fan and it releases lather easily compared to most very dense knots, something about this makes it very easy to clean up and it seem to dry very fast too.  The second pic is after I rinsed, squeezed and gently shook the knot, gives a good idea of how much the tips gel together.  The third picture is after its been lightly towel dried.

I normally prefer scrubby untreated knots, i'm not sure yet how much I like this one though, this one is very interesting because it has pretty good backbone and gentle scrub, but just enough scrub to still be in my wheelhouse.  I think I'm going to use only this one for the next couple of weeks and see how the backbone holds up after a decent break in period.

On a note unrelated to the knot itself, I'm really liking the handle.