Wiborg White Badger vs Varlet Mega Alpine vs ???

The allure
Of wiborg is a hand tied knot is it not ?
Actually it is also it’s availability.
Do you think Lee Sabini makes all his knots or orders them from China ??
You think people will pay $800 for the same Chinese knot you can get from Shavemac, or paladin or even on Alibaba ?
At least Paladin is transparent.



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Shavemac...China? Huh? Here's a shavemac knot. It's totally different looking than a Chinese knot. Note how there's no glue plug on the bottom (like you find on Chinese knots). Reference this against the pics on the Varlet, Black Eagle, etc. sites and you'll see the similarities.

Have you ever bought a stand alone knot from Bernd ??
I have, it was from China and it had a glue plug. I guess you really believe him, Lee, Florian and all these guys spend their time hand producing knots like declaration, varlet, and black eagle?
here’s one of Lee’s famous knots that I steamed out of a first run mismarked paladin Handle.
Looks like a Chinese glue bump to me.
IMG]


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The knot pictured above is mine, purchased as a stand alone knot from Bernd (D01 3 band).

Also, it’s tied as well as any knot I own, including BE, DG, Varlet, etc.

I once bought a custom flat top 3 band Silvertip (D01) from Shavemac.... it turned out to be a serial shedder...
when I bought it to his attention, he very kindly refunded. After that, no matter where his knots are tied...
....whether China or elsewhere, my interest waned. Seems like there is very little consistency in this
category because a large part of badger knot quality is dictated by China.

The only maker who seems to offer some refreshing transparency on this matter appears to be Varlet, judging by
his site. Reading it, and going by the very exhaustive and articulate descriptions, I would say among the currently active
brush makers, The Varlets seem to be very. very well made....possibly even the best.

On another note, I wonder if the USA tariffs on China include badger hair....that would be quite significant.

The only maker who seems to offer some refreshing transparency on this matter appears to be Varlet, judging by
his site. Reading it, and going by the very exhaustive and articulate descriptions, I would say among the currently active
brush makers, The Varlets seem to be very. very well made....possibly even the best.

I own only one Varlet, but I agree with you on this. Overall, it’s probably my most well balanced, well made brush.

I have a Stirling 26 mm Finest that I would put up against any of my declarations, paladins, or even my one Varlet. As a bonus, I could have bought another 7 of those and even if 3 or 4 were not perfect, I'd have 4 that would match the best of the best.
I also bought a hand tied no-name brush on ebay for $50 that is super dense and breaking in really nicely.

I have a Stirling 26 mm Finest that I would put up against any of my declarations, paladins, or even my one Varlet. As a bonus, I could have bought another 7 of those and even if 3 or 4 were not perfect, I'd have 4 that would match the best of the best.
I also bought a hand tied no-name brush on ebay for $50 that is super dense and breaking in really nicely.

Yeah - I’ve had that same stirling fan and could not disagree more but hey, you must be the smartest guy in the room. Thanks for letting us know.

Edit - depending on which declarations let me know if you want to sell them.

The Declaration brushes get a lot of buzz and I've no reason to doubt they are great.
However, he doesn't say much on his site apart from the 'hand-tied' bit.
His handles look better to me in soft ivory rather than bright colours though.
Another maker who's on my radar for sure.

I have a Stirling 26 mm Finest that I would put up against any of my declarations, paladins, or even my one Varlet. As a bonus, I could have bought another 7 of those and even if 3 or 4 were not perfect, I'd have 4 that would match the best of the best.
I also bought a hand tied no-name brush on ebay for $50 that is super dense and breaking in really nicely.

Yeah - I’ve had that same stirling fan and could not disagree more but hey, you must be the smartest guy in the room. Thanks for letting us know.

Edit - depending on which declarations let me know if you want to sell them.

The Stirling I was talking about is the 26 mm bulb, not the 24 mm fan. I agree that the 24 mm fan is pedestrian. Nothing to do with being smart or not. I have 2 declarations. A 30 mm and a 26 mm. I don't want to sell them because I like them too.