Perceived value of high end brushes

Badger hair is mostly sourced from China nowadays, so I think it's easy to get a great knot and a great handle from an artisan. I have something like 24 brushes, some boar, some synthetic, a horse and badgers including 2 band, finest, 2&3 band silvertips. My absolute favorites are my HoneyFarmDesign 2 band and silvertip badgers, prefering them to my Simpson. Artisans know how to source a great knot and also know how to turn out a great handle at a good price. Before that I was gravitating towards synthetics for the obvious benefits they present. The face feel of a great badger knot is unbeatable IMHO&YMMV.
 
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Fido said:
I have used brushes across the spectrum. I loved my Plissons, Simpsons and Rooneys. Some of the cheap stuff was rubbish. Some not. Fact is that like most products you can get great performance for modest outlay. My New Forest brushes were made often from hair of the highest available quality. And handles were made from the same material used by the top brands. My prices were low because by limiting the scale of the business, overheads were minimal. I don't think any of my top end brushes were really worth their prices. But I still enjoyed buying and owning them. For a while. My only non New Forest brush is one from Trumpers which I have kept in memory of a London TSR get together a few years ago.
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Sorry to nag, but I miss your brushes. I don't dare to use your Tubby, because I can't replace it. It is so balanced in terms of size and flow that my fat Simpson brushes found love elsewhere.
 
No material cost enough to justify the cost of custom/artisan brushes. The labour involved is also minimal to turn/finish a handle and glue in a knot.

This segment and the perceived value leave a sour taste for me.
 
buddha said:
No material cost enough to justify the cost of custom/artisan brushes. The labour involved is also minimal to turn/finish a handle and glue in a knot.

This segment and the perceived value leave a sour taste for me.
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Well, a plumber costs me 65 euro an hour, the guy who fixes a window pane more. How long does it take to hand turn and polish a handle, slect a knot, and glue in the knot, and do some QC ? Just add material costs, depreciation, and other costs. I don't know how much time brush making involves. A person more knowledgeable than me can do the math.
 
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buddha said:
No material cost enough to justify the cost of custom/artisan brushes. The labour involved is also minimal to turn/finish a handle and glue in a knot.

This segment and the perceived value leave a sour taste for me.
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You're assuming that everyone's buying knots in, Shavemac for one make their own. How long does it take you to turn and finish a handle?
 
I would never buy a Chinese badger hair brush. The hair is supposed to be sourced from wild Badgers, however the majority of animals are farmed and they are kept in small cages in intolerable conditions. YouTube has videos from PETA showing the 'farms'. Even if this is exaggerated, I can see no reason to encourage the cruelty when my synthetic brushes give me a more than adequate covering of lather.
 
Old-git said:
I would never buy a Chinese badger hair brush. The hair is supposed to be sourced from wild Badgers, however the majority of animals are farmed and they are kept in small cages in intolerable conditions. YouTube has videos from PETA showing the 'farms'. Even if this is exaggerated, I can see no reason to encourage the cruelty when my synthetic brushes give me a more than adequate covering of lather.
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I think 99.9% of Badger hair is Chinese and I believe the Chinese people/government have similar animal rights legislation to our own.
PETA is a business and need (some say create) news stories to maintain their business.
Not everyone can use synthetics, myself included.
 
Boru62 said:
I think 99.9% of Badger hair is Chinese and I believe the Chinese people/government have similar animal rights legislation to our own.
PETA is a business and need (some say create) news stories to maintain their business.
Not everyone can use synthetics, myself included.
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I really wanted to like synthetics, and I still have 4 or five, but they are either too soft and useless, or, if you get the ones with more backbone they are too springy.

Great boar brushes come from Italy. I have no idea where or how the hair is harvested, but boars can at least be eaten, I don't think they eat badgers.
 
I would never buy a Chinese badger hair brush. The hair is supposed to be sourced from wild Badgers, however the majority of animals are farmed and they are kept in small cages in intolerable conditions. YouTube has videos from PETA showing the 'farms'. Even if this is exaggerated, I can see no reason to encourage the cruelty when my synthetic brushes give me a more than adequate covering of lather.
Boru62 said:
I think 99.9% of Badger hair is Chinese and I believe the Chinese people/government have similar animal rights legislation to our own.
PETA is a business and need (some say create) news stories to maintain their business.
Not everyone can use synthetics, myself included.
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Each to their own Boru, I'm not criticising choices that others make, it is my personal view. I have to admit I'm a vegetarian so find it hard to support taking wild animals out of their natural habitat and putting them in cages, and this must be the case due to the large number of cheap brushes coming from China. It might be hypocritical but I do buy animal based products that are byproducts of ethical farming i.e. leather, lanolin, horse hair brushes etc.
 
Old-git said:
I would never buy a Chinese badger hair brush. The hair is supposed to be sourced from wild Badgers, however the majority of animals are farmed and they are kept in small cages in intolerable conditions. YouTube has videos from PETA showing the 'farms'. Even if this is exaggerated, I can see no reason to encourage the cruelty when my synthetic brushes give me a more than adequate covering of lather.

Each to their own Boru, I'm not criticising choices that others make, it is my personal view. I have to admit I'm a vegetarian so find it hard to support taking wild animals out of their natural habitat and putting them in cages, and this must be the case due to the large number of cheap brushes coming from China. It might be hypocritical but I do buy animal based products that are byproducts of ethical farming i.e. leather, lanolin, horse hair brushes etc.
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I do not see synthetic brushes as any more ethical than natural hair shaving brushes; synthetic fibres are a petroleum based product and as with many products derived from the extractives industry, incur a significant environmental, political and human cost. That said, animal hair sourced from industrial farming methods like the consumption of most animal products is unsustainable if humanity is serious about tackling climate change, regardless of the ethical issues. With the global population projected to exceed 11 billion by the end of this century humanity has significant challenges ahead, the least of which is - which type of shaving brush is more ethical. I also doubt Chinese industrial farming practices are any worse than those in the west.
 
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Old-git said:
I would never buy a Chinese badger hair brush. The hair is supposed to be sourced from wild Badgers, however the majority of animals are farmed and they are kept in small cages in intolerable conditions. YouTube has videos from PETA showing the 'farms'. Even if this is exaggerated, I can see no reason to encourage the cruelty when my synthetic brushes give me a more than adequate covering of lather.

Each to their own Boru, I'm not criticising choices that others make, it is my personal view. I have to admit I'm a vegetarian so find it hard to support taking wild animals out of their natural habitat and putting them in cages, and this must be the case due to the large number of cheap brushes coming from China. It might be hypocritical but I do buy animal based products that are byproducts of ethical farming i.e. leather, lanolin, horse hair brushes etc.
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When I said I can't use synthetics, it's not through choice, I can't wear man-made fibres either.
I have boar, horse, badger and mixed hair brushes but will research badger treatment:
HERE'S an interesting article from across the road.
 
No criticism, just my personal preference. Up to 2016 China was the only major industrialised nation with no animal rights legislation. I am really pleased to see that after international pressure the Chinese government is at last taking animal rights seriously. It has embarked on a 2 year plan to meet minimum standards (agreed 2017) but it is work in progress and many organisations involved in animal welfare, not just PETA, have expressed concern and are monitoring progress. I'll get off my hobby horse now, promise.
 
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