Semogue 1305

What are yalls thoughts on it? I'm thinking about acquiring one soon and I was soon and I was wondering if it would be a good choice for my first good boar brush, my only other is a green handled Van Der Hagen

The 1305 is indeed a good boar brush, and deals easily with both creams and soaps, face or bowl-lathering.

Another good and inexpensive option is the 1800 - slightly more backbone, a little more adequate for dealing with hard soaps than the 1305.

oversaturn Wrote:The 1305 is indeed a good boar brush, and deals easily with both creams and soaps, face or bowl-lathering.

Another good and inexpensive option is the 1800 - slightly more backbone, a little more adequate for dealing with hard soaps than the 1305.

is there something similar to the 1800 without a wooden handle?

Never ever such a little amount of $ will be spent on a better way. It works delightfully but needs a little time to show all its qualities then you'll fall in love. bn

CryptoSOLO Wrote:

oversaturn Wrote:The 1305 is indeed a good boar brush, and deals easily with both creams and soaps, face or bowl-lathering.

Another good and inexpensive option is the 1800 - slightly more backbone, a little more adequate for dealing with hard soaps than the 1305.

is there something similar to the 1800 without a wooden handle?

May be the Semogue 620 but is a little smaller. 21 mm knot and 50 mm loft but is 75 % tops (boar hair) as the 1800 one.

Look for the Semogue 820 (more backbone) or the 830 (less backbone, but softer tips) - both have an acrylic handle.
The 820 will have a longer break-in period, but after that, will be nearly as soft as the 830, and the difference will hardly be noticeable.

robertol Wrote:

CryptoSOLO Wrote:

oversaturn Wrote:The 1305 is indeed a good boar brush, and deals easily with both creams and soaps, face or bowl-lathering.

Another good and inexpensive option is the 1800 - slightly more backbone, a little more adequate for dealing with hard soaps than the 1305.

is there something similar to the 1800 without a wooden handle?

May be the Semogue 620 but is a little smaller. 21 mm knot and 50 mm loft but is 75 % tops (boar hair) as the 1800 one.

where did you find the information about the 75% tops?

CryptoSOLO Wrote:where did you find the information about the 75% tops?

You can find that in <!-- w -->http://www.vintagescent.com<!-- w -->

I have the 1305 (wooden handle) and the slightly denser/same deluxe bristle 830 (acrylic handle).

I agree that both of these brushes, especially once properly broken in, are outstanding examples of boar that would work effectively for any application. (The denser 830 takes longer to break in.)

Personally, I haven't sought anything with more backbone than these already have, as I lather in a bowl and don't need it.

- Murray

I don't think there's a better boar brush than 1305 and 830 for the money IMO. They are soft, dense, provide great flow through. I don't find them too big or lacking backbone.

I have the 1305 and once broke in it's one of the best brushes I have. It has no problem with soap or creams. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the Semogue boar brushes.

I would like to collaborate with a photo of Semogue 1305!

That is a great picture. bn

I too consider Semogue 1305 and 830 best value in the boar market. I have them both and while my 830 is not broken in yet, my 1305 is an excellent performer.
I believe if one would look for a good boar, no need to look any further. The other choices are simple personal preferences, like painted wood vs. natural stain vs. acrylic.
I also believe Semogue is leading the market and although I can only compare them with Omega I can say I would be surprised if any other manufacturer would make them better.
These brushed are not only excellent performers, they are beautiful and worth displaying.

That being said, I am in the market for a SOC and that would be the end of my SBAD,.... for a little while.

In my opinion the 1305 is a superb brush. It is both soft and plush, and feels more like a soft badger brush against my face, but has the backbone of a boar.

If you spend time on the VintageScent site, you'll see that their non-premium brushes have basically three types of boar bristle that come in different knots and in either acrylic or wood handles. Many of them such as the 620 and 1520 are the same knot, one in acrylic and the other wood. The 830 is the same knot as the 1305 with 10% more bristle added to fill a slightly larger handle boar.

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with any Semogue boar. I own the 1305, 1800 and 1460 which are all uniquely different, all get a lot of regular use.

The OP asked if there wasn't a brush like 1800 in an acrylic handle, unfortunately the answer is no. My guess that the closest acrylic brush would be the 820 which has the same size knot in Best bristle.

Good Luck

I have an 820 and it took forever to break in. I got mine last October and was so frustrated with it at first that I thought, "just hype." I had already had success with Omega boar, so I thought I would go for what the forum denizens seemed to like. I then discovered that the average break in for Semogue is at least three times longer than Omega, so I stuck it out. After two weeks, the shaves became merely consistently serviceable, but I stuck to my guns and used it as my daily brush (nearly) since then. It really seemed to plateau on performance at about 3 months. It is now my best performing brush, but I find I have the best luck with it using creams and bowl lathering. Bowl lathering also seemed to accelerate the break in process. I don't know if I'll feel inclined to break in another Semogue any time soon, though.

I got my 1305 in the mail today from Bullgoose shaving and it is AWESOME!




I don't think my dog was too happy about the attention I was giving my new brush

The dog is terrifying. The hair on the brush is standing straight up

I shave with one of these today.I have mine from december 2009 and its working like a champ : super soft tips and still keeping its backbone.However,I have been more inclined to use the 1800 for the last year.

My 1305 is looking a little worse for wear but it remains one of my favorites. It is a real workhorse with good backbone and gentle tips. I think you'll really be pleased with it.