Semogue SOC Taj boar brush

R181

Grumpy old man
This is a first impression but not likely to change with further use.

I always have liked the ergonomic handle design of my wooden handled SOC 2 band badger brush and wanted to try another Semogue boar brush. Ordered the SOC Taj boar brush which has the identical handle but in resin not wood which arrived yesterday afternoon. I gave it a test lather and hung it to dry. It felt like any other new boar brush that need breaking in.

This morning I was surprised at how much nicer it felt after only on test lather. Appears like this will be the easiest and quickest boar brush to break in I have had. I used it to face lather a Wilkinson shave stick, also used for the first time, easily producing a nice slick lather. The handle design was as ergonomic as ever but being resin slightly heavier than the wooden version.

I'd say you can't go far wrong if you wanted to go a bit up scale in the boar brush line with the Semogue SOC Taj. You could save a bit by going with the Semogue SOC wooden handle version of the brush. As far as I now it has the same boar knot just in a wooden handle of the same design.

I think I am going to very happy with this brush.

Bob
 

p.b

Forum GOD!
Bob, I agree on all points except I found it lacking in any backbone after it had broken-in. If it had backbone it would have been an amazing brush.
 

Nisse

Old geezer
How I wish all things brush like backbone, soft, scritch, scratch, scrub etc could be measured objectivly on a scale from 0 to 5 :)

edit: maybe we could try to find a couple of really common brushes on the forum, collect forum members views of these, creating a reference "database" ...
 
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R181

Grumpy old man
How I wish all things brush like backbone, soft, scritch, scratch, scrub etc could be measured objectivly on a scale from 0 to 5 :)

edit: maybe we could try to find a couple of really common brushes on the forum, collect forum members views of these, creating a reference "database" ...
Unfortunately there is not much in the shaving world that is objectively measured. Even if it were there would still be disagreements.

Bob
 

MrK1

Forum GOD!
Bob, I agree on all points except I found it lacking in any backbone after it had broken-in. If it had backbone it would have been an amazing brush.
My thoughts exactly. Best handle ever in my opinion, but the boar was too floppy.

The mixed knot however, is just perfect.
 

Nisse

Old geezer
If backbone is measured from 0 to 5 I would give Zenith bleached boar (26mm/64 mm loft) 0, to me it is the quintessence of floppy (still would have kept but lather was mysteriously lost in knot during shaves so binned it)
 
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Rufusdog

Forum GOD!
Backbone, smackbone I don’t like a brush that has much more backbone than my shavemac Finest Beehive. My SOC Boar is a great brush and I would like to have it with the Taj handle. But I do have a Taj badger/boar mix and it’s an outstanding brush: great face feel, great looks and a pleasant amount of backbone.
 

R181

Grumpy old man
Just coming off a week of using this brush and am more pleased with than ever. Fastest boar brush to break in I have had and although it may not have as much back bone as my trusty Omegas it is still more than adequate. Just an all around nice brush.

Bob
 

R181

Grumpy old man
It occurred to me while using my SOC Taj boar brush this morning, that it in some ways reminds me of a good 2 band badger knot. The tips are soft and it has decent back bone which is why I also like 2 band badger knots.

Bob
 
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