![[Image: eWRLTJx.png]](https://i.imgur.com/eWRLTJx.png)
I also got the bulb and the same blue color, just the white bottom part...
![[Image: f9L0ckR.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/f9L0ckR.jpg)
Member
I posted this on another forum but including here as I realize not everyone may be on multiple forums:
Wald vs Wald
Comparative thoughts on the A1 Bulb and Fan knot
I wanted to share some observations from my previous 20 shaves that involved alternating between the Wald A1 fan and bulb knot, culminating in a side by side shave with both knots. Of course this comes with all of the normal disclaimers that I am just one small data point and others may offer different perspectives and experiences with both knots. I hope this can be helpful for those considering additional inputs when choosing between a bulb or fan.
Knot Characteristics: Beyond the obvious differences in a bulb vs fan shape, the bulb loft is listed at 53mm vs 51mm for the fan. But what has been most interesting is the “clumping” pattern of the fan knot. After a modest soak and inspection of the top “face” of the fan knot, I see something that resembles the cross section of a plant stem under a microscope, with an outer ring of tightly coupled fibers and an interior composed of a collection of large cell like structures with expansive voids. This appears in contrast to a soaked A1 bulb, which to my eye, exhibits more of a conventional clumping pattern you might find with natural hair or the Muhle synthetic. But does this have any relevance to lather produced or handling? I do not know but it struck me as something different that I have not seen with any of my other brushes.
Aesthetics: Historically, I favored the aesthetics of bulb and hybrid knots over fan shapes. But once I started considering the A1 knots paired with the nimbus handle, my preferences shifted to the A1 fan shape. It seemed more visually balanced and pleasing with the nimbus handle. Now having the bulb knot in hand, I find both equally appealing when combined with the nimbus handle.
Lather (produced in bowl): In an attempt to normalize starting conditions, I used two bowls of the same finish material but slightly different sizes (they are part of a stacked kit). I also used the same starting amount of soap in each bowl, and each brush was soaked for 20 seconds followed by two shakes to reduce excess water. And then in an alternating fashion, I attempted to apply the same lather build time and steps for each bowl and brush combination. Upon inspection, each bowl’s lather appeared largely the same, although the fan lather might have had slightly more of a finer grade of aerated porosity than the bulb. I think that could easily be a result of the inherent differences in retained hydration of the knots or bowl size variation.
Lather (applied): Unlike the visual inspection of the bowl lather, I did see a difference in the applied lather. The bulb lather upon initial application, and with no development on the face, appeared somewhat thinner. Interestingly, by the third pass the initial applied lather consistency seemed nearly equivalent for both knots. I can only assume some amount of evaporation had evened things out as I reside in a fairly dry climate. Based on my shaves prior to this one, it often felt as if the bulb was ever so slightly more adept at developing a full lather in the bowl.
Lather (developed on face): This is where I experienced the largest difference between the two knots. The bulb in many ways harkens back to a faint echo of the Muhle STF. The nature of the bulb shape itself seemed to present as a more unified bundle of fiber that offered a higher degree of precision when applying painting strokes. Since most of my lather development occurs in the bowl, I will often employ basic painting strokes and swirling action with minimal splay to further develop lather on the face. I realize this may be a different approach or technique than others and therefore may not translate in the same way. While continuing to develop the lather, I also noticed a slight increase in resilience versus the fan. I would not call it springy but it did seem to want to return to its natural shape more readily, and fully, than the fan. And the result of all of this was the brush felt like it was riding more “on top of” my skin, or may be better described as less fully engaged or meshed with my skin.
In contrast, the fan knot has this superpower that allows it to shape shift into a conformal and enveloping geometry that seamlessly adapts to the contours and terrain of the face. After I complete a session of painting strokes along the jawline I will inspect the brush and see a subtly rounded indentation that cradled the protrusion of the jawline. But if I move to a different area, the brush will self align to whatever is required to fully engage that unique set of facial planes. With the brush engorged with lather it takes on the form of something that reminds me of a traditional “flat” paint brush. Sometimes it will have subtle sides culminating in delicate points that appear almost hexagonal in nature from certain vantage points, depending on the recent terrain encountered. And the resilience of the fan seems to be more modulated, almost if it were continually adapting to provide just enough balance between engaging new contours, while driving lather across and into skin pores.
The outcome for all of this was a perception that the fan delivered an experience of, for lack of a better term, increased luxuriousness. The fan feels more engaged and also seems to develop a slightly enhanced lather as a result of that engagement. This could also simply be an artifact of what works better with my particular technique. In comparison, the bulb knot is more present. I can feel the distinct nature of the knot and it feels a bit more like a separate tool, rather than an extension of me. At the same time, I don’t want to exaggerate these differences as they are relatively modest, but noticeable.
Dry time: Another small detail. It has always seemed that my Wald A1 fan took longer to dry than any other brush I have owned. After receiving the bulb this seemed to be further confirmed in that the bulb appeared to dry faster. I presumed that it might be related to the nature of the bulb structure and more fiber surface area exposure to the surrounding environment. However, in the side by side shave it did seem that both knots dried in about the same time, although I did not formally measure the time. Over time I have also realized that a bit of purposeful separation of the fan knot fibers accelerates dry time.
Conclusion: I don’t believe the differences between these knots materially impact shave outcomes. However, I do believe the differences impact shaving experience, although by how much is likely to be strongly subjective. I can only speak to my experience. And in that case I favor the fan knot, for what I perceive as an incremental difference in luxuriousness and face lather development, as highlighted in the the Lather (developed on face) section. While I say I favor the fan, I have no plans to let go of my A1 bulb and appreciate the variety. I can also see where a traditional bowl latherer might prefer the somewhat more accurate and controlled application of painting strokes delivered by the bulb knot. And as a bowl and hybrid latherer, I normally favor conventional bulb or hybrid knots for this reason. However for my next A1 order, I anticipate purchasing a fan knot.
Wald vs Wald
Comparative thoughts on the A1 Bulb and Fan knot
I wanted to share some observations from my previous 20 shaves that involved alternating between the Wald A1 fan and bulb knot, culminating in a side by side shave with both knots. Of course this comes with all of the normal disclaimers that I am just one small data point and others may offer different perspectives and experiences with both knots. I hope this can be helpful for those considering additional inputs when choosing between a bulb or fan.
Knot Characteristics: Beyond the obvious differences in a bulb vs fan shape, the bulb loft is listed at 53mm vs 51mm for the fan. But what has been most interesting is the “clumping” pattern of the fan knot. After a modest soak and inspection of the top “face” of the fan knot, I see something that resembles the cross section of a plant stem under a microscope, with an outer ring of tightly coupled fibers and an interior composed of a collection of large cell like structures with expansive voids. This appears in contrast to a soaked A1 bulb, which to my eye, exhibits more of a conventional clumping pattern you might find with natural hair or the Muhle synthetic. But does this have any relevance to lather produced or handling? I do not know but it struck me as something different that I have not seen with any of my other brushes.
Aesthetics: Historically, I favored the aesthetics of bulb and hybrid knots over fan shapes. But once I started considering the A1 knots paired with the nimbus handle, my preferences shifted to the A1 fan shape. It seemed more visually balanced and pleasing with the nimbus handle. Now having the bulb knot in hand, I find both equally appealing when combined with the nimbus handle.
Lather (produced in bowl): In an attempt to normalize starting conditions, I used two bowls of the same finish material but slightly different sizes (they are part of a stacked kit). I also used the same starting amount of soap in each bowl, and each brush was soaked for 20 seconds followed by two shakes to reduce excess water. And then in an alternating fashion, I attempted to apply the same lather build time and steps for each bowl and brush combination. Upon inspection, each bowl’s lather appeared largely the same, although the fan lather might have had slightly more of a finer grade of aerated porosity than the bulb. I think that could easily be a result of the inherent differences in retained hydration of the knots or bowl size variation.
Lather (applied): Unlike the visual inspection of the bowl lather, I did see a difference in the applied lather. The bulb lather upon initial application, and with no development on the face, appeared somewhat thinner. Interestingly, by the third pass the initial applied lather consistency seemed nearly equivalent for both knots. I can only assume some amount of evaporation had evened things out as I reside in a fairly dry climate. Based on my shaves prior to this one, it often felt as if the bulb was ever so slightly more adept at developing a full lather in the bowl.
Lather (developed on face): This is where I experienced the largest difference between the two knots. The bulb in many ways harkens back to a faint echo of the Muhle STF. The nature of the bulb shape itself seemed to present as a more unified bundle of fiber that offered a higher degree of precision when applying painting strokes. Since most of my lather development occurs in the bowl, I will often employ basic painting strokes and swirling action with minimal splay to further develop lather on the face. I realize this may be a different approach or technique than others and therefore may not translate in the same way. While continuing to develop the lather, I also noticed a slight increase in resilience versus the fan. I would not call it springy but it did seem to want to return to its natural shape more readily, and fully, than the fan. And the result of all of this was the brush felt like it was riding more “on top of” my skin, or may be better described as less fully engaged or meshed with my skin.
In contrast, the fan knot has this superpower that allows it to shape shift into a conformal and enveloping geometry that seamlessly adapts to the contours and terrain of the face. After I complete a session of painting strokes along the jawline I will inspect the brush and see a subtly rounded indentation that cradled the protrusion of the jawline. But if I move to a different area, the brush will self align to whatever is required to fully engage that unique set of facial planes. With the brush engorged with lather it takes on the form of something that reminds me of a traditional “flat” paint brush. Sometimes it will have subtle sides culminating in delicate points that appear almost hexagonal in nature from certain vantage points, depending on the recent terrain encountered. And the resilience of the fan seems to be more modulated, almost if it were continually adapting to provide just enough balance between engaging new contours, while driving lather across and into skin pores.
The outcome for all of this was a perception that the fan delivered an experience of, for lack of a better term, increased luxuriousness. The fan feels more engaged and also seems to develop a slightly enhanced lather as a result of that engagement. This could also simply be an artifact of what works better with my particular technique. In comparison, the bulb knot is more present. I can feel the distinct nature of the knot and it feels a bit more like a separate tool, rather than an extension of me. At the same time, I don’t want to exaggerate these differences as they are relatively modest, but noticeable.
Dry time: Another small detail. It has always seemed that my Wald A1 fan took longer to dry than any other brush I have owned. After receiving the bulb this seemed to be further confirmed in that the bulb appeared to dry faster. I presumed that it might be related to the nature of the bulb structure and more fiber surface area exposure to the surrounding environment. However, in the side by side shave it did seem that both knots dried in about the same time, although I did not formally measure the time. Over time I have also realized that a bit of purposeful separation of the fan knot fibers accelerates dry time.
Conclusion: I don’t believe the differences between these knots materially impact shave outcomes. However, I do believe the differences impact shaving experience, although by how much is likely to be strongly subjective. I can only speak to my experience. And in that case I favor the fan knot, for what I perceive as an incremental difference in luxuriousness and face lather development, as highlighted in the the Lather (developed on face) section. While I say I favor the fan, I have no plans to let go of my A1 bulb and appreciate the variety. I can also see where a traditional bowl latherer might prefer the somewhat more accurate and controlled application of painting strokes delivered by the bulb knot. And as a bowl and hybrid latherer, I normally favor conventional bulb or hybrid knots for this reason. However for my next A1 order, I anticipate purchasing a fan knot.
Member
(06-22-2023, 05:08 AM)Tester28 Wrote: How does the tribe view the Nimbus vs Stratos handle shapes?
I have a preference but would love to hear your thoughts.
My preference has been exclusive to the Nimbus, based on aesthetics. However I am intrigued by the 'shorty' Stratos handle that Jannik included in a recent drop. It is apparently somewhat shorter than the Nimbus.
![[Image: JQUR383.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/JQUR383.jpg)
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