Beginner's Dabbling in Brushes

I am an avowed and dedicated novice, climbing the learning curve of DE (so far) and cream face lathering with the fabulous, generous help of you here.

Having read, asked and read some more about brushes, I have released my inner thrifty RAD to assemble a small, low-cost trial stable of boar, synthetic and horsehair brushes. Badger is missing solely because I have been unable to draw any conclusions about badger which might fit my criteria. (Can you make a recommendation?)

What criteria? As described in my thread regarding a search for synthetics, "Looking for a stiff, dense, non-floppy, scrubby, grind-the-lather-into-the-beard synthetic brush. Not interested in the spreading, painting or splaying type of brush. Really not concerned with whipping the lather or the amount of lather retention by the brush." Since that thread, I'm no longer limited to synthetics.

So here they are (as of this writing):
1. Omega S synthetic
2. Proraso Pure boar
3. Semogue 610 boar
4. Vie-long Peleon horsehair (kindly PIFed to me by BRC)
5. Stirling 24 mm boar
6. Simpson Trafalgar T1 synthetic

The buying theme has been stubby/short loft, bulb-type, high density and stiff (when I could find that description). I like travel-sized brushes.

No conditioning is planned other than shave, shave and shave. I'll do my best to report back here, knowing that breaking-in periods, numbers of brushes and every-other-day shaving will make for a lengthy, enjoyable experiment.

Meantime, have you any comments, suggestions or constructive criticisms (which might help me and other beginners)? Suggested additions (including badger)? What am I missing and why?

Thank you for getting me to this point in my new favorite hobby. YOU FOLKS GOT ME HERE AND WILL PROPEL ME FORWARD!

Wow! I’m polar opposite in that I like a brush that DOES splay although I am generally use face painting strokes and it’s been so long since I got a ready-made brush that I don’t really know which out there are scrubby.  Zenith has a boar brush called the Big Scrubby which is a short lofted knot and ought to be very scrubby indeed.  I think he still just sells on eBay? It sure won’t fit your desire of “travel brush” sized though.

What's your budget for a Badger? I highly recommend a high-quality, 2-Band SHD Badger Knot. 2-Bands have excellent backbone and won't act like a floppy mop.

However, in the world of badger, you get what you pay for (just my opinion). Expect to pay in the ballpark of $60 just for a 26mm knot.

I'm in Western Washington if you ever want to check some out.

TheBurgh: tells us about that horsehair brush, the Vie Long Peleon. I've never tried horsehair. Does it splay and swash around your face, or is it stiff and scrubby?

Like Lipripper660, I prefer a mop to a toothbrush, so I can't help you out a lot with your quest. But all the best of luck in finding your dream brush!

I, too, as Bouki put it, prefer mops to toothbrushes! I don't mind some scrub, but my preference is soft, pillowy, and as Fluffy says, like butterfly wings softly painting my face with lather! And I love a good mashing too, plenty of splay, and just get that lather up my nose an in my ears!

@Douki "tell us about that horsehair brush, the Vie Long Peleon. I've never tried horsehair. Does it splay and swash around your face, or is it stiff and scrubby."

Just recently received this PIF.  Soaked in water with a bit of shampoo, yielding tan water. Pretty sure I need to condition further as it eats lather. Has shed a dozen hairs.

As for feel with only a few lather-skimpy shaves: Some body along the entire length of the bristles, easy to paint with good spread, tips not prickly in the least, required some intentional effort to splay (due to loft?), easily rinsed out. I'll call it a "mopper." 

As mentioned, need to soak for a few days then have a few more shaves to come to a conclusion. As it stands now, not my desired "toothbrush."

Thanks to all who are participating. Please know that I investigate all of your recommendations.

Just purchased this beauty, hoping that (in addition to the eye-candy aspects) it will give me a good basis to judge badger. I do have plenty of inexpensive non-badgers to compare.

Simpson’s and alpha are worth a look