I have found that Paladin offers an incredible variety of brushes

I too love my Paladin’s and I agree with the OP that there is certainly something special about these handles. I find myself just taking them off the shelf at times to just look at them because the beauty is in the details with these and although most knots are different I have yet to find one that I don’t like. I like variety I like small and large brushes, scrubby and pillow soft brushes it all depends on my mood but the paladins are surely among my favorites. Great write up by the OP.

Paladins are indeed special!

A few beautiful Paladins

A few beautiful Paladins

Beautiful. Did you do the gold paintwork. I love that scheme, particularly on the tortoise.


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Yes I changed the color, the lettering was black as you can see those brushes at the start of this thread. I used Antique Gold to create the contrast and bring out the Paladin name and backside info (backside images below. Thanks for liking them

It was another Paladin release and my first thoughts was what new knot and what handles is ken offering. I clicked on the link and then the knot link and low and behold there was a new knot the 2CWHB5 in a 4 paragraph write up with Ken's analysis of its characteristics “a remarkable combination of backbone and softness at the tips”. I was hooked, now just reel me in. I wound up purchasing 3 brushes.

At the moment I'm in a 28 Paladin phase and my handles of choice for 28's are the PK-47, El Dorado and the Chief though I like my handles to be between 55-60mm, the Chief is a 64.. So I picked up a Chief 28 Kratatoa 55-48 HB5, a PK-47 28 Ivory 55 x 48 and a PK-47 28 Jade 56-51 SA5 (Ken stating that this knots has a very similar personality to the 2CLNL2's with some soft tip presence which I thoroughly enjoy).

I normally evaluate a brush after 4-6 lathering unless it's personality is dominant that the brush is not going to change that much no matter how much I use it. To me the 2CWHB5 after the 5 lathering's keeps getting better. This particular knot at 55-48 has the strongest backbone of any knot that I've purchased from Paladin (just my opinion), even more then the LD4's also at 48 free loft which I adore with it's soft tips.

What I like about the HB5 is not only its backbone at 48 FL but its firmness and soft tips. Now its my armature opinion either this batch of hair has shafts that are stronger/thicker (the firmness goes up 60-65% of the shaft) or there's more hair tightly packed in to this knot that gives it it's backbone/firmness. Its the firmness I believe that makes this knot seem denser then other Paladin knots (which characteristically are dense 46-48 FL which I search out in a knot). The wonderful backbone/firmness along with the soft fine tips with a touch of presence at the top quarter of the knot make this brush outstanding for those of us that have been seeking this type of knot/brush. I will also add the tips are uniformly white, this is a very handsome knot.

Kudo's to the Paladin family.
P.S As for shedding of the HB5 knot it lost about 6 hairs during its first cleaning and lathering and 2 on its 2nd lathering. But as I look into a mirror very morning an notice what is missing on the top of my head I'm never concerned about a brush losing some hair as long as it doesn't shed consistently like I once did.

Yes I changed the color, the lettering was black as you can see those brushes at the start of this thread. I used Antique Gold to create the contrast and bring out the Paladin name and backside info (backside images below. Thanks for liking them

Great improvement over the black lettering. Are you willing to share what paint you used and your technique?

When restoring vintage Ever Ready and other such brushes to retore the color in the lettering you use ruff and buff. The easiest way ebay, pick out the color you want, $6.00 plus shipping. I clean the part of the handle i,m going to put it on, I put a little on my finger and rub it into the lettering. Then I take a clean cloth and rub the paint off right away, what remains is the paint that is now in the lettering. I then let it set for 24 hours before I use the brush.

Paladin has deep lettering so the paint will set in and hold well.

I was looking for a 3 band silvertip with backbone in a handle I liked. This new Paladin is it, a PK47 28, Fan Ebony 53.75 x  53.75  with a 2CLND3, gives a wonderful lathering spread, nice soft tips with moderate backbone and good density. To me this is the perfect 3 band soft silvertip in a beautiful handle that makes a nice addition to my rotation.

P.S The same loft configuration at a lower loft vs. a higher loft renders a different backbone. As far a backbone when there is a 4-5mm or more difference between free loft and loft the backbone is greater then when the free loft and loft numbers are closer together.

What I look for in a knot is medium to strong backbone, soft tips no tip presence though at times I like to use a brush that has soft tip presence, and finally density is a must. Through the decades I have had multitude of brushes that for their time were considered dense yet were somewhat floppy; compared to the density of the 2 band brushes today there is no comparison.

One other issue people think about/consider is flow through which is regulated by density. For me it's not of any concerned most 2 band brushes have good flow through and 2/3s of my way though a shave I milk the brush.

Paladin has the density I want, coupled with the knowledge of knots that I get from Ken which includes tip feel, the loft and free loft that is given to each individual brush, this lets me determine the backbone in each of the many types of handle's in various color's that Paladin offers (which is more then any other brush company offers at any given release which includes what's available on their website).

One of the knots I have enjoyed because of the soft tips in various backbone's all with excellent density is the 2CLND3. (there are 2 ND3s I'm not showing a PK47 26 Ivory and a Winston 24 Ivory.

PK47 28 Ebony fan 53.75 x 53.75       PK47 28 Butterscotch bulb 55 x 51


PK47 28 Jade bulb 55.5 x 52   Pk47 28 Lemondrop bulb 55 x 52   Chief 26 Butterscotch bulb 52 x 48