Thoughts on b8?

I received my b8 a few days ago. A few lathers in and my quick impressions are... it has a solid backbone, semi-soft tips, zero gel, a decent amount of scrub and very minimal scritch but its there in this brush. I too noticed as Kehole did brown hairs present.

I received my b8 a few days ago. A few lathers in and my quick impressions are... it has a solid backbone, semi-soft tips, zero gel, a decent amount of scrub and very minimal scritch but its there in this brush. I too noticed as Kehole did brown hairs present.

Thanks for the insight....I came across a FB post from some of declaration's fans saying that B8 may be remembered as "the best batch ever"

Very confusing....not sure what's going on.

I agree, it seems any sort of consensus has yet to take form.  I did watch a FB live video where it seemed Scott was somewhat reluctant to talk about b8's character.  He did say it was a "good batch" but would not elaborate more and stated the reviews would speak for themselves.  I'm guessing he want's to be careful not to create more hype than there already is, I could certainly respect that. If this is in fact the best batch ever, then I'll count myself fortunate to have one.  If not, then shocked would not be the word I'd use to describe my reaction.   How's that for playing Switzerland?  If this individual b8's character evolves, I'll be sure to follow up on this thread.

And the important factor too is that batches have been known to be dramatically different through the life of the batch. One box of b5 was the gelliest hair I’ve ever seen. The next, hardly any.

Early on I heard b8 was NOT soft. The b8 I received is VERY soft.

I just received my B8 knot which was placed in a 26mm Mozingo handle. 

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I test lathered it three times. The initial badger funk is present but really minimal. This morning, I lathered up with GD Sangre de Naranja soap. The feel of this B8 is soft tips, no scritch, pillowy, face suction with moderate backbone. After 4 lather and dry sessions, there are no gel tips. [/font]
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[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I have a question about some brown hairs mixed in with the white tips. Are these brown hairs unintentional inverted hairs with the white tip on the other end? Is this a quality control issue?[/font][/font]

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Those brown hairs are probably a QC issue for someone. Whether that’s the Chinese badger vendors or Scott’s responsibility , I don’t know. I got lucky. My B8 has very few of them, but I have seen pics of brushes with a ton of them. It’s not uncommon to find them in a knot. That said, I’d be hard pressed to find even one in my Black Eagle or Varlet.

Here is the response from Scott regarding the darker hair in B8:

“This particular batch has more black hairs then usual. They’re not inverted hairs (the other end of badger hair is white and extremely blunted due to being cut). These hairs are hairs that were either not bleached or not sorted out at the factory when they were bundling the hair for shipment. In all of my assessments of this hair I have not found those hairs to be prickly nor impact performance. For B8 this is normal – if they were inverted hairs they would be extremely noticeable.”

You beat me to it. I was going to relay a convo I had with Scott last week but didn’t get to it.

I agree with his conclusions. I could not detect a hint of scratch when using my b8 so I decided to leave it be. If I was more particular I would tweeze them out. It’s more of a shame visually than anything and sucks that Scott is the one that catches flak, while the wholesaler in China counts their money.


Edit - after getting my b8 I went back and checked my other Declaration knots. I’ve never owned b1 and sold all my b2 and 3. I do have a sizable collection of b4,5,6 and 2 b7’s and there are a few brown hairs in even the brushes that I would consider to be my softest ones. Certainly the most out of them all in b8 but no ill effects from my limited use so far. Actually prefer it to 7 by quite a bit.

Another opinion or confirmation of B8. I have a 28mm B8 with a couple uses and a 26mm B7. The B8 seems to have a bit less backbone but tips seem identical. Great knot and with break in I’m looking forward to see how much better it becomes.

Have a B8 on the way! Excited!