Seriously Annoyed

The Chinese Breed Badgers for their Hair..They are Farmed..It has been Suggested that a lot Depends on the Quality of the Feeding & Environment..Its Also been Suggested that Natural Badgers in their Own Natural Habitat Produce Higher Quality Badger Hair..Sounds a Bit Like Common Sense to Me..:)

Billy

Are you saying we look look for brushes from "free range badgers" ?
 
I love my Badger brushes but still get a little sting of guilt from time to time about still using animal hair. One thing is certain they will not live a good life and probably die horrible deaths. Chinese are renowned for their cruelty to animals and frequently skin animals alive. They physically pull angora hair from Rabbits causing immense pain just so it will grow back and it can be pulled out again. I've seen it on Youtube and believe me you never get over seeing it.
 
Wayne, I agree with you to a large extent. I am not a proponent of some of these methods, but let's face it in that demand is so high for so many animals today that it would be impossible to say farm enough free ranging chickens as an example for everyone nowadays. You'd have to have an incubator in every home and a fenced in yard as well as your family feeding them & shoveling chicken sh%t for hours a day!! As well, in the Western World we have moved to an urban lifestyle with far fewer people living the old time "country life". I hunted all the time as a kid, but don't now since I am away from that environment. I had buddies as a child that trapped animals to sell the furs and a great uncle of mine died a multi-millionaire over forty years ago that was a furrier by profession. It's damned hard work. I remember a buddy of mine tracking one fox for damn near a day for the hide that was worth then a record amount of money. That was in 0F Winter conditions to boot. You'd have to force a kid nowadays at bayonet point to do that and he'd probably ball up in the fetal position crying for his mom. :rolleyes:

The fact is there are few people who nowadays even know how to raise a damn potato let alone know how to hunt, skin & prepare the hide of a mammal. We reap what we sow.
 
Hi Bogeyman
There is no way to answer you without sounding like some hairy jumper wearing hippy. I am not one of those though. I use Badger brushes so even though it does prick my conscience I have no choice but to accept the methods used in order to have the brushes I love. I suppose it is the same for the super models in their Mink overcoats. Whether it is a Badger hair brush or a fillet steak on my plate something died to get it there one way or another.
 
Have to say I very much sympathise and empathise with the views that Wayne has expressed. It's difficult not to regard myself as anything other than weak willed and hypocritical insofar as I own a handful of badger brushes and I'm not a vegetarian either. So, much as I feel bad about the animal cruelty that is rife the world over, I'm not, actually, man enough to stand up and be counted and protest about all the things that go on, and sell all my animal related goods, and stop eating meat. etc etc.

For sure I won't be buying any more badger brushes...due the the treatment the animals must receive... but additionally to do with the fact that I no longer have the need nor desire for them as I find the synthetics I own do everything I ask of a shaving brush (and as a bonus/further self justification synthetics don't shed - or if they do it's usually less than badgers do).

But I have to also acknowledge that, for all the cruelty we, as humans, are capable of inflicting on each other and to the animals we share the planet with, the "natural world" is capable of similar levels of pain and suffering.... witness the daily need for animals to eat other animals in order to survive... and the manner of which can seem horrendous i.e. the Sparrowhawk which plucks the feathers from the throat and chest of it's prey whilst the poor victim is gripped by piecing talons prior to subsequently being pecked to death. At least a greyhound or whippet has the decency to attempt to snap the neck of its victim and despatch the creature relatively quickly.

Prior to sending the "Post a reply" key I'm wondering if this could be the start of a contentious and ugly, off topic, discourse between members. I guess all will have a view and some will see things differently - so maybe I ought to suggest we respect the topic that the OP has posted and either be brief here, or start a separate thread if anyone wants to?
 
I must be honest and say that I never really thought of how the hair was harvested to construct one of our favorite tools. I just enjoyed my morning ritual each day. Now a days I have given up natural hair for synthetic, not for any idea of guilt or anything like that just that I was getting put off by the varying hair qualities of the differing brushes I bought. Tried a synth and now my brushes all use the same knot. Boring? possibly. But now I have found a consistent knot I am now leaning towards differing and fancy handles to house same.

Not everyones choice, but it would be a boring world if we where all the same, eh!
 
Badgers are not farmed, and they are not bred. They are feral and wild, and like other feral animals harvested for human purposes, must be trapped in the wild. In China, (where just about all badger brush hair comes from) they are considered a pest to farming and agriculture, and must be trapped anyway to protect farmers' land and harvests. If their pelts could not be sold, they would be used locally or disposed of, and the meat is used for food. In other words, badgers will continue to be trapped and killed whether or not you use a badger brush, or if there is not any market for their hair.

http://www.emsplace.com/bristle_types_and_bloom.htm

Back on topic, @OSP , please keep us updated in how you are sourcing the hair and constructing the knot. Your experiences here might inform others on how they might consider making their own perfect brush. Sounds like a fascinating journey most of us have little knowledge of!
 
I've sourced some synthetic hair from china to practice with. ( it's cheaper at £90 delivered for one kilo, as opposed to £600 per kilo with a minimum order of ten kilos! ) so I'm now trying to construct a way to get the fan/bulb shape!
 
James. Can I apologise personally for the direction I have caused this thread to go in. It was not my intention to hi-jack your informative thread and certainly didn't intend it to turn into a badger hair debate. Totally my fault.
Regards
Wayne.
 
I've sourced some synthetic hair from china to practice with. ( it's cheaper at £90 delivered for one kilo, as opposed to £600 per kilo with a minimum order of ten kilos! ) so I'm now trying to construct a way to get the fan/bulb shape!
I saw a video a while back that showed the makers at Simpson using a shaped dish. The hairs are placed into the dish (tip down) to form the shape, then tied and trimmed at the base. Might be worth trying to knock something similar up.

In fact, here it is:

 
James. Can I apologise personally for the direction I have caused this thread to go in. It was not my intention to hi-jack your informative thread and certainly didn't intend it to turn into a badger hair debate. Totally my fault.
Regards
Wayne.
I saw a video a while back that showed the makers at Simpson using a shaped dish. The hairs are placed into the dish (tip down) to form the shape, then tied and trimmed at the base. Might be worth trying to knock something similar up.

In fact, here it is:

Thats what i'm going on Nick.
Engineering issues aplenty!
 
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