I purchased with a 28mm 2BED. This is one super soft knot! The initial flick through the strands felt softer than my well established badger and boar brushes. I was shocked. This is my second synthetic brush and my other synth was not even close to this soft. However, when it came time to lather up, it has a very sturdy backbone that holds up to aggressive face lathering. In my first use I had one loose hair. In my subsequent uses (up to 5 now) nothing else has come out. Very well done knot. I opted for the loft recommendation by AP and I don't know what magic number he went with but it feels really good and performs really good. Would recommend this to anyone looking for a big knot, good for loading lots of soap and has a sturdy backing that can hold up to a good amount of soap/lather/water - well done AP, well done!