Here's my impression after about 20 TGN knots.
Softness: (Worst to best)
Black / UK Black / (Speculate Pure) / Finest / Best / (Speculate Super) / UK Super / Silvertip / Grade A / Short Loft Silvertip / UK Silvertip / Synthetic Badger
Individual hair spine (backbone without density... usually also causes prickliness): (Most to least)
UK Black / Black / (Speculate Pure) / Best / Finest / Short loft Silvertip / Grade A / (Speculate Super) / UK Super / Uk Silvertip / Synth Badger (No backbone for first 1/4 of hairs, then lots)
Density: (Most to least)
UK Super / Short loft Silvertip / Xtra stuffed Finest / Synth badger / Grade A / Finest / (Speculate Super) / UK Super / Black / Best / (Speculate Pure) / UK Black
Overall I'd say UK Silvertip is a very nice knot for the money. Short loft silvertip is pretty close to the quality for a LOT less money. Grade A's are the way to go if you don't want such a dense brush. If you want a little more spine and will take a good bit less softness to get it then both the finest and best are great options. The blacks are good quality black badgers. You know blacks, lots of backbone and prickle. If that's what you want, that's what they do. I still haven't tried the Pure or China Super.
Here's my impression after about 20 TGN knots.
In terms of the blacks, which do you think is better. The UK or china one? Or are they fairly comparable.
Yeah, Ian, Loft is a big player with these knots, especially the softer ones. The UK Supers are floppy as hell with a big loft (because they start at something crazy like 70mm) but when you set them down they become a lot firmer, and you actually start to notice a little bit of prickle. So at two different lofts they are VERY different knots.
I prefer the UK black, but they are very different. The China black has a lot more hair and blooms up pretty big. The UK black is MUCH looser packed, doesn't really bloom at all and relies on the spine of the black hairs to work. I find it a little less prickly than the China (which is really impressive, because the thicker packing of the china should make prickliness less obvious), and it has enough hair to still lather great. I also think it looks a lot better. But really the main choice between them is size. The China black looks like an ~24mm bulb after it blooms. The UK black looks like an ~16mm fan.
Yeah, Ian, Loft is a big player with these knots, especially the softer ones. The UK Supers are floppy as hell with a big loft (because they start at something crazy like 70mm) but when you set them down they become a lot firmer, and you actually start to notice a little bit of prickle. So at two different lofts they are VERY different knots.