I agree but my understanding is that free loft is specifically the loft above any glue bump, which will be less than the loft might otherwise appear. I have only seen the term used with my Paladin as shown on this example knot card, as you can see there is a 5.5mm difference which is huge in loft terms:I sense yet another useless term that is meaningless yet will add to confusion about brushes. There is loft, and that's all anyone needs to know. It's a dimension. Just enjoy a brush!
I agree but my understanding is that free loft is specifically the loft above any glue bump, which will be less than the loft might otherwise appear. I have only seen the term used with my Paladin as shown on this example knot card, as you can see there is a 5.5mm difference which is huge in loft terms:
View attachment 1207557
If you buy stock brushes I'm with you, the loft is the loft.
If you configurate a brush on a site like Shavemac then it gets a bit more tricky. Bernd gives the knotsize from the very end but the loft size (in 2mm steps) from where it would emerge from the brush.
If you buy the knot alone and set it yourself you have a pretty good picture how your brush will look like and you won't buy a knot that ist too big.
When you go for the full Shavemac package it is good to remember that a 24mm knot at the base will already be 25mm something where it exits the brush handle. Many go by the 2:1 loft ratio for their brushes and in my example you could end up with an ordered 24/48 brush that is in fact 25.5/48.