I've had quite a few Simpsons over the years: Tulips; Chubby 2s; Emperor 3s; Colonel; Case; Dukes 3; Captains; Wee Scot; Trafalgar 3; Polo 8; Keyhole; Classic 1 & M7 in every knot type except Pure. I've keep a couple of Chubby 2 (Synth and Super) and a synth M7 for travel, and I wish I'd kept the Emperor 3 Super - it was small but brilliant.
I've had an unhappy relationship with the Manchurian knots too. My first, a Emperor 3 (2011-ish) was prickly, a 2014-ish Captain 2 was not very dense (superb handle though (a Captain 2 in black or tortoise with a premium synthetic knot would be wonderful - are you listening Mark?)) and I tried out a Duke 3 from circa 2017 which was OK, but a bit small. I was told that more recent batches were softer than those in the past.
But until now I've never had a Chubby 3 and I’ve lusted after one for a while as I enjoy big dense knots (and it would help destroy my soap collection) but I could never justify the prices they sold for. When a Chubby 3 Black Knight Manchurian became available last November for a very good price I hummed and hawed over it for too long and someone else (sensibly) bought it. After which I felt that relief when a decision is taken out of your hands and I could focus on paying for Christmas which I was supposed to host for the whole family (ho-ho-ho - thanks COVID), and then remorse for being a silly arse and missing out on a rare opportunity to get a CH3M for a sensible price in one of my favourite colours.
So when it came up for sale again in March and (as the seller is a gentleman and didn't wish to profiteer) for a sensible price I couldn't pounce fast enough.
In the last 38 days I've used this brush 26 times despite that fact I have around 25 other brushes to hand. Below is my shave app showing brush usage statistics for this year. Next most used is the Romero 30mm knot which is also new this year and then my previous favourite the Shavemac 2-band Unique ATG special.
Normally when I get a new brush it'll be used continuously for four or five days (if it's lucky) and then enter my rotation but this brush really is a Goldilocks brush: soft but just enough tip presence, good backbone but easy to splay, not a lather hog, not too dense, a comfy handle (unlike the cramp inducing CH2), and it munches through soap like no other brush before it. It is truly amazing.
