It is true I dogged it off on the layered/ non layered thing. I was thinking about tip density as I typed the post when the real extra density was going on between my ears.
Concerning the hardness ratings, I think you will really like what Dennis is planning to do here Joey.
When I was at Dennis' shop and he showed me the tips for the first time he also told me that he has a proprietary method that he is about to start using that will accurately measure the tip hardness. Then the tips he sells will all be rated precisely. He told me specifics about this but Ill just try to paraphrase.
Imagine if tips are rated 1-100 in hardness with the way companies are currently doing it, they lump varying levels of hardness into three or four categories. So lets imagine in general soft is about 40, medium is about 60 and hard is about 80. (These are just my my numbers for the point of explaining this and not the numbers Dennis is using. Dennis told me the actual numbers for each hardness rating but I forgot what he said).
The problem this lumping of various tips is that this is often you will have a tip rated medium, but its real measurement is 68. Or a hard that is 92. Every box of tips rated as mediums, could in fact have varying hardness say 55-70. The point is that the current rating system have ranges of hardness that the tips are being lumped together. With the way Dennis is about to do this, his tips will have a specific number attached to them so if you find soft is too soft but some mediums are too hard, you will no longer be guessing. You perhaps will find that you like a 55 hardness rating, just below medium but significantly harder than a soft and you will be able to order that precise tip.
it mushroomed but I expected it to. Now I just play with it. Even after the breaking it still plays great to me. No miscues yet. I'm enjoying it with confidence.
