About a year ago I bought a used I-2 here on the forum for about $100. Really liked it. An I-3 came up for sale and I was concerned that the 11.75 mm tip might be to thin for me. Anyhow, it was around $100 too, so I decided to buy it. Have been using it ever since. I liked the small tip immediately. Sent it in to McDermott for warranty work (new tip, shaft cleaning & reseal). Only charge was handling and shipping of around $20. The Moori soft tip has not mushroomed since I've had it and I just ocassionaly give it a quick spin on my dime shape Williard. I also bought a used OB-2 for a trial. Played with it for about 3 weeks and didn't like the ferrule. It was distracting to me. I didn't see any noticeable difference between the I-3 or the OB-2 but I did like the small white ferrule on the I-3 a lot better. Mine is a subjective evaluation and I'll leave it to the experts to decide which produces less deflection. I have the I-3 mounted on a Dale Perry butt and I think the balance is perfect. But again that's subjective. Good is what feels good to me and I think the I-3 is good.