Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pen Review

Alright, cards on the table: this is a pen that I have wanted for a long time; my first grail pen as it were. And while I had held off on purchasing one for a long time, due to several concerns, including price and how oddly the pen is laid out, circumstances over the summer compelled me to play Galahad to this pen’s grail, and pick it up. And, again: cards on the table, it does not disappoint.

The Pilot Vanishing Point is a metal bodied fountain pen with a retractable nib. And that’s the point that most people I’ve talked to do a double take, because that’s not something you see every day. And while one could look at this feature and call it a gimmick, everything else points to this pen being a high quality pen, period.

Starting with the packaging, which I normally don’t consider in a pen review. But it’s worth pointing out here, because it is above and beyond what I’ve come to expect from Pilot. The box is a windowed, clamshell design meant to allow users to see the pen. It has the Pilot logo embossed on the bottom frame of the window and a leather texture has been stamped on all sides. The pen itself rests on a plastic bed that has been made to feel like velvet. Underneath the bed is a storage compartment where you can store spare cartridges, and Pilot provides one of Namiki’s blue ink, as well as a use and care guide. Now, I don’t keep pens in their packaging, preferring to slip them into a pen case to save on bulk, but it’s clear that this is a package that is meant to stick around. The storage is functional and the window is nice for those to display their pens, and the entire thing is less utilitarian and fancier than what you’d get a Pilot Metropolitan in. Material-wise, I have to compare it to Conklin packaging, which is generally nicer and harder for me to discard. So, I wouldn’t keep the box around, but it speaks to the idea that this is a cut above the beginner level pen.

The pen itself is a fairly heavy, but not as much as I thought it would be, coming in at 30 grams. For comparison, my heaviest pen, the Karas Kustoms ink is 37 grams, and the Metropolitan is 32 grams. At this weight, the Vanishing Point is really nice to handle, feeling both heavy enough for my taste, but lightweight at the same time. The metal material is cool to the touch, but warms nicely in the hand.

The Vanishing Point is a cigar shape, tapering at both ends and being fairly understated. It’s available in several colour schemes, with options with rhodium, gold, or black hardware, classy colours like black, red and gunmetal and a few limited editions that last for a year. It’s not a total “there’s something for everyone” deal, but there is a great variety in the limited editions and the stock colours are all very classic pen colours. I have a black with rhodium trim, but all of them have a similar aesthetic. I really like what Pilot’s gone for here. It’s understated, but looks like a classic, high quality pen.

Okay, now on to the feature that sets this pen apart: the retractable nib. This is something that throws a lot of pen convention out the window. There is no grip section to speak of; users have to hold on to the pen body. The clip narrows near it’s base, indicating that users can grip there, though in my opinion it’s too narrow to be comfortable. Speaking of the clip, it’s on the end that the nib comes out of, which is something that most people I’ve talked to find very curious. It’s a completely understandable design decision and doesn’t bother me at all, but I’ve heard that is can interfere with some grips and be uncomfortable. On the other end is the nock, which has a heavy action. I like this because the chance of accidentally opening the pen in a pocket is nil, and the click of the pen is so satisfying. The pen also has a trap door that hides the nib, keeping it clean and wet for when you want to use it. I know this isn’t for everyone, but I love this feature and the convenience of not having to cap and uncap the pen has made the Vanishing Point one of my everyday pens.

The pen comes with a Pilot CON 20 piston converter, but it can be switched with a Pilot Cartridge, which I’ve done. Refilling this pen is easy; the entire nib unit comes out of the pen so users can fill from an ink bottle, or just install a new cartridge. The unit goes back into the pen a specific way, but there is a little notch to guides the unit into the pen body correctly and prevents improper installation, which is just an ace idea.

The nib is an 18k gold nib, the first I’ve ever owned. It comes in extra-fine, fine, medium, broad and stub, of which I’ve opted for the extra-fine. I tested this pen in my Rhodia Webnotbook with Namiki Black ink, which isn’t included with the pen. And, the gold nib makes a huge difference. There’s some feedback off the page, which I fine quite pleasant, but beyond that, it was fairly smooth, especially considering how fine the nib is. It didn’t not feel like it dug into the paper at all, and laid down a rich, dark line, but thin enough for my small handwriting to be very clean. It;s super reliable and I had no ink feeding issues. There’s not much more to say expect that this is a brilliant writing experience.

This is a wonderful pen and I love basically everything about it. It writes well, the mechanisms of the pen are very convenience and I think it looks really good. It’s not a stunner, but its aesthetic matches mine well. In short, there is nothing wrong with this pen. But, as much as I rave about it, I have to acknowledge that the Vanishing Point is not for everyone. It is not a conventional fountain pen. A lot of things that make it so good in my eyes may be negatives in another person’s. And there’s no way to tell if you like it without testing one. At $148.00, it’s an expensive purchase; well beyond a entry level pen. I personally think it’s worth every penny, but it is something that should be trialled before purchasing.

This pen was purchased at a discount with my own funds.

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen Review

For a lot of pen-lovers, when you mention a sub-ten dollar fountain pen, this is what their minds jump to. Sure, there are other pens that fit the description, and many of those are good as well, but this is the one that leaps to mind. And considering that I was very intentional about looking at this category, it’s downright criminal that I haven’t reviewed the Platinum Preppy.

The Platinum Preppy is a budget fountain pen made by the Japanese company Platinum. It has a plastic body and is very lightweight, coming in at ten grams. It’s worth noting that this is the same weight as other plastic and resin bodied pens in the beginner category, such as the Lamy Safari. And it’s a decent weight, not being so light as to feel cheap, and being very well-balanced. With that said, it does feel like plastic in the hand and it reminds me of an office supply pen. Not at all a major issue, and if that’s the only trade off for the price,

And indeed, that feels like the only trade off. The aesthetics of this pen, while not at all my style, are easily likeable. The barrel itself is translucent and coloured with the same colour as the ink that comes with the pen, though one can use any colour that they wish. And this is an element of what the pen was designed for: being easily accessible; but it also has the side effect of just being a really fun design.

The cap is a clear snap-cap that can be posted. With the weight of the pen, having the cap post doesn’t really changed the writing experience, so it comes down to if you’re afraid of losing the cap. the clip is also plastic and coloured to match the pen body and works fairly well at holding the pen to clothing. It’s also super easy to cap and uncap.

The grip is also clear, allowing users to see the feed and ink inside the pen. I appreciate the larger than normal grip, even if I think it looks funny and even though it’s plastic, I found that it wasn’t slippery. More importantly, my hand didn’t cramp when using this pen.

And the writing experience of the Preppy is wonderful. It comes with medium, fine and extra-fine steel nibs, of which I tested the fine and extra-fine options, with Platinum’s black and blue inks in a Rhodia Webnotebook. And even the extra-fine is a smooth writer with hardly any feedback. The lines are rich, but thinner than you might expect. This contruibtes to a shorter drying time, though it’s still fairly long. It’s also notable that the pen takes only Platinum’s cartridges and converters.

Now, this is also a bit of an inconsistent pen. when it works, it’s brilliant. However, I would occasionally have issues with the ink feeding. It didn’t happen often enough for it to affect my opinion of the Preppy, but is worth noting.

With all of that being said, the Platinum Preppy is a bargain. For five dollars, and sometimes cheaper, the writing experience is awesome and the design is super fun. I’d definitely recommend trying this pen out.

This pen was purchased with my own funds.

Monami Olika Fountain Pen Review

If the past couple of weeks have been any indication, you can’t write off pens in the sub-ten dollar range. I’ll freely admit that the the beginner fountain pens that are mentioned on top 5 lists offer more, but I have been blown away by these three to ten dollar pens. And that’s not just because of price; all of these are legitimately good pens. And I think that trend continues with the Monami Olika.

The Olika is an unique pen is a couple of ways. Firstly, it’s made by a Korean stationary company, which is not as common as I thought it would be. The second is the feed material, which is a fiber wick, as opposed to the normal plastic. This makes the process of changing ink in the pen longer, and may have contributed to some of the hard starts I had with the pen, but overall works quite well.

The pen comes in ten different colours, and the included ink matches the colour of the pen. It takes standard international cartridges, and comes with three, which is great added value.

The pen body is made of plastic, which makes is a fairly lightweight pen at 12 grams. It’s a bit light for my liking, but it’s comfortably balanced. The body is moulded to be thinner in the center, which contributes to the overall comfort of the pen, and the colour is translucent and, as mentioned before, comes in ten varieties.It’s not so clear that you can see the ink level in the pen, and there’s nothing fancy about the design. It’s really simple, and I really like that.

The cap is a snap cap which can be posted. The weight of this pen is not so much that posting the cap makes much of a difference, but the extra length is nice. It’s made of the same material of the body, but is more transparent. A bit of a confusing design choice in my opinion, but it fits with the pen. It also holds the plastic clip, which feels fragile and doesn’t really hold to pockets that securely.

The Olika comes with a black rubberized grip, which has a wide diameter and is fairly comfortable. The material makes it easy to hold on to the pen and I didn’t experience any cramping or discomfort while using it.

However, the writing experience is a bit of a mixed bag. There’s no aspect of it that is objectively bad, but there are elements that I certainly don’t care for. The pen comes with a steel nib, with an option for a fine or extra fine. I tested it with the included ink and fine nib in my Rhodia Webnotebook and was impressed with a couple of things right off the bat. Firstly, this pen is silky smooth. I had no feedback off the page and the nib just glides. Secondly, the included ink is super fast drying. I expected, especially considering that the colour is so dark and rich and the line is so wide, that it would be average at best. But no, this ink stunned me, and as a lefty, I’m really happy for that. There were a couple of hard starts, but once the pen got going, it didn’t stop. However, the line width is very wide for a fine. stacking it up against Japanese Fine nits and German extra fines, I found that it was much wider. Some might like this, but it does not suit my writing style at all. As much as I like the experience, the line width really hampers my ability to like this pen.

Overall, the Olika is great. The style and the design are excellent and makes this a really good pen. Is it for me? No. It doesn’t fit my style. But I cannot deny that it is a great pen and one suitable for everyday use. And for $5.50, I’d call it a bargin.

I purchased this pen with my own funds.

Itoya Blade Fountain Pen Review

It’s interesting to note that I found many of the sub-ten dollar pens that I’ve been looking at among the art supplies at the university bookstore. I mention this now because while researching where I could find this pen, all the local suppliers were art supply stores. At the very least, it might be worth checking out and seeing if there’s anything that you wouldn’t find at a stationary store there. Such as this Itoya Blade.

I don’t know much about Itoya as a company, but from what I can glean, they seem to specialize in office and art supplies, with product lines of their own, but also being the north American distributor of Sailor pens. The Blade is their disposable fountain pen, with aesthetics to match. The body is made of plastic, making it a fairly lightweight pen. The pen’s grey in colour, with a sliver, metal-covered tip and ring indicating the colour of ink in the pen. There’s an ink window down the length of both sides of the pen, making it easy to tell how much ink is left in the pen. This is a design feature that I’ve before that I love, and nothing’s changed. I find this window very functional, and helpful to have, and it doesn’t detract from the overall aesthetic of the pen. Actually, the pen looks quite nice. It’s not a flashy or fancy pen, and bears more resemblance to a standard office rollerball than a fountain pen, but but the design works.

As for how it feels, it’s interesting. Weight-wise, it’s fine and well-balanced. While I like a bit more heft in my pens, I’m fond of how this pen handles. The plastic is warm to the touch, but the metal-covered tip is colder. This makes for an interesting experience, and not one that I’m keen on. For that reason alone, I’d recommend using this pen with the cap posted.

Speaking of the cap, it’s also made of plastic, but is clear as opposed to gray, meaning users can see the nib and feed while the pen is capped. It is a snap-cap, which holds securely to the pen and doesn’t require too much force to cap and un-cap. It also bears a clip that is metal-covered plastic. It’s not the most secure clip in the world, and I find that it slides around too much.

The grip is also made from clear plastic to match the cap. It’s large, and very comfortable for people with large hands. However, the material is slippery, leading to a lot of re-positioning of the hand and there is nothing preventing fingers from sliding off the pen. Overall, functional, but not ideal.

All of these pens come with a fine steel nib and black or blue ink. There is no refilling mechanism as they are disposable, and I tested the blue ink in my Rhodia Webnotebook. Overall, it was quite good The blue is a rich and dark blue, the dry time is very short and the line width lines up with other Japanese fine and German extra-fine nibs. Most of the time, the writing experience was smooth. However, I have to note that I had a couple of hard starts when writing quickly. It’s nothing that I’m concerned about, but happened frequently enough that it should be noted.

Overall, I’d say that this a decent disposable fountain pen. It looks decent, and writes decently. I always comment about the lack of options when it comes to this price range, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. It’s another option for disposable fountain pens, and at around $7.50 for a two-pack, a worthy one at that.

This pen was purchased with my own funds.

Zebra Zensations Fountain Pen Review

I wanted to stay in the sub ten-dollar range today to see if I could find a gem of a pen that’s super cheap. And I think I’ve found one made by Zebra.

Zebra is a company that you’ve likely heard of, and even if you haven’t you’ve probably used their products at some point. The Zebra Sarasa 1.0mm and Z-Grip gel pens jump to mind as a good representation of what they do. They’re very much focused on office supplies. As such, I didn’t expect to find that they also make a fountain pen. But they do: The Zensations Fountain pen, also known as the Zebra Fountain pen, is a disposable pen, and generally looks like it. It’s plastic barreled, torpedo shaped, fairly lightweight at 13 grams, and doesn’t stand out much in terms of design. The barrel is coloured to match the ink used and there are seven variants, all fairly standard pen colours like black, blue, red, green and purple. The is a grey design towards the back of the pen on all of these variants and both “Zebra” and “Fountain Pen” are written on the side. When looking at this pen, I’m not reminded of any of my fountain pens, but more of my office pens. That’s not to say that it looks bad, it’s actually a decent looker, but it looks like what it is. A safe design that’s not going to raise any eyebrows.

However, it is worth noting that it has an ink window that runs the length of the pen. And this is a brilliant feature and one that the Zensations Fountain pen can pull off due to it’s design. While other pens would likely look weird with a space along it’s length, the design of this pen doesn’t draw attention to it.

The feel of this pen isn’t bad either. It feels sturdy and a bit heavier than you would expect. There is no question about it feeling like plastic, but then, it’s a disposable pen. It’s practical and doesn’t feel too cheap for it.

The cap is made of the same material and is translucent, so one can see the nib when the pen is capped. I’m not keen on this; I would have preferred an opaque cap. It also bares a grey and coloured plastic clip which works well with the design, but doesn’t hold the pen very securely and feels fragile. The cap is a snap=cap, which holds to the pen well, though it requires a bit more force than I would like to cap and uncap it. It is also postable.

The grip takes up a decent portion of the pen, is transparent and made from the same material as the rest of the pen. This is slightly problematic as this makes it a bit slippery and there is no flare-out to prevent one’s fingers from slipping off. However, it takes up a decent portion of the pen and it fairly thick, so I found it quite comfortable to write with.

However, where this pen shines is in how it writes. And it’s marvelous. The pen comes with a 0.6 mm steel nib, which looks have a similar line width to the Pilot fine nib and and Lamy extra fine, though it might a bit thicker in practice. When using this pen in day to day use and in my Rhodia Webnotebook, this pen practically glided across the page and laid down a dark and rich line. On top of that, it was reliable and I didn’t have any problems with it and the included ink has a rather short dry time, making it suitable for left-handers. This was a complete surprise to me, but I am so happy with how this pen writes.

I can rag on how this pen looks, but at the end of the day, it is what it is and doesn’t try to be anything else. It’s meant to be cheap and disposable and if you have to sacrifice looks to produce a $3.00 pen, I’d say that’s a decent trade off. But on top of that, the writing experience with this pen is lovely. Though I’d like more options on the nib, the one that the Zensations Fountain pen comes with is really, really good and I’m looking forward to using it more. It’s not going to round out anyone’s collection, but it’s a great time to use and I think it’s worth trying one out. Can you go wrong for three dollars? If you can, it’s not with this pen.

This pen was purchased with my own funds.

Faber-Castell School Fountain Pen Review

When we talk about beginner fountain pens, the main defining factor is what makes it a beginner’s fountain pen is the price. Yes, ease of use and quality of the pen matters, but when it comes down to it, we pay a lot of attention to how much it costs. Typically, under $50.00 is considered reasonable for a beginner pen, but when we talk about the best, most lists will have the Lamy Safari, the Pilot Metropolitan and the TWSBI Eco. And justifiably so. They would top my list as well. But all three are $25.00 to $30.00 dollar pens, which may still seem intimidating, despite the fact that they are well worth it. So, I wanted to see if any of the more affordable options are any good. May I present the Faber-Castell School fountain pen.

Faber-Castell is a Germany company that’s fairly renown when it comes to stationary, so I shouldn’t be surprised to find that they have a beginner’s fountain pen available. Not only that, but a quite affordable one as well. The pen has a resin barreled body that makes a light-weight pen, weighing in at 12 grams. The body is cylindrical, broad and almost as long as the Lamy Safari. I have a black one, which has a lacticed pattern on it. While I don’t care for the pattern, it is a nice touch for something that doesn’t cost too much, and you can get it in blue and red, without the patterning. It’s a limited selection, granted, but also a standard one, and honestly, I do like how it looks. It’s nothing special, but it doesn’t look cheap.

And it doesn’t feel really cheap either. It’s not the lightest pen I own, the balance is really good, and the body has a smooth finish. It feels like a good solid pen.

The grip section is reminiscent of Lamy’s moulded grip. It has two flattened edges, though these aren’t as deep as the ones on the Safari. It still aims to teach the standard grip and be most comfortable when using that grip. I tend to like this style of grip and this one isn’t an exception. Additionally, the grip is rubberized, which makes it easy and comfortable to hold on to. It’s large enough to accommodate my hand and all in all, it’s a solid grip.

The cap is made from the same material and in the same style as the pen body. It carries the silver clip, which works fairly well, though I would prefer it to be a bit more secure. It’s a snap cap which holds to the pen securely, and I found that I didn’t have to worry about the cap coming off when carrying it. However, it is easy to uncap and recap. The cap is postable, which is a nice feature and doesn’t affect the writing experience all that much.

Now the writing experience of this pen is a bit hard to place. It is only, so far as I can tell, available with the medium nib from the JoWo company. Which means that it starts at a disadvantage with me and my preference for extra-fine nibs. It takes standard international ink cartridges and converters, and I tested with one of the provided six cartridges loaded with Faber-Castell’s Royal blue ink in my Rhodia Webnotebook. Overall, it isn’t a bad experience. The line is smooth and doesn’t skip or have any hard starts. It’s a rich and dark line, but it’s also too wide for my writing style and I found that I had to force myself the write bigger. This is fine for someone that tends to like medium nibs, but it certainly isn’t for me. The dry time is a bit concerning, but a known quick drying ink should improve that.

This pen is really good. There is nothing objectively wrong with it, and it comes with a lot of ink to start out, and at around $10.00 it’s certainly a value pen. It’s also certainly not for me. The writing experience itself was good, but the medium nib makes me want to avoid it. I think the main thing that you lose with this pen is customization. This pen gives Pilot, Lamy and TWSBI a good run for their money, and gets impressively close to their standard. But all of those pens have options. There are a lot of colours to chose from and a buyer can find something suited for their tastes. You can get different nibs with other pens, which I really miss with the Faber-Castell School Fountain pen. If you already have opinions on what you like in a fountain pen, this one won’t have that much value to you. But with that being said, I would recommend this pen, mostly as a first fountain pen. While it doesn’t blow me away, it does what it is supposed to do and it does it very well at a very good price.

This pens was purchased at full price with my own funds.

The Great Kaweco Sport Shootout

About two months ago, Feburary of 2019 for the future-dwellers, Kaweco released a new colour scheme for their versatile Sport lineup: the Frosted Sport. Of course, beyond how the pen looks, not much has changed: the design and the writing experience are practically the same as other sport models. But options are great and I’ve decided to look at all the schemes and see which ones are my favorites and which I can leave. But considering that I just did a review of the Kaweco Skyline Sport a month ago and that I didn’t want to spend three weeks, I’ve decided to do a shootout of the four options for Kaweco’s Sport fountain pens.

Basics first: Kaweco’s Sports are a pocket-sized pen that are made to be small, compact and sturdy. They are all resin-bodied, lightweight (only around 10 grams) and available with ballpoint, roller-ball and fountain pen options, of which I’ve opted for the later. Stylistically, it is very much form equals function, its design is geared towards being small and easy to carry around, but with the cap posted, becomes a close to full-length fountain pen.

Speaking of the cap, it’s a secure, screw-cap design which is octogonal to prevent the pen from rolling. When snug, it holds really well, but attention should be paid to this detail, just so it doesn’t uncap in your pocket. It also bears the majority of the trim accents, with a bit at the top and “Kaweco Sport” debossed on the side in the colour of the pen nib.

It loads standard international ink cartridges or a Kaweco piston converter. For the majority of my test for this shootout, I’ve used different inks in the converters, but also am using the Kaweco Pearl Black ink in a standard international cartridge in my Skyline. All these pen use a steel German nib from the JoWo company, and I have all mine in extra-fine. The performance is great, fairly smooth with some feedback, and it lays down a dark but thin line, ideal for my writing style.

Overall, I’m really fond of the Kaweco Sport lines. I love the function and versatility of a pocket pen, I enjoy how it writes and the look of this pen is great. While it’s not my favorite, the sheer convenience of it makes it the most-used pen I have, and you can always find one in my pocket. I go into more detail in the aforementioned Kaweco Skyline Sport Review, so check that out for a more in depth look at this pen. But for now: a look at aesthetics.

Sport Classic

The Sport Classic can be easily recognized for the fact that it is the only one of these pens that has a gold trim. That is to say, gold-coloured steel nib, gold debossment and gold logo at the top. Beyond that, the general colour scheme is focused on deep, rich colours, such as the bordeaux and green that I have. And, I’m surprised to say that I like them. I’m not typically a fan of gold trim, but there is something undeniably classy about it and I find that aspect quite appealing. I think that the trim works well with the colours chosen in this scheme. My only reservation is the clear option, but after the surprise that was my like for this pen, I’m open to being surprised again.

Skyline Sport

The Skyline Sport is the direct counterpart to the Sport Classic, with the same opaque resin body, but a silver trim. The colours in this series are bright, some of the being rich and deep, and others being almost pastel. While the Sport Classic feels classy, this pen feels distinctly modern. There’s not much to say here, other than that I really like this series. It’s plain but super nice.

Ice Sport

This is where things get a bit strange. The Kaweco Ice Sport is a demonstrator style pen with sliver trim. The body is clear to allow sight into the ink cartridge and gauge how much ink is left. The cap and grip are coloured with a choice of bright and rich colours, which are translucent to match the theme of the pen, though strangely enough, there is no clear option. In this sense, it reminds me of the TWSBI Eco, with a clear body and coloured cap. And if me liking the Sport Classic is a surprise, this was a drop-dead shock. I like this a whole lot more than I thought. My TWSBI Eco review had be revealed that I’m not keen on the aesthetics of demonstrator style pens, but I think that there is just enough colour on this pen to distract my from the visible internals of the pen.

Frosted Sport

And now we come to the pen that started this whole thing. The Frosted Sport is identifiable by it’s bright pastel colours on a semi-transparent (almost opaque) resin and sliver trim. They look really fun on paper, but I’m shockingly unimpressed. I really wanted to like this series, but the pastel colours and barely translucent resin don’t hold much appeal to me. Maybe it’s just that lime green just doesn’t work, and it’s almost certainly a personal thing, but the Frosted Sport is not for me.

Conclusion

Overall, Kaweco has done really well with the entire Sport lineup. The greatest surprise to me was just how much I liked the Ice Sport and the biggest disappointment had to be, unfortunately, the Frosted Sport. I’m sure I’m in the minority of the pen community when I say that the colours don’t suit me, but there it is.

My one-two is the Skyline Sport and Sport Classic. Both are very standard and suit my tastes very well. I expected the Skyline Sport to run away with this, but the Sport Classic makes a very good case for itself. My third place is the Ice Sport and bringing up the rear is the Frosted Sport. But that said, there is something here for everyone, and with the versatility of this pen, its well worth check out all of them find finding one that appeals to you.

Karas Kustoms Ink Fountain Pen Review

In 2011, Karas Kustoms was a machine shop that manufactured a variety of items, the latest of which was to be the Render K pen that had just had it’s Kickstarted funding goal unexpectedly smashed. Eight years and 4 additional successful Kickstarter campaigns later, they’ve become a prominent figure in the pen community, manufacturing a wide range of metal-body pens in the USA. One of these, and their four pen Kickstarter project, is the Ink.

The Ink is a customizable metal pen body that can be purchased with a rollerball refill or fountain pen nib. And this customization aspect makes it really hard to give a full review. There is a lot that can be changed that affects the weight, feel, look and writing experience of this pen. I’m going to review the one I have, but be aware that there are a lot of options that I’m not familiar with.

The pen body is cylindrical, tapering toward the rear. There are three materials that it can be made from: aluminum, copper or brass. I’ve opted for the aluminum option, and I expect that this is the lightest the pen gets, though no matter what, it’s going to be a hefty pen. This one weighs in at around 37 grams, easily the heaviest pen I own. And I love it. It feels really nice to hold, the balance feels perfect and the aluminum material arms quickly in the hand.

As for how it looks, I like the tumbled aluminum look, but this is a case where the world is truly your oyster. There are 9 color options for the aluminum bodied pen, with the other two materials only coming in the metal’s color. There are bright and dull colors and it feels like there is something for everyone.

The cap is a screw-cap design that is colored the match the body. It holds to the pen decently, though it will occasionally come lose. This isn’t a big problem, considered that it takes one and three-quarters rotations to undo. The cap also hold the pen’s clip, which is a brushed aluminum color across all models. It’s angular and appears attached to the cap with two visible screws and holds to clothing really well. I’m not keen on having the two visible screws, but that is Karas’ aesthetic, and I like the rest of the design enough that this doesn’t present too big of an issue. The cap is not postable, which might pose a problem for some users, but I view this as a good thing as the balance would be knocked off kilter by the cap at the end.

Moving on to the grip, there are five variants. Two are aluminum, with different colors, a black resin, copper and brass. All of them are small compared to the pen, but thick enough to prevent cramping when writing. My thumb tends to rest on the threads, which isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it’s manageable. Additionally, the grip flares out towards the nib, which easily prevents fingers from slipping off the grip. I have the black resin grip, and it’s not slippery and warm to the touch. Overall, I quite like it.

This is all well and good, but the question remains: how does it write? And the answer: it depends. There are multiple options on the nib, beyond the normal extra-fin, fine, medium and bold. There are options to get a titanium nib, two-tone nib or even a 14 karat gold nib. I’ve opted for the Bock #6 extra fine steel nib. The first thing I noticed was that the nib is slightly springy, which effect writing experience more than anything as you don’t get much line variation with this. The epn come with give standard Ink cartridges, and a Schmidt K5 Piston converter, the late of which I immediately loaded into my Ink. I tested this pen in my Rhodia Webnotebook with J. Herbin Perle Noire, and it was smooth, with just a little bit of feedback off the page. The line was dark and and on par with other German extra-fine nibs I’ve tested. The ink dry time does depend on the ink, bu I found the J. Herbin to dry faster than I expected and overall, it was a great writing experience.

Cards on the table: I love my Ink. The weight is ideal, the writing experience is super nice and, despite my few design nibbles, it looks awesome. And with so much that can be customized, I see this pen fitting everyone. The Ink can be found for $100.00, but with options such as brass or copper bodies and 14 karat gold nibs, can range up to $290.00. But I think it’s worth it, if it’s what you want. I’m really happy with my Ink, which would cost me $100.00, but the quality is such that, if you wanted something more, it’s worth paying a bit more. I would definitely recommend checking this pen out, especially if you’ve played around with other pens and have an idea of what you like.

This Pen was purchased with my own funds, but at a lower price which was available at the time.

Diplomat Magnum Fountain Pen Review

One of the things that this blog has forced me to do is expand my boundaries in what I write with. I have a bunch of pens that I like, my personal rotation is well-established and I don’t foresee anything upsetting my personal top five “beginner” fountain pens. But, there are options out there, and I’d like to give them all a chance. So, here’s the Diplomat Magnum.

The Magnum is a beginner’s fountain pen offered by the German company Diplomat and right away, you can see that it’s got its own style. Stacked up against other beginner pens, this pen appears smaller, both in length and diameter. Even the relatively small Pilot Metropolitan is larger. This leads to a super slim, cylindrical body that tapers towards the end. There are three flattened edges that correspond to the moulded grip two ink windows to allows users to see when their pen it getting low on ink. The barrel is made of resin and has a matte-like finish that softens the feel of the pen. There is nothing not to like here. Sure, it’s a bit smaller than I would like, but not by much and someone with smaller hands would likely feel that this pen is perfect. But the resin and finish feels really nice in the hand and I like the other two features a lot. The ink window is a handy tool that I wish more pens would use and the flattened edges help users align the pen and nib before opening the pen. It’s a nice touch, and the whole thing looks really nice.

The pen weighs in at 12 grams, on the lighter end. However, I find this to be a good weight and the pen is small enough and have a good enough balance to make the light weight feel good.

It should be noted that the model that I have has been discontinued by Diplomat to make way for a new line of Magnums. The new ones have the same body lines, but appear to have a different finish. As of this writing, you can still get a few of the old model on close out, but they might not be available for too much longer. The new models look slick and similar, but I can’t speak to how they feel.

The grip, as mentioned before, is a moulded grip, which leads to the natural comparison to Lamy’s grip. And this is where the small size becomes more problematic. I don’t find this grip very comfortable. The moulded grip isn’t defined enough to force users into a standard grip, but defined enough to make anything else feel a bit uncomfortable. Now, I have a standard grip, so this isn’t an issue for me, but the size is. Unfortunately, I find it far too cramped.

Moving onto the cap, I quite like it. It’s a snap cap style that holds the cap to the pen securely. It has a bit of give to it, but uncaps and recaps quite easily. It bears a “jewel” on the top with “Diplomat” embossed into it. It subtle, but a nice touch. It also bears a silver clip which clips onto clothing easily, but also slides off a bit to easily for my liking. It looks good, so it’s not a total loss, but I wouldn’t say it’s functional. The cap is postable and while there is a difference in writing experience between posted and unposted, I like both.

However, the rest of the writing experience is interesting, to say the least. The pen takes long and short standard international cartridges and can be fitted with a Monteverde non-threaded converter that would have to be purchased separately. I used the included cartridge with black ink for my tests in the Rhodia Webnotebook and the first thing I noticed was the inconsistency. This pen, equipped with a JoWo steel nib, did not write well for the majority of my usage, with a lot of hard starts and ink flow issues. When the pen worked, I had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the line is nice and dark and finer than I expected, the fine nib being comparable to the Pilot Metropolitan fine nib and other German extra-fine nibs. On the other hand, it was quite dry. This was less noticeable in the Rhodia, but other notebooks had a lot of feedback and even the Rhodia had some unwanted resistance. This proved to be very uncomfortable to me. When it works, I think it’s just alright, but there’s a lot of problems and I’m really on the fence about whether I like it or not. Another thing to note is that the nib is somewhat springy. This is interesting to me and allows for some line variation, but not very much.

Overall, this pen intrigues me. It’s got a lot going for it. A lot of the design choices are right up my alley and appreciated. But the writing experience is a bit hit or miss. When it works, I’m honestly impressed. But there are a bunch of issues. The grip isn’t great, and the inconsistent nature of the writing experience really weighs it down. I could learn to get used to the feed back, but I can’t see past the hard starts and ink flow. The Dipolmat Magnum is available for around $20.00 to $25.00, which is competitive in the beginner fountain pen market. There’s a lot going for this pen and I want to keep using it to see if I can make it work for me. But I do wonder if you wouldn’t be better served spending a bit more and purchasing a more surefire pen.

This pen was purchased with my own funds, but at a discount.

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen Review

I think it’s time to go back to the beginning. My first fountain pen was a Charcoal Lamy Safari with an extra-fine nib. And it’s going to take a lot to actually review this pen and not just write it a love letter.

The Safari is Lamy’s beginner fountain pen, made to be affordable and easy to use. And it feels like everything about this pen is geared for that idea. The pen is super lightweight, among the lightest I own, weighing in at 10 grams. And yet, it doesn’t feel that light. Partially because the ink cartridge adds a decent amount of weight, but also because the pen is well-balanced and feels sturdy. While I tend to prefer pens with a bit of heft, I do like the weight of the pen. It feels really nice in the hand.

The pen is made of resin, a key factor in it’s light weight, the body is a cylinder with two flattened sides that stop the pen from rolling off a desk and on one of these sides, the word “Lamy” is engraved in bold letters. There is no difference in the colouring, so it doesn’t really stand out. These sides round out just above the grip and rubber o-ring, creating a smooth transition. Above this, in the mid-section of the pen, are two ink windows which allow users to see when their pen is running low on ink. They sit low, so they don’t give a full insight into how much ink is left, but is enough to warn you when it’s about to run out. This is feature that I really love and I wish more cartridge/converter pens had it. And honestly, I really like the look of this pen. It’s available in several colours, from the charcoal with black nib that I own, to a shiny black with sliver nib, to bright green and pink, and also has annual special editions. But no matter what, this pen looks good. I personally love the matte of the charcoal and wouldn’t trade that for anything, but this is a pen that has options for everyone.

The cap is a snap-cap that holds to the pen very well. I’ve carried the pen clipped to my pockets and have never had it open. It also holds the clip, which is a design unique to Lamy. I kind of like the minimalist aspect, but I hold preference for more traditional clips. The cap is postable and I use it both posted and not. It’s a different experience either way, but I find them both enjoyable. Overall, there isn’t much to say about the cap except that it work well and looks nice on the pen. It’s nothing fancy, suitable.

The grip section matches the colour and material of the rest of the pen and is notable for being Lamy’s moulded grip. I’ve mentioned the debate around this grip in a previous review, but have been on record saying that I like it. It makes the pen easy to pick up and use properly, and I’ve handed this pen to people who have never used one before and they were able to pick it up in seconds. I can see why some don’t like it, I have problems with it on thinner pens like the Lamy Joy, but I have a standard grip, likely trained by this pen, and I find it remarkably comfortable.

As for the writing experience, there’s no surprises here. It’s an extra-fine Lamy steel nib and writes as I expected. the line width is like other Germany nibs I’ve used, as well as the Fine Pilot nibs. It writes smoothly and is generally no-fuss. I had some problems with it during my testing in the Rhodia Webnotebook, but considering it’s past performance, I’m confident in saying that it works better than the testing page shows. One thing that is worth noting is that the dry time on Lamy’s black ink in incredibly long, which is the one thing that I struggle with most on this pen, being a lefty and all.

It is also notable that this is a cartridge filling pen, with the option of using lamy’s Z28 piston converter for bottled ink. It comes with one cartridge of Lamy’s blue-black ink.

Overall, I do really like this pen. It seems like the ideal beginners pen: easy to use and figure out, with a good writing experience to go along with it. It’s brilliant for the price, and this review has left me wanting to get it back into my normal rotation. You can find these pens online for about $30.00, and I’d say it’s well worth it, thought if you’re left-handed, I’d find a faster drying ink.

This pen was purchased at full price with my own funds.