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.

Kaweco Skyline Sport Fountain Pen Review

There is something to be said about versatility. Bottled inks are wonderful, vibrant and good value and I’m constantly toting around pen cases full of my favorite pens. But sometimes I need to pull a pen while I’m on the bus or need to take a quick note, and digging through my bag and pen cases is just too much work. Enter the Kaweco Skyline Sport.

The Kaweco Skyline Sport is meant to be a compact pen that can easily be stored in a pocket. It’s shorter than most pens, and super light-weight, coming in at 10 grams. The pen is made from resin and is available in several different colours. The pen body itself is a cylinder and doesn’t stand out very much. Honestly, this pen doesn’t pay much attention to how it looks and is based very much on function. It’s meant to be small and easy to carry around, and the Skyline Sport accomplishes both brilliantly.

It is worth noting that this pen looks almost exactly the same as the Kaweco Classic Sport with the exception of gold accents over silver ones. I like the sliver better, but that really is a matter of personal preference.

The cap is octagonal, which prevents the pen from rolling away or off your desk. On one of the side, the words “Kaweco Sport” are embossed on the side in metallic silver and a bit of trim on the tip in the same colour. When the pen is capped, it covers over half of the pen, which gives the pen an odd profile, but it’s super functional for when it’s posted. It’s a friction-fit, but doesn’t quite cover half of the pen, which takes a compact pen and turns it into a full-sized pen. The actually posting of this pen is easy and secure and there’s no worry of it falling off. However, unposting takes a bit more force and I’d recommending making sure there’s no threat of hitting anything when doing so. This pen is one that I would recommend always using when posted because it lends the comfort of using a full-sized pen. I can’t empathize enough the benefit of having a light, compact pen and the fact that you can use is like a full-size pen makes it so much better. The pen is a screw cap and it’s alright. One needs to make sure that the cap is snug before putting it away. I carry this pen in my pocket, an on occasion I’ve found it uncapped.

This grip section isn’t anything to write home about. It takes up very little of the pen and flares out towards the nib to keep fingers in place. However, I don’t ever actually use it. It’s just too small to be effective as a grip and I use the whole pen body as a grip.

As for how it writes, it’s decent. It’s comes with a German steel nib from JoWo and I’ve opted for an extra fine here. The pen takes standard international cartridges with one including with the pen, and Kaweco makes their own piston-filling converter for bottled inks. I’ve used both methods and while the piston-filler is easy to use, I wouldn’t recommend filling it all the way. I’ve tested this pen with the included cartridge of Kaweco Pearl Black ink, and I’m alright with it. The line is fairly thin, on par with other German extra-fine nibs I own and I didn’t experience any ink flow issues. The nib is a bit scratchy and there is a small amount of feedback off the page. It’s not a massive issue for me, but it’s not my favorite writing experience.

Overall, I do like this pen. Is it the best looking pen I have? No. Is it the best writing pen I have? Definitely not. My Favorite? Still no. But it is the pen that I use most consistently and often and always have on me. The Kaweco Skyline Sport doesn’t stick out as the best pen in the world, but it easily makes it into my top 5 lists and the fact that it is compact and easy to carry makes it so useful to have. The Kaweco Skyline Sport goes for around $25.00, and I highly recommend grabbing it.

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