Noodler's Ink Nib Creaper Flex Pen (Clear Demonstrator).

June 28, 2012

At the beginning of May I lost my EDC pen, a Lamy Vista. So I bought another, and some Noodlers pens to try.

I've been using the Noodler's Ink Nib Creaper (Clear Demonstrator) for almost 2 months now.

Size:

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pretty small. It's tad shorter than many ballpoints that I have. I can post the cap without being off balance. But I'm used to holding the cap. The diameter isn't uncomfortable, about the same as a highlighter. Unlike the Lamy Vista, the pen/nib somewhat rotates into the correct position on it's own. My old Lamy would fight due to the triangular grip as my fingers prefer a grip slightly different.

Nib and flex

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The nib doesn't feel scratchy, but neither smooth. Makes more noise than I'm used to. The tines may not be quite aligned. I notice that the two halves of the tipping will "catch" on each other. Or maybe it's the finer nib having more "feedback". I was able to bend the tine and adjust it a bit so it's better, but not completely smooth.

The line is much finer than I expected, since it was described as a fine-medium. Definitely noticeablely thinner than my Lamy (F) nib. But I'm not really surprised considering it's also described to make hairlines.

The fine line only comes out without any hand pressure. During my normal writing, it flexes just a little bit so the line is only a little thinner than my Lamy (F) nib. The amount of ink put down compensates a bit giving me much darker, more contrasted lines than the Lamy. I never noticed how dry my Lamy is. I get ink feathering where there wasn't any before.

Takes a good amount of pressure to flex to the point you can see the tines spread. I can see the tine impressions in the paper. The nib does seems to be softening and becoming a bit easier to flex the more I use it.

Cap+clip

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I thought it would be spring loaded, but it's not. Still has a nice amount of tension. If I spring it I can bend it back, unlike the lamy I lost (due to loose clip).

The biggest adjustment I need to make is the screw-on cap. After using a Lamy with the snap on, I'm still trying to pull off the cap.

Piston

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This is my first "piston" pen. I love seeing the ink move around. I wanted a Konrad due to the large ink window (instead of the Ahab) but I didn't like the swirls on the body. (The Konrad had solid color blind cap and cap, didn't match the swirly body)

I put silicone grease on the piston and the threads. moves smoothly. The piston mechanism unscrews a bit when expelling ink (extending the piston). I don't know if that's correct or not. But it doesn't seem to have any bad effects. There's no danger of the piston falling out. Even fully unscrewed, it takes a bit of force to pull out the airtight piston.

Holds a lot of ink. I got a week's worth of journal writing, as well as handwriting practice.

Feed

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I don't know what to say about it. Pulled it out, put it back in. The groove on the underside isn't centered but doesn't seem to matter any, just a bit awkward to look at.

This is a wet pen. Where as my Lamy Vista would dry quickly, here I'm required to wait to avoid smearing. It does make my inks much darker, more contrasted. Ink being too light was a frequent issue with the Vista. Registrars ink dries to black, not grey. I no longer notice any green in my Manhattan Blue.

Smell

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Yes, the pen smells. Sweet. I don't notice the acidity/acridity that some posts mentioned. I actually enjoy sniffing it. It's basically gone now and I kinda miss it.

As EDC pen

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The pen is fun to use, holds well in my hand, holds a lot of ink. But I doubt I can use it as an EDC. I clip my pen to my pants pocket, and the clip isn't very amenable to that. I need to bend the clip open to get clearance. I've gotten used to it, but the Vista paper clip was really easy to use.

And the scratchiness... I think that's the most annoying part. The Vista's smoothness and bolder line was a joy to use. It takes some effort to write with this pen. Pressing down (which I shouldn't be doing) makes writing scratchy and more difficult.