Jinhao’s Chinese Red Army's Long March Fountain Pen

[greencobra]

Even though this pen was reviewed recently, I'd like to do it again. I like to read various reviews of the same pen by different people and hopefully so do others. And it was the last review by lightweaver that I saw that piqued my curiosity. Sounded like a good value and how cool would it be to have a pen depicting a piece of Chinese history that at one time would have been forbidden.

 

 

This is a $12 dollar pen, the shipping was $14. All major European, Asian, and American pen companies should take a look at the presentation of this pen. This Jinhao comes in a simple paper outer sleeve imprinted with those clay soldiers that were found buried in an Emperors tomb a few years ago. Inside this box is a neat wooden presentation box with brass hinges and a magnet lock to hold the cover down. On the top of the box lid is wood burned a scene of the Long March. Inside, on the underside of the lid, a burned map of China. It has Chinese writings around it. I believe this is the route of the Long March. There's an owners manual in English and Chinese and two cards written in Chinese. I don't know what these are telling me. For a $12 fountain pen, I already got my money back just on the box. The pen sits on a snow white bed of velvety material and there's a hang tag on the clip a la Parker. One side says Jinhao in English, the other side I assume says the same in Chinese.

 

 

On to the pen. The first thing that struck me when I picked it up was how heavy it is. It appears to be a brass barrel and cap overlaid with a black lacquer. It has gold fixtures and Chinese writings on the cap. I have no clue what the writing says. One thing though, on my pen, these characters aren't crisp so the writing doesn't look attractive on the cap. If I take a magnifier and look at the letters I can see more details. This lettering is done in gold also. There's a wide band of gold plated metal on the cap bottom with the word Jinhao on it. As for the clip, it has some symbols on it, they look to me like a river and mountains. That would make sense in this case because of what the theme is. The clip is held in place by a thin, circular ring around the cap. One thing I hate about the clip is the little gripper thing on the underside of the clip. It's just a protruding piece of metal that's not tapered in any way so you'll probably snag and rip your shirt pocket. Pocketing this pen is a two handed operation because you'll have to spread the clip with the other hand. The clip is stiff but it does have some spring to it. I see the clip breaking in time. When the section is unscrewed, there is some gold colored plating on the male threads on the section side. I don't know if under this plating it's brass. This adds more weight. Finally, we have another gold plated ring on the end of the barrel to finish things off. The pen is fairly rotund and when all is said, it's an attractive unit. I was thinking that it's so good looking it could just as easily be the base pen for the next MB LE.

 

The CRALMFP is a C/C fill pen. For the 12 dollar cost of the pen, the converter is included, and it's a press fit. The Jinhao name is etched on the silver trim of the converter. How's that for detail? Now, one snag here. There was an oily film of something inside the converter that had to be washed out with a dish soap/water solution. The good news is the converter sucked up a full load of ink without hesitation. This converter works smooth while screwing the knob, no hesitation.

 

The ad said the nib was 18K. I suppose it meant a steel nib that was 18K gold plated. Looking for an 18K nib on a 12 buck pen is asking too much. The nib is two tone. There are mountains engraved onto my nib with two Chinese characters, one on either side of the mountain scene. The company name in English, Jinhao, is engraved at the base of the nib. The mountains are not plated and were left a silver color, hence the two tone nib. The nib is a medium but I don't see a marking for that designation on the nib. My nib is not too heavily polished so it's rather dull, but still attractive enough. I'm guessing the gold color on the nib is so thin it would come off if buffed to vigorously to produce a sheen. And my nib is different than the one shown by lightweaver in that review and what's shown in the advertisement photo.

 

Now the important part. How does it write? I would not be kidding you if I said this pen was up there as one of the better writing pens I've ever used. It's wet, maybe 6-7 on the scale so you know it glides on a river of ink. There's no drag, tooth, scratching, or what have you. I'm thinking hot knife through butter smooth. No skipping, downstroke BS, or hard starting. This guy just writes. Despite all the ink flow, I don't think the line it puts down is too out of line for what you'd expect a medium to look like. If one of the big deal pen makers could consistently put out a nib/feed combination that worked like this we'd all be ecstatic. And yeah, remember this is a 12 dollar pen! I don't guarantee your nib will be as good naturally, but it's a 12 dollar pen! Have I stressed it's a 12 dollar pen?

 

This pen was a wonderful buy and exceeded my expectations by so much I'm still shaking my head. With the postage more than the cost of the pen, it might turn people off. But I'd recommend it to someone wanting a nice writing pen for short money. The question on my mind is why can't the big boys get their pens writing like this?

 

And I also got this pen from comeon1788 on eBay. The meager photos were taken from the eBay listing I got the pen from.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the photo from the eBay listing, I know it's not much to go on, kind of small. I'm off to work in 15 min but when I get off tonight, I'll try to take better ones of my box and the tag on the side panel.

 

Edited November 18, 2008 by MYU

[jd50ae]

I have said it before, folks are overlooking a great value by ignoring Jinhao pens. I have 5 or 6 and everyone of them is a joy to use. Like you said they are a bit heavy but that does not bother me at all. Great review.

[Dr.Grace]

Not sure what the Terracotta Warriors on the booklet cover have to do with the burnished picture on the box???

[artaddict]

Nice review, thanks!

[lovemy51]

And I also got this pen from comeon1788 on eBay. The meager photos were taken from the eBay listing I got the pen from.

 

hello greencobra,

 

thanx for the review!

 

i bought a duke pen from the same dealer and took a month and a half to get to the states... did you have the same problem?... i wanted to buy more from this guy but the delivery time turns me off.

[jd50ae]

And I also got this pen from comeon1788 on eBay. The meager photos were taken from the eBay listing I got the pen from.

 

hello greencobra,

 

thanx for the review!

 

i bought a duke pen from the same dealer and took a month and a half to get to the states... did you have the same problem?... i wanted to buy more from this guy but the delivery time turns me off.

 

 

You can buy these pens from isellpens if he still has any.

[lovemy51]

And I also got this pen from comeon1788 on eBay. The meager photos were taken from the eBay listing I got the pen from.

 

hello greencobra,

 

thanx for the review!

 

i bought a duke pen from the same dealer and took a month and a half to get to the states... did you have the same problem?... i wanted to buy more from this guy but the delivery time turns me off.

 

 

You can buy these pens from isellpens if he still has any.

 

thanx jd50ae,

but i don't necessarily need to get a jinhao pen (by the way, isellpens does not have the "red army" one).

 

i wanted to buy mostly some duke models that are not available in the net stores like iselpens and akideals, for example.

[greencobra]

i bought a duke pen from the same dealer and took a month and a half to get to the states... did you have the same problem?... i wanted to buy more from this guy but the delivery time turns me off.

No, he said 2-3 weeks and it was delivered in under 3. If I remember right, around 18 days. I got it the week before Christmas so it had to wade through the postal rush of the season.

[greencobra]

Not sure what the Terracotta Warriors on the booklet cover have to do with the burnished picture on the box???

Doc, you're trying to think too much into this. I imagine it's a generic booklet and goes with all the Jinhao pens.

[Renzhe]

I imagine it's a generic booklet and goes with all the Jinhao pens.

 

Not mine (X450). Probably just the ones about Chinese history.

[lovemy51]

i bought a duke pen from the same dealer and took a month and a half to get to the states... did you have the same problem?... i wanted to buy more from this guy but the delivery time turns me off.

No, he said 2-3 weeks and it was delivered in under 3. If I remember right, around 18 days. I got it the week before Christmas so it had to wade through the postal rush of the season.

 

thanx, i might buy again from him.

[Jinnayah]

Jinhao's have sweet nibs. If they ever make a lightweight pen, I will be all over it.

[greencobra]

Jinhao's have sweet nibs. If they ever make a lightweight pen, I will be all over it.

This is my first experience with them and frankly I'm shocked just how nice it is. I only have just this one. I'm using it as my "going out" pen. It rides in my pocket when I leave the house. But I'll be PO'd if I ever drop it and the laquer chips off. I've grown attached. Too bad I couldn't get it a Fine, it would have been even more of a killer then. And you know, I never contacted the seller to see if they had one. My luck.

[Readymade]

Greencobra: if you can post a pic of the writing on the box maybe one of us can translate it

 

If anyone's interested, the Jinhao catalogue is on their website.

 

Nifty Flash-animated catalogue - http://www.jin-hao.cn/products/en_products.swf

 

Non-Flash - http://www.jin-hao.cn/en_products.html

 

Chinese versions - http://www.jin-hao.cn/products.html

 

Didn't see the Chinese Red Army one there though.

 

[greencobra]

Oh, almost forgot. I've gotten several PM's regarding this pen. The seller is comeon1788 on eBay.

And nooooo, I don't know this guy, and all that usual disclaimer stuff. For what it's worth, he's a good seller, communicates with his customers, and delivers what he promises.

[Silvermink]

I just received my Long March in the mail - nice nib, and overall a very sweet pen (and box) for the measly $20 I paid for it.

 

Gotta agree that the clip is ridiculously stiff, though, and clipping it to your pocket is a two-handed job.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Silvermink

[dennisraines]

I got this pen because of your review. Thanks!

 

I was surprised that the nib was so wet! I'm used to Chinese nibs being very stiff, but this actually had a *little* springiness to it (by Chinese nib standards). The screw cap was a nice find too- as all of the Chinese pens that I have only have snap caps. Although it is on the heavy side- it's like writing with a bass stick.

 

I'm quite glad I got it! The box is also nice and unusual. It'll make a good gift box for a pen that'll be a Christmas gift (the pen is mine though!).

Edited November 17, 2008 by dennisraines

[dandelion]

Hello Greencobra!

I'll join in and praise your review. Such a lovely wooden box! I bought my Duke recently from the same dealer and was impressed by the service level. I agree with your statement: "The question on my mind is why can't the big boys get their pens writing like this?" Thanks for your excellent review!

[oneill]

Hello Greencobra!

I'll join in and praise your review. Such a lovely wooden box! I bought my Duke recently from the same dealer and was impressed by the service level. I agree with your statement: "The question on my mind is why can't the big boys get their pens writing like this?" Thanks for your excellent review!

I love JINHAO & BAOER pens they are the same company, I own 20 Jinhao's and 6 Baoer's and cant get enough of them they just write so superbly everytime you take the cap off, you have got to shop around but I find that ebay seller gotoschool888 have given me fabulous service everytime I have wanted to buy a Jinhao or Baoer so I am going to stick with them. I would advise anyone who wants a good fountain pen to get some of these especially at these prices. Bryan

 

[dcwaites]

I came across this pen while looking for a replacement for a Jinhao X-450 Wine Fog that I had damaged.

 

I was immediately attracted to the fact that it is a screw-on cap, unlike most other Chinese pens.

 

When I got it a a couple of days ago, I gave it a quick flush with dilute detergent, filled it with Noodler's Ottoman Azure, and was delighted. It writes beautifully, giving an intense, wet line that still shows significant shading.

 

While I got the impression from the picture that the nib is the same as on the other Jinhao Commemoratives, it is actually a little smaller, and noticeably narrower, just perfect for my handwriting. As greencobra said, the picture on the nib has changed to stylised mountains with a couple of Chinese characters.

It still has the stepped shape on the nib that makes it behave a little like an italic stub like the larger nibs do.

 

It comes with the large capacity piston converter that is almost identical to the Parker Deluxe converter, but with the end suitable for the international-style Jinhaos.

 

The section is all plastic, while the barrel is plastic-coated brass. I believe the gold threads on the section are gilded plastic.

 

The dimensions are almost identical with my full-sized Sailor 1911, but with the clipped ends of a Pro Gear. And, like the Sailors, it has a thin O-ring sealing the barrel/section joint.

 

Because of the O-ring, and the fact that the barrel is air-tight, unlike the Jinhao X-450s, this pen is ready to be converted to an eyedropper filler, with the application of a little silicone grease. However, because there is a large, bare section of brass in the top of the barrel, I would be using a pH-neutral ink.