Asa Spear In Matte Black: A Review

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A recent arrival for me is a matte black ASA Spear. It's not my first fountain pen from India. I have a Ranga ebonite made to fit a Sheaffer Imperial nib as my prior touchstone, along with an eye-dropper, also from Ranga, and a few value piston-filler pens from FPR.

I first heard of ASA through FPN and had a chance to handle a white ASA Porus owned by another fountain pen enthusiast. Impressed by the reviews and on seeing an actual ASA pen for myself, I decided to try one out as my next pen from India.

I chose the Spear because its sleek design called to me. Especially in matte black, with a coarse finish to the barrel and cap, it brings to mind the color of a classic Lamy 2000 and the contours of an old flat-top Parker duofold.





In hand, the feel of this pen is excellent. There's something about ebonite, especially, that makes a pen feel warm on your fingers. In this unsmoothened finish, I'm reminded of the texture of wood and charcoal. It's up there, in my 50+ pen collection, in terms of how much I like the feel and grip. Size-wise, it's comes to about 148 mm, capped, which is perfect for me. With a mostly full converter inside, it weighs about 22 grams. I mostly despise heavy pens, which I feel are not made for people who actually write for extended periods, so the lighter weight of the Spear is perfect.



Earlier, in a different thread, I'd discussed my apprehensions about the size of the ASA logo on the barrel. I contacted Mr. Subramaniam and, with the kind of personal service that cannot be expected of a larger fountain pen company, he was able to customize mine with a smaller logo. This excellent customer service will likely keep me coming back.

The smaller logo works better for me. I definitely notice it less than I would have with the original size. With my Western tastes, I believe that the more discrete, the better. Otherwise, the branding distracts from the beauty of the pen. I would love it if one day ASA could only be seen engraved on the clip (Having "Pens" also there would be redundant). Or that ASA would find a well designed, simple, wordless mark (it's very own version of a MB "snowflake" or Parker "arrow" that would exist quietly on top of the cap). It's the way many of my famous pens do it, and I much prefer that kind of elegant branding.

One thing I did modify, being the tinkerer that I am, was to change the finish for the section. The plastic section was very shiny and black. I often prefer a more unified look, the way Stephen Brown does, with a section that doesn't stand too far apart from the barrel, appearance-wise. So I used 300- and 600-grit sandpaper to create a more "brushed" look that ties with the rest of the pen.



That's looks, on to the pen's performance.

The fact that the ASA Spear accommodates a converter (and came with one) was also a feature that I looked for. I've tried eyedropper pens and experienced a bit of ink dripping, the kind expected of those pens after the air volume has expanded inside them. As someone who travels far from his desk, converters or piston fillers (sometimes cartridges, as back up) are my preferred filling systems. The Spear came with a good, functioning converter, as expected.

The Spear's nib is certainly more interesting. It's a Jowo with ten breather holes, most of which I believe are there for decorative reasons. The default nib size for the Spear is medium, and I've found that it writes a line comparable to that of Pelikan's medium.

 

After a few days of use, I discovered that it's relatively a slow starter. It writes well--quite wet, actually--when in continuous use, but say, if I have the pen rested upright in a shirt pocket or in my carrying bag, it usually needs a few strokes before the nib writes again.

Since the nib and feed can be easily pulled out, I reset them to better effect. I'll likely tinker with this over time, perhaps widening the feed channel or separating the tines a bit more. I also adjusted the nib a little more to fit my own particular angles in writing.

In my first week of use, I can say so far that this is a pen that will often make it into my rotation. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for future offerings from ASA.

Edited August 9, 2015 by spaceink