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Kaigelu 382 M


Tailbiter

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Ah, time for yet another cheap pen review! This time it's one of my favourite Asian fountain pens ever - the Kaigelu 382 (intl. c/c) (Manufacturer's website entry http://www.kaigelu.net/Z.asp?ID=16&SID=170&ZID=62 in Chinese). I had previously bought this model quite some time ago and thought of writing a review but long-story short: party, pen got given away. However, today, I received my second order from eBay! Wohoo. Today, I will be reviewing the blue model. The pen also comes in a red and a black finish (all with gold trim) and I purchased it off the seller jewelrymathematics on eBay (no affil.) for $8 with free intl. shipping. My parcel arrived very well-wrapped (ridiculous amounts of bubble wrap) and within two weeks.

Looks

The finish is glossy with the golden trim shiny.

It's not a flashy pen but it's not a dull pen either. I find it to be a simple and elegant design with no overdone bands or gaudy, large and misplaced logotypes.

The cap has a golden band with two black lines framing the word KAIGELU on one side and the model number 382 on the opposite side.

 

http://i.imgur.com/yFsI0Aw.jpg

The overall look is very stylish and the tolerances on my pen are excellent, better than pens many times more expensive, such as say, my Conklin Duragraph. http://i.imgur.com/g8BM2HK.jpg

 

Construction

The pen is solidly built out of some metal (brass?), like most other Kaigelu pens. The section is black plastic and provides a nice grip, although it may look a bit slippery, I've not had this issue at all. It's a very decently weighed pen - not heavy enough to feel clumsy but not light enough to feel flimsy. Clumsily enough, I have already dropped this pen from a height of ~ 1 metre onto a hard rubber floor. It hit itself on a few things after it hit the ground but it remained whole, capped and without any damage.

 

The cap is made out of the same material and lacquer as the rest of the pen and is quite heavy. It also comes with an insert of sorts inside made out of what looks like plastic. It does snap on pretty securely however. If anything, it is a bit too secure for my own taste.

 

The clip is extremely stiff out of the box but I know from experience it gets slightly better with time and use.

 

It comes with the standard Kaigelu twist converter which to me feels much less flimsy than any Jinhao converter I've ever received. It works pretty good and sucks up the ink easily. To access it, just unscrew the body while holding the section, which takes 3-4 turns.

 

Dimensions

Fully capped, the pen measures 137 mm (~ 5.4 in) of which the cap is 57 mm (~2.2 in) and the body with nib 122 mm. The nib looks to be a 5 mm nib (measured at base). http://i.imgur.com/dKvCxVD.jpg

The pen weighs 30 g ( ~1 oz) capped and inked; 19 g without the cap and inked. Like many other chinese fountain pens, the cap is a bit heavy in proportion to the rest of the pen.

 

Does it post?

Yes, the pen posts very securely.The good old thermometer shake does nothing to it. The pen does however end up being around 160 mm long and just a sliiiight amount of top-heavy which kind of kills it for me personally. It's not directly uncomfortable but I get the quick impression I'd rather not write with it posted for an extended period of time.

http://i.imgur.com/yWWN5iO.jpg?1

 

Nib

Unfortunately, like very often with these Chinese fountain pens, only one nib option is offered. In this case, a medium nib. I suspect it's a #5 nib as stated above. It is a two-tone gold(?)-plated steel nib with the adorable Kaigelu kangaroo logo stamped. There is a very decent amount of tipping material. Overall, the nib looks pretty decent. There is no flex on this nib. You can force it a tad and get a B, but this feels cruel and you can tell the nib isn't very happy. As for disassembly - I've had no luck. If it's a friction fit, it will take a much stronger person than I to pull it apart. If it's not, (oh god I'd feel terrible), I can't seem to unscrew it in any direction.

 

http://i.imgur.com/YwWFH7S.jpg

 

It is a lovely nib. It writes extremely smooth with little feedback at all and the feed has no issues keeping up with even really fast writing. Caveat: I have only tried it with Montblanc Königsblau and Waterman Serenity Blue. It has worked super well with both.

 

Here is my little corner paper where I tried out some of my pens for comparison. As you can see, the Kaigelu M is quite comparable to the modern Waterman M.

 

http://i.imgur.com/paEXIb2.jpg

 

Filling / Maintenance

Filling is easy with the included converter and the pen takes standard international short and long cartridges. The converter is not threaded, holds a not huge amount of ink (~0.6 ml ± 0.1ml) but it works pretty well. I am a tad concerned about possible nib and feed maintenance since I have so far been unable to disassemble those. If anyone's had any success, I will gladly take any tips or suggestions. It's possible I just got a dud that's very, very stuck. Anyway, for $8 and a so-far very nice experience, I'm not willing to risk damage-from-curiosity to it just yet.

 

Cost

The pen cost me $8 with free shipping on eBay from the seller jewelrymathematics, who also sells many other Kaigelu models. The MSRP on Kaigelu.net is 79 RMB which for 2016-03-30 equals 12.22 USD or 10.79 EUR per Google's currency converter. I have not found it being sold for cheaper on eBay. I own a few other Kaigelus and this is basically my favourite. This was a new pen and I have to say, it's one of the best value-price pens I've gotten. It's really just pleasant to use.

 

Final remarks

I love this pen. It has superseded my expectations and I would totally buy it as a gift for someone. I was carrying the previous pen of the same model I had as a daily carry, and I will continue carrying this new one as well. The only major issue I find is that the nib doesn't seem to disassemble too easily, beyond that, I'm a fan. If Kaigelu makes the cap less heavy and solves the nib disassembly bother, this would be an excellent, excellent pen both for its price and its quality. It punches way above $8.

Final score? 9.5/10.

 

Final photo: here it is with a few other beloved fountain pens. Bottom-to-top: Pelikan 400, Kaigelu 382, Montblanc Classic, Jinhao 500

http://i.imgur.com/E8cC4GM.jpg

 

 

PS.I was unable to get the forum software tags to resize the pictures. If anyone can point me to the correct way of doing it in fpn-approved BBCode, I will adjust.

Edited by Tailbiter
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Tailbiter, thanks for your thorough review. Kaigelu pens are superb!

I have two Kaigelu 316's in ivory and orange colored swirls, and two Kaigelu 356s, one is a M nib fountain pen and the other one is a rollerball. Actually I aslo have the rollerball parts attachment for the Kaigelu 316 pen too , but I have not get to use it yet as I like fountain pens mostly.

I will definitely add the Kaigelu 382 M in my shopping list.

Thanks for your review,

Photios

 

- Kaigelu 316 Modification (250 #6 Bock Nib / Beaufort Ink Converter)
- Titanium Bock Nib - Kaigelu 316 - Beaufort Ink

- Bock Rollerball Nib In Jinhao 886 Pen - Beaufort Ink Converter

- No affiliation with pen industry, just a pen hobbyist.

- It matters what you write, only for us it matters what we write it with.

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I have bought one on the basis of this review, thanks a lot.

 

Until Photios gave us the full info on the breakdown and replacement of the nib, feed and housing of the nib unit of the Kaigelu 316 (link in his sig) I hadn't really considered messing about with the standard nib on pens (other than with the Pilot Prera/78G/Pluminix which was relatively easy). I can now see the benefit of doing a breakdown as I have had success now with nib/feed flow problems by cleaning with my ultrasonic cleaner. I'm guessing in this case it may involve soaking in very hot water to loosen some amount of glue to get the nib/housing out. (Edit) I can also recommend the use of a cut-off hypodermic syringe cover to push out the nib housing as described by Photios in the 316 nib thread and here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/306537-jinhao-886-how-is-nib-removed/

 

Gary

Edited by garyc
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  • 2 weeks later...

Mine ( in blue) arrived this week, just had a chance to do a quick dip test and agree with what was said about the nib: very smooth with no need for any micro mesh or fiddling about. I like these 'restrained' design pens. The barrel/section has a similar look and feel to the Baoer 388, both modelled on the Parker Sonnet, without being an out and out copy - the section is shorter and narrower, barrel is tapered differently and also the cap/ clip is very different, no attempt at copying unlike the Baoer. I've got a feeling the section is actually lacquered brass, at least at the screw thread and inside it looks very 'brassy'. The cap is quite a stiff fit, a real Sonnet is much smoother. Proportions almost identical to the Baoer, but 3x the price (a fiver against £1.65). Still, a very nice pen for the price. The red is not to my taste, but I think I'll get one I black to complement it.

 

Only minus is the converter is really a bit on the small side, so I've replaced it with a Jinhao which I bought in a batch of five with nibs and feeds.

Edited by garyc
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Thank you for your review - your photos show the shape of the clip much better than on the Kaigelu site, looks good! Interesting that they reversed the two-tone nib shading on this model compared to the 316.

Latest pen related post @ flounders-mindthots.blogspot.com : vintage Pilot Elite Pocket Pen review

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Nice review! I have several Jinhaos, Baoers, Picassos, but no Kaigelus yet. I may have to try one. I am seriously disappointed with my most recent purchases from Jinhao. I bought 4 250's, and they are all duds. The nibs are terrible. I don't even think I can give them away. Almost makes me want to give up on Chinese pens. But, not quite.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Thanks for the review. I also have this model and I'm hoping it will last longer than all the Baoer and Jinhaos that have that darned white plastic inner cap, which end up cracking. This Kaigelu model has a transparent plastic inner cap which seems to be more robust - time will tell! Glad you like the pen!

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