Cheap Fp's - Sub $5 -- How Are They?

[Greebe]

Just curious as to how the sub $5 fountain pens are. I know you can't expect it to be the same as a gold nib, but I am just curious.

 

I have plenty of fountain pens that cost a good paycheck, but I have been intrigued by these cheap pens. It would be nice to have a few as disposable pens for trips etc, when I don't want to risk an expensive Mont Blanc or Pelikan.

 

Here are a few I was looking at:

 

Platinum Preppy

Pilot Petit1

Jetpens Chibi 2

 

I will probably pick up a few on my next ink order, but in the mean time wanted to hear some feedback.

 

Thanks

Greebe

[majorworks]

Of the pens you cite, I've had experience only with the Preppy. It's not bad for what it is, something you can carry day to day and you don't care if you lose it or if it walks away, etc.

 

The Pilot Varsity is another contender. I was surprised one day at work when I was looking for something in the office supplies drawer and found a box of Varsities. It was unopened, and who knows how long they'd been there? So I grabbed one and found it to be a pleasant writer. If I store it nib up in a pen cup and don't touch it for weeks, even months, it starts right up as though I'd just used it. It holds lots of black ink. What's not to like?

[OCArt]

Somewhere there is a very good thread on the best Chinese pens. The models that have been very good for me are the Jinhao 159, and the Jinhao x450 and x740 models. These are all under $5 pens. My favorite Chinese pen is the Kaigelu 316 at $20-- a beautiful pen inspired by the Duofold. You'll find plenty of reviews for all these models here on FPN. Personally I like them better than the disposable pens you mentioned, but they are OK too.

[Shannon]

I splurged on a Jinhao -- six whole dollars! I liked the looks of it and I'll be replacing the nib with a Goulet stub.

[phillieskjk]

Of the three, I'd go with the Chibi. The other two have proprietary nibs, whereas the Chibi can use an Edison or Knox nib and write like a much pricier pen without breaking the bank. I have a Broad Knox nib in mine and it writes better than most of my other pens.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/310228-extreme-makeover-jetpens-chibi-edition/

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I have the first version of the Chibi. The tines were pretty far out of alignment out of the box, but easy enough to align and then do a bit of smoothing. After that, it wrote adequately.

 

I haven't used my Petit1s in quite a while, but as I recall, they wrote well. They use a special small Pilot cartridge, which can be refilled of course; they won't take any converter or the regular long Pilot cartridges. I may have heard of people eyedropper filling them but haven't wanted to try it. You practically have to post the cap to make it long enough to write with, and I found them vaguely uncomfortable in my hand the longer I wrote with them.

 

The Preppy is okay. Can be used as an eyedropper filler (you might want an O-ring and some silicone grease), or refill the cartridges with a syringe. The converter costs more than the pen. The plastic it's made out of doesn't inspire confidence but I haven't used one enough to see it crack.

 

And yes, as majorworks wrote, the Pilot Varsity is surprisingly good. Supposedly disposable, it can actually be refilled by a couple of methods.

 

I have a few Chinese fountain pens that were under $5. A couple of those are not bad, but there aren't any that I would actually want to recommend.

 

All that said, I'm just not much interested in using my really cheap pens these days.

Edited July 5, 2016 by ISW_Kaputnik

[ac12]

I have a box of Jin Hao 599 and they work just fine.

The Dollar 717i is a decent pen and writes well.

I've seen the Parker Reflex on eBay for under $5, and it is a good writer.

 

I would use these pens for a 'knock about pen,' when you don't want to take a good pen with you, or into a high risk environment where the pen has a good chance of getting lost, stolen or damaged.

They also make good give-away starter pens, for getting a person into fountain pens.

Edited July 5, 2016 by ac12

[dkirchge]

Greebe, I have all three of the pens you mentioned and they all write quite well. Very nice to have around as everyday pens, you can't really go wrong with any of them. I think the Petit 1 has the smoothest nib, but it uses a proprietary cartridge. If you can live with that, I'd choose that one. Otherwise, the Chibi 2 and Preppy are just fine.

Edited July 5, 2016 by dkirchge

[ENewton]

I agree with ac12 that the Dollar 717i is very serviceable, and it holds a lot of ink.

[Pickwick]

I compared reviews on the the Parker Vector and a Baoer 801 look alike. Opted for the Baoer for $3 including shipping. Fit and finish could not be faulted, brass fine thread screw in from section to barrel. Worked straight away with first fill, very good consistent ink flow. Has been in daily use this past week and no problems.

[mmg122]

I've recently purchased some inexpensive pens for the same reason the OP expresses here. I especially like the Jinhao X450 GT. It is a very good writer right out of the box and the pens in this series are quite attractive in appearance. I paid $2.84 with free shipping on ebay. Highly recommend this pen.

[Greebe]

Thanks everyone. Liking the way the Jinhao 159 black looks. Notice though it seems like it only comes in Medium nib. I am a F or XF kind of guy these days for daily writers.

[Arkanabar]

I have a few that fit this category. My Hero 616 10 pack has been pretty good. I sold a few and nobody complained. The one I've used has always been pretty reliable. I have a Baoer 388. It came with super stingy ink flow. I carved lines in paper with it for a quarter of a fill, cos I didn't have any brass sheets to floss the nib (that I could find). It's now a pretty good pen. I have a Noodler's Nikita ED (precursor to the Charlie) and a Wality. Both are tolerable eyedroppers with a bit of tooth. Both have the typical ED issue of burping if you warm them point down (say, while writing). I use them for inks I'm a little bit afraid of (IG inks, Bad Black Moccasin). I have a Jinhao 599 orange demonstrator. Its converter started leaking. Its cap failed to stay on after a while. But it writes pretty well. I had a Rotring Surf (discontinued but could be found on Ebay for around $5 when I last checked). It was a perfectly serviceable c/c school pen till I twisted the nib in the inner cap while capping it.

[bonsaiboy]

I echo the comments above. A whole bunch of Chinese pens write very well, including the Hero 616 and various Jinhao pens (X450, X750, 599). The platinum preppy writes well and the inner cap seals the nib to keep it from drying out. The Dollar 717 pens write well (if on the dryer side) and are one of the cheapest piston fillers I know of.

[Gloucesterman]

I have some old Wearevers that I"resacced that actually cost me about $5.00 after the resaccing. Do they count?

With a little tweaking they write very well and seemed to be in the fine - extra fine range.
Sorry, NO FLEXIES!!!

 

Might be selling some soon at the 2016 Commonwealth Pen Show - Boston/Somerville September 25, 2016.

 

Sorry, had to plug the show. Hope I didn't break any rules!

Edited July 6, 2016 by brgmarketing

[ac12]

 

I have some old Wearevers that I"resacced that actually cost me about $5.00 after the resaccing. Do they count?

With a little tweaking they write very well and seemed to be in the fine - extra fine range.

Sorry, NO FLEXIES!!!

!

 

 

There are some VERY GOOD pens in the tier 3 or 'brand X' old vintage pens.

I like to hit the "project pen" boxes at the shows. Many times everything is there, it just looks ugly and dirty. Clean it up, resac, adjust the nib and you have a great writing pen. In fact rather than sell my fixed up project pens, I've kept some of them.

 

There is a Wearever flex nib. I have one in one of my Wearevers. And it is one of my keepers.

[zwack]

Greebe, I will send you a dollar 717i as I have a box sitting here and your address... they are a decent cheap piston filler.

 

I also have a platinum preppy, I liked it well enough to upgrade to a platinum plaisir. Same nib and section but aluminium body and cap.

 

I have also had a couple of pilot varsity pens and enjoyed them too.

[mrfilbert]

I have a Jinhao 599A that I picked up on eBay for a couple of bucks, and it works marvelously.

[Midx]

My Jinhao x750 is probably the nicest writer out of my small number of pens and it cost a whopping $4.99 from ebay.

[sciumbasci]

Preppy is quite famous.

 

Hero Doctor is another forum favourite, although it is a 51 clone. As stated above, Dollar 717i is a nice demonstrator, but watch out for the duds.

 

FPN user robertandtracy(?) bought Dux pens. IIRC it's an aero metric Parker 61. He said it's quite alright.