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This wasn't my first Pilot Falcon. Years ago I had another, one with a metal body and a soft medium nib. It wasn't a success. I couldn't manage the flexibility of the nib and even less the ink flow. In the end, I gave up and passed it on. It wasn't my first or last failure with fountain pens but in this case I was left with the niggling suspicion that the main issue was the rather too generous flow, not the flex. So, when a few weeks ago a Pilot Falcon was advertised for sale at the local digital marketplace, I jumped at the opportunity and bought a nice, practically new Falcon with a soft fine nib from a hobbyist with an impressive collection. The new Falcon was made of resin, so it felt much lighter than the metal one but not uncomfortably so. Being large enough and well balanced, it rested safely and stably in my hand (always unposted), while the rather toothy nib sled effortlessly on paper. Unlike the medium nib of the old pen, the new fine nib remained under control without surprising me with gushes of ink, even with Rohrer and Klingner's Blau Permanent, a wet ink with the tendency to feather on 80 gr copy paper. From the very first day I knew this Falcon was a keeper. I believe that the main reason for that was that in the intervening years between my first and second Falcon I had more exposure to various kinds of flex. With the experience gained, I had become more patient and controlled with semiflex nibs like the one on the new Falcon. Above all, however, my hunch was proved right: even though I preferred broader nibs, the soft medium on the Falcon was too much for my writing habits. The soft fine worked much better, similarly to most of my vintage flexy nibs, which seldom go above medium. Finally, how about comparing the soft fine Falcon nib to modern and vintage flex? Having no modern flexy nib inked at the moment, I compared it to a Nakaya Portable with a non-elastic medium nib. The Falcon was clearly softer and more responsive with a bit more line variation. A vintage semiflex, the Aikin Lambert Mercantile, was not much softer than the Falcon but more responsive. Flexible nibs, such as those on a Waterman's Ripple and a Conway Stewart Duro 2A were much softer and allowed for more line variation. The biggest difference, however, was that the vintage nibs were quit immune to railroading. By contrast, a fast or poorly controlled stroke with the Falcon resulted into railroading, which can be seen in the photograph. The conclusion is a happy one: the soft medium nib made all the difference and the new Falcon became one of the frequently used pens at my desk, especially as it brought out more shading in Blau Permanent than the two Sailors in which the ink has been used previously.

Thanks to Bo Bo Olson we know about rigidity od different vintage german piston fillers. Osmias with number in a diamond are semi flex, osmia supras maxi semiflex, geha school pen flexible, geha 720, 760, 790 semi flexes, etc. But I couldnt find similar information about rigidity of montblanc nibs. are MBs from 30s more flexible than from 50s? are 2s different from 4s or 6s? are nibs from 3xx models different than ones from 2xx or 1xx? what about wing nibs from 25x? or from 1x,2x,3x? steel ones from third tier models different than gold ones?

I recently acquired a smoky black OMAS 360 Vintage edition, that has a wonderfully springy broad nib. Was rather unexpected, but lovely to use. Any idea as to which OMAS pens have this kind of nib? Are all the 360 nibs of this type, or only the 360 Vintage editions? Any other, standard pen types have this nib?

I have both a Fine Nib, Metal Pilot/Namiki Falcon, as well as a Stipula Model T ( It's a Titanium Nib, sorta Medium in size, and with some pressure it is semi flex/soft) Everyone and their brother talks about Flex and either Vintage or the Falcon. I'd like to hear some pen nerds feedback on other options, what else is out there?, and what are they like? I was checking out the new flex nibs at Edison, featured here: http://edisonpen.com/index.cfm/2013/6/27/Edison-Offering-Richard-Binder-14k-Full-Flex-Nibs These look promising, however I really dont care for the look of most Edison pens they would go on. I much prefer the look of say, a Mont Blanc, or the metal Falcon - sleek, and modern. I'd love to be surprised by a pen I've never heard of or researched! Anyone have any recommendations?

One good Housuge Shu deserves another! (I'm looking at you, alvarez57) I think I fell in love with this pen when I saw the Cigar (clipless) model of Leigh Reyes - if you have never gone to her site, you should! She has amazing artistic skills, as well as great penmanship. To achieve this look, the artisan carves into the urushi surface, and then rubs a mixture of urushi + charcoal (sumi) over the surface. Once they remove the sumi from the surface, it stays in the carvings. I chose a soft fine for this pen, and it is amazing! It is softer than the other two soft fines I have, but I would still rate it as less flexible than a vintage flexer (the only one I have is a Waterman's 0552 1/2 V). In the above, you can see the similarity of the base color of the Housuge Shu to the unpolished Shu (Shu-nurippanashi). A rough and amateurish size comparison with a Parker Duofold Centennial - the Housuge Shu is shorter, but I believe the grip section is ever-so-slightly wider (.41 inches to .4 inches, according to nibs.com). The Nakaya is also lighter. Here's a writing sample. I purchased this pen from John Mottishaw & company, and I'm very happy! It's smooth and responsive. Looking at this writing sample, I wish I had refrained from that third cup of coffee this morning http://fpgeeks.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png

I'm saving up to purchase a daily writing semiflex. Characteristics I'm looking for: must be able to take converters and cartridges. I can live with a piston filler, but it has to be easy to flush out. : )semi flex nib that's responsive to pressure. I don't plan on doing large and elaborate Spencerian font, but I like to add little flourishes of line variation to my daily handwriting. The range of flex I'm looking for is fine to medium. Gold nib is preferable (in case I want to send the pen to be customized by Mottishaw or other well known nib meisters)price range between $0 and $120nib should be at least as smooth as an unflexed Noodler's Ahabunflexed the nib should be no thicker than a western fine or japanese mediumThis will be the last pen purchase I make until I finish college and find a job I'm happy with. (Essentially, this pen is going to not only be a daily workhorse, but a promise to myself to work hard and find a living that allows me leave the world a better place than I found it. Maybe an economics researcher? I dream a lot. ) Some pens I've been looking at: Namiki Falcon, soft medium nibPilot Namiki Custom 74 soft-fine-medium Bo Bo Olson was kind enough to recommend me the Pelikan 140 and Geha 790, but I didn't find any flexy nibs that write fine when unflexed. I know I am posting this in the Japanese pen forum but recommendations of pens from other regions are welcome.