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Time for a second stab at a review. This time I'd like to draw attention to what I think is an inexpensive, almost criminally unknown pen - the Ohto Dude in silver. I'm going to sum up my review right now: If you like the look of the Kaweco Al-Sport with the Raw Aluminum finish but wanted a full size pen, take a serious look at the Dude. It's bloody gorgeous. First Impressions: 10 The pen came in a simple plastic sleeve with two international short ink cartridges, one blue, one black. The pen fits international standard converters but does not come with one. My reliable Schmidt K5 converter fitted perfectly, and that's what I have installed. For a pen that costs ~$20, this is perfectly acceptable to me. Indeed, I'd rather have more money put in to engineering and quality control than packaging. Besides, if you've been in this hobby long enough you've probably got a drawer full of converters floating around. What really surprised me though was the finish. Instead of the standard satin finish present on the Ohto Tasche, the Dude has a very lightly brushed finish with a "raw" look very similar to the Kaweco Al-Sport. It's gorgeous. Like, really, really gorgeous and something that's very difficult to show in pictures. The label "Ohto Dude Made in Japan" is stenciled on to the cap. It's in white over the silver finish and not highly visible, and since it's paint I expect it won't last that long. I don't really mind, I know what the brand and model of the pen are. Design and Apperance: 8 A very modern looking pen with a fully aluminum body (grip included) The cap and the majority of the body are faceted with six sides (hexagonal), with the body tapering to a round tail for posting the cap. Between the body and cap there's a triple ring in polished aluminum. The edge that butts up against the grip (when opened) is a touch on the sharp side, but it's nothing I noticed in usage. The clip is polished stainless steel and very tight, which is consistent with a lot of Asian pens I've used in the past. I have no concerns with it bending or breaking but it can be difficult to use. The cap is a slip type and posts securely for writing. The pen is extremely well balanced both posted and unposted, a consequence of the cap being fairly light compared to the rest of the body (6.8g for the cap vs. 25.25g for the entire pen with converter and ink). The pens caps very tightly, so tightly in fact that it's not uncommon to splash a little ink on the inside of the cap. Thankfully it doesn't get on the grip. The grip section is fully aluminum, with a black anodized finish. I was originally unsure if the grip was aluminum or plastic, but a quick test with a file on the underside confirmed that it's made of aluminum. It's slightly slippery but has a lovely hourglass shape that provides a fairly firm grip on the pen nonetheless. Fit and Finish: 8 Fit and finish are generally very good, with no body gaps, poorly fitted parts or serious issues. My only concern is that the first body ring that butts up against the grip is a little bit on the sharp side. I tend to hold my pens fairly close to the nib this was no issue for me, but if you hold your pens fairly high I could see it being an annoyance. Nib and Peformance: 8 As far as I know, each Ohto model comes with only a single nib size. Unlike the other Ohto pens I've owned/used in the past (Proud, Tasche, F-Lapa) that have Japanese F/Western XF nibs, the Dude has a Japanese M/Western F nib. The nib is fairly smooth and has a decent amount of spring to it. There is some feedback as is common on Japanese pens but it's fair from being scratchy or toothy. As it is it's a step or so below my very best steel nibs but very usable in everyday use. I could probably take a bit of micromesh to the tipping and smooth it out a little more but I probably won't. The pen started immediately on being inked after a quick wash with warm water. I've seen some other reviews of the Dude that had people complaining about excessively dry nibs but thankfully that wasn't the case for me - the pen writes a consistent, medium wet line with no skipping or hard starts. Even when not used for a few days the pen starts up immediately once the nib hits the paper. Compared to some other recent purchases that required a good bit of work to get the nibs to my satisfaction (looking at you Kaweco!) this was very nice. The nib and feed are standard friction-fit #5s, so can be easily replaced if you want something more exotic or a different size. This also makes cleaning very easy. Filling: 7 International cartridge/converter. The body will fit full sized international cartridges, full sized converters like the Schmidt K5 or two international short cartridges. Nothing special but reliable and easy to use. Value: 8 A few years ago I probably would've given the Dude a somewhat higher value ranking, but with so many excellent, low cost pens available these days the Dude has some stiff competition. The MOMA Muji and Pilot Metropolitan immediately come to mind. The Pilot comes with it's own converter and at least two nib sizes, but (at least for me) is less comfortable to use and not as well balanced, especially when posted. The Muji is lighter and has somewhat similar styling, but has a very sharp edge on the front of the grip that kind of bothered me. Having owned all three, I prefer the Dude but as always, YMMV. Conclusion: If you're looking for an entry-level Japanese pen and like modern styling, the Ohto Dude definitely deserves consideration. It combines a solid writing experience, good design and beautiful finish. There's some stiff competition at the $20 price point these days, but I think the Dude has enough points in it's favour to merit a serious consideration. Specifications: Length Capped: 135mm Length Uncapped: 125mm Length Posted: 152mm Weight Capped: 25.25g (with converter and ink) Weight Uncapped: 18.45g http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/OhtoDude1_zpsa23eadbc.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/OhtoDude2_zpsb3fb09ab.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/OhtoDude3_zps13bff80e.jpg