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Best Pilot Fountain Pen?


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Be aware that Pilot screws up like everyone else. I have better luck with Pilot than anything else I've tried, but only occasionally is one really awesome, and the risk of flaws goes up a lot as you get to finer nibs. Highher price doesn't mean immunity from these problems.

Robert.

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Be aware that Pilot screws up like everyone else. I have better luck with Pilot than anything else I've tried, but only occasionally is one really awesome, and the risk of flaws goes up a lot as you get to finer nibs. Highher price doesn't mean immunity from these problems.

 

I have three and all are great, by the way. A 78g broad, and two VPs (medium and broad nibs). Among my most reliable writers.

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My Pilot Metropolitan M nib black arrived from Amazon today.

It is pretty nice for a cheap pen.

-William S. Park

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane. - Graham Greene

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I have 2 Metropolitans, 2 78Gs, 1 mystery model New Old Stock pen of (supposedly) 60's vintage, 1 Penmanship as well as a few Varsities. One daughter has a Metropolitan and tye other a Kakuno. I recommend the don't like the fine and extra fine nibs as much as the laeger nibs, but I haven't had any problems with any of these pens. I prefer the Metropolitan to the 78G personally.

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For what it's worth, I own four Capless with seven nib units, three Custom 74s, a Custom Heritage 91, Elite, Custom 743, Grance, Elabo, two Preras, a Cocoon, five Penmanships, a Plumix, and nine 78Gs. I like most of them, but I've done a fair bit of nib tweaking and fixing to get some up to par, and some are still not really writing as well as they should and need more work.

Robert.

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The best Pilot pen would be the one with you at all times ;)

 

Jokes aside, for me the Petit-1 was a great pen to bring around, being small and all. Never had an issue with the thing.

 

Then the Metro, one of the three beginner pens people recommend you to start with. Light, small, workhorse pen, what's there not to love.

 

I own a Custom 74, with a soft nib. Oh those things are glorious for daily writing :wub:

 

And let's not forget my ED Pilot Tank. Reliable always AHHHHHH.

 

Since you're on a tight budget, go with the Metro (or two!). It should prove to be the right choice. I think you'll find yourself working up the Pilot ladder very soon ;)

 

 

 

 

~Epic

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/557449480_2f02cc3cbb_m.jpg http://null.aleturo.com/Dumatborlon/Badges/5EH4/letter.png
 
A sincere man am I
From the land where palm trees grow,
And I want before I die
My soul's verses to bestow.
 
All those moments will be lost in time.
Like tears in rain.
Time to die.

 

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I am on a strict budget so basically anything that's good value is the ticket for me.

Like the Ford Falcon of pens, a workhorse that's not too flashy, but good at what it does.

 

Oh, so you're really looking for Lamy's in this thread. :rolleyes:

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

 

:lol:

- He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me; and I in him. (JN 6:57)

- "A woman clothed in the sun," (REV 12.1); The Sun Danced at Fatima, Portugal; October 13, 1917.

- Thank you Blessed Mother and St. Jude for Graces and Blessings obtained from Our Lord.

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In the metro/78g range now is also the

 

Pilot Knight.

 

Being blown out several places for $25.

 

 

Love mine. Very dependable. Great nib.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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My favorite is the Justus 95. Its a nice large pen and has some capability to tune the hardness of the nib. I pick it up in preference to many Pelikans or Montblancs for an everyday writer.

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Because you mentioned ballpoints, I'll mention that when I have to use one, it's almost always a Pilot. Pilot makes excellent inexpensive ballpoints. I can't give you a specific model, sorry.

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Btw where is Icywolfe on this thread? He loves the Pilots, haha

Somehow I missed this thread.

 

For the pen it depends on your budget.

 

The lowest end I have is the Pilot Metro. That is good enough pen for me,but I just don't use it on a daily, because my daily writer is the Justus95 and the Pilot 18k Elite. So I'll categorize it this way, by the price:

 

15 USD Metro - Just a great all around pen. It does have a large step though but for some reason I can't feel it. The grip section does have the cheap plastic feel but it's solid. My Metro has a F nib so it writes super thin. The F is like EF from the west. It has a Snap cap.

 

~16 USD Pilot Crystal KR - One quirk is that you can not use cartridges on this. But a Con20 or Con50 is fine. The nib is a F nib, but it's like super fine. Platinum Desk Pen like. Add plus is that it has a clear feed and it's a demonstrator.

 

25 USD (Penchalet) Pilot Knight - Basically a stubbier and heavier Metro. M nib only, but the nib still is on the finer side. I can't see much of a difference from the F on the Metro to the M on the Knight. The pen still has the weird large step that I can't feel. It has a snap cap

 

~25 USD Pilot Dipper (KR) - A long white pen. It's thin, but not too thin. It's a bit thicker than pencil. The Pen can only use the Con 20 converter.

 

Now for the Gold Nibs.

 

~19 USD Pilot Elite 18k Old Version - It's not really a snap cap but a pull cap(?) It's a pocket pen so you must post it. It nearly doubles it's own size once you post it, to a point that it's big like a Metro. Downside is that you must bid on this on ebay and sometimes these have old crusted inks in them.

 

140 USD Pilot VP - 18k Gold nib. Lamy 2k has a 14k gold nib for a higher price. Best bang for your money if you are going for a gold nib. The Nib has a cushion feeling that smooths out all the bumps. Another plus is the clicking function. The pen is a click pen like those ball points. This can only use the Con 20 or Con 50 converter. (Or a cart) Major down side is the clip. It's annoying the first few times you use it, but once you get used to it, it's a fun pen. The pen is well sealed so that the ink doesn't dry in the pen. (Once I forgot my pen for a month and the pen still wrote.) The pen body is some type of metal and it's durable. I dropped mine many times and it's still working it. Also changing the nibs is so easy that you just unscrew the body and pull out the VP nib unit. Then replace it with another one. So in a way you can buy all the nib unit sizes and have like multiple pens in 1 pen.

 

144 USD Pilot Elabo - It has 14k gold nib, but it's a soft nib. So you can add some flair to your writing. Down side is that horizontal strokes are scratchy only because the nib is too soft. If you like coloring something quickly just flip the nib and you can color an area very fast. The pen is a very wet pen. The F nib I have is like VP F nib which is like more of a Western F nib.

 

Now my currently most expensive pen I own. (Do not jump to this pen willynilly, it's a investment.)

 

312 USD Pilot Justus95 - 14k Gold nib. It has a soft nib. My one is a F nib. The F nib is like a EF nib in the hard position an in the Soft it's like a regular F nib. This pen has a selector for how much hard or soft you want the nib. Hard is like a nail and you need a good bit of pressure to flex it. Soft is soft and I find it needing less pressure than the Elabo to flex it, but it makes a slightly thinner line than the Elabo. The Feed is a good enough feed for this pen. It recovers faster than the Elabo's feed from rail roading. The pen uses the Con70 converter. This is huge converter, it holds about 1ml to 1.1ml of ink and it's very simple to fill. Only about 3 or 4 pushes on the button and it fills to the max. The pen is light but not really light at the same time, it just has a great weight balance, so long periods of writing is a breeze. This is why this became my daily writer large ink capacity and great balance.

 

These are the pens I own. There are many more. From 12 USD from the 78g to 15000 USD Namiki Emperor Golden Rose Limited Edition Fountain Pen. Pilot makes at least one pen within every price range. Same for Platinum (sort of), Sailor lacks the low end market. Now if you go into the old pen, you will run into some oddities that nobody has heard about. Apparently there are a ton of Namiki Customs.

 

This dreamy pen:

 

http://fpgeeks.com/2011/11/namiki-emperor-golden-rose-limited-edition-fountain-pen/

 

 

Oh, so you're really looking for Lamy's in this thread. :rolleyes:

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

 

:lol:

Well I so far owned 2 Lamy nibs and 1 pen. Ran into problems with them. The Lamy converter doesn't even stay in place on the pen. QC issues on Lamy's side.

Edited by Icywolfe

#Nope

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Somehow I missed this thread.

 

For the pen it depends on your budget.

 

The lowest end I have is the Pilot Metro. That is good enough pen for me,but I just don't use it on a daily, because my daily writer is the Justus95 and the Pilot 18k Elite. So I'll categorize it this way, by the price:

 

15 USD Metro - Just a great all around pen. It does have a large step though but for some reason I can't feel it. The grip section does have the cheap plastic feel but it's solid. My Metro has a F nib so it writes super thin. The F is like EF from the west. It has a Snap cap.

 

~16 USD Pilot Crystal KR - One quirk is that you can not use cartridges on this. But a Con20 or Con50 is fine. The nib is a F nib, but it's like super fine. Platinum Desk Pen like. Add plus is that it has a clear feed and it's a demonstrator.

 

25 USD (Penchalet) Pilot Knight - Basically a stubbier and heavier Metro. M nib only, but the nib still is on the finer side. I can't see much of a difference from the F on the Metro to the M on the Knight. The pen still has the weird large step that I can't feel. It has a snap cap

 

~25 USD Pilot Dipper (KR) - A long white pen. It's thin, but not too thin. It's a bit thicker than pencil. The Pen can only use the Con 20 converter.

 

Now for the Gold Nibs.

 

~19 USD Pilot Elite 18k Old Version - It's not really a snap cap but a pull cap(?) It's a pocket pen so you must post it. It nearly doubles it's own size once you post it, to a point that it's big like a Metro. Downside is that you must bid on this on ebay and sometimes these have old crusted inks in them.

 

140 USD Pilot VP - 18k Gold nib. Lamy 2k has a 14k gold nib for a higher price. Best bang for your money if you are going for a gold nib. The Nib has a cushion feeling that smooths out all the bumps. Another plus is the clicking function. The pen is a click pen like those ball points. This can only use the Con 20 or Con 50 converter. (Or a cart) Major down side is the clip. It's annoying the first few times you use it, but once you get used to it, it's a fun pen. The pen is well sealed so that the ink doesn't dry in the pen. (Once I forgot my pen for a month and the pen still wrote.) The pen body is some type of metal and it's durable. I dropped mine many times and it's still working it. Also changing the nibs is so easy that you just unscrew the body and pull out the VP nib unit. Then replace it with another one. So in a way you can buy all the nib unit sizes and have like multiple pens in 1 pen.

 

144 USD Pilot Elabo - It has 14k gold nib, but it's a soft nib. So you can add some flair to your writing. Down side is that horizontal strokes are scratchy only because the nib is too soft. If you like coloring something quickly just flip the nib and you can color an area very fast. The pen is a very wet pen. The F nib I have is like VP F nib which is like more of a Western F nib.

 

Now my currently most expensive pen I own. (Do not jump to this pen willynilly, it's a investment.)

 

312 USD Pilot Justus95 - 14k Gold nib. It has a soft nib. My one is a F nib. The F nib is like a EF nib in the hard position an in the Soft it's like a regular F nib. This pen has a selector for how much hard or soft you want the nib. Hard is like a nail and you need a good bit of pressure to flex it. Soft is soft and I find it needing less pressure than the Elabo to flex it, but it makes a slightly thinner line than the Elabo. The Feed is a good enough feed for this pen. It recovers faster than the Elabo's feed from rail roading. The pen uses the Con70 converter. This is huge converter, it holds about 1ml to 1.1ml of ink and it's very simple to fill. Only about 3 or 4 pushes on the button and it fills to the max. The pen is light but not really light at the same time, it just has a great weight balance, so long periods of writing is a breeze. This is why this became my daily writer large ink capacity and great balance.

 

These are the pens I own. There are many more. From 12 USD from the 78g to 15000 USD Namiki Emperor Golden Rose Limited Edition Fountain Pen. Pilot makes at least one pen within every price range. Same for Platinum (sort of), Sailor lacks the low end market. Now if you go into the old pen, you will run into some oddities that nobody has heard about. Apparently there are a ton of Namiki Customs.

 

This dreamy pen:

 

http://fpgeeks.com/2011/11/namiki-emperor-golden-rose-limited-edition-fountain-pen/

 

Well I so far owned 2 Lamy nibs and 1 pen. Ran into problems with them. The Lamy converter doesn't even stay in place on the pen. QC issues on Lamy's side.

your forgetting the 14kt gold nibs on the Pilot Celemo at 50 USD and Pilot Custom at 70 USD by far next to the Platinum Standard PTL-5000 which is also at 50 USD will be the cheapest modern gold nib pen in the market how the hell does Japan do it is beyond me and more or less the gold nib on the Celemo and Custom can fit the Cocoon/Metropolitan I havent verified with Hari on this one

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your forgetting the 14kt gold nibs on the Pilot Celemo at 50 USD and Pilot Custom at 70 USD by far next to the Platinum Standard PTL-5000 which is also at 50 USD will be the cheapest modern gold nib pen in the market how the hell does Japan do it is beyond me and more or less the gold nib on the Celemo and Custom can fit the Cocoon/Metropolitan I havent verified with Hari on this one

Well I never owned a celemo. Also I went with what is the US distributor has.

 

I guess it's so cheap because they don't QC much only because their manufacturing has become perfect.

 

The Wancher PTL5000 is only 45 USD though.

Edited by Icywolfe

#Nope

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$15 - 30 On the low end I would go with a Metropolitan

$150 - 170 Middle of the road cost the VP

$200 - 300 Justus 95 (my favorite!)

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your forgetting the 14kt gold nibs on the Pilot Celemo at 50 USD and Pilot Custom at 70 USD by far next to the Platinum Standard PTL-5000 which is also at 50 USD will be the cheapest modern gold nib pen in the market how the hell does Japan do it is beyond me and more or less the gold nib on the Celemo and Custom can fit the Cocoon/Metropolitan I havent verified with Hari on this one

If I'm not wrong, Pilot and Platinum are trying to give people a gold nib for a fraction of the price, for a few reasons. By doing so they may be able to get people to the higher end gold nibs. An investment for them, I would say.

How do they manage to do it? Because the body and all ain't expensive. The gold nib is the expensive one, but it's not all that expensive. On these pens I believe they operate on thin margins, meaning low profit on each pen but they sell many.

 

 

~Epic

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/557449480_2f02cc3cbb_m.jpg http://null.aleturo.com/Dumatborlon/Badges/5EH4/letter.png
 
A sincere man am I
From the land where palm trees grow,
And I want before I die
My soul's verses to bestow.
 
All those moments will be lost in time.
Like tears in rain.
Time to die.

 

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