Kop Vs Custom Urushi/845 Vs Nakaya Vs Izumo

[mke]

> stopped buying pens when my 24-pen case filled up

Oh, so sorry for you, you absolutely need to increase your pen case or buy others. Think about it when La Couronne Du Comte have another 20% off sales. Their Visconti 12 pen case ist superb.

[peroride]

I voted for Pilot but after comparing M and MF #30 neither can "beat" my Sailor KOP M

 

Pilot out of the box is like overly smooth for my personal taste at least the M and really wet and thick like a western medium.

 

The MF is better with more controlled flow but I'm slowly getting wide in the nibs.

 

My wife does enjoy the Vermilion however, both in look and feel

 

though she thinks it needs to lose weight (girth)

 

She ranked the MF above Sailor M.

 

Honesty you cannot go wrong with either, Custom Urushi or KOP

 

At this range, you get real quality.

 

I would like to try Nakaya Elastic M someday though but only one has caught my eye and waay grail away. Maybe when I retire.

[samasry]

I voted for Pilot but after comparing M and MF #30 neither can "beat" my Sailor KOP M

 

...

 

Honesty you cannot go wrong with either, Custom Urushi or KOP

...

At this range, you get real quality.

 

 

 

 

I have had very similar experience with the pilot custom and KOP.

 

In fact, I am so impressed with the KOP, that if could do it all over again, I would have purchased 2 KOPs instead of going the route of one pilot and one KOP.

 

I was ok with the pilot girth and weird design, due to the amazing nib, but when you get an even better nib on a stunner like the KOP ebonite, then why even touch the Pilot.

You guys are right, this pilot pen should lose some weight

Edited August 15, 2019 by salmasry

[Betweenthelines]

One way the Custom Urushi trumps the KOP is the filling system / ink capacity. The Con-70 holds a decent amount of ink whereas the Sailor converter is minuscule. This may lead to the Pilot getting more use by me.

[samasry]

One way the Custom Urushi trumps the KOP is the filling system / ink capacity. The Con-70 holds a decent amount of ink whereas the Sailor converter is minuscule. This may lead to the Pilot getting more use by me.

 

That is very true. Sailor converter is not a good match to the KOP. I saw some claims before that the gold version of the converter that is being shipped with the KOP is larger capacity than the typical Sailor converter, but that is not correct as far as I can see.

[zaddick]

I think there are two versions of the converter for KOP, both with poor capacity. The cartridges have far better capacity.

[samasry]

I think there are two versions of the converter for KOP, both with poor capacity. The cartridges have far better capacity.

 

Does one have more capacity than the other? I would definitely be interested in getting a larger capacity converter, even if it is still not great capacity in absolute terms.

[Linger]

Revitalizing this interesting thread. My order would be:

 

Namiki Urushi #20 M

Sailor KoP Ebonite M

Nakaya M

 

If it was for the nib performance only i would reverse the Namiki and the Sailor KoP. In fact, I will eventually also get the KoP ProGear with the same nib, just to have two of those magnificent writers inked up with different inks. But the overall winner is the Namiki, hands down the most amazing understated p e r f e c t i o n that money can buy.

 

The Pilot 823 M is boringly good. Nothing to complain, daily workhorse of choice, but lacks a bit of character. That is why I would love to try the Pilot Custom Urushi , with the big sized #30 nib. I assume it will differentiate itself from the #15 nib, somewhat comparable as the Pelikan M1000 differs from the M800. But i would like to feel that for myself. I doubt a bit over the size of the pen though...

[Linger]

No, not the Pilot Custom Urushi. The Pilot Custom 845 instead, in Vermillion.

 

From the very very professional and friendly Tokyo Pen Shop Quill. Excellent (online) shopping experience. But I digress.

 

The Pilot. With the #15 nib in 18K. Checked and tuned by Yasukazu-San. Wow. Perfection. I am deeply impressed. I much prefer it over my Pilot Custom 823. Beautiful color scheme. perfect balanced weight. And a joy to look at.

 

Splitting hairs: the girth of the cap relative to the girth of the pen/barrel is ever so slightly off...as in a miniscule portion too big...which is why overall the Namiki #20 still wins. Hands down. A pen to face the end of civilization

[silgt]

One way the Custom Urushi trumps the KOP is the filling system / ink capacity. The Con-70 holds a decent amount of ink whereas the Sailor converter is minuscule. This may lead to the Pilot getting more use by me.

Just buy a set (come in a 6-pk) of empty Sailor Ink Cartridges and fill it with your favourite inks, or if you like you can purchase a set of 20 Sailor Shirioki Ink Cartridges to solve the problem.

 

I have 5 Sailor pens (2x KOP and 3x 1911L) and personally I never bothered with any of the converters since day 1

 

[samasry]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:10 AM, silgt said:

Just buy a set (come in a 6-pk) of empty Sailor Ink Cartridges and fill it with your favourite inks, or if you like you can purchase a set of 20 Sailor Shirioki Ink Cartridges to solve the problem.

 

I have 5 Sailor pens (2x KOP and 3x 1911L) and personally I never bothered with any of the converters since day 1

 

 

 

Is there a way you can seal the cartridges reliably after you fill it?  I thought about the Cartridge solution, but I am not sure how  do you seal it in a clean and reliable way.

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

17 hours ago, salmasry said:

Is there a way you can seal the cartridges reliably after you fill it?

 

Plastic/rubber/latex plug.

 

Wax.

 

Glob of low-melting-temperature hot glue from a glue gun.

[MuddyWaters]

On 6/12/2020 at 3:01 PM, Linger said:

Revitalizing this interesting thread. My order would be:

 

Namiki Urushi #20 M

Sailor KoP Ebonite M

Nakaya M

 

If it was for the nib performance only i would reverse the Namiki and the Sailor KoP. In fact, I will eventually also get the KoP ProGear with the same nib, just to have two of those magnificent writers inked up with different inks. But the overall winner is the Namiki, hands down the most amazing understated p e r f e c t i o n that money can buy.

 

The Pilot 823 M is boringly good. Nothing to complain, daily workhorse of choice, but lacks a bit of character. That is why I would love to try the Pilot Custom Urushi , with the big sized #30 nib. I assume it will differentiate itself from the #15 nib, somewhat comparable as the Pelikan M1000 differs from the M800. But i would like to feel that for myself. I doubt a bit over the size of the pen though...

 

Namiki is perfection but the kop has a nicer nib?

[Linger]

Aha, good observation! This requires a very fine-tuned answer. Allow me to explain as follows - we are comparing the Namiki Urushi #20 and the Sailor King of Pen (Ebonite in my case):

 

- Namiki pen (covering all elements: length, girth, balance, weight, material, built-quality, cap, color, etc.etc.) is perfection

- Namiki nib is perfection

- Sailor pen is almost perfection (I only don't care much about the clip)

- Sailor nib is perfection

 

So the Namiki will always win overall, as all individual elements of the pen are pure perfection. However, if I have to rank the nibs, meaning there can only be one number one, and you put (metaphorically speaking please) a gun to my head to force a decision, I would choose the Sailor nib over the Namiki nib. Not because it is better, as both are perfection, but because the character of the Sailor nib gives it just the ever-so-small edge over the Namiki nib.

 

[samasry]

As EDC  the Izumo is an  amazing pen in fact.  It does not compete  with the KOP and Pilot custom in the nib department, but as an overall pen, I believe this pen is highly under-rated. 

[Linger]

I just don’t like the shape and appearance of the Izumo that much...

[samasry]

6 minutes ago, Linger said:

I just don’t like the shape and appearance of the Izumo that much...

I sort of agree.   I was never a big fan  of the Izumo in the past.

 

However, in terms of looks,   on my desk, I sometime get  it  confused with the KOP ebonite.

 

In terms of practical  every day use:

 

Few months ago, you could have gotten the Izumo at half the price of the KOP ebonite ($400 vs$800), and the Izumo has Urushi  Ebonite as a bonus.

 

Having a nail for  a nib turned out for me to be a positive as I am always feeling  that I am walking on egg shell when I write with KOP. Writing with the Izumo, you just write and you are confident the nib will take it.