My experience with Sailor Pro Gear Realo

[MuddyWaters]

My experience with this example of the Pro Gear Realo is disappointing, but I did not want to put that in the title, because I don't want to give Sailor any bad rap. I love Sailor nibs. Writing with them and feeling the feedback is a drug. Now, with that said:

 

-the pen is light and comfortable in the hand

-it seems well and solidly built

 

However, my Realo's M nib is actually its downfall: 

-the medium 21k nib seems a tiny bit mushy compared to the 14k MF on my Pro Gear Slim

-there is catching on the edges of the nib, especially with lateral movements, and it feels like it is from the inside aspect of the nib tine, likely when a tiny bit of tine spread occurs with writing

-the nib not only has pleasant feedback but unpleasant drag, not to say scratchiness, and the feedback is quite loud

-the feed is well saturated on first fill, but the saturation of the line clearly goes down with writing, which bugs me because whenever the nib gets drier, the above 'drag' gets way more pronounced

-when that happens, there is more strain placed on my fingers to manoeuvre the pen, which reduces its comfort level overall

 

Compared to my Cross Peerless in M: 

-the Peerless nib (also by Sailor) is incredibly smooth but has that super pleasant feedback

-the Peerless nib is wider, probably would be one order of line width more

-it remains consistently wet with long writing

However, the weight of its body is its downfall. It is difficult to write with for more than half of a page. 

 

Solutions: 

-Buy a Pro Gear in Chrome Finish with F or EF nib (because I want different nib options), which would give me the option of giving the Peerless nib a different body if I so wished it. This option neglects the Realo. 

-Buy a similar Pro Gear in Gold Finish, so that I could swap in that nib into the Realo, and give it new nib life, while enjoying its comfortable body. This option neglects the Peerless. 

-Buy a pen by Pilot: less headaches, but less fun

-I like Chrome finishes, so I might go with option 1, or with a Pilot 912 in EF/F. 

 

Any thoughts? I hope you enjoyed reading anyway. Have a good night!

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, MuddyWaters said:

Any thoughts?

 

Isn't your Sailor made Cross Peerless nib larger than the Realo/Pro Gear nib?

[mke]

3 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

Cross Peerless nib larger than the Realo/Pro Gear nib

 

[Lithium466]

Buy a Wing Sung 629, with steel or gold nib, and have fun switching nibs around.

[MuddyWaters]

11 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Buy a Wing Sung 629, with steel or gold nib, and have fun switching nibs around.

Do the sailor 21k nibs fit in there?

[Lithium466]

Mine fit in mine - samples of 1. Unless they changed something of course.

[torstar]

What I'd call a mid-level pen, owned 3 of them, they performed as expected for me.

 

 

[MuddyWaters]

7 hours ago, torstar said:

What I'd call a mid-level pen, owned 3 of them, they performed as expected for me.

 

 

Do you have other sailor and pilot pens that you prefer? 

 

Was your experience like mine that the 21k nib feels a bit mushy compared to the 14k? The peerless 18k nib feels stiffer, which I prefer. 

[jmccarty3]

Could your Sailor nib be out of alignment? I have found Sailor M nibs to be very smooth, but with slight pencil-like feedback. Take a look under a loupe and consider having a nibmeister adjust the nib for you.

[dms525]

2 hours ago, jmccarty3 said:

Could your Sailor nib be out of alignment? I have found Sailor M nibs to be very smooth, but with slight pencil-like feedback. Take a look under a loupe and consider having a nibmeister adjust the nib for you.

+1

 

I have several Realos and have never had trouble with their nibs. My go to guy for Sailor nibs is Mike Masuyama.

 

David

[MuddyWaters]

12 hours ago, jmccarty3 said:

Could your Sailor nib be out of alignment? I have found Sailor M nibs to be very smooth, but with slight pencil-like feedback. Take a look under a loupe and consider having a nibmeister adjust the nib for you.

I will check that out. I definitely thought this too. 

 

The pen seems to be agreeing more with me now, as in my muscle memory has probably figured out a holding position that aligns the sweet spot with the page better, but I still am not a fan of the softness of the nib compared to the 14k on my Pro Gear Slim and the 18k on the Cross Peerless. 

 

I am adding:

-Pro Gear Slim Mini (posted)

-1911s

-Pilot 912 to my short list of next pens too

[Lithium466]

Did you try the Platinum 3776?

[torstar]

17 hours ago, MuddyWaters said:

Do you have other sailor and pilot pens that you prefer? 

 

Was your experience like mine that the 21k nib feels a bit mushy compared to the 14k? The peerless 18k nib feels stiffer, which I prefer. 

 

I went with the glowing colours, so the yellow was my favourite.

 

I don't recall the nibs, just a quality Japanese pen for a price that made me think about the purchase.

 

To expand, Aurora has the most satisfying nibs for medium pricing.  The upper shelf brands have been great as well fortunately.

 

 

[justsomerandombloke]

What are the upper shelf brands please?

[torstar]

34 minutes ago, justsomerandombloke said:

What are the upper shelf brands please?

 

These days for me they cost more than $700 for the plainest pens. 

[justsomerandombloke]

Sure, but which ones are those?