Kaigelu 360 Review

September 6, 2013

I thought I would post a quick review about this recent pen purchase in case anyone else was interested in getting some information about it. To my knowledge this model comes in 3 different colors (Orange, Red and Black). I purchased the orange model as I found it visually appealing and was interested in testing it out. I have used this pen each day at work and home for a week and made notes of my thoughts as I went along.

The things I liked about the pen:

It seemed to write straight away without very many issues involving skipping. The ink flow seemed to flow effortlessly and continuously as I moved it across the page no matter what paper I used. I was happy to see that the pen wrote almost identically when I let it rest on the page under it's own weight. That seemed like a good confirmation that the pen could be used without much effort at all in the process of writing. The best part is that the pen came this way when I received it. I really don't know how to do much in the way of tuneups on hooded nibs like this so was extra thankful that it worked out of the box. The only preliminary thing I did to the pen was to place it in an ultrasonic cleaner with a little liquid soap, then rinsed all the components off and let it air dry overnight. I do this to every pen I purchase as I've noticed I typically need to empty the water and replace it after about 5 pens or so.

The pen seems to balance well overall and the cap snaps on pretty snugly with an audible snap. The ink converter is branded with the Kaigelu logo and so far seems to work as you would expect from the standard examples. The barrell unscrews from the section nicely and smoothly and seems very well polished and finished.

The inside plastic lining of the cap seems to come down pretty far...at least in comparison to many of the other Chineese pens I own and have seen. This is nice in that you don't have a lot of unattractive metal visible and also probably helps protect the nib a little from scratching across the inside metal of the cap.

I also personally thought it was nice to have the make/model # printed on the back side of the cap. This seems like a pretty inconspicuous place for it's placement but it's there in case someone ever asks what the heck you're writing with and you want to remember exactly what make and model it is.

The things I didn't like about the pen:

The section is a serious fingerprint magnet. If you are anal about fingerprints and keeping things immaculately clean then this pen may not be for you. (I attempted to take a picture of the fingerprints but am not sure how visibile it is in the photo).

For my average male hands, I thought the pen felt just a tad small without the cap posted. I could write with it, but it just reminded me of a slightly oversized minature golf pencil in some ways. The pen length does feel nice when the cap is posted. On that note though, it seemed like quite a bit of force needed to be applied to get the cap to post on the backside of the barrell. I found myself often having to re-post the cap repeatedly at different points because it would slip off. As I studied it this seemed in some ways to be a downside to the downward sloping profile of the back side of the pen and possibly also an issue caused by the plastic inside the cap coming farther toward the lip...maybe a combination of the two. I thought this was a design issue that apparently got overlooked.

I also typically like being able to completely dissasemble my pens for cleaning and for fine-tuning if needed etc... With this model I am realizing that probably won't be an option (unless these can be taken apart rather easily and I just need to learn).

It may have something to do with the way I write, but I noticed that the section comes unscrewed semi-frequently during use and I was regularly having to screw it tight again to the barrell. This was mildly annoying, especially since the section was such a fingerprint magnet.

There were a few small imperfections in the finish in the model I purchased. Granted this is a cheaper model, but still something I thought worth mentioning.

After taking pictures of the pen tonight I removed all the ink from the cartridge and took some weight measurements:

1/2 oz without the cap

7/8 oz with the cap

1 oz. with the cap and a bunch of fingerprints (no telling my secret for making fingerprints heavier)

September 6, 2013

Kaigelu make excellent pens for the money they cost: I think they have the nicest nibs of all the Chinese makers. I'm not a fan of shiny smooth chrome sections, but the colour of this pen is very interesting and different. Thanks for enlightening us!

September 6, 2013

My wife has all three colours of these. I've never had a chance to use any of them, so it's interesting to see the review, thanks.

They look very similar to the K306 which I reviewed here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/211561-kaigelu-306-review/ . The K306 has an advantage in that the section is a matte finish, otherwise I imagine it's very similar.

Can you let us know if the ball in the c/c starts to corrode in a few days? It would be useful to know if Kaigelu have noticed & corrected this problem in the c/c's with black centre bands - I'd be surprised if the haven't.

Regards,

Richard.

September 6, 2013

Hello Richard,

I've had the pen inked up now for about 3 weeks and just looked at the ball in the converter. It is covered with a light gloss of ink but looks sound and intact. Do they typically start to crack and fall apart?

I would be interested to know if your wife has had issues with keeping the cap posted as well if she ever mentions anything about it.

September 9, 2013

It's good to hear that the corrosion problem has been fixed - you'd notice a thin green line of copper carbonate coming out through the nib if there was a corrosion problem and the c/c ball would start to look pitted. Glad to hear that's been dealt with.

My wife collects Kaigelu's as they are cheap enough to collect, but only uses her Sheaffers for normal writing. It's a shame, as we don't develop experience with them. However, my wife would never have issues with posting a cap - she regards posting as an abomination that is never to be practiced.

Regards,

Richard