With A Spear Thou Shall Wineth: Spear-A Practical Fountain Pen

[mrmohitmishra]

Spear is an Ebonite fountain pen by a Chennai(India) based company ASApens. I purchased it from their website.Like my two previous purchases of the same brand I am quite pleased with it. This is a review and not an eulogy, but all things said and done I really liked the pen.

What I am going to do here is to review the pen and also compare it with Athlete side by side.Please pardon for the poor photographs.

It is a German twin of Athlete, better educated, better trained and better skilled with almost the same height and personality. Hand crafted with Ebonite, the pen, like Athlete is a pleasure to hold with almost perfect balance, practical average sized section and nice length. The cap of both the pens flush in the Barrel and it is difficult to see the line where the cap and the barrel touch. The clip of both the pens is supported by top cap screwing in. The finger stopper is present on section in both pens.

In looks they differ in two things. First the ASA engraving on the barrel is far more pronounced in Spear. Truly speaking it is visible but not aesthetically as pleasing as was in case of Athlete.Secondly in spear the pen takes a larger number of turns to come out. Which is something that I don't like. But it is a minor issue with an otherwise wonderful pen.

You will pay 25$ for an Athlete and 35$ for the Spear. For this difference of 10$ you will get a qualitatively different nib and feed system. Athlete has simple IPG marked, Iridium tipped monotone steel nib. This nib was apparently made in Taiwan or somewhere near I guess.It has a fairly simple ebonite feed and an eyedropper filling system. A few FPN members had issues with the nib. Though most of them reported that the issues were easily resolved. Personally, I loved the nib and it has been my favorite for the sheer simplicity, efficiency and elegance.

But, the Spear offers 10 breather hole German Jowo nib and a Jowo feed and Three in one filling system. The nib looks more like a space gadget with 10 holes than a spear. The nib attracts the attention of bloody everyone around. No one has seen such a thing. It looks sci fi. I don't know why Jowo thought it proper to use 10 holes and not our old favorite one hole but I am glad that they thought something like it. Man, it looks cool!!! Holding a fountain pen sometimes, in this age of Rollers and ballpoints looks antediluvian, having a pen with 10 breather holes always help. I have used this pen with the converter and as an Eyedropper. So the filling system pretty much works.

Now, I will discuss the most important part. The writing experience. The Jowo nib is shorter to Athlete #6 nib. So you will have to hold the pen a little higher depending upon the hand stance you use. The nib is sturdy and has been very securely fit. It can not be removed with normal force. I hate using abnormal force. So I have not yet been able to disassemble the pen.The tines, like all Jowos have been so properly placed that the chances of their alignment getting disturbed are pretty low. Athlete has always proved to be a wonderful writer for me though the nib needed a little tweaking every now and then. Spear has its own advantages. It is smoother. Typical Jowo smoothness. The nib is M but with Pilot blue I use, it wrote more of a Lamy F and less thicker than Schmidt M. However what I found was, surprisingly, that the Athlete is a lot wetter than Spear. Thus if you try to draw a very fast straight line you will find no skipping in Athlete but in Spear you may find some skipping. Having said that, I conclude that the nib is superb. I loved writing with the pen given its great balance and superb smoothness.

Would you prefer Spear or Athlete, the choice is yours to make. Personally, I liked the spear a lot, I mean for say 1200/-INR I got a lot. I have paid more and have been lesser satisfied. But, for me, its a personal opinion, the pen does not threaten to push the Athlete in oblivion. Perhaps someday I will fit a Bock/ Jowo Friction fit with my Athlete and it will become my dream pen. But till that day comes, Athlete is,for me, as precious as the Spear.

Edited to add some better pics.

Edited December 12, 2014 by mrmohitmishra

[mrmohitmishra]

I should add that the pen looks much much better than my horrible abominable pics..go to their site

 

Review Update 1:- Added on 12-12-2014

Tired with lesser flow than the Athlete, I decided on checking whether the slit is clean. I inserted a laser blade and cleaned it. The flow became better..

Edited December 12, 2014 by mrmohitmishra

[a_m]

Excellent review . I want that pen

 

Have they changed from India 14 to India 2014 ? Looks pretty good.

 

I have some pens without any marking - though they are good pens, imho without a good branding, the pens looks somewhat empty.

[Sudhir]

Very nice review and excellent pen. I have purchased the Shiny black version that is in the mail and expected to arrive in a day or so. Will post some pics.

 

This pen takes care of the only crib I had about the Athlete, which itself is a great pen. Not the nib, because, as I wrote elsewhere, the Athlete had one of the best stock nibs I've seen so far in an Indian pen. The issue I had was that most Indian pens do not come with a converter option. Now I know most people love eyedroppers and I do too. But the issue I have is that I like to ink 2-3 pens and use them for a week or so before cleaning and storing them. As I do not get to write a lot, I prefer a converter which holds just the right amount of ink that I can use in this period.

 

This is just my preference and YMMV, of course.

 

Cheers

Sudhir

[mrmohitmishra]

Excellent review . I want that pen

 

Have they changed from India 14 to India 2014 ? Looks pretty good.

 

I have some pens without any marking - though they are good pens, imho without a good branding, the pens looks somewhat empty.

Thanks.....Sir

[mrmohitmishra]

Very nice review and excellent pen. I have purchased the Shiny black version that is in the mail and expected to arrive in a day or so. Will post some pics.

 

This pen takes care of the only crib I had about the Athlete, which itself is a great pen. Not the nib, because, as I wrote elsewhere, the Athlete had one of the best stock nibs I've seen so far in an Indian pen. The issue I had was that most Indian pens do not come with a converter option. Now I know most people love eyedroppers and I do too. But the issue I have is that I like to ink 2-3 pens and use them for a week or so before cleaning and storing them. As I do not get to write a lot, I prefer a converter which holds just the right amount of ink that I can use in this period.

 

This is just my preference and YMMV, of course.

 

Cheers

Sudhir

Thank You...

And I prefer the Athlete without a converter..

[Scribblesoften]

Thank you for posting this wonderful review.

[mrmohitmishra]

Thank you for posting this wonderful review.

Thank you sir.

[mrmohitmishra]

Thank You...

And I prefer the Athlete without a converter..

please share the photos

[mrmohitmishra]

Very nice review and excellent pen. I have purchased the Shiny black version that is in the mail and expected to arrive in a day or so. Will post some pics.

 

This pen takes care of the only crib I had about the Athlete, which itself is a great pen. Not the nib, because, as I wrote elsewhere, the Athlete had one of the best stock nibs I've seen so far in an Indian pen. The issue I had was that most Indian pens do not come with a converter option. Now I know most people love eyedroppers and I do too. But the issue I have is that I like to ink 2-3 pens and use them for a week or so before cleaning and storing them. As I do not get to write a lot, I prefer a converter which holds just the right amount of ink that I can use in this period.

 

This is just my preference and YMMV, of course.

 

Cheers

Sudhir

Please share the photos

[J_MM]

Thanks for the review. I think I'll stick with my Athlete.

 

Is that an Oliver piston in one of your photos? If so, what is your opinion of it?

 

John

[mrmohitmishra]

Thanks for the review. I think I'll stick with my Athlete.

 

Is that an Oliver piston in one of your photos? If so, what is your opinion of it?

 

John

Thanks for the comment.

I would suggest that one should have both. They are both nice pens.

That is an Oliver Tulip Piston filler. I didn't like it that much. It is a good looking pen that I wont use for writing.

[mrmohitmishra]

I had made a promise to myself to highlight the great work being done by Mr. Soumitra Sanyal in every topic I start. So here is the link. Please visit it.

 

 

http://www.fountainp...reviews/page-10

[mehandiratta]

Please find my review for the same pen here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/280248-asa-spear-review/?p=3209286

[mrmohitmishra]

Excellent review . I want that pen

 

Have they changed from India 14 to India 2014 ? Looks pretty good.

 

I have some pens without any marking - though they are good pens, imho without a good branding, the pens looks somewhat empty.

It appears that you finally got the pen?

[a_m]

It appears that you finally got the pen?

Still to come to my hands. I have preferred a Shiny Black.

[mrmohitmishra]

Still to come to my hands. I have preferred a Shiny Black.

I ve recieved Revolution fine. I haven't wrote much but the experience seems similar to yours

[a_m]

I ve recieved Revolution fine. I haven't wrote much but the experience seems similar to yours

That perhaps makes it the third confession on FPN regarding that nib.

 

And this nib is pretty hard. I had to use pliars just to straighten & match the tines (under 45x lens)

Edited December 15, 2014 by a_m

[mrmohitmishra]

Noooooo. Sorry sir, I guess there is some confusion. I didn't mean that. Nib is pretty smooth. I was referring to your review and I guess you are talking about the comment.... .

[a_m]

Noooooo. Sorry sir, I guess there is some confusion. I didn't mean that. Nib is pretty smooth. I was referring to your review and I guess you are talking about the comment.... .

Thats good to hear..