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My first attempt at a pen review. Comments and suggestions for improvement gratefully received. ----- Noodler’s 'Charlie' is a free eyedropper pen that comes with the 4.5 oz size of Noodler’s Heart of Darkness - and now also with FPN Voltaire Candide Vermilion. These are my impressions after using them together for about a month. BACKGROUND The free pen with Heart of Darkness used to be an eyedropper-converted Platinum Preppy. As Nathan Tardif of Noodler’s Ink explains, the Charlie pen is a response to the events in Paris in January 2015 - his way of saying ‘Je suis Charlie’, or at least ‘Ce stylo est Charlie’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-FpVSf8udI I missed out on the first batch of 140 Charlies, which sold out quickly. In some ways, being neither a satirical writer nor a cartoonist, I felt unqualified to take up that torch. But as soon as Goulet Pens (no affiliation, happy customer) got a second batch in stock around mid-May, I put in an order. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Charlie is a light, slim pen, similar in size, shape and materials to a Noodler’s Creaper. It feels comfortable and solid. The screw cap (mine is black with muted red-brown streaks that are hard to photograph) is interchangeable with a Creaper cap. Creaper above, Charlie below. The clear barrel, which is perhaps a touch softer than a Creaper’s, has NOODLERS INK CO stamped into one side and CHARLIE on the other. I think the absence of the ‘CHARLIE’ imprint on the barrel identifies a pen from the first production run. Uncapping the pen reveals a black section and a friction-fit steel nib with an ebonite feed and a classic profile. It looks like it might be possible to swap a Creaper nib and feed into the Charlie. Nib and section: Creaper above, Charlie below. Approximate dimensions (ruler and kitchen scale) Length: capped 132 mm, uncapped 118 mm, posted 138 mm Section diameter: 9 mm Inked weight: capped 12 g, uncapped 9 g Size comparison: (top to bottom) Ahab, Creaper, Charlie WRITING EXPERIENCE Before filling I pulled and cleaned the nib and feed to remove any manufacturing residues, as recommended for Noodler’s pens. The internal threads of the barrel are pre-greased. When filled to just below the threads, the barrel holds about 2.5 ml of ink. After filling, the pen wrote on the first touch - no hesitation or skipping. Inked with Heart of Darkness, the smooth non-flex nib produces a fine, wettish, and very black line. Reverse writing yields a finer, drier, but no less black line. It was briefly a hard starter after a couple of days nib-up in a pen cup. Loosening the section a half turn and then tightening it again primed the feed and restored normal flow. Writing sample on Nock index card. CLOSING OBSERVATIONS After a month using Charlie, I have only a few minor issues: - The ink reservoir seems to run down faster than I use it. The same is true of all my Noodler’s pens. Something about the permeability to air of vegetal resin compared to other plastics? - Because the cap posts deeply, any ink in the cap gets on the barrel and then on my hands. (I don't usually post but discovered this when measuring the posted length.) - The cap threads bind slightly, as on other Noodler’s pens. Quibbles aside, I like Charlie very much. I like its looks, the way it writes, and what it stands for. There is something attractive about a straightforward pen with a huge supply of indelible ink. Only the thought of all that ink getting loose in a bag or pocket stops me using it, or any eyedropper, as a carry pen. But that could change. As for Heart of Darkness, I don’t yet know if it will become my standard black. I like it well enough that I shall be using it a lot in Charlie (and other pens) - and not just because I have a lot of it. With many pens, aesthetics, fine materials, heritage - even price - inform the writing experience. Because it is functional, unadorned and free, Noodler’s Charlie removes these from consideration. There is almost nothing to distract from the essential function of putting ink on paper to fix your thoughts for posterity, or until you get to the supermarket. (I say ‘almost nothing’ because any transparent container of ink is quite distracting to me.) Whether you write and draw to advance free speech and great ideas, or for less exalted reasons, Charlie is an enjoyable little pen. Noodler’s Charlie Design: classic, open nib Options: random cap swirls, otherwise none Filling system: eyedropper only Nib: steel Feed: ebonite Body material: vegetal resin Pros free (with 4.5 oz bottle of Heart of Darkness or FPN Voltaire Candide Vermilion) smooth writer large capacity small and light posts securely feels sturdy Cons smells a bit (doesn’t bother me) too small and light for some Hommage à Tardif.

I like my Noodler's Charlie when it actually writes, but I find that it dries out every day between the end of my work day and the next. I either have to run it under some water or dip it in the ink to get it to flow. I'm currently using it with Heart of Darkness. I know this has been discussed before, but short of taking everything apart, does anyone have any surefire tips to get it to stop drying out overnight? I store it nib down.

Hi, all! I recently got a Charlie Pen from Noodler's when I bought a bottle of ink, and for a while, it wrote fine, but after a couple days, it began dripping ink as I wrote. I took the pen apart, cleaned it, filled it, and tried again but I can't get it to stop. I gave it a closer look and I could see ink pool up between the feed and the nib slowly, until a small droplet fell. Any advice? Could my nib and feed not be close enough to each other? I made sure to really jam them in there tightly. I really enjoy the pen and I'd love to keep using it, but it is just a hassle having to constantly worry.

So, a lot of people have received the Noodler's free pen, either a platinum preppie or a "Charlie" and claim to hate them. I've read this in numerous reviews and posts, yet I have been enjoying the Charlie pen and other free noodler's pens. So I wanted to ask. What are your thoughts on the Noodler's free pen or pens you have and do you use them? I have 1 Charlie and 1 Preppie and enjoy using both. So please, let your thoughts be known on this. To make it easy for others viewing your own thoughts and reviews try the following format. Do you use it or not? Like it? love it? Hate it? Which one(s) do you have? Why Do you feel as you do? What will you do with yours? so I'll start us off. Use them often Love to use them Preppie & Charlie They are smooth writing free pens with clear bodies and perfect for writing a letter or enjoying a sample ink. I'll Keep using them till they all apart and hope for another one when i re-purchase ink. (oddly enough bought 4.5oz bottles last month and now 1/4 is used up. plus a lot of paper.) Feel free to post pictures of your free noodlers pens and what their used for. If you have some you don't want or want to get rid of just send me a PM. I'm also curious to know if anyone knows of a way to buy the pens cheaply without the inkm perhaps from owners who don't want them?

As Noodlers just announced on Facebook, they hope to send out the new H.O.D bottles with Charlie pens by the end of May to the dealers. I am signed up on Gouletpens.com to receive notification when it comes in, just wondering who else is reallllly excited to try out this limited number pens (140 were made).