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Hi folks, WH Smith currently has Conklin Duragraphs for £29.99, and Minigraphs for £26.99, and if you have a Quidco account going via Quidco gives you 8% cashback on that. https://www.whsmith.co.uk/search?q=conklin&cgid=ALL

I ordered this pen with much anticipation, but during the wait, noticed a few negative experiences with the omniflex nib expressed online. I must admit I was dreading what my experience would be when the pen turned up and hoped I hadn't wasted my money. Anyhow, the pen arrived and I fell in love with it the first moment I saw it. The Cracked Ice finish is so very attractive. The packaging was gorgeous too, I'm not a packaging kind of person, and would normally much rather a quality product as I throw the packaging away but in this case I will definitely keep the box. I feel like I've really treated myself to something special. My Falcon was more expensive granted but the looks, feel and presentation paled in comparison. Onto the writing experience. To avoid any hard starts etc and then some overflexing by myself as a result, my shiny nib was pulled straight out of it's housing and doused in boiling water to clean off any residue. I lined it up with the feed and put it back into the pen and loaded it up with Noodler's Apache Sunset. I thought if I'm going to test out a flex pen I may as well use a shading ink. I picked this pen up at 7am and have been writing non stop with it for 3 1/2 hours and am glad to say, I'm so impressed with it. The other flexi nibs I own are on the Ahab, Nib Creaper and Pilot Falcon and this has definitely gone to the top of the list. It has to be the easiest to flex by a fair bit and I find it returns to it's thinner state quicker than the Noodlers Pens, meaning the line width within one stroke is so much more variable. I was mindful to not overflex it, so didn't push it further than I thought it could go, and that made for some serious variation anyway so I'm really pleased with the nib as it is. No hard starts, no rail roading. The feed kept up with everything I threw at it. I can't compare it to any vintage nibs, as I haven't tried any as yet, but as a modern alternative and albeit relatively affordable, surely this has got to be a good way of doing it. I'm really impressed with Conklin, and the pen itself. My next purchase will be the same pen in another colour with a different nib. For balance in this review, the only negative I have is that where my fingers hold the grip, I unfortunately seem to untighten the section and barrel while writing. This may not be the case for everyone, and could very well be unique to my hand shape and pen hold. If I have any issues later on down the line I will update this thread.

Just saw this on Goulet Pens' website: They have a new version of the Duragraph, the "Merlot," which is a red/purple flecked design. https://www.gouletpens.com/conklin-duragraph-fountain-pen-merlot-1.1mm-stub/p/CK71383 According to their blog post, it is exclusive to Goulet Pens. Right now they have the 1.1 stub and medium in stock, fine is currently not in stock, though they take #6 nibs so a swap would be easy. They're offering the Merlot initially at $35 instead of the $52 the other Duragraphs go for on their site. Finally, they still have an outstanding promo for a free 90ml of Monteverde Ink with any Conklin, so that's a Duragraph w/converter and 90ml bottle of ink for $35. I might have gotten lucky with mine since I hear QC isn't pristine at Conklin, but my green Duragraph with a 1.1 stub is one of my favorite pens and writes wonderfully. I considered it a deal at $50 -- $35 puts it squarely in "starter pen" territory, and I'd consider it superior to any of the other pens I've tried at that price. For any interested - enjoy! ~AK

Hi everybody, so, I have some wonderful news that I wanted to share with somebody. And since most of my friends seem the just zone out when I start rambling about fountain pens, I thought you would be the right crowd to appreciate this pleasure. First, a bit of backstory: As an accordionist, one of my sources of steady gigs and income, is my work for a female shanty- and sea songs choir. An wonderful group, with great enthusiasm and atmosphere, that really takes care of each other. I'm so happy to work with these people. Last saturday, they celebrated their 12,5 years existence, and to celebrate this thoroughly, they hired a band, arranged for free drinks, and made sure their was enough free food. So, party party party. One of the traditions when they have parties, is that certain groups of ladies do an amateur performance. Mostly humourous little bits, with a lot of inside jokes. And this time they had thought about making a '...got talent' parody: Three ladies dressed up as our chairman, conductor, and secretary, to be the judges, and 7 other ladies would do some awful versions of famous songs, with, of course, lyrics adapted to tell jokes about the people in our choir. So, I was asked to accompany this. Easy enough. It didn't have to be good, after all, it just had to be funny for our audience. So, in the last few week we did three rehearsals, where a lot of good food was eaten and a lot of good drinks were had, and we laughed a lot. And last saturday, according to plan, we cracked up everybody. They especially liked the part where 'Marlene Dietrich' started flirting with me, and I ran away scared, while still playing the accordion. After our bit, I was talking with some of the hsbands, when a lot of women formed a conga line. Little did I know they weren't just passing by me, they were actually stopping right in front of me. Then the madness started... they said they all wanted to date me, I said I had to disappoint all of them, and they all kissed me, hugged me, and thanked me. Madness. Then one of them pulled out a rock. I didn't know what to make of this. She gave a speech on how grateful they are that I do more for this choir than is my actual duty, and that they're very happy with the work I do, and that they'd thought I deserved a bit more. It turns out, the rock was actually a geode. Beautiful quartz. But there was also some cash inside, and I had to promise I would use it for a fountain pen, since I liked them so much. When I got home, I already knew what I wanted: I have had my eye on a Conklin Duragraph for a very long time, and I immediately ordered one in amber. Today, the mailman brought me my little treasure. It's the first time I have paid this kind of money for a pen. Though I do own a Waterman Torsade, Waterman Hémisphère, and some other pens in this price range, I got these second hand for cheap. I'm so happy with this pen. It wrote beautifully, straight out of the box. No skipping, no hard starts, a wonderfully wet medium line, not glassy smooth, but very smooth nevertheless. I'm very relieved, because I have read varying reviews. Some say the nib isn't all that great and call it toothy. I guess I either lucky, or Conklin has improved their nibs since. Because mine is very good. It's also the first pen that came to me in a pen coffin. I do like this idea. And it's very reassuring to have a lifetime limited warranty on a pen. So, you could say, this is the day my passion for fountain pens was taken to the next level. I haven't even let go of it, since it came, writing, scribbling, or just holding it, all this time. Even now, typing this message on my keyboard, the Duragraph is right in front of me. I just love it SO MUCH.