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Anyone able to compare the CH 912 FA nib and the regular Pilot Falcon nib? I recently purchased the Falcon and now I'm having buyer's regret hearing that the FA nib on the Custom Heritage 912 and the Custom 742 are even better.

So I have both a Custom 742 and a 743, both with the FA nib, and while the 743 was pretty much a perfect writer out of the box, the 742 is pretty much useless, constantly hard starting and skipping and making writing an otherwise miserable exercise. I've tried every ink in my collection, including the obscenely wet Private Reserve Tanzanite, and it did pretty much nothing to improve the flow. I've gotten the 2-slit feeds as well from Flexible Nib Factory, and while the 743 went from an already good writer to a phenomenal one that can use pretty much any ink, the 742 only became just slightly more usable, now capable of a few words without skipping/railroading and still borderline unusable for regular writing because of the constant hard-starting. I've ordered a 3-slit FNF feed to see if that might remedy the issue, but I've largely given up on the pen, and from searching the forums and Reddit, this seems to be a pretty common issue with #10 Pilot FA nibs. What exactly is the reason these nibs perform so much worse than their bigger cousins, even for regular writing?

This wasn't my first Pilot Falcon. Years ago I had another, one with a metal body and a soft medium nib. It wasn't a success. I couldn't manage the flexibility of the nib and even less the ink flow. In the end, I gave up and passed it on. It wasn't my first or last failure with fountain pens but in this case I was left with the niggling suspicion that the main issue was the rather too generous flow, not the flex. So, when a few weeks ago a Pilot Falcon was advertised for sale at the local digital marketplace, I jumped at the opportunity and bought a nice, practically new Falcon with a soft fine nib from a hobbyist with an impressive collection. The new Falcon was made of resin, so it felt much lighter than the metal one but not uncomfortably so. Being large enough and well balanced, it rested safely and stably in my hand (always unposted), while the rather toothy nib sled effortlessly on paper. Unlike the medium nib of the old pen, the new fine nib remained under control without surprising me with gushes of ink, even with Rohrer and Klingner's Blau Permanent, a wet ink with the tendency to feather on 80 gr copy paper. From the very first day I knew this Falcon was a keeper. I believe that the main reason for that was that in the intervening years between my first and second Falcon I had more exposure to various kinds of flex. With the experience gained, I had become more patient and controlled with semiflex nibs like the one on the new Falcon. Above all, however, my hunch was proved right: even though I preferred broader nibs, the soft medium on the Falcon was too much for my writing habits. The soft fine worked much better, similarly to most of my vintage flexy nibs, which seldom go above medium. Finally, how about comparing the soft fine Falcon nib to modern and vintage flex? Having no modern flexy nib inked at the moment, I compared it to a Nakaya Portable with a non-elastic medium nib. The Falcon was clearly softer and more responsive with a bit more line variation. A vintage semiflex, the Aikin Lambert Mercantile, was not much softer than the Falcon but more responsive. Flexible nibs, such as those on a Waterman's Ripple and a Conway Stewart Duro 2A were much softer and allowed for more line variation. The biggest difference, however, was that the vintage nibs were quit immune to railroading. By contrast, a fast or poorly controlled stroke with the Falcon resulted into railroading, which can be seen in the photograph. The conclusion is a happy one: the soft medium nib made all the difference and the new Falcon became one of the frequently used pens at my desk, especially as it brought out more shading in Blau Permanent than the two Sailors in which the ink has been used previously.

A couple of days ago I received my Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with Falcon nib. It doesn't seem to suffer from skippings or hard starts but it does seem too wet to me. On Rhodia paper it works fine, although it takes quite a while to dry. I used a Hiroshizuku Shin-Kai ink. The problem is that on Leuchturm notebook paper it produces an unpleasant bleeding. Is this ink too wet? Would this problem improve with an ebonite feeder? Has this happened to anyone? Thanks

I hope I'm posting in the right place. Recently I bought a Falcon fine nib, which is available in the UK. As much as I loved the pen, the nib was still a tad too broad for me (mostly, I use fountain pens and dip pens for illustration). I've read good things about the EF nib, and that although not a true flex nib, offers the most line variation. However, it seems that Pilot don't want their UK customers to enjoy anything finer than the standard fine nib; currently, the Preppy is the only Pilot pen available in the UK with an ef nib. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I might be able to get hold of the Falcon ef in the UK? I'd rather not source from the US or Japan if possible, but happy to buy from a recommended supplier in the Eurozone. Thanks in advance!

I hovered over a Falcon on Ebay, bidding when there were 7 seconds left, and got a beautiful boxed Parker Falcon, with nib size tag & price, leaflet, cartridge, converter, and card outer box. Parker Falcon and box by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker Falcon nib - top by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker Falcon cap & label by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker Falcon cap & original price by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker Falcon box - rear by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr I love that list of all the nib sizes available! Parker Falcon leaflet side 1 by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker Falcon leaflet - side 2 by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Ok, here we go....I am looking to purchase my first, and last, gold nib pen. The last pen that I will ever use. This pen will be my workhorse pen, as I will use it for journaling, I might even keep it in my pocket throughout the day. I'm looking to spend under or around $200. These are the pens that I would like to pick from: 1.) Waterman Carene 2.) Pilot Custom Heritage 91 3.) Karas Kustoms Ink (all copper) 4.) Pilot Namiki Falcon I would like to note that I'm NOT interested in any piston fillers, as I would prefer a pen that uses cartridges and converters. I enjoy carrying extra supplies and the rare instances in which I actually have to go to my Altoids can and grab my backup ink. I'm looking for a smooth nib, and I plan to write with a Fine or Fine-Medium nib. Here are a list of some of the pens that I currently own, that are decent writers to me: - Pilot Metro (Fine nib, Section is a little too thin) - Parker Urban 2016 model (current workhorse) (Medium nib) - Jinhao 911 - Jinhao 8802 (Pocket Carry) - Hero 901 - Parker Urban 2012 model (Medium Nib) (a little dry/resistant writer, but it feels nice in my hand) For some reason, I'm leaning mostly towards the Carene and the CH91. Has anyone had any issues out of the pens listed? Which one would be best for all-around heavy use? Thanks!

I am considering buying one of these pens, i like pens that could be used daily (at the same time doodle with it from time to time) , I love very wet and consistent writer , which one of these do you recommend and why ?

I've been wanting to get into flex pens ever since I started using fountain pens a few years ago, but didn't want to get ahead of myself. So I started off with all the recommended beginner pens. I've been writing with all my pens for awhile and now I'm itching to get into flex but would like some recommendations. I've been watching a bunch of youtube videos and curious which flex pen most people here think has the best performance. I hear vintage flex is where its at, however I can't afford vintage flex so I have to stick to modern flex for now. Here are the modern flex pens I am aware of. Pilot FalconPilot Custom 912 - FA NibFPR Himalaya V2 Ultra FlexNoodlers Ahab, Boston, Creaper, Konrad, Neponset, tripleConklin OmniflexEdit - Desiderata PensLike I mentioned above I'm curious what the community thinks is the best performing modern flex pen and feel free to let me know of other ones that is worth looking into. I know mileage will vary.

I just bought a Falcon off of eBay, and the pen is as gorgeous as I expected. However, it does not seem to write like other people describe. It's very dry and scratchy. The samples below were written in the same ink, but one was with a modern Sonnet, while the other was with the Falcon. Both nibs are marked as fines. Is this normal for the Falcon? If not, what are some possible fixes? (Please keep in mind that I have never serviced a pen before.)

Well, I did not know where to put it - nibs&tines, pen reviews or else So this seems a good forum. I pursue flex almost from the beginning of my fountain pen journey. I was fortunate enough not starting with modern flexes, but with a vintage one. I fancied a vintage pen, and bought one just because it was cheap, looked nice and I knew the brand. Parker Slimfold - in terms of size it was a disappointment (i didn check its size or asked the seller), - but the nib was fantastic. Right away i fell in love with "flex". Bought another vintage (Wyvern) - also great. Then started looking at moder ones - Conklin Omniflex, Ahab etc but nothing compared. Alter some time I learnt more, bought and used much more pens. Realised that flex is quite a wide idea. soft, semi, regular, wet noodle, modern, vintage. Waterman 52 flex vs vintage MB 146 flex vs flexible Pelikan nibs in 140, 400 etc. Soft nibs in M1000 vs japanise SF nibs. Pilot Custom 743 with FA nib is another part of this journey. I got to know and like Japanese nibs only recently. I knew about Pilot Falcon but did not like it, then "discovered" 912, 823, 742, 743 etc. And definitely wanted one with FA nib. So I ordered one. Pilot Custom 743 to be exact. In Europe they are not sold at all, so for the first time I took a risk and ordered from Japan. The price was incredible, good seller, but he sent it with the economy not expedited as I ordered, but any way 10 days later it was home I did not pay any duty or taxes (typically for import from Japan its est 28% total, but not this time - customs missed it?) . Pen is very nice, very well built but nothing especially interesting - just another cigar shaped, black rather large pen with gold trim. And 14k gold nib, in an unusual shape - with cutouts. It is not a vintage full flex but is much better in this area than any of modern so-called flex nibs I had a chance to try. I'm not a calligrapher, I'm still working on my handwriting. But I can appreciate a good nib. With a light touch, it puts a thin line, Japanese fine, and is smooth. but even slightly pressed it goes medium, broad and double broad quite easily, but at the same time, it becomes scratchy. I'm not sure it should work like that. The only problem I had was railroading then I flexed it too much or for too long, or was writing too fast. I investigated and wound aftermarket feed at flexiblenibs.com - 4 versions to be exact for my pen !!! Actually also for 823 and probably 845 pens too. Japanese ebonite, CNC cut, two colors (black and red) and two versions (2 slits, and 3 slits one for wet inks or not to aggressive flexing, the second one for dry inks and heavy pressing. I ordered both versions in black and several days later herre they are. Fixed the problem like a dream. The feeds are PERFECT. They are super high quality, shapes matches the original with 0,2mm precision. I really recomend one for any FA nib user on 743/823 (#15 nib) pen. Pictures and writing samples below. http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MG_3583.jpghttp://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MG_3584.jpg http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MG_3585.jpg http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MG_3586.jpg http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MG_3590.jpg

I'm about to buy a cool Falcon set, and probably going to pay too much for it. The seller says it's used and (but?) in excellent condition. I know nothing more than what is in these fuzzy pictures. Anyone know: (1) which Falcon model it is? (2) what year(s) it might have been made? and, (3) ballpark idea of what it is worth (in the sense of what would sell it somewhat quickly in the FPN Classifieds)? Would really appreciate your detective skills and knowledge about whether it is (4) desirable to collectors (it is used, and "excellent" is not mint, although maybe it is minty? Looks like there's plating, but I can't tell if that is just removable storage crud), or whether (5) I am the only person who might buy such a set to write with because the fp may be a good writer, and the set is just so damn snappy-looking (in a late 1970's sort of way). Thanks for your help on any of these questions. Scott

I recently posted two topics requesting suggestion for a new pen and I finally decided to get a Pilot Justus 95, with a F nib. I promised to do a comparative review after I get my hands on the Justus, and here it is. Here are the links to those two reviews just incase if you want to see all the great suggestions I received: 1. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/345205-seeking-suggestions-for-my-next-pen/?do=findComment&comment=4189695 2. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/345550-which-pen-should-i-get-justus-95-or-custom-743/?do=findComment&comment=4195283 Here are some pictures of my Justus 95 (F), currently inked with Monteverde Jade Nori: First, let me talk about the appearance of this pen. I like the design. The black body and the gold clips/rings of this pen is a perfectly classic design that I enjoy very much. I enjoy classic style and I don't like any thing with a big brand logo on it. When it comes to the nib, I enjoy its clean and sharp design. In short, i t is elegantly understated. As mention in my other topics, a very big reason that I don't want to commit to a Montblanc is because of that white star. Since I am a college student, I will not feel comfortable taking it out to take notes with. Next, let me talk about the writing experience. I was specifically looking for fine nib that can be used as a daily driver and this nib certainly fulfills my recrements. 1. The hardness can be adjusted for a different writing experience. I find the hardness adjusting nob very interesting to use. I agree that you will get approximately the same line variation no matter you set the pen all the way to hard or soft. However, you will also need different amount of pressure to flex the nib - it requires much less pressure to flex when set to soft, and the hard setting is really helpful when you don't want to have too much line variation in the writing. Also, the ink flow is directly proportional to the hardness setting - soft setting gives a much wetter nib and the hard setting restrict the ink flow. Both of the extreme points of the settings gives very pleasant writing experience and it allows me to switch "the feel" after a long writing session so that I can always find it interesting to write with. 2. If you are concerned that this is too soft a nib and it is hard to control therefore not good for daily (fast) notes taking - please don't. It is not meant to be a flex pen. It is really just giving you a very springy writing experience - more springy than a Pilot Custom 823 (M) but definitely much easier to control when compered to a Pilot Falcon (SEF). Yes, if you slow down (Iroshizuku ink makes it much less prone to railroading), then you can get some decent line variation to make things looks fun once in a while. Please remember though, this is NOT a FLEX pen. In my opinion, its is a fantastic BOUNCY academic (science oriented) notes writer/daily driver. 3. Smoothness. It is not as smooth as the Custom 823 (M) but much smoother than the Falcon (SEF). It has a very slight feed back that I enjoy very much. This also makes it not having any hard-starting issue. 4. Thanks to the Con-70 converter, the ink capacity of this pen is great! I always have enough ink in it, and I do not have worry about running out in the middle of my writing session. I had problem with the Falcon, when falcon was my only gold nib pen, I had to carry additional Con-40 (not 50) converter filled with ink(sealed with a little cap I made out of a used Muji roller ball refill). 5. Love the size and weight!! It is a perfect fit in my hand, so is the Custom 823. Now I want to show you my current daily carries with some beautiful pictures of them: 1. Pilot Custom 823 (M) 2. Pilot Falcon (SEF) 3. Lamy Al-Star (EF) 4. Finally, some comparative pictures: 5. Writing samples (sorry that the color of the ink is inaccurate since my scanner is my iPhone) I will include generic writing samples and things I writes a lot. These pictures will explain to you why I enjoy finer nibs. REMARK ON PILOT FALCON: It is a fun pen to use but I will not recommend using it as a daily driver for science oriented writing. It is too flexible that I always get distracted from the things I am trying to learn. I had to put a lot of attention on controlling the nib. You might noticed that I did not talk about the Lamy steel nib. I also go two Pilot Kakuno pens (F & M). They are both great pens but . I find the Kakuno M nib to be as thick as the Lamy EF by much wetter than it. The Lamy is smoother than both Kakuno, though I enjoy the pencil-like feed back of Kakuno very much. I believe they are all great entry level pens. I have to say, though, that I enjoy a 14k gold nib much more than any the steel nibs I have (I also had a lot other steel nib pens throughout my academic career). This is probably because that I started with fountain pen very early (elementary school) but never had my own gold nib pen until college. I am just kinda tired of the steel nibs. This is what holds me back from the Italian pens that are in the same price range as the Japanese pens. Please PROVE to me if you think I am worrying too much. I am also not sure about the how quality of the pens differ between a Japanese pen and an Italian pen in the same price range. I do care about the design (appearance) of the pen. But as I said in the beginning, I actually love the classical understated design! Therefore the design of Italian pens will not be an excuse that can let me ignore how they differ in writing. For me, WRITING EXPERIENCE OVERRIDES EVERYTHING. Now, I am officially looking for suggestions for my future pen. Should I try Sailor? should I go with Custom 742/72 for more varieties in nibs and cheaper in price? or should I go for an Italian pen? Which pen do you think will fulfill my needs the best? Please let me know if you have any question! I would love to answer them. Thank you all!

I recently posted two topics requesting suggestion for a new pen and I finally decided to get a Pilot Justus 95, with a F nib. I promised to do a comparative review after I get my hands on the Justus, and here it is. Here are the links to those two reviews just incase if you want to see all the great suggestions I received: 1. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/345205-seeking-suggestions-for-my-next-pen/?do=findComment&comment=4189695 2. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/345550-which-pen-should-i-get-justus-95-or-custom-743/?do=findComment&comment=4195283 Here are some pictures of my Justus 95: First, let me talk about the appearance of this pen. I like the design. The black body and the gold clips/rings of this pen is a perfectly classic design that I enjoy very much. I enjoy classic style and I don't like any thing with a big brand logo on it. When it comes to the nib, I enjoy its clean and sharp design. In short, it is elegantly understated. As mention in my other topics, a very big reason that I don't want to commit to a Montblanc is because of that white star. Since I am a college student, I will not feel comfortable taking it out to take notes with. Next, let me talk about the writing experience. I was specifically looking for fine nib that can be used as a daily driver and this nib certainly fulfills my recrements. 1. The hardness can be adjusted for a different writing experience. I find the hardness adjusting nob very interesting to use. I agree that you will get approximately the same line variation no matter you set the pen all the way to hard or soft. However, you will also need different amount of pressure to flex the nib - it requires much less pressure to flex when set to soft, and the hard setting is really helpful when you don't want to have too much line variation in the writing. Also, the ink flow is directly proportional to the hardness setting - soft setting gives a much wetter nib and the hard setting restrict the ink flow. Both of the extreme points of the settings gives very pleasant writing experience and it allows me to switch "the feel" after a long writing session so that I can always find it interesting to write with. 2. If you are concerned that this is too soft a nib and it is hard to control therefore not good for daily (fast) notes taking - please don't. It is not meant to be a flex pen. It is really just giving you a very springy writing experience - more springy than a Pilot Custom 823 (M) but definitely much easier to control when compered to a Pilot Falcon (SEF). Yes, if you slow down (Iroshizuku ink makes it much less prone to railroading), then you can get some decent line variation to make things looks fun once in a while. Please remember though, this is NOT a FLEX pen. In my opinion, its is a fantastic BOUNCY academic (science oriented) notes writer/daily driver. 3. Smoothness. It is not as smooth as the Custom 823 (M) but much smoother than the Falcon (SEF). It has a very slight feed back that I enjoy very much. This also makes it not having any hard-starting issue. 4. Thanks to the Con-70 converter, the ink capacity of this pen is great! I always have enough ink in it, and I do not have worry about running out in the middle of my writing session. I had problem with the Falcon, when falcon was my only gold nib pen, I had to carry additional Con-40 (not 50) converter filled with ink(sealed with a little cap I made out of a used Muji roller ball refill). Now I want to show you my current daily carries with some beautiful pictures of them: 1. Pilot Custom 823 (M) 2. Pilot Falcon (SEF) 3. Lamy Al-Star (EF) 4. Finally, some comparative pictures: 5. Writing samples (sorry that the color of the ink is inaccurate since my scanner is my iPhone) I will include generic writing samples and things I writes a lot. These pictures will explain to you why I enjoy finer nibs. REMARK ON PILOT FALCON: It is a fun pen to use but I will not recommend using it as a daily driver for science oriented writing. It is too flexible that I always get distracted from the things I am trying to learn. I had to put a lot of attention on controlling the nib. You might noticed that I did not talk about the Lamy steel nib. I also go two Pilot Kakuno pens (F & M). They are both great pens but . I find the Kakuno M nib to be as thick as the Lamy EF by much wetter than it. The Lamy is smoother than both Kakuno, though I enjoy the pencil-like feed back of Kakuno very much. I believe they are all great entry level pens. I have to say, though, that I enjoy a 14k gold nib much more than any the steel nibs I have (I also had a lot other steel nib pens throughout my academic career). This is probably because that I started with fountain pen very early (elementary school) but never had my own gold nib pen until college. I am just kinda tired of the steel nibs. This is what holds me back from the Italian pens that are in the same price range as the Japanese pens. Please PROVE to me if you think I am worrying too much. I am also not sure about the how quality of the pens differ between a Japanese pen and an Italian pen in the same price range. I do care about the design (appearance) of the pen. But as I said in the beginning, I actually love the classical understated design! Therefore the design of Italian pens will not be an excuse that can let me ignore how they differ in writing. For me, WRITING EXPERIENCE OVERRIDES EVERYTHING. Now, I am officially looking for suggestions for my future pen. Should I try Sailor? or should I go for an Italian pen? Which pen do you think will fulfill my needs the best? Thank you all!

Pilot Namiki Falcon Collection Fountain Pen Extra Fine Nib Black/Rhodium currently on offer on Amazon.com.au for A$177.16, sold and shipped by Amazon US, so customers with Prime membership get free international shipping to Australia. I don't think I've seen the EF-nibbed Namiki Falcon at such a low price before. This has hit almost the previous low point for the Fine-nibbed rhodium trim model, and usually the EF-nibbed model is significantly more expensive. I was watching it for the past several months, and it has always been above A$220. I just snagged the last one that was in stock, but you can still order the item now at that price; the item listing states it will be in stock on 24 April 2019. Don't forget there's also the opportunity to get cashback with some programmes if you click-through to Amazon.com.au from their websites (conditions apply).

I have a blue resin Falcon. I know the model was discontinued before 2007 because I found an email to a friend stating as much. Unfortunately, my saved emails only go back that far so I can't determine when I bought it. Pretty sure I bought it from Levenger (Yikes!). I've done a couple of searches but can't seem to sort through all the recent info and what "historical" data I find seems to be more intent on discussing the Elabo v. the Falcon than anything else. Does anyone know when this pen was made/sold? Thank you. KCat

Namiki Falcon Collection Fountain Pen in Black with Fine nib, sold and shipped by Amazon US[/th][th] on Amazon.com.au (free shipping with Prime membership) on Amazon.com Gold trim A$153.72 US$98.47 Rhodium trim A$171.72 US$110.00 According to camelcamelcamel, that's a historic low by quite a bit for Amazon.com's price for the gold trim model, and except for a single blip, also a historic low for the rhodium trim model.

Amazon.com.au is offering the Pilot Falcon Collection fountain pen in Red (resin) with Rhodium Accents and Soft Fine Nib ships from and sold by Amazon US for A$157.11 (inclusive of GST) at the moment. Delivery is free if you have Prime membership with Amazon Australia. Or you could buy it directly on Amazon.com which these days has gone back to being willing to ship to Australia delivery addresses if it is also the actual seller of the products for US$99.99, plus US$5.50 to ship to Australia (fair enough), then another 10% of that subtotal for GST, bringing the total to US$116.04, which works out to A$162.82. Depending on which credit card you have, your credit provider may charge say another 3% on top of that amount for foreign transactions. There are six units in stock when I looked just now. Camelcamelcamel shows that this is the second lowest price on Amazon.com for this pen model since early 2015. The lowest price was US$90.65, which appeared as a blip in September 2018 and then went back up north of US$150 very quickly.

Esterbrook made millions of their flagship 048 Falcon steel pen. It was their best-selling pen for over 70 years. They're still common, relatively inexpensive and generally dismissed by those seeking the "grail pens." (they don't fit in an oblique holder, for one, so calligraphers tend to not be interested) They can vary in quality over the years, but even the worst, the most recent made (1940's) are still, in the end, a decent pen. They actually don't get the praise I think they deserve. This one is from the late 20's, but even the later ones are relatively nice. So, here's to the common, the plain, the ordinary Esterbrook 048 Falcon. Long may you be ignored by everyone but me. Andrew

This is less of a review (and much less of a competition), and more of a comparison / demonstration of my two newest pens using two of my newest inks. The paper is Rhodia #16 pad. I've been more interested in line variation lately, as well as broader nibs. I started out my fountain pen journey, quite briefly, with Japanese fine nibs. I soon came to the conclusion there was little reason to use a fountain pen if you're using a nib that fine. Not trying to convince or argue with anyone, but that's what my eyes and hands told me. I quickly moved up to medium, and just recently began exploring some broad nibs, primarily for correspondence. I still use my Pilot 823 medium for work primarily, and my Franklin-Christoph #19 for journaling. Everything else varies, but I've also found I really only love using 3-5 pens of my ~ 3 dozen. (I don't use the word "collection" because I'm not a collector, i.e. if a pen isn't a good writer, it isn't a good pen and I have no use for it.) I researched both these pens before I bought them and had high hopes for both, but also some anxiety as I've read negative comments of both, especially the Ahab. Those high hopes were valid; they are both very good pens. My expectations were well exceeded for one of them, and met by the other. I've always had a strong suspicion I buy Noodler's products from some "other" Noodler's that is quite different from the one some quite vocal critics do. My evidence for this strange conclusion is I cannot for the life of me find a bottle of Bay State Blue that eats my pens or becomes a permanent stain on any object whatsoever it touches, nor Black or Heart of Darkness that smudges after 14 days in the Sahara dry heat, or a Noodler's pen that just won't write out of the box, or even ever, no matter what I do. It could, I suppose, have something to do with not giving one fig about the personal opinions of the owner and sole employee of Noodler's (or Pilot for that matter), but since that would be ridiculous to form a pen or ink opinion or review on, I can only come up with the idea that I'm actually doing business with a different company with the name "Noodler's". But, the pen and documentation say "Noodler's Ahab" so, I'll go with that. The Pilot Falcon was a different story for me. It is only the second pen I've ever gone into a bricks and mortar store and bought, and the very first pen EVER I've tried before I bought it. Probably not so strange in this internet commerce age, but it still sounds weird to say out loud. I visited my friend Alan at Crazy Alan's Emporium nearby in Chapel Hill. Many in the pen world know Alan from pen shows. I know him, and the folks at Franklin-Christoph, because they're my home folks. There's more than one advantage to living in the Triangle of North Carolina. I walked in to Alan's store with the goal of walking out with a few pads of paper for jotting quick notes, and left a little while later with a new Falcon. We've all been there. The Pilot is a smooth writer, as I'd be shocked to find any different performance from a Pilot. My 823 is an absolute phenom and if the skinny thing would put on some weight and especially girth, say grow to the size of a Bexley Prometheus, I'd probably be a one man, one pen guy. It's got everything but that. Pilot doesn't advertise the Falcon as a flex nib / pen, and I always thought that was a cop-out. Now I don't. They're right, it isn't. It's a "standard" pen with a quality nib that isn't a nail. It "flexes" some, vs. none at all, and it will give you some line variation, but not a lot. I noticed the most variation when I did the little squiggly lines many people seem to do to test a pen, much more than when actually writing real stuff with it. It's like the folks at PIlot know how you're going to test it! Or maybe not. I have heard the line variation is more pronounced in the fine or medium nibs from Pilot, so I'm not making a statement about all the nibs available for the Falcon. I've only tried the Soft Broad. (hope my wife doesn't read that sentence out of context). The Ahab is amazing. Maybe I'm amazed easily, but for all the pens I've seen that people claim to be "modern flex" or something equivalent, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. I have never once had problems with the feed keeping up or railroading. I've experienced both, especially railroading, with my Falcon. When I bought the Ahab, I thought it would be a gimmick, use once-in-a-blue-moon kind of thing. I had no expectations of it being a truly very good everyday writer, even when applying no "extra" pressure for flex writing. But it is. This is also the first time I've seen Bay State Grape used in post, to my memory, which I really like. But, this post is about the pens, not the inks. I like both pens and am happy with my purchase. The Ahab far exceeded my expectations, and the Falcon fully met them, though, if I hadn't used the Falcon in the store before I'd bought it, I probably would have expected more line variation from it based on most reviews I've read vs. what it actually does. Enjoy! - MG