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Pretty much everyone loves the Kaigelu 316. Some folks don't appreciate the finial weight and go through some pain to replace it with a plastic one. Some folks don't like the nib, and go about replacing the whole nib housing (which won't take a standard #6 or #5 nib) with a Bock housing from Beaufort Ink in the UK (which enables swapping in a #6 nib) The finial hasn't bothered me, but I have done the whole Bock nib housing swap on one and it was a royal pain. The nib and feed came out with no issues. But the nib housing didn't come out easy like it did for some people. I destroyed the old housing and almost damaged the section trying to take out the old nib housing. It was clearly glued in the section with zuperduperglue. Out of desperation, I found a bolt the diameter of which just happened to be a tad bigger than the original housing. I screwed the bolt into the housing from the nib end, and it tore its way into the old housing, never to come out again. Several dousings in super hot water and pulls on the embedded bolt later, the nib housing inched its way out of the section. Patience has never been my forte. Couple of hours of elbow grease for sure. Pictures below. The pen works great now with a Goulet #6 nib. Also, relatively speaking, it wasn't a cheap solution either. The Bock nib/feed/housing thingy + the new cartridge converter + shipping cost almost as much as the pen itself. Now that I am somewhat past that trauma, I am considering easier solutions to swapping out the nib on my other Kaigelu 316s. The nib is smaller than a #6 and bigger than a #5, so a #5.5? I noticed that fountainpenrevolution sells a #5.5 nib at a great price. I wonder if it would fit into the original Kaigelu nib housing and work with the existing feed without any issues. Any one tried this nib from FPR in a K316? Any other suggestions?

I purchased a FPR Jaipur sometime ago from India and around labor day got notice of FPR's new US site, so decided to purchase their new Himalaya. FPR is a great business, but like any order from India, slow to ship, so it's fantastic they now offer some US based Inventory. The new web site is great, it shipped immediately and arrived within 3 days at the lower cost first class mail and the site have email tracking updates with a map showing where the pen was at each juncture. I really like FPR pens, to me, they are quite comparable to Noodler's, but without that funky nib and I feel that they are better made. FPR is not as buzzworthy in respect to branding, no trendy names, packaging, and less variety in colors, but a solid product. My Jaipur for $18 is a pretty solid performing piston filling pen. The Himalaya is $29 and comes in acrylic or ebonite, with a 5.5 FPR nib and 5.1 ebonite feed. Unlike Noodler's pens, where this one directly reminds me of the Konrad, FPR offers a variety of nib sizes and types.It has a threaded converter like the Ahab, or can be used as an eyedropper. The nib and feed and can be adjusted to taste like the Noodlers pens, but a significantly tighter and more consistent nib seating, where my Noodlers pens are all over the board. But for people who like the ability to tinker with the ebonite friction fit feeds, can achieve the same, but a better experience. Although I know most lower cost Indian pens typically need a good flushing, nib seating and tinkering to get them working well, I did try it out of the box out of curiosity, but had some flow issues. However once flushed the pen and seated the nib, it writes fantastic just like my Jaipur did. The cartridge had a bit of seepage into the barrel on my first out of the box inking, but after flushing a little silicon in the converter and lower section threads solved that easy enough with the next inking. Not sure on ink capacity, it's certainly more than a typical international cartridge, but possible slightly less than a Ahab. My Jaipur occasionally creeps some ink in the cap, which gets on the threads, hence, on your fingers when writing, believe other reviewers experienced this, so I don't use it as a shirt pocket pen for work, but the Himalaya so far seems to avoid this problem and looks sharp for use in meetings. It's an ebonite pen, but at the $29 price point, not quite a nice in quality and finish as more expensive hand turned ebonite pens, but found it to be a well made pen. The clip is strudy and the cap is banded with the FPR logo on it. Excellent writing pen, ink flow is good and the line is consistent. I like the Duofold look of the Jaipur, but this pen in ebonite has more of Sailor pro style and is a little dressier of a pen. Great pen and really happy with the purchase. I recommend this pen over the Noodler's Konrad, the acrylic and ebonite are the same price and lower than comparative models of the Noodlers pens. I have no connection or endorsement from FPR for this review, just a happy customer. Give one a try, you will be pleased.

I finally received my FPR Guru Flex today in the mail and it is a very interesting pen. Interesting in the sense that I can't make up my mind about it. Here are my thoughts from the first time using it. http://i.imgur.com/kWKuieKl.jpg Aesthetics: 5/10 I don't think this is an ugly pen, however, it isn't pretty. I like demonstrators, especially when they are well done. This, unfortunately, isn't the most refined of demonstrators. The points where the plastic is joined looks very sloppy and the threads suffer from the same problem. The pocket clip works well, but looks very very cheap. This pen comes in at about 5 inches, pretty similar in length to the Noodler's Ahab, but much thinner. I would have preferred if it were a bit thicker, both for aesthetics and ergonomics. http://i.imgur.com/FBUAUAgl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/k8HZHTvl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ePawEAll.jpg Ergonomics: 7/10 Despite being a bit thin for my taste, it is actually very comfortable to use. The grip section appears smooth, but it is not slippery. The cap threads aren't sharp and don't interfere with writing. Filling System: 7/10 Piston filler. The piston knob is a little stubborn at first but it works smoothly and it fills up with ease. Hold a good amount of ink, I haven't measured this but it is pretty close to the Ahab. Nib and feed: 7/10 Here is where the pen gets interesting. I took out of the box and I was underwhelmed. I handled it, and it felt cheap. I filled it and the piston mechanism left something to be desired. And then I wrote with it. This nib is smooth. Very smooth. The feed keeps up with fast writing and this thing flexes with ease. No railroading whatsoever, and I can get it to flex just as much as my Ahab. Granted, I have no tinkered with my Ahab much at all, but as far as out of the box performance goes, I have to say the Guru impressed. http://i.imgur.com/9hJ8wlZl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TeTki0ol.jpg Value: 7/10 This pen costs $12 from fountainpenrevolution.com. With shipping it is $15 and you get a free Serwex pen with it (at least I did, not sure if this is still the case). http://i.imgur.com/qJxSGGgl.jpg Overall: 33/50 I won't compare this to a Hero type pen because the Chinese companies don't offer a flex version. In terms of value I would compare it to the Noodler's Nib Creaper and Ahab. The Nib Creaper costs $14 without shipping and the Ahab costs about $20. If you can get a Nib Creaper for ~$15, I think that would be the best option. The Ahab is more ergonomic and better built, but more expensive. Overall I would say that I like the Guru. It is an interesting pen with a very nice flex nib. The shipping is a little long (I waited 11 days iirc) but it is a pen that not many people have and which writes very well for the price.