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NOTE: this will not be a full-blown review like most others. There are countless reviews of the Pilot VP already, so I was aiming for more of a brief review of the nib itself, because I never could find much info on it prior to this purchase. I just received my Pilot Vanishing Point from Indy-Pen-Dance. I ordered it with their .8mm "DailyItalic" customization. I've been wanting to try a VP for a while to use as a notetaker during court/conferences/church. I tried to find some review and/or writing samples of this particular grind, but didn't really turn up much. However, I decided to roll the dice because I have read nothing but great things about Linda Kennedy's work. I ordered the pen last Wednesday and received it today (Monday). After a brief inspection I inked it up with Noodler's Apache Sunset (my go-to fun color at the moment). As to the pen itself, I wasn't sure how I'd like the clip being there. That concern was quickly dismissed, however, as I love the way the pen feels in my grip. I am extremely pleased with the overall design and quality of the pen. Now to the nib. Up to this point, the only custom grinds I've had were from Pendleton Brown (his BLS); although I have tried a Pilot factory stub (SU), a few oblique Esterbrook nibs, and a Goulet 1.1 stub. From what I gather, Pendleton's BLS is supposed to sit somewhere between a cursive italic and a stub, and that's also where this DailyItalic grind is supposed to fall. Linda told me it is intended to maintain the line variation of a cursive italic while having the ease-of-operation of a stub. I must say that she hit the nail on the head. In the photo below you can see there is a respectable amount of line variation. But as you can tell from my poor penmanship, the nib might perform better in more "capable" hands. As for smoothness, I think that's where this grind excels. It just glides effortlessly across the paper, like butter margarin. Really, I was surprised at how smooth it is; it's just fantastic! Comparing it to the Pendleton's BLS, I'd say it falls slightly more towards the stub end of the spectrum. I feel that I get slightly more line variation from Pendleton nibs, but this grind from Linda is definitely smoother and more user friendly than my last grind from Pendleton. With Pendleton's BLS I still have to be somewhat mindful of my technique and writing angle, else I might snag the paper a bit. This DailyItalic grind is more forgiving. If I get off angle too bad I just get unpleasant feedback, as opposed to outright snagging. The only negative (if you can even call it that) is that the nib isn't quite as wet as I'd like, but that's my fault for not thinking of mentioning that in my order. All in all, it is a wonderful nib and I am certain I will be getting another DailyItalic-equipped pen in the future. I also want to point out that the comparison of Pendleton's BLS to Linda's DailyItalic is not meant to say that one is any better than the other. Rather, they are just variations on the theme of italic/stub hybrids; each offers something a little different than the other. I do love both, and I actually have another Pilot in Pendleton's queue at the moment. So I make this comparison of the two only because I feel it may be useful to others who are familiar with Pendleton's work. Finally, I hope this "review" is helpful to others who are interested in Linda's DailyItalic grind. http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq352/lpdb185/IMG_1107.jpg