Search the Community

Kaweco AC Sport Red LE FP Review History (reproduced from the Kaweco web-site) The first Kaweco Sport was founded in 1912 as a pocket fountain pen for ladies, officers and sportsmen. In 1930 the brands and models of Kaweco and Aurumia fused and the Ka We Co three part circle emerged. This circle is still used today on nearly all of it’s pens. In 1993 H & M Gutberlet GmbH made it’s first prototypes for a relaunch of the Kaweco Sport under the name Trekking, but gained and registered the rights to rename as Kaweco in 1994. The Kaweco Sport was newly produced as a cartridge holder in 1995, but the design remained the same as the 1935 model. In 2000 the first Limited Sport edition was produced in green celluloid, and the AL Sport as well as the Art Sport were launched in 2003. The Pen Measurements: Closed; 109mm, Posted; 135mm, Nib; 17mm. When I first saw this pen, I said 'wow' to myself. It looks so much better 'in the flesh' so to speak, than it does in pictures that I have seen. This is one spectacular looking pen. It has an octagonal barrel in satin red aluminium, with black carbon fibre inlays.The cap screws onto the barrel when closed to make a compact pocket pen, like all Kaweco Sport FP's, then it posts onto the end off the barrel when open, to make a good size writing pen. I was a bit scared that the cap might mark the amazing carbon fibre of the barrel, but that hasn't happened yet. Even the Kaweco circle is painted black on the end of the cap of this pen. My only tiny little disappointment was to see that it came with a polished steel nib as standard. So I decided to try it with the optional black nib, and this made it look so much better. Nibs are interchangeable with AL pens, they just screw out. Assuming you are holding the pen in your right hand, hold the nib top and bottom (not sides) and it unscrews out of the section in a clockwise direction using your left hand. This pen comes with nib options EF, F, M, B and BB.I am advised by Kaweco that threaded calligraphy nibs are also available to purchase separately as are 14ct gold options plus black options. The Filling system As I’m reviewing some Kaweco pens and inks, I selected a Ruby Red cartridge for the AC Sport red LE FP. The cartridges are International Short cartridge size. If you’re looking for a pen with a sophisticated piston filling system, or even a classic type of twist converter, then you might be disappointed with this pocket-sized pen. There is only room for one International short cartridge due to it’s miniature size. However, I don’t find this a problem at all. The Writing Test After I inked up the pen with the Ruby Red cartridge, it wrote straight away. It was so lovely to write with, not at all tiring, and I didn’t find the grip at all slippery. The firm, black steel Fine nib gave me a smooth writing experience that rivalled that of some gold nibs in more expensive pens. There is no flex with the nib. I also tried an optional 1.1 threaded nib in this pen, and that really showed off the red ink. I'm reviewing the Ruby Red ink separately, so I won't say too much about it here, but suffice it to say I really enjoyed the pen and ink combination. The pen was a good colour match for the ink, if you sometimes like to match inks with pens as I do. Overall Opinion Kaweco Sport pens have a really good screw cap that prevents their cartridges from drying out, and I have always liked that in this type of pen. I also love the fact that the Sport pens come in the Kaweco super metal gift tin that easily takes two pens plus a couple of spare cartridges. If you want a clip or a converter they are available separately, but I find it as easy to refill cartridges from bottled ink with a syringe, as using the tiny squeeze type of converter that is made to fit this pen. Kaweco sell their inks in 30ml bottles or packs of 6 cartridges. All in all, I really like this pen and I would recommend it. This is an expensive Kaweco Sport RRP £92 in the UK, but you can find them for less. An optional black nib unit would cost you an additional £30 or less. Kaweco loaned me this pen to review, and I really appreciate that. Thank you Kaweco.

Kaweco Classic Sport Red FP Review Source Kaweco sent me this pen in return for an honest review. The Sunrise Orange ink cartridges were included in the box. History (reproduced from the Kaweco web-site) Kaweco - In 1883 the manufacturer of high-quality writing instruments was founded in Heidelberg Germany. Kaweco has been producing a wide range of fine writing pens and has been setting a great value on classy design and high standard manufacturing. The first Kaweco Sport was founded in 1912 as a pocket fountain pen for ladies, officers and sportsmen. In 1930 the brands and models of Kaweco and Aurumia fused and the Ka We Co three part circle emerged. This circle is still used today on nearly all of it’s pens. Even Sepp Herberger already appreciated these characteristics. It was with a Kaweco Sport that the former coach of the German national soccer team wrote on a piece of paper his winning tactics which brought the Germans to the world cup in 1954. In 1993 H & M Gutberlet GmbH made it’s first prototypes for a relaunch of the Kaweco Sport under the name Trekking, but gained and registered the rights to rename as Kaweco in 1994. The Kaweco Sport was newly produced as a cartridge holder in 1995, but the design remained the same as the 1935 model. In 2000 the first Limited Sport edition was produced in green celluloid, and the AL Sport as well as the Art Sport were launched in 2003. Kaweco's product range is perfectly described by the keywords "tradition" and “innovation" Appearance and Design The Kaweco Classic Sport starts off as a small and compact pen until you remove it’s octagonal shaped cap, and replace it on the end of the barrel to make a decent sized fountain pen in your hand. It's one of the very few fountain pens that I use with a posted cap. The Classic Sport range differs from the Skyline range in having gold plated accents. I usually tend to prefer gold plated to platinised accents, so this suits me very well. I also like the very attractive milled edge on the end of the barrel. Kaweco supply a standard 23kt gold plated steel nib unit, with iridium tip, with this pen, that matches it’s Kaweco gold plated metal cap emblem as well as the gold coloured ‘Kaweco Sport’ script on the barrel. This pen is bright red. You can buy this pen with or without a matching gold plated clip. It comes in a standard sized Kaweco Sport cardboard box. Construction and quality Although this pen is made from plastic, it feels well made and quite substantial in your hand and performs as well as many full sized pens. It’s lightweight, but not at all flimsy, and it has a nice size, well shaped grip. The cap is intended to be posted on the barrel for all Sport pens and the pen feels nicely balanced in your hand when the cap is posted on the barrel. As always with Kaweco Sport pens, the cap and the barrel screw together very well for a close fit, on smoothly machined screw threads. Weight and Dimensions Weight: 10grams. Measurements: Closed; 105mm, Posted; 135mm, Nib; 17mm. Nib and Performance The 23kt gold plated steel nib units for this pen come as a complete section, as opposed to the screw in nib and feed units that Kaweco make for their metal Sport pens. So you can swap any complete nib unit into this pen. You can usually buy them from Kaweco stockists. They are available in nib sizes EF/F/M/B/BB I found this nib wrote after a couple of shakes as soon as I fitted a cartridge. I was really impressed with the smoothness of the nib, that needed no adjustment at all. It gave me a smooth writing experience that rivalled that of some gold nibs in more expensive pens. There is no flex with these steel nibs, but I don’t really mind that. Filling system and Maintenance Kaweco sent me a couple of pens to review, and in with them are two packs of cartridges in two brand new colours. These are Sunrise Orange and Smokey Grey. I selected a Sunrise Orange cartridge for the Red Classic Sport. The cartridges are standard International Short cartridge size. If you’re looking for a pen with a sophisticated piston filling system, then you might be disappointed with this pocket-sized pen. Kaweco make two different converters that would fit this pen, the Kaweco Squeeze converter "Sport" and the Kaweco mini converter. However, I only used the Sunrise Orange cartridge with it for the purposes of this review. I find that both types of Sport converters generally contain less ink than a cartridge, but either one is useful if you want to use bottled ink. It isn’t a difficult pen to clean out. I just used an ear bulb and pushed some lukewarm water through it to clean out the ink after I had used it. The ink was non staining and it is an attractive addition to the Kaweco range of ink colours Cost and Value I found this pen for sale at WeLovePens for £17.99 in the UK. I think thats a reasonable price to pay for this pen. It’s an average online price for the Kaweco Classic or Skyline Sport range. Overall Opinion Kaweco Sport pens have a really good screw cap that prevents their cartridges from drying out, and I have always liked that in these pens. I also like the way they are compact pocket sized pens that extend into good size pens that are easy to write with. If you want a clip or a converter they are available separately, but I find it as easy to refill cartridges from bottled ink with a syringe, as using the converters that are made to fit this pen. I'm quite a fan of Kaweco Sport pens and have a small collection of them. So, all in all, I really like this pen and I would recommend it especially if you like bright red pens to go with your red inks. Writing sample: Kaweco Sunrise Orande Ink (cartridge)