Sailor Reglus...any Thoughts On It?

[hot cocoa]

Hey all, I'm hoping to get some recent impressions on the Sailor Reglus. I love the 14k nibs on my mini Sapporos and the wonderfully smooth and super fine nib on my Sailor High Ace neo. The Reglus looks to me like a nice middle ground pen between the cheaper and more expensive sailors, but I'd like to see some more opinions on it. Specifically on the nib quality and the fit and finish of the barrel and cap.

 

One neat thing that's pushing me toward the Reglus...I noticed that Engeika's carrying black-trimmed versions, with either black or brown body finishes. They look great, imo, especially the brown!

[Miadhawk]

I can only advise you to avoid them, contrary to the impressive writing experience from Sailor's gold nibs, the Reglus is poor writing pen. I thought it was only the example I tried, only to be informed by staff at the Fountain Pen Hospital that all the pens they've tried were like this. An acquaintance of mine purchased it, didn't like it, but tuned the nib to something just short of wonderful. If you are willing to tinker, you might end up with a pen that writes (and looks) like a top shelf utensil, or maybe a svelte sinkhole of the wallet.

 

That said, Brian Goulet of gouletpens has an exclusive Monteverde pen called the Nighthawk that might fit the bill, I can't say I've tried it, but reviews appear positive. Best of luck!

[antirealist]

My orange Reglus is one of the few fine nibbed pens in my collection. The fit and finish are good, and the pen has a nice weight, given its small size. The nib is pretty fine, but quite smooth. There's very little spring to it. It seems a little dry to me, but having said that, I can even see some shading with inks like PR Avocado. I've never had any hard starts or other problems that would lead me to tinker with it.

 

I'm not a huge fan of fine nibs, and I tend to use the pen for markup and annotations, rather than for lengthy writing or drawing. There's not much information about this pen online, and given Miadhawk's comments, I think it would be sensible to try the pen out if possible, before making a purchase.

Edited November 13, 2013 by antirealist

[hot cocoa]

I can only advise you to avoid them, contrary to the impressive writing experience from Sailor's gold nibs, the Reglus is poor writing pen. I thought it was only the example I tried, only to be informed by staff at the Fountain Pen Hospital that all the pens they've tried were like this. An acquaintance of mine purchased it, didn't like it, but tuned the nib to something just short of wonderful.

 

Oh no! This isn't what I was hoping to hear, but how weird that Sailor would let the QC on a pen line fail like this.

 

What exactly didn't go over well about the pen with you or your friend? Poor writing for me is bad flow and scratchy nibs.

 

Seems funny that my cheapo Neo is such a wonderful performer...can't be the steel nib factor that's the sole cause of the Reglus's crumminess, but maybe just a poorly designed nib/feed/both?

[hot cocoa]

My orange Reglus is one of the few fine nibbed pens in my collection. The fit and finish are good, and the pen has a nice weight, given its small size. The nib is pretty fine, but quite smooth. There's very little spring to it. It seems a little dry to me, but having said that, I can even see some shading with inks like PR Avocado. I've never had any hard starts or other problems that would lead me to tinker with it.

 

I'm not a huge fan of fine nibs, and I tend to use the pen for markup and annotations, rather than for lengthy writing or drawing. There's not much information about this pen online, and given Miadhawk's comments, I think it would be sensible to try the pen out if possible, before making a purchase.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your Reglus! Given that it's not a very popular pen on FPN (judging by this thread's responses and reviews), I'd have to agree that I might just have to handle one in person. Though I'm not sure how to do that since it looks like the Reglus is only sold out of Japan.

 

I love very fine nibs and I'd like to hope your experience is more the rule than the exception, but there's not a lot of data to support my wish, unfortunately! At least you like the fit and finish of it...a nib can always be worked, but there's no real fix for poor workmanship in the body and cap of a pen. That's one thing that's impressed me about my Sapporos...they're not fancy, but they are built totally tight, no surprises.