Sailor hocoro dip pens with italic nibs

[dms525]

Generally, I am not a fan of dip pens. Although most of my serious calligraphy friends, especially the professionals, use them by preference. Dip pens and I have never gotten along very well. The only type I have used in recent years is glass dip pens for ink testing. When I came across the Sailor hocoro pens by chance browsing an Italian pen shop's web site, I was sufficiently intrigued by several of its features to order one to try out. I ordered one with a 2.0mm italic nib and liked it enough to then order one with a 1.0mm italic nib.

 

The things I like about the design include:

1) The relatively small size, making it very portable (unlike the usual dip pen).

2) The nib hides in the handle when not in use and is protected from damage.

3) The 2.0mm nib comes with a feed and a separate feed can be ordered for the 1.0mm nib. With the feed, the nib holds enough ink for quite a lot of writing, and flow is very good.

4) The pen handle is comfortable to hold, and it has one flat side which keeps it from rolling away.

5) A quick wash with water cleans the nib.

 

The text produced is quite acceptable.  Even the 1.0mm italic nib produces good thick/thin line differentiation.

 

Here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

I expect this to become my first line ink testing pen. We'll see how I feel about it after more experience.

 

David