VP, custom 74, or opus 88?

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, OCArt said:

… refillable cartridges that are sealed with a rubber plug.

 

Or just buy them as retail products.

 

[Cjtamu]

Can’t quibble with much of anything said above. The Pilot VP is one of the most portable pens you’ll ever use. I love mine. Pilot cartridges can also be resealed as long as you don’t toss the little plastic insert. Pilot iroshizuku inks are available or when empty you can clean and refill with whatever ink you want using a blunt syringe. The way I would go for what you want from the pens you mentioned. For your later birthday pen the 21K Sailor nib on the Pro Gear and 1911L is fantastic. Especially if you have a nibsmith tune it. The WA nib Pilot 912 mentioned by @senzen is fantastic. As a college student don’t neglect the pre-owned market. Peyton Street and Pen Realm would be a couple to look at that have new and pre-owned pens. Let us know what you end up with.

[VacMan]

55 minutes ago, Cjtamu said:

Can’t quibble with much of anything said above. The Pilot VP is one of the most portable pens you’ll ever use. I love mine. Pilot cartridges can also be resealed as long as you don’t toss the little plastic insert. Pilot iroshizuku inks are available or when empty you can clean and refill with whatever ink you want using a blunt syringe. The way I would go for what you want from the pens you mentioned. For your later birthday pen the 21K Sailor nib on the Pro Gear and 1911L is fantastic. Especially if you have a nibsmith tune it. The WA nib Pilot 912 mentioned by @senzen is fantastic. As a college student don’t neglect the pre-owned market. Peyton Street and Pen Realm would be a couple to look at that have new and pre-owned pens. Let us know what you end up with.

Have you had any experience buying pens on the Japanese Amazon market like referenced above by Keane? I'm curious about it. Any good ideas for peyton street?

[VacMan]

10 hours ago, langere said:

I teach Latin American History.

 

Erick

That's very interesting! What university?

[VacMan]

On 7/23/2024 at 10:42 PM, Keane said:

Yep, plenty of them and they are authentic, they are just shipped from Japan with Japanese tags/paperwork/etc.  For some reason, Sailor marks their pens up a TON when bringing them to the US, but Amazon JP (and others on Ebay) will import them for a much smaller markup.

 

IF ink capacity is a primary concern, I might suggest the Conklin All-American Demo.  I picked up this one at one point on sale: https://www.gouletpens.com/products/conklin-all-american-fountain-pen-demo-special-edition

 

The nice part is it is a cartridge, converter, OR eye-dropper, and comes with everything you need for each.  The clear is nice for seeing your ink levels.  The pen itself is nicely made, though the generic JoWo nibs are not particularly special.  I treat it as a bit of a beater (it works GREAT even for high shimmer inks!) for oddball inks, but it doesn't find itself inked unless there is something special I want to try.

 

That said, with all those pens in your bag, I am guessing ink capacity isn't really a concern.

I wonder why that I'd. Do you have any advice for finding one that is legitimate?

[jchch1950]

I have some Pilot pens but since I bought my first Opus 88 I have learned to use them more and more. First, they write smoothly without dragging or dry starts. Second, they also hold a large volume of ink and can remain uncapped for several minutes and start immediately. Third, the Opus 88 are produced in several sizes but the bigger ones are very comfortable to use.

[Lithium466]

5 hours ago, VacMan said:

Have you had any experience buying pens on the Japanese Amazon market like referenced above by Keane? I'm curious about it. Any good ideas for peyton street?

Contrary to many, one bad experience with PS pens. Not impressed by customer service but that's just one bad experience within 1000's of good ones on this forum.

Amazon jp through Amazon US is your typical Amazon experience.

 

I would say +1 on a Capless or maybe a Décimo for school. As a later gift maybe a Platinum 3776 or a Sailor PG/1911L. Sometimes second hand market is more expensive than new through Amazon... I got some lucky finds through eBay but that's always a lottery.

[Cjtamu]

8 hours ago, VacMan said:

Have you had any experience buying pens on the Japanese Amazon market like referenced above by Keane? I'm curious about it. Any good ideas for peyton street?

Have not. I tend to stick to US sellers. And I don’t do Amazon. You’ll just have to search Peyton Street and Pen Realm to see if they have what you’re looking for.

[Keane]

14 hours ago, VacMan said:

I wonder why that I'd. Do you have any advice for finding one that is legitimate?

I think a few of the Japanese pen makers are trying to make themselves upmarket in the US market..  As far as legitimate: just find something shipping from Japan.  It is VERY rare to find counterfeit stuff in Japan(it is considered incredibly shameful there to have counterfeits), particularly the amazon-jp seller (which is official Amazon in Japan).

 

Also check out reddit.com/r/pen_swap, quite a few of the pens you've mentioned have come up lightly used recently.

[VacMan]

12 minutes ago, Keane said:

I think a few of the Japanese pen makers are trying to make themselves upmarket in the US market..  As far as legitimate: just find something shipping from Japan.  It is VERY rare to find counterfeit stuff in Japan(it is considered incredibly shameful there to have counterfeits), particularly the amazon-jp seller (which is official Amazon in Japan).

 

Also check out reddit.com/r/pen_swap, quite a few of the pens you've mentioned have come up lightly used recently.

Great, thank you! I'll have to look there too. I didn't even consider the culture aspect in japan

[VacMan]

I made a post a few days ago about a vintage conway stewart if anybody wants to check it out, I need some help identifying the nib!

[tim77]

I love Pilot pens and for intermittent writing the VP is excellent.  But more often I find myself carrying a pair of Opus88 Koloros.  They're very comfortable and extremely solid.  As a lefty I apply quite a bit of force to the pen and value a very rigid nib for the feeling of precision that it gives.  I like knowing that I can inexpensively replace the nibs if they get bashed when out and about.

 

There's never any question of running out of ink with a Koloro.  The capacity is huge, the ink level is clearly visible, and I don't have to wait for them to empty before topping them up.

 

The knob on the end of the pen actuates an ink seal, but can also be used as a kind of low-volume piston to prime the pen if the feed is dry.

[VacMan]

4 minutes ago, tim77 said:

I love Pilot pens and for intermittent writing the VP is excellent.  But more often I find myself carrying a pair of Opus88 Koloros.  They're very comfortable and extremely solid.  As a lefty I apply quite a bit of force to the pen and value a very rigid nib for the feeling of precision that it gives.  I like knowing that I can inexpensively replace the nibs if they get bashed when out and about.

 

There's never any question of running out of ink with a Koloro.  The capacity is huge, the ink level is clearly visible, and I don't have to wait for them to empty before topping them up.

 

The knob on the end of the pen actuates an ink seal, but can also be used as a kind of low-volume piston to prime the pen if the feed is dry.

Good to know! I am also left handed. The idea of replacing the nib is something I like!

[lascosas]

I have all three, infact oodles of each.  I very much like the Opus88 pens, and have 11 models (demonstrator, fantasia, halo, opera, koloro, mini, jazz, bela, minty, picnic, omar)  BUT as someone pointed out, all of them require several turns to open & close.  I assume you want to use this to take notes.  You can't leave any fountain pen uncapped for an hour lecture, the ink will dry.  You need to keep it capped when not using, and it will drive you bonkers to continually be screwing & unscrewing the cap.  So I strongly vote that while Opus88 pens are wonderful, they are terrible for note taking.

 

There is nothing special about a Pilot 74.  It is the #5 size 14k nib from Pilot.  The nibs go up to 10, 15, 20...   So you are getting an entry level "normal" Pilot gold nibbed pen.  I could think of zillions of other gold nibbed pens that I prefer, and as others have said, I would start with a Sailor from the seller Japan Amazon from amazon.com.  But a Sailor nib is very different than a Pilot nib.

 

So, I recommend a VP, and while you enjoyed the feel of the pen in a store, that doesn't mean you will like that odd clip in the middle of the pen when you are using it for hours a day.  So I recommend buying it from Amazon, and making sure it is shipped & sold by Amazon (see the below indicator).  Use it extensively during the 30 day period & if it turns out you don't like it, you can simply return it to Amazon for a refund.

[Karmachanic]

7 hours ago, lascosas said:

I assume you want to use this to take notes.  You can't leave any fountain pen uncapped for an hour lecture, the ink will dry

 

I hold the cap, open end up in my left hand, with the pen resting in place, readily available for a furious scribble and then returned to that resting place.  Unscrewed at the start of lecture, and secured at finish.  For me, much more fluid than faffing around than with a VP knock a dozen times.

[langere]

19 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

I hold the cap, open end up in my left hand, with the pen resting in place, readily available for a furious scribble and then returned to that resting place.  Unscrewed at the start of lecture, and secured at finish.  For me, much more fluid than faffing around than with a VP knock a dozen times.

Absolutely!  Also, there are now what Private Reserve calls "Infinity Inks" that do not dry out so quickly, so leaving the pen uncapped for a lecture is even less problematic.

 

Erick

[tim77]

On 7/26/2024 at 1:27 AM, lascosas said:

You can't leave any fountain pen uncapped for an hour lecture, the ink will dry.

 

This comment made me curious about how long I could leave a pen uncapped.  Writing continuously for an hour is fine, but what about intermittent writing?

 

A single pause is easier on the pen than repeated pauses, so I tested for a full hour.  Writing a lot between pauses is better than writing a little, so I tested that too.

 

My Opus-88 Koloro was inked (with Diamine Oxford blue), so that what I used for the test.  It was left uncapped, flat on the desk whenever not writing.

1. Writing one short word every minute was fine
2. Writing 13 letters every 2 minutes was fine
3. Writing one short word every 4 minutes led to skips after 16 minutes
4. Writing 26 letters every 4 minutes was fine

That was better than I expected, for a pen with an exposed nib.  Weather and ink variations will affect the result - perhaps strongly.  I'd be interested to know what other people find, if anybody has the patience to try.

 

[Claes]

@tim77 Interesting!

 

I wonder how an fp with a hooded nib, like a Parker 51, will react...

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[TSherbs]

On 7/24/2024 at 12:17 PM, VacMan said:

It will be a mix of everything. I will have a case however sometimes carry pens in my pocket. I tend to take care of them even when in my pocket. I will have a few notebooks that are meant for fountain pens but some other ones that are just "for school". I am going into finance so some math will be required but more long hand writing than anything

You seem set on what I would call expensive pens, which is fine. I could never have taken proper care of an expensive pen at college the way that I lived, but perhaps you live differently. I owned one Sheaffer student pen (under $10 at the time) while at college, and I did manage to hold onto the same one for all 5 years that it took me to graduate, but I did not take it to classes for note-taking. I lost or broke every pen that I carried around with me, eventually. 

[VacMan]

39 minutes ago, TSherbs said:

You seem set on what I would call expensive pens, which is fine. I could never have taken proper care of an expensive pen at college the way that I lived, but perhaps you live differently. I owned one Sheaffer student pen (under $10 at the time) while at college, and I did manage to hold onto the same one for all 5 years that it took me to graduate, but I did not take it to classes for note-taking. I lost or broke every pen that I carried around with me, eventually. 

I must admit I am but the primary reason is that I have plenty of "budget" pens and im sure I will get more but I wanted something special to enjoy writing with!