Posts filed under Fountain Pens

Kakimori Frost Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Minimal and lightweight, the Kakimori Frost Fountain Pen is an excellent, budget-friendly version of the classic cigar pen. It's just a little larger than pocket-sized, so it's comfortable to hold and travels well, and it has that elegant silhouette that's so popular with high-end pens like Namiki and Nakaya--but for a fraction of the cost.

The body of the Kakimori is made of polycarbonate plastic. It's very light, but feels sturdy. The finish has a frosted texture that's smooth but easy to grip. The body is fully transparent, though the frost effect softens the view of the converter inside the pen. In this dark Moss color, it looks like antique glass. It's also available in Purple, Red, and Clear.

Both of the pen's ends are rounded, and the cap unscrews from threads in the center. The pen has a long, narrow grip section that slopes gently toward the nib, and there's a fairly large step-up to the body of the pen from the threads. It doesn't interfere with writing, however, as it's set fairly far back from the grip. The cap does post, though I found the posting to be a little wobbly and insecure. The cap did fall off the back when writing once. However, the pen is long enough that it doesn't need to be posted for comfortable writing. There is no roll-stop, though, so the cap will have to be looked after, if it's not posted.

The pen takes a standard international cartridge or converter (it comes with a converter, but no cartridge). It looks like it should be usable as an eyedropper pen, but its specs say not to, so I'm not. For now. The steel nib that came with the pen performs wonderfully. I got a Fine nib, and it writes a nice fine line that flows well and has never skipped on me, despite a rather feverish writing session in a coffee shop where I wrote under the influence of too much caffeine. It really is a pleasure to write with, and it's lived in my notebook pocket for several weeks now.

One of the nicest things about this pen, though, is that it's reasonably priced. At $58 on JetPens, it's nicely in that "nice gift" (for yourself or someone you love) price range. It's not cheap, but it's not giving the same sticker shock that most fountain pens do these days. And for how it feels and writes, I'd say it's underpriced. It comes in a simple, triangular cardboard box with no frills, which is my personal preference, so they also get bonus points for the eco-friendly packaging.

The only beef I have with this pen is that it's going to force me to make some tough decisions as I evaluate my pen collection. Because I only need so many cigar-shaped plastic pens. And this one? It writes better than several of my fancy, collectible, expensive ones. But I don't have to make that tough decision today. Today, I'm taking this pen to a cafe to write.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 3, 2025 by Sarah Read and filed under Kakimori, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

ensso Bolt Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The idea of a retractable fountain pen is something of a white whale. There are very few options, and it seems every one of these options comes with some serious trade-offs. For something that seems like such a big design challenge, that doesn't stop people from trying. It's also not often that we see new options come onto the scene in this category, so that's why I'm excited to talk about the Bolt from ensso.

On the outside, the Bolt looks like another machined metal pen that uses a simple bolt mechanism to control the retractable refill. The all titanium body is lightweight and feels great in the hand, but it's really surprising to extend the refill and see a slim fountain pen nib emerge from the end of the cone.

At just 5.16 inches (13.2 cm), the Bolt is a really comfortable size both in hand and when storing. The barrel diameter is fairly slim at just 3/8" (9.5mm), similar to most gel pen barrels and a little slimmer than most fountain pens.

In most cases, there are two Achilles heels when designing a retractable fountain pen: clip placement and sealing the nib when not in use. There are other challenges when designing a pen like this, but these two seem to be obvious factors with the products we have access to today. The way we hold a pen when writing is unique to each individual. For a pen like the Pilot Vanishing Point or Decimo, the clip placement might make the pen uncomfortable for many people. If you can't accommodate the clip being part of your grip pattern, then it just doesn't work for you.

With the Bolt, the clip is an optional accessory that installs on the back of the pen barrel. The unit I have for testing didn't come with the clip, but it's easy to install by using a coin to remove the plain end and screw on the clip end. When using the clip to store the pen upright, this does face the nib toward the ground. I thought that might be an issue since gravity and motion might cause some ink to leak out and stain whatever it's clipped to.

I tried this out by simply carrying the pen around in a pocket with the point faced down. In my testing with normal walking, no ink escaped from the pen, and the nib was clean when I got it out to write. My assumption is that some leakage could still occur depending on the environment and the level of movement you put the pen through. I would certainly be careful about flying with this pen due to the large air pressure change. Either empty the pen before flying or isolate it in a bag to prevent some inky mishaps in your luggage. Overall, though, I really appreciate the clip placement on the Bolt, and I like the optional nature of the clip even more. Even though I don't have a clip to try out, I still think I prefer this pen sans clip. It's more sleek and the bolt mechanism acts as a great stopper to keep the pen from rolling around on flat surfaces when not in use.

Similarly, a fountain pen isn't much use if the tip dries out after a couple of hours while retracted due to a bad seal that lets too much moisture leave the nib and feed. This seems to be the really tricky bit to design and manufacture at scale. Pilot seems to have a good solution, as does Platinum.

With the Bolt, I've been incredibly impressed by how well their seal design works. According to their webpage, they spent over a year developing and testing this system, and it's really simple in practice. It's just a small piece of silicone that has a couple of slits that form an X pattern that allow the nib to pass through, but come back together to form a seal over the nib when it's retracted. I've left this pen alone for over a month and come back to use it only to find that it writes almost immediately. Very nice. Also, ensso includes two extra silicone seals with the pen in case the original one (or second) fails. Time will tell how these hold up.

One of the concerns I had when looking at this silicone sleeve mechanism is that the contact with the nib and the silicone might cause excessive ink creep on the nib. By ink creep, I mean how ink tends to leak a tiny bit around the slit on the top side of the nib. And if you try to use a paper towel to clean up a tiny dot of ink, you end up dragging a lot more ink onto the nib due to the capillary action of the towel when it hits the slit. I'm happy to report that this just isn't an issue with the Bolt. There hasn't been any ink creep on this nib at all.

And while talking about the nib, let's just take a minute to admire this custom nib unit that ensso designed. It's reminiscent of the nib units you see in Pilot's offerings, but this one uses a standard international cartridge converter to supply ink. The actual nib and feed are super small — they're like miniatures.

I've really enjoyed using the Bolt over the past couple months. It's a solid performer that has really impressed me and removed any doubts I had about the performance of the retractable nib design. Operating the bolt mechanism is really easy to do one handed, and I really like the amount of resistance the spring provides. I also love how the nib retracts a bit slower than you expect due to the drag of the silicone on the nib unit. It's similar to watching a soft-close drawer finish closing. Satisfying.

The only nitpick I have for this pen is about the feel of the bolt mechanism. It works well, but I don't love the metal-on-metal feel/sound when operating it. This is likely unavoidable since all the parts are metal, but I wonder if a small synthetic bushing would help smooth out the feel and get rid of the minor nails-on-a-chalkboard sound of metal grinding against metal. Or maybe a little dab of carefully applied silicone grease would alleviate that problem. Either way, it's a minor gripe on an otherwise stellar pen.

The Bolt is only available in the titanium finish, but you have an option of EF, F, or M nibs (and you can pick up several), along with the option of a clip. The clip is an additional $25 on top of the standard $120 price for the pen. You can pre-order the pen now and expect delivery later this month. If you like retractable fountain pens and like the aesthetic of this pen, you should go for it. It's a solid performer at a great price, and it will hold up to years of use thanks to the titanium material and the extra silicone seals that ensso provide with the pen.

(Brad purchased this pen via the enso Bolt Kickstarter campaign.)

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Posted on April 2, 2025 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Ensso, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Diplomat Viper Fountain Pen Review

(The is a guest post from Paul, aka The Poor Penman. Paul (he/him) is a life-long stationery fiend and former industry professional. Read about his journey with pens and paper at The Poor Penman and on Instagram.)

The Viper is the latest in a long line of boldly-designed fountain pens from Diplomat, a brand with over 100-years of experience under their belt. In addition to manufacturing fountain pens, they are credited with being one of the first ballpoint pen manufacturers in Germany. They also introduced their region to ink cartridges, which were far easier to use than the filling mechanisms of the era.

The exterior of the pen is adorned with engraved “scales” in a diamond pattern which give it the serpentine signifier. The pattern, while a bit too geometrically-perfect to be found in nature, gives the pen a striking look. The Viper uses a snappy magnetic slip-cap that glides off and on with just the right amount of resistance. It can also be posted, though the magnetism does not extend to the rear. The pen’s clip is a slim and firm bar that offers security without imposing on the overall design aesthetic. It is also surprisingly rigid, often pushing and tugging at fabric or elastic retainers rather than gliding over them. This can make rapid re-sleeving a bit of an issue, but at least security is never in question. On-pen branding is minimal, with “Diplomat” stamped twice around the cap ring, and their logo stamped on the finial.

Beneath the cap, protruding like a singular fang, is the Viper’s most unique feature: a hooded nib. The nib is available in exactly one (1) width: Fine-Medium. The nib appears to be roughly the size of a Jowo #6, though it is narrower as it recedes into the housing. If there is a way to take this unit apart to get a better look at the nib, I have not yet found it.

True to the vague sizing, this pen lays down a line somewhere between a western Fine and Medium; roughly equivalent to a 0.5 to 0.7 mm gel pen. Line width can vary a bit with your choice of paper and ink, but in my observations it lands a little closer to standard Fine nibs. There is also a fair amount of tipping material on the nib. If custom grinds are your thing, the Viper is a great candidate. Ink flow is good as well. Not overly wet, but rich enough to lay down a solid line.

I’m a big fan of the diamond scale pattern on the cap and barrel. This design gives an otherwise typical pen a unique look, an interesting tactile feel. The surface grooves are big enough to feel when you run your finger over the surface, but not so deep as to catch or drag.

Writing with this pen feels good. The writing experience might not blow your socks off, but if you’re looking for solid, consistent performance, you won't be disappointed. The grip section gradually slopes towards the front, and feels like it was designed more for aesthetics than ergonomics. I typically prefer a bit of contour in my pen grips, but the Viper smoothly slopes from around 11 mm at the thickest point to around 8.5 mm at the thinnest graspable area in a flat curve. For comparison the Pentel EnerGel’s grip has a diameter of 10.5 mm, and the TWSBI ECO measures in at around 9.5 mm.

Inking a pen with a hooded nib may be cause for consternation. When filling through traditional methods (dunking the nib into your ink of choice and turning the converter’s plunger,) you end up with ink on roughly a quarter-inch of the grip section that needs to be cleaned. There are also some nooks and crannies above the nib where excess ink can hide, waiting to leave a little surprise on your page later. Rather than deal with cleaning the nib and grip, I typically fill my converter pens by dipping the converter directly into the ink bottle, then plugging the converter into the pen after wiping off the comparably smaller amount of ink from the device. You do have to wait a few minutes for the ink to find its way through the feed, and it usually results in some lightly-inked fingers, but I vastly prefer this method over submerging the nib.

On a side note, upon researching the pen it appears that I did not receive the stock/factory converter with my Viper. (Pen show pick-up, these things happen.) My pen came with what I’ll call a Manuscript-style converter as there is no obvious branding. I vastly prefer this style for their ease of disassembly when it comes time to clean. The pen should work fine with any Standard International converter, so don’t be surprised if you buy the Viper and it comes with something different from what I’m showing you here today.

The Viper is one of those pens I’ve been eyeing since its release in late-2024. When I saw it at the California Pen Show (in the Year of the Snake, no less) I simply could not go home without it. This pen is a solid writer, and adds a very unique layer of style to any collection. While Diplomat have been hard at work updating the Viper with two additional color variants (blue and brown) as well as a rollerball version, they have not yet seen fit to add more nib options to the mix. While I was able to score a slight discount on the last day of the pen show, I don’t have any trouble recommending this pen at its typical retail price of $96. If you’re looking for a solid writer with a unique flair, check out the Diplomat Viper at Truphae Inc., or your retailer of choice.