Posts filed under Pilot

Pilot Precise V7 Rollerball 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 Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

So, what did you get for back-to-school supplies this year? While I'm not in school anymore, I still had to shop for my kids. I can't walk past those aisles of pretty pens and paper and not indulge a little bit. The kids got their list items, and oops, a pack of Pilot Precise V7 pens in this limited-edition color set fell into my cart.

I usually prefer a finer point on my pens, with .5mm being the thickest I generally like, but these colors looked too fun to pass up, and I'm glad I didn't. This set comes in Periwinkle, Emerald, Lilac, Cherry, Salmon, and Honey Yellow, in addition to the standard red, black, and blue. It's supposed to be a relaxation-inspired palette, but it has a 1970s vibe and reminds me a lot of old Fiestaware dishes. The colors are well pigmented and vibrant, so they're easy to read--even the yellow. The wider tips actually help with the enjoyment of the colors in the same way that a broad fountain pen nib helps show off ink properties.

When I think about it, these pens were what I was using in college before I switched to fountain pens. Something about the smooth writing of the liquid ink was kind of a gateway drug to fountain pens. Which explains a lot about why I like to use these when I can't use my fountain pens.

The construction of these pens hasn't really changed since way back in the ancient times when I was actually a student. But there's no need to change them. They're great as they are. One of my favorite features of the construction is the ink window, which shows how much of the liquid ink is left. I remember watching it slosh back and forth like a lava lamp as a bored student. The needlenose tip of the pen is also great for writing. It allows a clear view of your lines, which is great for ... precision. Hence, the name.

The snap cap has a metal clip and it posts securely--all handy features in a workhorse everyday pen. The slim body of the pen also allows it to fit into narrower pen holders.

This is essentially the perfect office pen. It's not fancy enough to worry about it wandering off, but it's a big step up from the random-brand ballpoints that usually circulate. It has a large ink capacity, writes reliably, and comes in enough colors to color code even the most complex meeting notes. This set has been put to hard work mapping out my next quarterly schedule. It's a good thing this came with three different shades of red.

The Pilot Precise line is one most folks are familiar with, even if they aren't "pen people." Even people who think they don't care about pens will admit that they prefer these.

I paid about $15 for this set at our local Meijer, which was a sale price for the back-to-school specials. Regular price has them running about $2 per pen, which is an average price for what is, I believe, an above average pen. Now they just need to release a few more shades of red and I'll be able to write out my to-do list. At least I can cross back-to-school shopping off of it.

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Posted on August 29, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Pilot, Precise V7, Pen Reviews.

Pilot Custom 743 - Ranking the Nibs

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I jumped at the opportunity to test 14 of Pilot’s #15-sized 14K gold fountain pen nibs on the Pilot Custom 743, and wanted to see which ones would be my favorites. Note that the S (Signature) and MS (Music) nibs are not available in the Custom 743, but the S nib is available on the Custom 823. The main difference between the 743 and 823 is that the former takes cartridge/converter while the latter is a vacuum filler. Both utilize the same size 15 nib and feed.

Side note: August sees the two of the largest US pen shows (DC and San Francisco), so you should try the nibs for yourself at the Pilot USA tables and let me know which ones are your favorites! But if you can’t, read on!

The Custom 743 (as well as 823) has a size 15 nib, while the 912 (and 742) have size 10 nibs. I have several pens with size 10 and 15 nibs, but I don’t have them all (nor do I want to, for now ;-) ) so I was curious to see if my favorites from the size 10 would translate to size 15. I had limited time with these pens (as they needed to be taken to different shows), which is a good thing because this would end up being a 10 page article, lol. I decided to follow a similar approach as the Bossman did in his writeup of 15 of Pilot’s nibs in the Custom Heritage 912.

A few things to keep in mind:

I am right-handed but have a “stupid steep” writing angle - 75 degrees isn’t uncommon for me, while most people have a 45-50 degree angle.
I tend to write primarily in cursive, and occasionally in print (but not like the Bossman’s block print), typewriter font and calligraphy-esque styles like Copperplate and Italic. My go-to nib size from any maker/country/region is Medium. I also prefer broader nibs as well as stubs/italics. I rarely reach for Extra Fine.
Pilot asked that I dip these pens instead of inking them up, which I don’t think is the best way to test the flow in the nibs. I dipped, then dragged the tip across the ink bottle so there wouldn’t be blobs of ink on the page.
All of the writing samples were done in the Maruman Bodoni A5 Notebook I was given a bottle of Iroshizuku Sui-gyoku, which had been dipped into with a variety of other Iroshizuku inks (it’s pretty common for tester pens to get dipped into different bottles during shows), so the ink color might not be 100% accurate.
My Chinese teachers from high school would be shuddering, but hey, it’s accurate, just not beautiful. The character means “always” or “forever”.
Thank you Pilot USA for sending these 743s so I could do a nib showdown!
Last but not least, I mostly followed Brad’s formatting but I did not read his ranking so I wouldn’t be biased.

*Hey, Bossman! I have a new title! Can I get a raise now?*

*My aging eyes were so happy to be on #teamsticker even if the stickers didn’t all align with the front of the nib.*

*Based on writing samples of all of these nibs, do you think you can tell which ones I will like more than others? Also, sorry, I can’t seem to get my columns straight, shrug, lol.*

14. Posting

Given that I tend to dislike extra fine nibs and I have a very steep writing angle, this nib was my least favorite to use. It felt like I was writing on the top of the nib, with it almost curving backwards on the paper. The original idea behind the nib was to write on postcards, which had limited space and therefore the extra fine line allowed you to fit more words. The angle of the nib also made it very stiff, unlike their regular and soft nibs, so you could also write on multiple sheets, like with carbon paper (does anyone remember what that is?) or forms in duplicate/triplicate.

*That’s one heck of a fine line from the Posting nib.*

*You can see the downturn of the Posting nib, which gives it a firmer writing experience as well as a drier line.*

13. Extra Fine

Admit it, you knew this was coming. I don’t hate EF nibs, I just really don’t prefer them most of the time from any brand. That said, I definitely liked it more than the PO nib because I can still write with the nib at my high angle.

12. Fine

This may seem to be the next logical choice but it was a little harder than I expected it to be because of the next two in the list. The Fine is a great smooth nib if you need to make fine lines - I just don’t like fine lines as much.

11. Coarse

Goodness gracious, this is practically a Sharpie! It wrote like butter but I didn’t love it because I don’t have big handwriting. With my usual writing, the lines would end up running into each other. That said, this would be a great platform for a nib grind which is why I ranked this higher than the F.

*Of COARSE this is a fun nib if you need a thicc line.*

10. Soft Fine

I liked this more than the Fine because the slight bounce from the softer nib gives it an almost imperceptibly wider line and ever so slight line variation (more from the release of pressure than from adding pressure). That said, it’s still a bit too fine for me.

*Soft Fine, you were almost number nine!*

9. Waverly

Unlike the Posting nib, the Waverly was designed with a slight upturn on the tip of the nib, which makes it much more pleasant for folks who “push” their nibs, like lefties. As a rightie, I didn’t really notice the difference as it still wrote with a smooth, slightly broader than Fine Medium line. I’m sure I’d rank this much higher if I was a leftie, but since I’m not, I’d pick any of the remaining nibs instead of trying to hunt this one down.

*The Waverly’s upturn is more noticeable from the side.*

8. BB / Double Broad

Am I giving everyone whiplash going back and forth between the extreme nib sizes? I liked the not-quite-as-insane width of this nib compared to the Coarse but it is still too broad for my everyday use. As with the Coarse nib, this would also be a great canvas for a nib grind.

The bottom seven were fairly easy to pick but the top seven were much harder to choose from, so I used two criteria to help me decide: (1) what would be a better everyday writer for me and (2) what nib would I pick to buy next.

7. Fine Medium

This one was REALLY hard for me to put in this spot, but having owned this nib in both the size 10 and 15 sizes, I have come to accept that while it is a great writer, it is, say it with me, just a bit too fine. It is a very practical size for every day but this inkophile wants to lay down more ink, and go through fills quickly and this FM is too fine to do that.

*FM, I loved you so much, I got Masuyama to make my 823 M into an FM, but alas, you’re too fine for everyday now.*

6. Medium

Yep, my go-to nib size, Medium, barely made the top half of this list! It is such a nice and smooth writer that I wish I had more size 15 M nibs (I have had one ground to an FM and another ground to a Cursive Italic).

*Medium is 6th because I’d rather get one of the other remaining nibs first, it’s not cuz I don’t love you.*

5. Broad

I am shocked that I don’t have any Broad nibs in either the 10 or 15 size, though I do have it in a VP nib and it’s glorious. This would be a great ink layer-downer nib without having an overly broad line and as such would be a great addition.

4. FA or Falcon nib

Not to be confused with the Falcon pen (aka Elabo), the FA nib has cutouts on the side of the nib that gives it the ability to flex a bit. It is not like vintage flex, more like semi-flex. The size 15 FA is actually stiffer/firmer than the size 10 FA, and gives slightly less line variation than the 10. I have both and prefer the 10 FA because I do like to slow way down and write in a Copperplate-like style when using it. Even though I already have one, I wouldn’t turn down another FA if it were to cross my path.

*You can see the cutouts from the top of the FA nib.*

3. Soft Medium

I don’t have this nib and I want it. I love the slight bounce that this gives over the Medium, but it also makes the line a touch wider too. I could have easily swapped the M and SM spots but this one ranked higher because I don’t have one. Yet.

2. Stub

As someone who occasionally likes to do italic calligraphy, as well as write cursive with stub nibs, I was really curious to see how Pilot’s stub nib would feel. I absolutely loved writing with it! It is a fairly smooth stub, unlike Pilot’s sharper steel nibs like the ==CM== (Calligraphy Medium) which are more like italics. The only reason this is ranked second is because this wouldn’t be as practical for me as an everyday writer.

*Stub, where have you been all my life?*

1. Soft Fine Medium

I have the SFM in size 10 and absolutely love the nib so I wondered if the size 15 would elicit a similar response and omg, yes, it does! The slight softness of the nib makes the line a bit broader than the regular FM, which means it is the perfect width. I really enjoyed writing with this nib and am waiting for the right pen to show up with this nib in it!

*Soft Fine Medium, I knew I loved you in size 10 and now I know I love you in size 15.*

And there you have it, my ranking of the size 15 nibs from the Pilot Custom 743 collection! I can’t wait to see what the Bossman thinks when he gets his hands on the set. Size 15 nib throw down, coming to a TPA near you!

*It’s the circle of life, I mean, nibs!*

Oh, one more thing, this article also marks my 3 year anniversary of writing for The Pen Addict! Thank you so much to Brad “The Bossman” Dowdy for giving me this opportunity and not giving me the boot (yet)! And a heartfelt thank you to all of you for reading, commenting and encouraging me - it really means a lot! Onwards to more wordy articles, hahaha!

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Pilot, Fountain Pens, Nibs, Pen Reviews.

Who Wore It Better? Pilot Custom Heritage 92 Clear vs TWSBI 580 ALR Black

The TWSBI 580 ALR Black arrived this week and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities with the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 Clear that was inked up in my pen binder. So, just for grins, I thought I’d do a little showdown to see “who wore it better!”

Aesthetics

Both the Pilot CH 92 and TWSBI 580 ALR Black are demonstrators with smoke or black accents, respectively. The Pilot has translucent black, aka smoke, finial and piston knob but the grip is clear, though the nib housing is black. The TWSBI has black aluminum accents on the finial, black trim ring around the piston knob, as well as a black ridged grip section. The TWSBI’s black matte aluminum cap band makes the white lettering of the branding very obvious, and not necessarily in a good way. Both have black plastic pistons which makes them look even more similar. I like the black furniture a bit more on the TWSBI but the white lettering is a bit of a turnoff for me. The Pilot is classic and understated, almost too much so.

Winner - Tie, but with a wee lean towards Pilot.

Pilot Custom Heritage 92 Clear (left) and TWSBI 580 ALR Black (right). At a casual glance, these two could be siblings but take a closer look and decide for yourself if they are similar enough to own both.

*The white lettering seems harsh against the black cap band.*

The lettering on the ALR Punch Pink and Navy Blue is also white, but it just looks more drastic to me on the black cap band. Maybe they should have done something more subtle like they did with the AL Smoke Rose Gold and White Rose Gold.

Nib

I got the TWSBI with a steel 1.1 stub while the PIlot has a 14kt gold, number 5 Medium nib. I do have many other 580s with other nibs and the writing experience is similar among the steel nibs. They are firm and generally feel fairly smooth, though I wouldn’t call them buttery. Their Fine is about as fine as I like, with Medium being my favorite nib size from TWSBI. They are similar in feel to steel Jowo nibs. The Pilot is lovely to write with, and the Medium is buttery smooth. It feels wee bit softer than the 580 without being bouncy or flexy. For me, it’s not even a contest nibwise.

Winner - Pilot.

Pilot (left) inked with Sailor 50 States Texas, TWSBI (right) inked with Pennonia x Amarillo Stationery Rosa Mexicano - Can’t tell from a picture how they write but they are both solid writers, but the feel is different. Gotta try it for yourself, or just take my word for it. ;-)

Ink Capacity

The Pilot has an ink capacity of ~1.28ml while the TWSBI can hold almost 2ml of ink. Both of these hold way more ink than I ever want in a pen, so for me, ink capacity is fairly unimportant. But if you want more ink in your pen, gotta go with the TWSBI.

Winner - Tie, unless you care about ink capacity in which case, TWSBI

Feel in Hand - Grip

The Pilot is a bit slimmer than the TWSBI and has a very subtle shape to the grip which prevents your fingers from slipping on the smooth plastic grip section. The TWSBI has the textured grip section which gives it a more tactile sensation to the grip and the flare on the end is more pronounced than on the Pilot. This one was tough to choose but as I prefer slightly girthier pens, I went with the TWSBI, but both are comfortable for long writing sessions.

Winner - TWSBI

Pilot (left)’s grip is straighter and the smooth, unintrusive threads are relatively flush to the barrel. The TWSBI’s flared grip section is more noticeable next to the near-parallel Pilot grip and the texture of the ridges is subtle while providing a non-slippery grip.

Feel in Hand - Weight

Uncapped and empty, the Pilot weighs about 0.4 ounces (12 g) while the TWSBI weighs 0.60 oz (~17g). I can definitely tell the difference in weight but it isn’t something that made much of a difference to my hand when writing for a long time. Since I don’t have a preference weight-wise between these two pens, there is no winner. Winner - Tie

Length

Unposted (which is how I use pretty much all my pens), the Pilot CH 92 is a bit shorter than the TWSBI, 4.8” vs 5.2”. The length of both pens were fine in my hand. The Pilot can be posted while the TWSBI wasn’t designed to be; as such, the TWSBI is absurdly long and back-weighted if you attempt to post it and you may, over time, scuff and damage its piston knob.

Winner - Tie (unless you like longer or shorter pens)

*The Pilot (left) is a bit shorter than the TWSBI.*

*Both pens were comfortable in hand and I didn’t notice the difference in length or weight.*

*The length difference when posted is pretty significant.*

*The TWSBI is ridiculously long when posted and imbalanced.*

Price

The US price for the Pilot CH 92 is $240 vs $65 for the TWSBI ALR. Yes, there’s a gold nib on that Pilot, but for reasons unknown to me, the clear CH 92 has always had a premium compared to the other colors of the CH 92, which aren’t readily available in the US market. This pen can be found for 100-120 shipped from Japan and this is one of those times when the price difference is so big that it’s hard to justify the higher US price tag. If I had to pay $240 for the Pilot CH 92, the reality is, I probably wouldn’t own one. The TWSBI 580 ALR at 65 is a good price for a workhorse of a pen (just don’t do stuff like store it with your keys, bang it around in a backpack or crank on the cap or grip or piston knobs.) However, if you’re able to get the Pilot for $100 or even $150, it would be Pilot, hands down because I like the nib so much more, but if you can’t, then it’d have to be the TWSBI.

Winner - It’s complicated.

In the end, there were a lot of ties and some complicated answers with respect to pricing, as well as personal pen preferences. While they may look similar and share some similar qualities (piston fillers, demonstrators, not too heavy or girthy,) they don’t write similarly enough for me to hands-down pick just one of them. I love my TWSBIs for everyday writing and there is almost always one (or more) inked up in my binder but the Pilot really elevates the writing experience for me. So if you can, get them both, but if you already have a TWSBI, consider saving up for the Pilot Custom Heritage 92.

(Disclaimer: Both pens are my own. The Pilot was bought second hand, possibly on eBay, 4-5 years ago. The TWSBI was purchased from Lemur Ink.)