Pilot 78G Fountain Pen Review

I'm continually surprised by the fountain pens that can be had for less than twenty dollars. I have a few, and they've mostly been delightful to use and share with others who are interested in fountain pens. Today I'll be focusing on the Pilot 78G.

I first learned about the 78G after reading a couple of reviews from PenFan and The Daily Acquisition. To be honest, I've had many Pilot fountain pens on my wish list for quite some time, but most of them are a little expensive. After reading these reviews, I quickly found a reputable eBay dealer and bought a pen to try. The pen shipped from Hong Kong, so it took a week and a half to arrive. For a "cheap" pen, it has not let me down. I think I paid $12 for the pen with shipping, which is a few bucks cheaper than the Metropolitan.

The nib is a very smooth writer, which I expected from a Pilot. The fine nib is on par for the Japanese nibs – nice and small. I used the black ink cartridges that came with the pen, though it also came with a converter. The converter is the type that is included with the Metropolitan. The black ink from Pilot is dark and quick to dry.

The ergonomics of the pen are comfortable, but they detract from the aesthetics. It's light, which makes it ideal for long sessions, but it also looks like brittle plastic and attracts scratches from minor use. I'm not a fan of the gold trim, but that's included on all the color options. In general, I don't expect it to look amazing because of the cost. The aesthetic concerns vanish once I start writing or drawing.

This pen is similar in price to the Sailor High-Ace Neo, and I sometimes favor that pen over the 78G. It's a tough call, but the Sailor puts down a finer line. The pens feel similar in my hand, so maybe I'm just partial to the Sailor because of the silver trim.

Overall, I don't think you can find many pens with such good value and solid performance. It can be slightly difficult to find one, but I had very good luck with eBay. There are several colors (black, red, teal, and green) and nib options (F, M, and B) to choose from. Some sellers even sell packs of several colors. If you are looking for a cost-effective Pilot for yourself or a fountain pen beginner, the Pilot 78G is a good place to start.

Pilot Razor Point Review

When I was a younger pen addict back in the late 70's and early 80's one of the highlights of my summer was when my grandfather would take me to the LSU campus bookstore. I already had a strong affinity for quality pens at a young age, and the campus bookstore was my candy store. In retrospect, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the LSU engineering department (your jokes will be accepted in the comments section) for stocking all of the cool writing instruments and paper that a kid like me could hope for.

There were two primary pens I was after when setting foot in the bookstore: The Pilot Precise (bonus points if you remember the ivory and baby blue barrels) and the Pilot Razor Point. The best thing about the bookstore carrying those pens? They came in all the colors! Black and blue were obvious, but I always managed to come home with green, red, and purple too.

The Razor Point was my favorite, and the genesis of my love for fine tipped drawing pens. At the time it couldn't be beat. I could draw my little towns and spaceships and anything else my brain could spew onto the page. It was the best.

To Pilot's credit, they have left the Razor Point unchanged since I first started buying it decades ago. It provides a sharp, fine, black line and consistent performance. The tip is prone to breaking down though, despite the metal collar under the plastic tip. This is why I used to buy them by the dozen. The ink also bleeds more than today's pens with updated technology, like the Sakura Pigma Micron or Sharpie Pen.

Despite those flaws, the Razor Point is a classic and brings back wonderful memories. Nothing beats seeing that little yellow circle popping out of the top of my pen cup.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Pilot Fude-Makase Color Brush Pen - Extra Fine - Orange Review

Over the past few years, it has become clear to me that there is almost no firm brush pen I won’t buy, even though the flexibility of a brush doesn’t really suit my ham-fisted hard-pressing writing style. When JetPens got the Pilot Fude-Makase Extra-Fine Brush Pen back in stock (as of this writing, they might be out again - they sell out fast!) I snapped up one in orange and one in pink to test them out.

I’ve only picked up a few softer broader brushes in my day, as I know full well those won’t suit my style. If that’s what you’re after, this definitely isn’t your pen of choice. It is much thinner and firmer than, say, one of Pilot’s Pocket Brush pens. The size and flexibility are somewhat similar to the Kuratake CocoIro Super Fine refills, but I’ve had always had problems with those pens having only two settings: too firm or too mushy. So, I was hoping that the Pilot Extra Fine would make for a good every day writer.

I suspect if you have a much lighter writing touch, you’ll love this pen. The brush doesn’t yield much, but you can definitely control line width easy while writing. I think I just write both too fast and too firm, so it ends up either just looking like boring old bullet-point marker strokes or I press too hard and end up mushing the brush rather than letting it glide across the paper.

Honestly, at the price point (around $3 if you can find them in stock), it is a pen that is worth taking a chance on, even if your writing style isn’t really brush pen-friendly. It comes in a wide variety of colors and, even if it doesn’t make your handwriting look stellar, makes for a nice pop of brightness when writing.