Noodler's Ahab Flex Fountain Pen Review

(This is a guest post by Garrett Kubat. You can find more from Garrett on Twitter @gazkubat.)

Flex pens have been something both interesting and intimidating to me. On one hand the idea of a flexible nib for a varying line is intriguing. On the other hand, I have no skill at calligraphy and my handwriting is likely too poor to make an effective us of a flexible nib. Regardless of these factors I chose to dive in and purchase a Noodler's Ahab Flexible Nib Fountain Pen.

I was drawn to the Noodler's Ahab by three things:

1) The price of the pen is amazing. For $20 you receive a well crafted and solid fountain pen. As this was my first pen with a flexible nib this seemed to be an extraordinarily reasonable price for my newest pen adventure.

2) The appearance and feel of the pen is exceptional. There are by last count 48 different colour variations available so regardless of your personal taste there will be something that catches your eye. The body is made of a "celluloid derivative" which is almost soft and warms to the touch while feeling both solid and durable.

3) The pen comes with the ability to customize. The nib and feed are friction fit which allows for the user to adjust the position of the feed to suit their purposes. It is still something I am working on but I love being able to make my pen a wetter or drier writer to my own preference. For someone wanting a larger amount of ink the pen is easily converted into an eyedropper with an o-ring and some silicone grease giving it around 6.0 ml of ink capacity. Finally, the pen is able to fit different nibs if you are not interested in a flexible nib. More diversity is always a benefit and I have a EF nib on its way for when I want this to be a simpler writer.

This pen performs well. While other pens will certainly be smoother or more reliable this is a pen that is enjoyable to use. As you may have noticed in my writing sample I had a few issues with the line variance demonstration. I would blame my adjusting of the feed rather than the pen itself for some of the troubles, although the pen does occasionally run dry. This is not a pen that you take out of the box and immediately write with, it is something you use and adjust to fit your own needs. That being said, I would recommend this pen for anyone who wants something that can be customized and looks and feels great. For the price it is an exceptional pen.

Kaweco ART Sport Review

I hate the term but I am going to use it anyway: I am a Kaweco fanboy. They make some of the best products on the market, and I have yet to be disappointed by any that I have used. Their designs are unique, with just the right mix of historical style and modern edge. In other words, right up my alley.

When Kaweco offered me the chance to review a wide range of their products about a month ago I jumped at the opportunity. For the sake of disclosure, I received these products at no charge to review, although some of them will be returned when I am done. I will try to remember to include that in my Kaweco posts in the coming months but I wanted to put this out there in case I forget down the line.

With that out of the way, I am going to cut to the chase and review the one pen I was more eager to get my hands on than any other: The Kaweco ART Sport.

I have been a fan of the Kaweco AL Sport for years, and it remains one of my all-time favorite fountain pens to this day. The compact size, the quality construction, the smoothness of the nib. Kaweco nails it all. They did it again with the ART Sport.

The primary difference with the ART versus the AL is the use of CNC turned acrylic to make the barrels instead of aluminum. If you think the Amber model looks good in pictures you should see it in person. The depth of the pattern is stunning, especially in the right light. And there are eight more equally as cool colors to choose from.

One thing new in this pen that I hadn't tried before is Kaweco's bold nib. I have generally been averse to even trying anything wider than an EF nib, especially in a German pen. But as the old saying goes, try it, and you might like it. I did, and I do. Even more so, I love it and plan on keeping it. I can even look past the gold color!

Have I fawned enough yet? Seriously, this is a great pen and a perfect addition to the Kaweco Sport lineup. The ART Sport model doesn't seem to have wide distribution at the moment, but can be found randomly through a search. I wonder if Kaweco has bigger things planned for this line going forward?

Be sure to check out Stephen Brown's video review of the Kaweco ART Sport. He is part of the #KawecoKrew also, as Ed Jelley has perfectly tagged those of us who received this wonderful care package from Kaweco.

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.