(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!.)
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.)
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