@Markus What size nib is your Lamy 2000? I'm really considering one at the moment (current Safari owner). I like the M, I'm told the 2K nibs are different.
i dont mean to be so off topic but does anybody know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I was dumb forgot the account password. I love any assistance you can give me
@Roy Jacoby I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
As a Japanese would you please advise me as to which nib should I choose in a platinum 3776 century. I don't want too broad and too narrow. I like the feedback but I don't want it to be scratchy. Is a medium nib good to go?
@@san2881 Unfortunately, I only have two types of Platinum Century, F and SF. I've heard that B is very smooth and easy to write with. I'm sorry that I'm not much help.
@@san2881After living in Japan in 1968 and 1969, I fell in love with Japan. I did take a group of students to Japan in 2001, but I have had little chance to return. My best friend married an American educator’s daughter in Ibaraki, and they eventually settled up in the Sapporo area. I would love to visit them, as we are each in our late 70s now. I hate the cold though. My question is did you still hold to the Custom Urushi and it’s # 30 nib? I know Figboot loves the #50 on the Emperor, but I have a tendency to think the one I can stretch to buy, especially if I see an old Montblanc 149. Are you still happy with the Pilot Custom Urushi? Or, did you too reach for the Namiki Emperor?
I think Pilot Vanishing Point's 18kt gold nibs are criminally underrated. The pen being retractable completely overshadows the nib's performance. It's extremely smooth, and quite springy for how narrow it is.
I love how steep the pen can go without any performance issues! I write at a really steep angle (approaching 80 / 90 degrees) and my VP always delivers. Both the F and M nib have served me well. I'm waiting to try a Stub nib, maybe for the next special edition...
I agree. I'm a big fan of Pilots. I have several Falcons, some from the days when they bore the Namiki brand and more recent ones under the Pilot brand. Figboot is right that individual nibs on the same model of pen can have their own personalities. But I also have several VPs, in all sizes (B, M, F, and EF) and they are uniformly consistent and great writers. My only mild complaint about the VP is the way ink can build up in around the closure mechanism, but that just forces me to do regular cleaning of the pen, which is not a bad thing anyway.
@@rsanderson100 I wipe the "section" carefully every time I ink it. If no leaking occurs, the ink will only build up on the door, which is not an issue unless the ink which got stuck on the door is highly reactive ( Baystate Blue, for example).
I cannot afford gold nib pens. How about a list of top 10 steel nibs? And my biggest problem with steel nibs is that most pens uses either Bock or Jowo nibs. Should we consider in house tuning (Diplomat) or grinds (Franklin-Christoph)?
Gadget yoyo Until I got my first Lamy 2000 (on eBay), I rather had multiple Lamy Safari's, Al Stars or 4 TWSBI's Eco with different nib sizes. But nothing compares to my Lamy 2000 with an F nib. And you can only write with one pen at a time, can't you? Sell your Safari's and save for a Lamy 2000. You won't regret it for a minute!
Why are Jowo and Bock nibs a "problem?" Jowo in particular makes excellent nibs that can be tuned or ground to your taste. And both companies make gold nibs, while Bock also makes titanium nibs. To dismiss these excellent steel nibs as a problem doesn't make a lot of sense.
Gadget yoyo The Lamy Safari is a good pen, but the Diplomat Aero with a medium or broad nib is better and the Lamy 2000 with any size nib is better yet. Franklin Christoph is good, but I don’t find their nibs to be worth the money. So I agree that one Lamy 2000 is worth 5 Safaris.
I never thought I'd ever watch one of these list videos and agree with literally everything on it, but the day has come; even down to the honourable mentions and the Loom. Haven't tried three of them, but I can see why they'd be nice nibs. The only thing I'd add for people who love feedback is the Platinum President, which I think is both the best looking nib in existence and the best feeling heavy feedback nib. I have a theory about why Pilot/Namiki nibs feel so good. If you look at the tip of the nib, it isn't a smooth curve like any other nib. Instead, the Pilot nibs have this unique feature where the tines kink and narrow the part of the tines closest to the tipping. Seems to me like it acts as a little needle with a lot more spring to it than a straight curve from shoulder to tine.
My family has shifted over to mostly using Platinum nibs somewhat organically. It's only been this year that I discovered just how good the Platinum nibs are, after a long time with Montblanc and PIlot nibs. Platinum sort of swept through the house and took over. My everyday writing pens (which are always my current favorite nibs) are now a #3776 Music and UEF. I avoided the feedback train for too long, only to discover just how good it can be.
Just wanted to thank you. I purchased my first starter pen today and I got the Faber-Castell Loom. I was planning my first trip to the fancy pen shop near me on Friday then they announced on social media they were closing the shop again because of COVID numbers increasing. ☹️ Found a Loom in an art store and the color I liked was $15 less than the other colors for some reason. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 I purchased without being able to try it based on your recommendation and I couldn’t be happier. It’s so smooth and a great size for my hand and I like the weight versus some of the plastic and aluminum models I was considering.
I'm not surprised to see so many Pilot/Namiki nibs. Even though I only have inexpensive Pilots, I love the nibs. Also, thumbs up for the Leonardo and the Loom.
Thank you for this very well documented nibs comparison that encouraged me to make the big jump of buying a Namiki Emperor last month in Japan. Every day since that purchase, I enjoy the wonderful feeling of precision and dynamism in writing with it. Useful to mention indeed that my handwriting is different that with my other loved nibs (MB149, Pelikan1000, Lamy2000, Waterman Edson, Pilot 845…). It’s more expressive with the nib asking for bigger mouvements and allowing some changes in pressure safely. What a joy!
Great video, as always! I'd say my favorite nib is the nib on my 1950 pelikan 400. I got it from my grandfather (it was his pen) and it was in dire need of love. I fixed and tuned the nib, freed up the piston and polished out most of the scratches that were gathered by decades of use. It is just so supple, smooth and wet it is unbelievable. Next up would be my 18K Visconti HS F nib followed by the EF nib on my TWSBI Precision.
WOW! All Japanese top 3! Not surprising at all I guess. Sailor and Pilot are easy to recommend for that near perfect writing experience. And I appreciate how you don't write off those steel nibs just because they're inexpensive, I've had some amazing steel nibs in my collection too. If they were stamped 14K or 18K, no one would question if they were really gold or not. I just spent a bunch of time tuning, heat setting a $200 Bock #8 14K nib. It kept running dry even though there was enough spacing between the tines. I finally had to increase the air exchange by modding the feed to get the desired ink flow. It should have been perfect out of the box for the price.
Your Sailor King of Pens Pro Gear Sky... be still my heart. My favourite nib is the H-MF LF (Lefty) on my Sailor 1911L. I don't know what makes a "Lefty" nib a lefty, but writing with it feels better than the non-lefty one, for me anyway; and I'm right-handed. I tried different H-MF at the store, and I was always going back to this one. I didn't realize it was a "Lefty" until I got home. When I went back to get the silver trim, there were no more, and a restock wasn't planned. This was in the fall of 2018. I haven't seen any lefties anymore. My second favourite is my Fine 14kt nib on my Montblanc Meisterstück 144 - not nail hard at all. My third is the H-B 21kt on a 1911L, then my H-F 21kt (yup) on my 1911S. Honourable mention: Pilot Petit1. I love these types of videos. Thank you so much!
A couple of nibs I enjoy a lot and no one mentioned: 1) The red-lacquered steel Bock #6. It is not just the color, it is actually a lot more bouncy than other bock steel nibs. 2) The "flex" nib that comes on Ranga eyedropper pens - I am not sure who makes it, but it is amazing - smooth and bouncy
Great list and interesting video, but RUclips placed a commercial every two minutes in your video. That was quite off-putting. I don't know if you are aware of this.
I dont have any high end pens but my best nibs are my FC's and my Nemosine .6 & .8 stubs! They're extremly smooth and theyre really fun to use. Rip nemosine 😔
Would appreciate your take on the Indian nib maker/s as well as ink producers.. Hardly any choice for us even in good stationery shops anywhere here. Yours Aye, Commander Jasbir Singh Kochar. Writer.
Very nice stuff! Lol! Not the "Hall of very good" LoL! My current favorites are vintage, one is a stiff Sheaffer's Balance lifetime, two tone 14k, the other is an Eversharp Skyline 14k nib that currently lives in an Esterbrook J... I call the pen my Estersharp... LoL!
Riveting video. But the terrific pens themselves (excepting the F-C Loom) were a massive distraction. 🙂 I’ve forever been besotted with sublime nibs in any pen I’ve ever owned or used. This is a splendid list. The Visconti Blue Ripple, particularly, fills me with an aching yearning. Both the pen and that nib. I have a bevy of beloved nibs. A few that instantly spring to mind are (in random order): 18k Broad on my Sheaffer Legacy II 18k Broad - on four of my eight Aurora 88 pens 18k Broad Cursive Italic - Pilot Silvern Tsumugi (sterling silver) 18k Medium - Waterman Exception 21k Broad - Sailor KoP
Great video Dave and a great concept. The heart of the fountain pen IS the nib. i gotta agree with many of you choices but may i add in a few of my favorites: The Platinum 3776 century Kumpoo Soft M nib, Nakaya Heki Tamenuri Soft M nib, Aurora Optima Med nib, Pilot VP med nib and Omas Paragon Med. What do you think?
Bryan thank you for mentioning the Platinum Kumpoo with Soft Medium nib. It is glorious! I will have a Omas Paragon Medium in just a few hours and am thrilled you mentioned it. Was also disappointed the Platinum President not on this list as it has a great nib. You never see me post comments but had to let you know I Agree with you. .Thanks so much. Barbara
A bit surprised to not see the diplomat aero pen, since you mentioned few times is among your personal favourites. Still, thanks for the review, keep learning about pens with you
This was fun and instructive to watch. Thanks. This list is very much a personal taste list. For me, if I cannot get a lot of line variation I am not interested in the pen. In addition I just cannot enjoy any nib thicker than an EF point. I would also include some vintage pens to my list. And you did not include nibs that were modified. I would have added some that I have. So I guess I will have to do what you just did but with my favorites. Thanks again for the video.
Did you ever make one of these list videos? We have similar preferences so I checked out your channel but didn’t see one. What are the best/your favorite nibs that meet this criteria (very fine + capable of producing some expressive line variation) and are readily available (i.e. non-modified and not rare vintage)?
Number 9 on your list uses a bock nib. Why mention the pen when the bock nib is interchangeable. The actual pen body has no bearing on nib performance. I was under the impression that the pen manufacturer also produce the nib. Why not purchase an inexpensive pen and insert a bock nib? Why use an expensive Konid pen to demonstrate the bock nib? Nonsense.
The Loom (F) is the greatest value for me. Lamy 2000 (OM), Pelikan M600 (BB, a bit stiff, but very smooth) are great. On a budget I would also recommend TWSBI Eco (B), in a different league, but for everyday throwaround: great!
@@dariusus9870 Maybe that nib would need some work. Strangely in the shop my F nib was smoother than the M. You can see with a magnifying glass if the tines are well aligned. If it is scratchy that would be my first point to look at.
Interesting list of your personal top 10 nibs. I’m sure it has changed since you made this video. It’s very hard to believe the Faber-Castel Loom edges the Pelikan M 1000 nib but I respect your choices.
I received your letter yesterday, thank you very much! Communication Breakdown really describes my letter well! It definetly is a ink I will look into though, it looks fantastic.
why is the 823 only an honorable mention when the nib is the same as your 845? from a nib video standpoint, seems like the 823 should also be ranked #4 here :) anyhoo thanks for the list! i've been hunting for the best nib experiences myself. don't think i'll ever get an emperor or an urushi or a KOP (all too big)-- hopefully will get too try those at some point. that said, good to see that the #15 pilot nibs are essentially the best as that's also been my fave so far so seems like i'm not even missing much.
I love the 0.6 Stub Nemosine Nibs. They are so smooth and I can use them even though I write small. Sadly they are no longer but I was able to hoard a few nibs!
I feel like it as a near perfect daily driver nib. It feels awesome, gets the job done every time and I don't have to worry too much about damaging it. I'm dying to try some of Pilot's high end nibs tho.
David. Great review and list here. I am looking to replace the nib on my Fuliwen World Map pen. Could you recommend a nib that would both fit and give me a great writing experience. I am looking for a FINE nib. I am a noobie pen enthusiast and know nothing about replacing nibs. Thanks,
I’ve been wanting to see a video like this. It’s hard to parse how different pen manufacturers tune their nibs in comparison to each other and you do a good job describing how each of them feel.
Nice list . Another nib that I am constantly amazed by is the steal nib on the Leonardo Furore - possibly the best steal nib I have ever used. Some interesting nibs in your video that I want to try.
I have a Moonman T1 with a fine steel nib that is nearly glassy smooth. Along with the medium 14k nib on my Pelikan 605 they are my best performing ones. Followed by a broad steel nib on a TWSBI Diamond 580 and fine steel nib on a TWSBI Diamond Mini. Need to obtain a Faber Castell Loom next. Thanks for your Videos! Always a pleasure to watch!
@Figboot on Pens May I ask which nib you will be reviewing on the Scribo? The reason I ask is that I'm about to pull the trigger on a Scribo Feel without having an opportunity to try it personally. For me this is a huge investment, so I'd prefer not to make a mistake. I've watched every review I could find and still can't decide on a nib. Right now, it's down to fine flex or medium flex. I'd love to see your review before I decide. Oops, I meant to put this in the main comments, not the replies. Sorry!
Interesting to see Pilot dominating the list with three in the top five, if you count Namiki as part of Pilot. Quite interesting also to see that Japanese pens comprise the entire top five. A very fascinating video. :) My top nibs would be a broad nib on the Pilot Custom 823, a broad on my Aurora 88 Nettuno and the broad on my Visconti Novelli. :)
Great list. I have the Visconti and Pelican. And yes they all have their personalities. I also believe that of all my pens, the best nibs are: ST Dupont Line D L'Ateler and even smoother is the older Delta Dolce Vita Large nib which is huge and is as smooth as butter.
A little surprised that a video supposedly concentrating on nibs didn't go more into the nib manufacturer of each offering rather than the pen upon which it resides. Let's face it, very few of the pen manufacturers produce their own nibs. It's fun to see such lists, but ultimately entertainment is its only real value when two identical pens featuring two identical nibs can have completely different feels.
I appreciate your description of the Pelikan M800 nib, it makes it definite for me not to get one. I hate glassy smooth nibs, which had been my main complaint about my Lamy 2000 until I got it re-ground.
I have two Pelikan pens. One has a medium nib which writes more like a broad and has a stubbish quality. It is smooth and a wet writer. I like it. The other had a very smooth, non-bouncy, fine nib. It was boring to me, so I switched it to a medium with an architect grind, and now I like it. So I agree, if you don’t like smooth nibs, you might not like the Pelikan.
My collection is only just, getting started but I think my favourite nib I'm gonna split into gold & Steel. Gold has to be my Parker Sonnet Medium. It is so smooth & very wet. It's glorious. Steel has to be my italix Parson's Essential medium. It actually writes a little fine, & has a nice feedback. I love it.
You mentioned Mike Matsuyama several times. I have a Franklin Christoph Panther with a Matsuyama 14K medium Cursive Italic that is in my top 10 nibs. It is a custom grind, but all of the others on my list are "out of the box" nibs. They include a Montblanc JFK with a BB nib, at Montblanc Unicef Legrand with OB nib, a Lamy Studio with 14K medium nib, a Waterman Carene with 14k medium nib, and a Faber Castell Loom with Broad steel nib. I love very smooth nibs - the "writing on glass" smoothness. So, I appreciate your description of the Pelikan 800. And I would very much appreciate hearing your comments on the Scribo. My favorite pen "guru" has suggested that a Scribo should be my next pen.
I just recently had my Great Grandfather's Parker Vacumatic Major (1945q2) with a 14k gold nib (fine, I believe), and it's now my favorite to write with. it's silky even on the copier paper I have to write on at work.
Thanks, this was very informative. Some other nibs I find great and would recommend: 1) Aurora nibs are amazing. They are stiff but smooth and very precise. 2) Santini: the regular gold nibs are somewhat similar to the Auroras in their pleasant feedback. 3) Parker Duofold nibs are also stiff but they are glass smooth. 4) Leonardo steel nibs are amazing. (The are made by Bock, but tuned/modified by Leonardo) The best steel nibs I have. +1) It's fun to have a titanium nib in your collection, it's a significantly different writing experience.
+1 on issues with Leonardo. Their steel Bock nibs are hit and miss, with a lot of misses. They are switching to Jowo as we speak - probably shows the level of unhappiness...
The Namiki Emperor would have to be at the top of my "want" list for pens, but after experiencing Montblancs, Pilots, Visconti's, Watermans, and Monteverde, my whole house has been surprisingly drifting towards Platinum's nibs. I had dismissed Platinum for a while (generally preferring to stick with Montblanc and PIlot's), but after being really impressed with the steel nibs on the Preppy's and on my wife's Curidas, I picked up a #3776 in UEF and another Music nib (unlike you I tend to only go on extremes, since I generally write (aspirationally) calligraphically with flex nibs or stub/italic nibs), and they pretty much instantly replaced my other nibs for "love to write with" and the overall experience. The nibs themselves are really nice to look at, but the intentionally feedback heavy and stiff nib characteristics that I had previously dismissed grew on me almost instantly. I have so much control and precision with the nibs, and they are surprisingly comfortable to use and a pleasure to experience. After using the smoothly ground Montblancs and Pilots as my daily pens for so long, the Platinum nibs were something of a revelation to me in terms of the virtues of the often decried feedback and stiffness of a nib, something that other equally stiff nibs haven't been able to do before this. There really is something special in the Platinum nib design and grind, to me, at least. It also doesn't hurt that Platinum's feed design really strikes me as exceptionally well done, especially when comparing Music nibs and feed designs across the various makers. Still doesn't stop me from wanting that absolutely delicious and covetable Namiki Emperor though. ;-)
Are the Pelikan M800 nibs true to size. I know you've said the M1000 nibs write much thicker and have heard that many places however I was not sure if this was specific to M1000 or all Souverän pens.
@@FigbootonPens I see. Do you have any M800's you could do a writing sample of or perhaps a video on this subject already? I want to be able to see negative space in between both upper & lower case letters on dot grid paper but also want to have a nib that lays a good flow of ink down and clearly demonstrates all the shading characteristics of most inks. I find that some Japanese EF nibs are too narrow to truly demonstrate strong shading in most inks. I'm leaning towards an F M800 but would consider EF if you think the F writes more like a Medium. Thanks for making such informative videos. Definitely subscribed to the channel.
My absolute favourite is my Platinum 3776 EF which I reach for first every time; don’t get me wrong: I love my Pilot Custom 823 F (and actually prefer my many Pilot Prera F’s!) and my assorted Sailor pens are perfectly tuned things of joy, but, as I said, for reasons I can’t really explain, it’s the Platinum for me every time(my Platinum UEF is difficult to beat too, although it’s a bit like writing with a pin head!:) - got very small handwriting so has to be Japanese nibs for me!; great vid, thanks
Know you rate Pilot: have had spectacular success with their steel nibs - have 6 ‘F’ Prera’s which just write perfectly, 2 ‘F’ Lucina’s, a lovely cursive fine Pluminix and my first fp: a ‘M’ Pilot Retro - so their steel nibs are unbeatable, my experience with gold nibs is somewhat different: I have 3, my first is my Pilot Custom 74 ‘F’ which is just perfect; then I bought my ‘grail pen’: a Pilot Custom 823 ‘F’ which has slightly pinched tines and then I bought another Pilot Custom 74 ‘EF’ which has even more pinched tines - this combined with your experiences as well as others I follow on RUclips makes me think Pilot really needs to work on their quality control for gold nibbed pens: I have 3 Platinum gold nibbed pens all perfectly tuned, including an UEF! and 3 Sailor gold nibbed pens also all perfectly tuned: Pilot needs to up it’s game!:)
Wonderful list of modern pens. No disagreement. I would add in HM, Visconti Homo sapiens Bronze Age. But truthfully nothing beats the Waterman Ideal 52 flexible nib. 92 years older and writes like a dream. Most inexpensive great nib, Muji aluminum. Damn good nib for under 20.00.
I think my favorite nibs in my collection is on my Pineider quill nib forged carbon fiber pen. Very bouncy joyous writer. All my Lamy both gold and steel nibs are nice and smooth. I have 2 old Mont Blanc Nobless one steel one 14k that are nice writers. Just got a vintage 254 that is becoming one of my favorits. I have several Pilots, E95s and Vanishing point and vintage Elites, all wonderful writers. Pilots like Lamy are always reliably nice writers. Sometimes the difference btw good and great are hard to decide. If I had the money, I would go for a Sailor King of Pens, or the Pilot Custom Urushi or the Emperor but can't. I love the look of some of the Visconti, but have heard over and over that their nibs can be a crap shoot and most end up at nib meisters to make them usable. Which tells me that Visconti doesn't seem to have quality Control check their nibs.
10. Faber-castell Loom Medium nib 9.Conid Bulk filler kingsize Medium nib 8. Visconti Blue Ripple Medium nib 7. Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Extra fine nib 6. Omas Milord Arco Medium nib (feels like a fine nib) 5. Danitrio Genkai Medium nib? 4. Pilot 845 Medium nib 3. Sailor King of Pen Medium nib 2. Pilot Custom Urushi Medium nib 1. Namiki Emperor Medium nib Honorable mentions Pilot Custom 823 Pilot Falcon Lamy 2000 Pelikan M1000 Monblanc 149 Pelikan 805
Hi David - thank you for this video, it was a great idea. Would I be able to ask a question? I am interested to know how you feel the Pilot Custom 823 nib compares to the others that actually made it on the top 10 list. I do have a Faber-Castell Loom with both the Fine and Medium nibs (which are surprisingly different from each other) and noticed that it made your list above the 823, which was just an honorable mention. I've long been eyeing the 823 as a bit of a stretch goal, so I would really be interested to hear your thoughts on how it compares, maybe especially with the F-C Loom and Lamy 2000. Thanks! Ken
WELL... okay... You're probably NOT going to like it, but I'll play, too... haha... GOOD LUCK finding a fountain pen or adapter to use them... BUT I'm an artist, and we are a bit of a flaky and dubious bunch. I'd have to say I LOVE my D. Leonardo No. 120 Catwinkel nib... BUT my FAVORITE is a Hunt No. 102 Crow Quill lithography nib... When working on a scenery, you just can't beat that nib and the right ink for NAILING the tiniest thistle-fuzz down the stems or cross hatching so fine someone would have to put his forehead RIGHT ON the picture to see that they are (in point of fact) parallel hatching lines in both directions... and not some cleverly magical way to get a neutral gray series of shades out of plain black India Ink on typing or copy paper... AND yeah, if you know anything about ink on paper or line and wash, you know just how damn difficult and dubious THAT sentiment really is. Don't get me wrong, I can get along just fine, in the roughing in stages of sketch, working about any of the Fine and Extra Fine nibs. I almost always end up polishing a new nib with my usual slab of leather... It's impregnated (by my own hand) with valve grinding compound on the suede side... AND black jeweler's rouge on the opposite (skin) side... About 2 minutes of "figure-8" strokes with varying angles and rotations to the pen and I flip the leather exposing the rouge... and 2 minutes or so more of the same, and I alcohol and swab it off... a fine stiff nylon brush is employed to get debris out from between the tines... and it's almost no trouble at all to get writing as smooth as silk stockings on a high polished marble floor... minus the broken legs of course... haha... ;o)
Hard to argue with this list, David! Least wise, I hit on most of the honorable mentions (823, Falcon, 2000 and Pelikan M800 for me) and a couple of the "true" top 10s -- F-C Loom, Momento Zero Grande, Omas Arco and in wait for my birthday, the Pilot 845. I have to agree with your comments on the M-Z-G -- what a terrific writer and that's with the steel nib! You've inspired me to put my F-C Loom back into rotation.
Thanks for this video. I enjoyed it a lot! Curious how the nibs on the ASC Bologna and the Wahl-Eversharp Decoband ranked? Given your reviews of both, it was surprising neither made even honorable mention. Anyway, thanks again for your work!!
I would like to see a review of fine nibs. I used to go with mediums all the time, but now use fine. The reason is paper: for everyday writing, I'm not going to buy Rhodia or the like, I'm going to grab a few sheets from the laser printer. My Lamy al Star with a fine nib, does a great job with no bleed through. Or maybe make the review "best nibs for cheap paper".
Interesting how 4 of these pens are from Japanese manufacturers, with 3 being from Pilot. For some reason I thought you prefered western manufactured pens. Live and learn. Very nice video and thank you for sharing.
Nice ranking :) Pilot nibs are great whatever the price range. I'm in love with the Emperor and the Custom Urushi (which are the ones I use the most), but if you don't want to go the 4-digits-price-tag, one of my favorite I can recommend from them is the "basic" (hem) 14K medium on Namiki Tradition (their entry level maki-e ebonite pens). To me it's butter smooth and can easily stay 15/20 minutes uncapped without drying (and depending of the ink sometimes without any hard-start, like the Pilot Falcon SE btw). The con of this is I hardly use my capless now ^^.
It doesn't help that most of them are attack ads. The interupting ads can be turned off while keeping the pre-roll and post-roll ads that everyone is willing to suffer through to support the video, but while four ads is pushing it, fourteen is way over the line.
Very interesting list! Thanks, David. For the first time, I have _none_ of the items in your final 10 list. I do own and very much like two of your three honorable mention nibs, so your top 10 must be spectacular.
Thanks for a thought-provoking and entertaining video. I was very surprised when you got to the King of Pen at No.3, but I quickly deduced what must then be in first place. I do admire the gorgeous Omas Arco.
I love the M nib on my Sailor 1911L-the feedback on it is really pleasant and makes it stand out among my pens. I’ve got a Pilot Custom 74 (also M nib) coming and I’m curious to see how it compares to the Sailor. I’ve branched out from my favorite M nibs into B and my favorite so far is a Lamy B mounted onto my stainless steel Lamy Studio-smooth with a nice wet ink flow. For a shot time, I did have a FC Loom and while I liked the nib and how it wrote, I didn’t like the polished grip, as it tended to be too slippery for my fingers so I sold it. I would be willing to give it another try, with a grip that has the more matte finish.
Pilot is more smooth than Sailor, which is matter of taste. I like more feedback for glossier paper I usually work with and Sailor is more exotic brand than Pilot. But there are many people that prefer Custom 74. I like Sailor convertors more than confusing mess of Pilot models, they are smaller in capacity but clean out quickly and fit perfectly. Cartridges are similar, I use them only occasionally.
You know it is going to be a good list when the pilot custom 823, Lamy 2000, Pelikan 1000 and 805, and Montblanc 149 all made honourable mention.
Hahaha!
@Markus What size nib is your Lamy 2000? I'm really considering one at the moment (current Safari owner). I like the M, I'm told the 2K nibs are different.
i dont mean to be so off topic but does anybody know of a way to log back into an Instagram account?
I was dumb forgot the account password. I love any assistance you can give me
@Roy Jacoby I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Roy Jacoby It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thanks so much, you really help me out!
My favourite’s the Pilot Kakuno. That happy face is the best part of the nib!
Underrated Pen, its my favorite too!
As a Japanese, I am very happy to see that Japanese fountain pens dominate the top rankings.
I also love custom URUSHI.
As a Japanese would you please advise me as to which nib should I choose in a platinum 3776 century. I don't want too broad and too narrow. I like the feedback but I don't want it to be scratchy. Is a medium nib good to go?
@@san2881 Unfortunately, I only have two types of Platinum Century, F and SF.
I've heard that B is very smooth and easy to write with. I'm sorry that I'm not much help.
@@san2881 There is a comparsion of all 3776 century nibs from Yoseka Stationery.
@@san2881After living in Japan in 1968 and 1969, I fell in love with Japan. I did take a group of students to Japan in 2001, but I have had little chance to return. My best friend married an American educator’s daughter in Ibaraki, and they eventually settled up in the Sapporo area. I would love to visit them, as we are each in our late 70s now. I hate the cold though. My question is did you still hold to the Custom Urushi and it’s # 30 nib? I know Figboot loves the #50 on the Emperor, but I have a tendency to think the one I can stretch to buy, especially if I see an old Montblanc 149. Are you still happy with the Pilot Custom Urushi? Or, did you too reach for the Namiki Emperor?
I think Pilot Vanishing Point's 18kt gold nibs are criminally underrated. The pen being retractable completely overshadows the nib's performance. It's extremely smooth, and quite springy for how narrow it is.
I love how steep the pen can go without any performance issues! I write at a really steep angle (approaching 80 / 90 degrees) and my VP always delivers. Both the F and M nib have served me well. I'm waiting to try a Stub nib, maybe for the next special edition...
@@Honeycreepin I own a VP stub and it shines when used at a steep angle.
I agree. I'm a big fan of Pilots. I have several Falcons, some from the days when they bore the Namiki brand and more recent ones under the Pilot brand. Figboot is right that individual nibs on the same model of pen can have their own personalities. But I also have several VPs, in all sizes (B, M, F, and EF) and they are uniformly consistent and great writers. My only mild complaint about the VP is the way ink can build up in around the closure mechanism, but that just forces me to do regular cleaning of the pen, which is not a bad thing anyway.
@@rsanderson100 I wipe the "section" carefully every time I ink it. If no leaking occurs, the ink will only build up on the door, which is not an issue unless the ink which got stuck on the door is highly reactive ( Baystate Blue, for example).
Can't agree with more!!! 💯💯
I cannot afford gold nib pens. How about a list of top 10 steel nibs? And my biggest problem with steel nibs is that most pens uses either Bock or Jowo nibs. Should we consider in house tuning (Diplomat) or grinds (Franklin-Christoph)?
@The Truth I can get 5 Lamy Safari for the price of 2000
Gadget yoyo Until I got my first Lamy 2000 (on eBay), I rather had multiple Lamy Safari's, Al Stars or 4 TWSBI's Eco with different nib sizes. But nothing compares to my Lamy 2000 with an F nib. And you can only write with one pen at a time, can't you? Sell your Safari's and save for a Lamy 2000. You won't regret it for a minute!
Why are Jowo and Bock nibs a "problem?" Jowo in particular makes excellent nibs that can be tuned or ground to your taste. And both companies make gold nibs, while Bock also makes titanium nibs.
To dismiss these excellent steel nibs as a problem doesn't make a lot of sense.
I love my Diplomat Aero in broad. Its a great pen
Gadget yoyo The Lamy Safari is a good pen, but the Diplomat Aero with a medium or broad nib is better and the Lamy 2000 with any size nib is better yet. Franklin Christoph is good, but I don’t find their nibs to be worth the money. So I agree that one Lamy 2000 is worth 5 Safaris.
I never thought I'd ever watch one of these list videos and agree with literally everything on it, but the day has come; even down to the honourable mentions and the Loom. Haven't tried three of them, but I can see why they'd be nice nibs. The only thing I'd add for people who love feedback is the Platinum President, which I think is both the best looking nib in existence and the best feeling heavy feedback nib.
I have a theory about why Pilot/Namiki nibs feel so good. If you look at the tip of the nib, it isn't a smooth curve like any other nib. Instead, the Pilot nibs have this unique feature where the tines kink and narrow the part of the tines closest to the tipping. Seems to me like it acts as a little needle with a lot more spring to it than a straight curve from shoulder to tine.
My family has shifted over to mostly using Platinum nibs somewhat organically. It's only been this year that I discovered just how good the Platinum nibs are, after a long time with Montblanc and PIlot nibs. Platinum sort of swept through the house and took over. My everyday writing pens (which are always my current favorite nibs) are now a #3776 Music and UEF. I avoided the feedback train for too long, only to discover just how good it can be.
Just wanted to thank you. I purchased my first starter pen today and I got the Faber-Castell Loom. I was planning my first trip to the fancy pen shop near me on Friday then they announced on social media they were closing the shop again because of COVID numbers increasing. ☹️ Found a Loom in an art store and the color I liked was $15 less than the other colors for some reason. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 I purchased without being able to try it based on your recommendation and I couldn’t be happier. It’s so smooth and a great size for my hand and I like the weight versus some of the plastic and aluminum models I was considering.
Have fun with your new toy!
are you using a fine or medium nib?
@@aegystierone8505 it came with a medium nib which is my preference.
I'm not surprised to see so many Pilot/Namiki nibs. Even though I only have inexpensive Pilots, I love the nibs. Also, thumbs up for the Leonardo and the Loom.
Thank you for this very well documented nibs comparison that encouraged me to make the big jump of buying a Namiki Emperor last month in Japan. Every day since that purchase, I enjoy the wonderful feeling of precision and dynamism in writing with it. Useful to mention indeed that my handwriting is different that with my other loved nibs (MB149, Pelikan1000, Lamy2000, Waterman Edson, Pilot 845…). It’s more expressive with the nib asking for bigger mouvements and allowing some changes in pressure safely. What a joy!
Great video, as always!
I'd say my favorite nib is the nib on my 1950 pelikan 400. I got it from my grandfather (it was his pen) and it was in dire need of love. I fixed and tuned the nib, freed up the piston and polished out most of the scratches that were gathered by decades of use. It is just so supple, smooth and wet it is unbelievable.
Next up would be my 18K Visconti HS F nib followed by the EF nib on my TWSBI Precision.
WOW! All Japanese top 3! Not surprising at all I guess. Sailor and Pilot are easy to recommend for that near perfect writing experience. And I appreciate how you don't write off those steel nibs just because they're inexpensive, I've had some amazing steel nibs in my collection too. If they were stamped 14K or 18K, no one would question if they were really gold or not.
I just spent a bunch of time tuning, heat setting a $200 Bock #8 14K nib. It kept running dry even though there was enough spacing between the tines. I finally had to increase the air exchange by modding the feed to get the desired ink flow. It should have been perfect out of the box for the price.
Your Sailor King of Pens Pro Gear Sky... be still my heart.
My favourite nib is the H-MF LF (Lefty) on my Sailor 1911L. I don't know what makes a "Lefty" nib a lefty, but writing with it feels better than the non-lefty one, for me anyway; and I'm right-handed.
I tried different H-MF at the store, and I was always going back to this one. I didn't realize it was a "Lefty" until I got home. When I went back to get the silver trim, there were no more, and a restock wasn't planned. This was in the fall of 2018. I haven't seen any lefties anymore.
My second favourite is my Fine 14kt nib on my Montblanc Meisterstück 144 - not nail hard at all.
My third is the H-B 21kt on a 1911L, then my H-F 21kt (yup) on my 1911S.
Honourable mention: Pilot Petit1.
I love these types of videos. Thank you so much!
A couple of nibs I enjoy a lot and no one mentioned:
1) The red-lacquered steel Bock #6. It is not just the color, it is actually a lot more bouncy than other bock steel nibs.
2) The "flex" nib that comes on Ranga eyedropper pens - I am not sure who makes it, but it is amazing - smooth and bouncy
Thanks for sharing, very entertaining. I miss the inlaid Sheaffer nib, like in the Legacy or PFM.
Waterman Carene 18k gold medium. Great looking and glass-smooth writer.
I have the fine and it's also a wonderful nib to write with.
@The Truth yeah ! same for caran d'ache .
Love that loom nib, posts well too. That would be a good top ten list also, “top 10 best posting fountain pens”.
Great list and interesting video, but RUclips placed a commercial every two minutes in your video. That was quite off-putting. I don't know if you are aware of this.
I agree
I dont have any high end pens but my best nibs are my FC's and my Nemosine .6 & .8 stubs! They're extremly smooth and theyre really fun to use. Rip nemosine 😔
I didn't know that Nemosine just shut down its business, I do have Nemosine Singularity fitted with Franklin Christoph 1.5mm stub HP Steel.
The Loom is smooth, but velvety smooth instead of silky smooth.
Ha
Would appreciate your take on the Indian nib maker/s as well as ink producers.. Hardly any choice for us even in good stationery shops anywhere here.
Yours Aye,
Commander Jasbir Singh Kochar. Writer.
Very nice stuff!
Lol! Not the "Hall of very good" LoL!
My current favorites are vintage, one is a stiff Sheaffer's Balance lifetime, two tone 14k, the other is an Eversharp Skyline 14k nib that currently lives in an Esterbrook J... I call the pen my Estersharp... LoL!
Awesome Omas Arco block! You are the coolest of the pen guys. I love admiring your collection.
Riveting video. But the terrific pens themselves (excepting the F-C Loom) were a massive distraction. 🙂
I’ve forever been besotted with sublime nibs in any pen I’ve ever owned or used.
This is a splendid list. The Visconti Blue Ripple, particularly, fills me with an aching yearning. Both the pen and that nib.
I have a bevy of beloved nibs. A few that instantly spring to mind are (in random order):
18k Broad on my Sheaffer Legacy II
18k Broad - on four of my eight Aurora 88 pens
18k Broad Cursive Italic - Pilot Silvern Tsumugi (sterling silver)
18k Medium - Waterman Exception
21k Broad - Sailor KoP
Great video Dave and a great concept. The heart of the fountain pen IS the nib. i gotta agree with many of you choices but may i add in a few of my favorites: The Platinum 3776 century Kumpoo Soft M nib, Nakaya Heki Tamenuri Soft M nib, Aurora Optima Med nib, Pilot VP med nib and Omas Paragon Med. What do you think?
Bryan thank you for mentioning the Platinum Kumpoo with Soft Medium nib. It is glorious! I will have a Omas Paragon Medium in just a few hours and am thrilled you mentioned it. Was also disappointed the Platinum President not on this list as it has a great nib. You never see me post comments but had to let you know I Agree with you. .Thanks so much. Barbara
A bit surprised to not see the diplomat aero pen, since you mentioned few times is among your personal favourites. Still, thanks for the review, keep learning about pens with you
It was close to making the list. It's in the thumbnail, if that counts for something. :-)
This was fun and instructive to watch. Thanks. This list is very much a personal taste list. For me, if I cannot get a lot of line variation I am not interested in the pen. In addition I just cannot enjoy any nib thicker than an EF point. I would also include some vintage pens to my list. And you did not include nibs that were modified. I would have added some that I have. So I guess I will have to do what you just did but with my favorites. Thanks again for the video.
Did you ever make one of these list videos? We have similar preferences so I checked out your channel but didn’t see one. What are the best/your favorite nibs that meet this criteria (very fine + capable of producing some expressive line variation) and are readily available (i.e. non-modified and not rare vintage)?
Number 9 on your list uses a bock nib. Why mention the pen when the bock nib is interchangeable. The actual pen body has no bearing on nib performance. I was under the impression that the pen manufacturer also produce the nib. Why not purchase an inexpensive pen and insert a bock nib? Why use an expensive Konid pen to demonstrate the bock nib? Nonsense.
Scribo! Happy to hear you'll be discussing-- I'm very interested but know just about nothing about them. Really looking forward to this one!
Just got a Pilot Custom Urushi and the nib is absolutely sensational. Perfect ink flow, touch of tactile feedback, hint of flex. Gorgeous.
The Loom (F) is the greatest value for me. Lamy 2000 (OM), Pelikan M600 (BB, a bit stiff, but very smooth) are great.
On a budget I would also recommend TWSBI Eco (B), in a different league, but for everyday throwaround: great!
@@dariusus9870 Maybe that nib would need some work. Strangely in the shop my F nib was smoother than the M.
You can see with a magnifying glass if the tines are well aligned. If it is scratchy that would be my first point to look at.
Great review. Thanks. Also like the stainless steel nib on the Pineider Avatar UR. I have it in F.
Interesting list of your personal top 10 nibs. I’m sure it has changed since you made this video. It’s very hard to believe the Faber-Castel Loom edges the Pelikan M 1000 nib but I respect your choices.
Great review, but from a person with atrocious handwriting and excess cash.
I received your letter yesterday, thank you very much! Communication Breakdown really describes my letter well! It definetly is a ink I will look into though, it looks fantastic.
why is the 823 only an honorable mention when the nib is the same as your 845? from a nib video standpoint, seems like the 823 should also be ranked #4 here :) anyhoo thanks for the list! i've been hunting for the best nib experiences myself. don't think i'll ever get an emperor or an urushi or a KOP (all too big)-- hopefully will get too try those at some point. that said, good to see that the #15 pilot nibs are essentially the best as that's also been my fave so far so seems like i'm not even missing much.
It’s not the same.
I love the 0.6 Stub Nemosine Nibs. They are so smooth and I can use them even though I write small. Sadly they are no longer but I was able to hoard a few nibs!
It's a shame Nemosine went out of business. I really miss their inks.
#1:Titanium stub on 1st. Gen Stipula 22.
#2: Delta m Millennium nib
#3: Sheaffer Balance m
I absolutely love the nib on my Pilot Custom Heritage 92. It's smooth with a touch of feedback and has a little line variation as well
The CH92 is high on my list as well. It made the "long list" for me, but not the short one.
I feel like it as a near perfect daily driver nib. It feels awesome, gets the job done every time and I don't have to worry too much about damaging it. I'm dying to try some of Pilot's high end nibs tho.
David. Great review and list here. I am looking to replace the nib on my Fuliwen World Map pen. Could you recommend a nib that would both fit and give me a great writing experience. I am looking for a FINE nib. I am a noobie pen enthusiast and know nothing about replacing nibs. Thanks,
Sorry. I am not aware of what replacement nibs (if any) will work with that specific pen.
I’ve been wanting to see a video like this. It’s hard to parse how different pen manufacturers tune their nibs in comparison to each other and you do a good job describing how each of them feel.
My 18k vanishing point ef is so smooth yet so loud. Writing on cheap paper as a lefty makes a racket and i love it.
Nice list . Another nib that I am constantly amazed by is the steal nib on the Leonardo Furore - possibly the best steal nib I have ever used. Some interesting nibs in your video that I want to try.
do u know of any nib manufacture produces absolutely plain (not decorated) nibs? I am a minimalist art enthusiast - the more plain the better.
I have a Moonman T1 with a fine steel nib that is nearly glassy smooth. Along with the medium 14k nib on my Pelikan 605 they are my best performing ones. Followed by a broad steel nib on a TWSBI Diamond 580 and fine steel nib on a TWSBI Diamond Mini. Need to obtain a Faber Castell Loom next. Thanks for your Videos! Always a pleasure to watch!
While I don't have the pens on this list, the Pelikan M805 is my favorite pen in my collection.
The loom seems like a grea value
It is. The section is not for everyone, but it's a great pen.
Anyone knows if all Faber Castell steel nibs are the same? because I like other Faber Castell pens, but I don't really like the design of the Loom
@Figboot on Pens May I ask which nib you will be reviewing on the Scribo? The reason I ask is that I'm about to pull the trigger on a Scribo Feel without having an opportunity to try it personally. For me this is a huge investment, so I'd prefer not to make a mistake. I've watched every review I could find and still can't decide on a nib. Right now, it's down to fine flex or medium flex. I'd love to see your review before I decide. Oops, I meant to put this in the main comments, not the replies. Sorry!
@@marilyngardner4269 It's a Feel...fine nib. I have not had the chance to ink it up, though.
I actually use the Loom's nib with my TWSBI Eco. The TWSBI feed fits fine with it.
Interesting to see Pilot dominating the list with three in the top five, if you count Namiki as part of Pilot. Quite interesting also to see that Japanese pens comprise the entire top five. A very fascinating video. :)
My top nibs would be a broad nib on the Pilot Custom 823, a broad on my Aurora 88 Nettuno and the broad on my Visconti Novelli. :)
Great list. I have the Visconti and Pelican. And yes they all have their personalities. I also believe that of all my pens, the best nibs are: ST Dupont Line D L'Ateler and even smoother is the older Delta Dolce Vita Large nib which is huge and is as smooth as butter.
A little surprised that a video supposedly concentrating on nibs didn't go more into the nib manufacturer of each offering rather than the pen upon which it resides. Let's face it, very few of the pen manufacturers produce their own nibs. It's fun to see such lists, but ultimately entertainment is its only real value when two identical pens featuring two identical nibs can have completely different feels.
Among the cheap, the KAIGELU "EF", fitted in the MOONMAN 'Sandalwood' it has been an unexpected surprise to me.
I love my 823 with FA nib
I appreciate your description of the Pelikan M800 nib, it makes it definite for me not to get one. I hate glassy smooth nibs, which had been my main complaint about my Lamy 2000 until I got it re-ground.
I have two Pelikan pens. One has a medium nib which writes more like a broad and has a stubbish quality. It is smooth and a wet writer. I like it. The other had a very smooth, non-bouncy, fine nib. It was boring to me, so I switched it to a medium with an architect grind, and now I like it. So I agree, if you don’t like smooth nibs, you might not like the Pelikan.
I actually sold my m800 a few month back bc I don’t like how smooth it is.
Mike Shi I understand why.
It’s funny how tastes are different. His description cemented my desire for an M800!
@@fearlessknits yeah lol. Me too, pretty much. I think i would go for a medium hmmmmmmm...
Got my eyes on the m800
My collection is only just, getting started but I think my favourite nib I'm gonna split into gold & Steel.
Gold has to be my Parker Sonnet Medium. It is so smooth & very wet. It's glorious.
Steel has to be my italix Parson's Essential medium. It actually writes a little fine, & has a nice feedback. I love it.
Hello Mr David. Please tell me which of the following have larger nib.
a) Mont blanc 149
b) Pelikan M1000
The MB is wider, and the M1000 slightly longer.
@@FigbootonPens Thank you sir for your response.
I love the close-ups of the nibs! While I am getting into some vintage nibs, there is something special about these more modern nibs.
You mentioned Mike Matsuyama several times. I have a Franklin Christoph Panther with a Matsuyama 14K medium Cursive Italic that is in my top 10 nibs. It is a custom grind, but all of the others on my list are "out of the box" nibs. They include a Montblanc JFK with a BB nib, at Montblanc Unicef Legrand with OB nib, a Lamy Studio with 14K medium nib, a Waterman Carene with 14k medium nib, and a Faber Castell Loom with Broad steel nib. I love very smooth nibs - the "writing on glass" smoothness. So, I appreciate your description of the Pelikan 800. And I would very much appreciate hearing your comments on the Scribo. My favorite pen "guru" has suggested that a Scribo should be my next pen.
I just recently had my Great Grandfather's Parker Vacumatic Major (1945q2) with a 14k gold nib (fine, I believe), and it's now my favorite to write with. it's silky even on the copier paper I have to write on at work.
Thanks, this was very informative. Some other nibs I find great and would recommend: 1) Aurora nibs are amazing. They are stiff but smooth and very precise. 2) Santini: the regular gold nibs are somewhat similar to the Auroras in their pleasant feedback. 3) Parker Duofold nibs are also stiff but they are glass smooth. 4) Leonardo steel nibs are amazing. (The are made by Bock, but tuned/modified by Leonardo) The best steel nibs I have. +1) It's fun to have a titanium nib in your collection, it's a significantly different writing experience.
My Leonardo Momento Zero didn't write out of the box. I had to get them to send a replacement.
+1 on issues with Leonardo. Their steel Bock nibs are hit and miss, with a lot of misses. They are switching to Jowo as we speak - probably shows the level of unhappiness...
Thanks for a very interesting review. It's fun to contrast and compare what I own with what someone else has experienced with the same model nib/pen.
The OMAS acro celluloid nib , you say it's 14kt but tgr pictures shown says it's 18k what's the reality?
It's 18k...I just misspoke.
@@FigbootonPens thank you. A Big fan from India . Keep up the good work
Great presentation as expected. RS.
The Namiki Emperor would have to be at the top of my "want" list for pens, but after experiencing Montblancs, Pilots, Visconti's, Watermans, and Monteverde, my whole house has been surprisingly drifting towards Platinum's nibs. I had dismissed Platinum for a while (generally preferring to stick with Montblanc and PIlot's), but after being really impressed with the steel nibs on the Preppy's and on my wife's Curidas, I picked up a #3776 in UEF and another Music nib (unlike you I tend to only go on extremes, since I generally write (aspirationally) calligraphically with flex nibs or stub/italic nibs), and they pretty much instantly replaced my other nibs for "love to write with" and the overall experience. The nibs themselves are really nice to look at, but the intentionally feedback heavy and stiff nib characteristics that I had previously dismissed grew on me almost instantly. I have so much control and precision with the nibs, and they are surprisingly comfortable to use and a pleasure to experience. After using the smoothly ground Montblancs and Pilots as my daily pens for so long, the Platinum nibs were something of a revelation to me in terms of the virtues of the often decried feedback and stiffness of a nib, something that other equally stiff nibs haven't been able to do before this. There really is something special in the Platinum nib design and grind, to me, at least.
It also doesn't hurt that Platinum's feed design really strikes me as exceptionally well done, especially when comparing Music nibs and feed designs across the various makers. Still doesn't stop me from wanting that absolutely delicious and covetable Namiki Emperor though. ;-)
One day I’d love to own a gorgeous celluloid fountain pen. All the Omas I’ve seen on videos are breathtaking.
My favorite steel nib is the Diplomat Aero. I have broad and fine. They are amazing!
Are the Pelikan M800 nibs true to size. I know you've said the M1000 nibs write much thicker and have heard that many places however I was not sure if this was specific to M1000 or all Souverän pens.
More true than the M1000, but I find them to be bit on the broad size of each tipping.
@@FigbootonPens I see. Do you have any M800's you could do a writing sample of or perhaps a video on this subject already?
I want to be able to see negative space in between both upper & lower case letters on dot grid paper but also want to have a nib that lays a good flow of ink down and clearly demonstrates all the shading characteristics of most inks. I find that some Japanese EF nibs are too narrow to truly demonstrate strong shading in most inks.
I'm leaning towards an F M800 but would consider EF if you think the F writes more like a Medium.
Thanks for making such informative videos. Definitely subscribed to the channel.
@@thomascampanis It was several years ago...but there is a M805 review on my channel.
Glad that I have one of your top ten. I absolutely love the M nib of the 845. I hope to be able to try the top three one day.
My absolute favourite is my Platinum 3776 EF which I reach for first every time; don’t get me wrong: I love my Pilot Custom 823 F (and actually prefer my many Pilot Prera F’s!) and my assorted Sailor pens are perfectly tuned things of joy, but, as I said, for reasons I can’t really explain, it’s the Platinum for me every time(my Platinum UEF is difficult to beat too, although it’s a bit like writing with a pin head!:) - got very small handwriting so has to be Japanese nibs for me!; great vid, thanks
Know you rate Pilot: have had spectacular success with their steel nibs - have 6 ‘F’ Prera’s which just write perfectly, 2 ‘F’ Lucina’s, a lovely cursive fine Pluminix and my first fp: a ‘M’ Pilot Retro - so their steel nibs are unbeatable, my experience with gold nibs is somewhat different: I have 3, my first is my Pilot Custom 74 ‘F’ which is just perfect; then I bought my ‘grail pen’: a Pilot Custom 823 ‘F’ which has slightly pinched tines and then I bought another Pilot Custom 74 ‘EF’ which has even more pinched tines - this combined with your experiences as well as others I follow on RUclips makes me think Pilot really needs to work on their quality control for gold nibbed pens: I have 3 Platinum gold nibbed pens all perfectly tuned, including an UEF! and 3 Sailor gold nibbed pens also all perfectly tuned: Pilot needs to up it’s game!:)
Wonderful list of modern pens. No disagreement. I would add in HM, Visconti Homo sapiens Bronze Age. But truthfully nothing beats the Waterman Ideal 52 flexible nib. 92 years older and writes like a dream. Most inexpensive great nib, Muji aluminum. Damn good nib for under 20.00.
Agree on Muji. No question.
15:35 it's actually a Chinese word calligraphy origin from the Chin dynasty but the meaning is right, "emperor".
こんにちは ♪ ・Unintelligible. The nib you see here looks very bad. Japanese opinion.。However, the Visconti is a good fountain pen.
I think my favorite nibs in my collection is on my Pineider quill nib forged carbon fiber pen. Very bouncy joyous writer.
All my Lamy both gold and steel nibs are nice and smooth. I have 2 old Mont Blanc Nobless one steel one 14k that are nice writers. Just got a vintage 254 that is becoming one of my favorits. I have several Pilots, E95s and Vanishing point and vintage Elites, all wonderful writers. Pilots like Lamy are always reliably nice writers. Sometimes the difference btw good and great are hard to decide.
If I had the money, I would go for a Sailor King of Pens, or the Pilot Custom Urushi or the Emperor but can't. I love the look of some of the Visconti, but have heard over and over that their nibs can be a crap shoot and most end up at nib meisters to make them usable. Which tells me that Visconti doesn't seem to have quality Control check their nibs.
If you had given me a Faber-Castell Loom, I wouldn't even need to write with it. The grip is distinctive enough :)
10. Faber-castell Loom
Medium nib
9.Conid Bulk filler kingsize
Medium nib
8. Visconti Blue Ripple
Medium nib
7. Leonardo Momento Zero Grande
Extra fine nib
6. Omas Milord Arco
Medium nib (feels like a fine nib)
5. Danitrio Genkai
Medium nib?
4. Pilot 845
Medium nib
3. Sailor King of Pen
Medium nib
2. Pilot Custom Urushi
Medium nib
1. Namiki Emperor
Medium nib
Honorable mentions
Pilot Custom 823
Pilot Falcon
Lamy 2000
Pelikan M1000
Monblanc 149
Pelikan 805
Hi David - thank you for this video, it was a great idea. Would I be able to ask a question? I am interested to know how you feel the Pilot Custom 823 nib compares to the others that actually made it on the top 10 list. I do have a Faber-Castell Loom with both the Fine and Medium nibs (which are surprisingly different from each other) and noticed that it made your list above the 823, which was just an honorable mention. I've long been eyeing the 823 as a bit of a stretch goal, so I would really be interested to hear your thoughts on how it compares, maybe especially with the F-C Loom and Lamy 2000.
Thanks!
Ken
WELL... okay... You're probably NOT going to like it, but I'll play, too... haha...
GOOD LUCK finding a fountain pen or adapter to use them... BUT I'm an artist, and we are a bit of a flaky and dubious bunch. I'd have to say I LOVE my D. Leonardo No. 120 Catwinkel nib... BUT my FAVORITE is a Hunt No. 102 Crow Quill lithography nib... When working on a scenery, you just can't beat that nib and the right ink for NAILING the tiniest thistle-fuzz down the stems or cross hatching so fine someone would have to put his forehead RIGHT ON the picture to see that they are (in point of fact) parallel hatching lines in both directions... and not some cleverly magical way to get a neutral gray series of shades out of plain black India Ink on typing or copy paper...
AND yeah, if you know anything about ink on paper or line and wash, you know just how damn difficult and dubious THAT sentiment really is.
Don't get me wrong, I can get along just fine, in the roughing in stages of sketch, working about any of the Fine and Extra Fine nibs. I almost always end up polishing a new nib with my usual slab of leather... It's impregnated (by my own hand) with valve grinding compound on the suede side... AND black jeweler's rouge on the opposite (skin) side... About 2 minutes of "figure-8" strokes with varying angles and rotations to the pen and I flip the leather exposing the rouge... and 2 minutes or so more of the same, and I alcohol and swab it off... a fine stiff nylon brush is employed to get debris out from between the tines... and it's almost no trouble at all to get writing as smooth as silk stockings on a high polished marble floor... minus the broken legs of course... haha... ;o)
That OMAS Milord Arco is absolutely gorgeous. The little block of material you have is very cool.
Is the nib on the Omas Milord the same nib they used on the 360? I have one coming in the mail and I can’t wait to try it
Try the new montblanc 149 with their new flex nib it is really good
I started off getting medium bibs exclusively, then I got a stub nib, a fine non, now I’m waiting for my flex nib pen.
I love my namiki emperor 50 amd pilot custom urushi so much.
Hard to argue with this list, David! Least wise, I hit on most of the honorable mentions (823, Falcon, 2000 and Pelikan M800 for me) and a couple of the "true" top 10s -- F-C Loom, Momento Zero Grande, Omas Arco and in wait for my birthday, the Pilot 845. I have to agree with your comments on the M-Z-G -- what a terrific writer and that's with the steel nib! You've inspired me to put my F-C Loom back into rotation.
Thanks for this video. I enjoyed it a lot! Curious how the nibs on the ASC Bologna and the Wahl-Eversharp Decoband ranked? Given your reviews of both, it was surprising neither made even honorable mention. Anyway, thanks again for your work!!
I would like to see a review of fine nibs. I used to go with mediums all the time, but now use fine. The reason is paper: for everyday writing, I'm not going to buy Rhodia or the like, I'm going to grab a few sheets from the laser printer. My Lamy al Star with a fine nib, does a great job with no bleed through. Or maybe make the review "best nibs for cheap paper".
Interesting how 4 of these pens are from Japanese manufacturers, with 3 being from Pilot. For some reason I thought you prefered western manufactured pens. Live and learn. Very nice video and thank you for sharing.
Not nany still make their own nibs, and it shows. The Japanese companies still do, so that gives them a leg up.
I was hoping to see a Wancher Nib since I’ve ordered two of there pens. :)
I'm confident you will care for them. They make some very nice pens.
My two favorite nibs are the Platinum 3776 medium and a Jowo fine (I know, I know!) tuned to perfection by Brian Gray of Edison Pens.
I've also found that Japanese gold nibs are top tier, though I prefer the flashier body materials of most western pens.
Nice ranking :) Pilot nibs are great whatever the price range. I'm in love with the Emperor and the Custom Urushi (which are the ones I use the most), but if you don't want to go the 4-digits-price-tag, one of my favorite I can recommend from them is the "basic" (hem) 14K medium on Namiki Tradition (their entry level maki-e ebonite pens). To me it's butter smooth and can easily stay 15/20 minutes uncapped without drying (and depending of the ink sometimes without any hard-start, like the Pilot Falcon SE btw). The con of this is I hardly use my capless now ^^.
Wow I really think I need a Loom. Have heard only great things
My favorite nib is the Scribo 52 degree nib. Incredibly smooth and wet.
When it comes to nibs, there is no write or wrong...
My favorite is the Delta Dolce Vita Oversized. If you don’t have this pen, you should get one.
I care for mine a great deal. It could have easily made this list.
Ads before the video, and five ad interruptions with ten ads in total is really a bit much for a video of this length.
It doesn't help that most of them are attack ads. The interupting ads can be turned off while keeping the pre-roll and post-roll ads that everyone is willing to suffer through to support the video, but while four ads is pushing it, fourteen is way over the line.
Watch on Brave
The Wing Sung 6359 (Safari homage) pens the best extra-fine nibs I ever wrote with. About $2 each.
Too bad the Faber Castell Loom, a wonderful pen, is no longer made and rarely available, even on the secondary market.
Very interesting list! Thanks, David.
For the first time, I have _none_ of the items in your final 10 list. I do own and very much like two of your three honorable mention nibs, so your top 10 must be spectacular.
Without watching your video, I could never read your cursive. Great information video
Thanks for a thought-provoking and entertaining video. I was very surprised when you got to the King of Pen at No.3, but I quickly deduced what must then be in first place.
I do admire the gorgeous Omas Arco.
I love the M nib on my Sailor 1911L-the feedback on it is really pleasant and makes it stand out among my pens. I’ve got a Pilot Custom 74 (also M nib) coming and I’m curious to see how it compares to the Sailor.
I’ve branched out from my favorite M nibs into B and my favorite so far is a Lamy B mounted onto my stainless steel Lamy Studio-smooth with a nice wet ink flow.
For a shot time, I did have a FC Loom and while I liked the nib and how it wrote, I didn’t like the polished grip, as it tended to be too slippery for my fingers so I sold it. I would be willing to give it another try, with a grip that has the more matte finish.
Pilot is more smooth than Sailor, which is matter of taste. I like more feedback for glossier paper I usually work with and Sailor is more exotic brand than Pilot. But there are many people that prefer Custom 74. I like Sailor convertors more than confusing mess of Pilot models, they are smaller in capacity but clean out quickly and fit perfectly. Cartridges are similar, I use them only occasionally.
The variety of pens and the special interest videos that you produce are truly enjoyable and informative.
Thanks for watching!
@@FigbootonPens You are welcome.