Pilot V Pen (Varsity) Review
Wonder what has everyone hot and heavy over the Pilot V Pen disposable fountain pen? This is EDC won’t break your budget, read the review of this starter…
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Pilot V Pen Design
What can you say? This is one simple, inexpensive pen.
And it looks it.
No one is going to mistake this for a $75 pen, but do you need them to? Honestly just removing the bar code sticker that came affixed to the cap of each pen increased its visual appeal in a couple of seconds.
Specs:
Nib Material: Steel
Nib Width: 7.5mm
Nib Length:19mm
Converter/Cartridge: Neither (Disposable)
Pull/Screw Cap: Pull
Capped Length: 129mm
Posted Length: 146mm
Un-capped Length: 112mm
Mid-Grip Width: 7mm
Cap Band Width: 10mm
Total Weight: 10g
Cap Weight: 3g
I bought these Pilot V pens in a 3-pack so I received a red, black and blue pen; it’s nice that both ends are color-coded with colored plastic blind caps to make it easy to identify the color you want in a pen cup.
I appreciate that the body on this fountain pen is designed clear, then there’s a stylized silver brand sticker that has a transparent swoosh through it that wraps around the body of the pen and works as an ink window. It’s mesmerizing to watch the red ink swish back and forth, but harder to see the darker blue and black inks swoosh by the window.
It’s disappointing that they’re disposable and non-refillable. I mean, most of us use fountain pens so we can refill with our favorite inks and have a pen with a little character. Well, there are pen hacks on how to refill this baby everywhere, but that’s beyond the scope of this review.
The clip is appropriately shaped like a “V” but ends in this big blob of a ball with a circular indent on either side.
Also kind of fun, are the internal fins that make up the feed. There’s a clear plastic body that houses the section and you can see all of the fins that run inside of it. The nib is pretty non-descript steel, stamped with Pilot, then an F for fine. What’s interesting is that the vent hole (typically a hole) is just a circular perforation on the Pilot V Pen. That difference doesn’t seem to affect the function of the pen, but mark that as duly noted!
How Does The Nib Perform On Different Papers?
Okay, Really? A $3 pen can write well?
YES!
I really struggled with doubt before un-capping this baby. I mean, how is a $3 pen going to stack up against other fountain pens when I’ve used pens worth more than $500 before?
Well, of course it doesn’t feel like an Aurora 88, but it does its job without skipping or hard starting. What’s missing in the writing experience between this and more expensive pens aside from aesthetics, is primarily a nib with character and responsiveness.
The nib of the V pen feels remarkably similar to an ultra fine Sharpie. It has an almost marker-like quality when writing that makes me long for my more expensive pens. The ride is stiff, as expected in a steel nib, but it’s smooth and controlled.
BUT…
There’s one use that this is great for. It’s a great beater pen that you can use without fear of losing; loan it out to friends to try their first fountain pen without worrying that they will spring the nib or drop your favorite fountain pen.
This pen is Captain reliable. It didn’t blob ink on my page, it didn’t ever hard start or skip. I love that it just keeps writing no matter what. I mean, I’m reviewing the Fine nib and used it on my toughest, grainiest handmade notebook paper and even the Fine nib stepped up and wrote across all of that grain and unevenness.
It is smooth, with some feedback. What I mean is, it’s not scratchy but the fine does bump along the paper allowing you to feel the grain so to speak. You can feel the paper as you write, the nib is on the dry side and allows you some feedback and doesn’t just glide across the paper with a silky smoothness of, say, the Platinum Music. But that’s an unfair comparison, different playing fields of price and nib size!
I used it on notebook paper for pages and pages of notes, both the blue and red pen. I just found it easy to carry and beat up in the bottom of my bag so I’d pull it out for work, at home to take notes from a book, just everywhere. The fine has very little bleed-through to the back of the page. If there’s a place you stop the nib and don’t pull off the page, you’ll see some bleed-through at that point, but for me it was only once or twice on a whole page of notes.
This is most certainly a great EDC pen. You won’t feel that sting of regret if you lose it or someone forgets to give it back.
The Cap – Screw/Pull/Post and What That Means
This is a pull off cap which I love. Quick ease of use and makes getting to the important part, your writing, that much faster. The pen is well-balanced when capped. It doesn’t pull, it’s extremely lightweight and the cap stays posted without wobbling off. It’s not top heavy either, just right.
Who is the Fountain Pen Good For? Is It a Good Overall Value?
Earlier on, I asked you if you wondered what got everyone hot and heavy over this pen.
Well it’s inexpensive, reliable, and it just plain works!
This is a pen for someone wanting to venture into the world of fountain pens without investing an arm and a leg. This is a great starter pen.
What’s great about it is its reliability and value. You can grab an entire set for under $10 and use whatever color suits your fancy. The Pilot V Pen comes with everything you need to write, no cartridges to buy, no ink bottles to store. How’s that for a cheap fountain pen?
Get the price of the Pilot V Pen now on Amazon.
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