PILOT "Capless (special alloy nib) / Silver [nib : Fine]

This purchase is my second Pilot Capless, my first is a Vanishing Point with rhodium gold nib in Medium. I managed to damage (drop) and repair (clumsily) my original Medium nib in my first pen and I wanted to get a "backup" pen with a "special alloy" nib in the event that I screw up my Vanishing Point again.The Capless is packaged less ornately than the Vanishing Point and with different accessories, but otherwise is functionally the same. The Capless comes with a plastic case, a black ink cartridge, and an empty cartridge that can be filled with a syringe. The Vanishing Point comes with an awful converter, so I find the empty cartridge a win in my book. The Capless I received came with a Fine nib but it is gold colored. It feel like it's just gold plated but it has a little bit of feedback and slight scratchiness that I expect from a stiffer nib. The Fine nib was excessively fine for my liking and actually wouldn't flow ink well until I ran a razor blade through the tines. It opened up a tiny bit and produces nice fine lines now.Some people may find the pocket clip weird and difficult to adjust to, but it honestly took me less than 10 minutes to find a way to hold it that created the perfect grip everytime. It's easy to grab, retract the nib, get writing, retract it back and toss it in a pocket. It's nearly as convenient as a retractable ballpoint with the coolness of a fountain pen. If I had a choice of buying this Capless versus a Vanishing Point I'd get the Capless. It presents a better value if you don't deeply care about a gold nib.

I prefer 0.38 ballpoint and rollerball since they most closely resemble 0.5 mechanical pencil writing. I'm picky with my pens cause i have to many, and a seasoned pen purchaser including Mont Blanc, ST Dupont, Dunhill, Parker and now the usual suspects fountain pen brands.Although I have 3 Sailors (EF & F), 2 Pelikans (EF), and Platinum (UEF), I gravitate towards Pilot fountain pens for their fine line width, the right amount of feedback, and their lack of ghosting/ bleeding with different inks & paper.This F nib even tames my most troublesome ink from ghosting/ bleeding.I enjoy writing with this pen.The knocker mechanism is smooth and satisfying, not to mention convenient. I don’t like the look of the pen profile and girth compared to my Decimo and Fermo, but the pen is still plenty attractive. You quickly get used to the clip placement.What's interesting is the nib's writing experience.The "Special alloy" nib is definately stiff compared to the bouncy Vanishing Point 18k EF & F nibs, but slightly bouncy compared to my Prera and Kakuno steel nibs. The line width falls right between my VP F and Prera F. Ink is less saturated then my 18k VP and steel Prera, but that's probably why there's no ghosting.This is a nice upgrade to my Prera without having to spend $150 on a Vanishing Point. I bought it to test out, and I'm keeping it.

It is a drier nib. I don't mind it - a property easily corrected with a wet ink. And I can use it for writing on paper that's not fountain pen friendly. Nib is significanly smoother than the majohn A1 dupe. Line width is much finer than the 18k pilot VP fine nib, but not as fine as the extra fine 18k nib. If you want something in between those two, this is great. Overall still a better pen than the majohn A1: smoother knock mechanism, better looking finish, nicer writing experience. It's worth the extra $$ to me.

Pen arrived well packed, but I noticed immediately that it didn’t have the warranty card that came with the exact same pen sold by another Amazon seller. Looked at the user guide, and it was for Pilot pen with a vacuum fill system. Alarm bells sounded in my head - how does a Vanishing Point pen get separated from its user manual? And the exact same pen I bought from another seller had the proper user guide. So that is the norm. The plastic sleeve over the pen had been pierced at the nib end, and I feared that the nib had been compromised. I started the return process without trying the pen.

Ok, first thing first, I'm just an average Joe with not much "fountain pen" experience. I do occasional paper work where I work and is how I based this review.Okay well I believe you can get by with this pen. I think the design is a-1. I got the gold nib and replaced this special alloy and my oh my, what a difference. So long story short, if you want the "vanishing point" go with the gold. The alloy is definitely dryer and could be okay, but the difference in alloy and gold was night and day and the gold was the experience I was looking for and has more give. Now I believe you will be okay with the special alloy if this is what you go with. This seller, I recommend. Thank you sincerely.

Pilot makes the best pens. This writes so smoothly and has not disappointed after a month of use.

I LOVE this pen. It writes super smoothly and has an amazing build quality. The click mechanism feels very premium and the overall feel of the pen is very nice.

I am so disappointed. I received the item loose with the ink cartridge already inserted. I got ink all over my hands and counter. The nib was damaged and scratchy.