PILOTPrera Fine-Nib, Slate Gray Body Fountain Pen (FPR-3SR-SGY-F)

The Prera was my step up from my first fountain pen purchase a few months back - a Pilot Kakuno also with a fine nib. I actually got a second Kakuno because I liked the first one so much, but then gave it to a friend so that I'd have an excuse to buy another pen. All three of the Pilots have been great writers out of the box - apparently having the same nibs, with subtle differences that may or may not be my imagination. I took this reliability for granted until encountering another fountain pen that had issues and did not write so well. To me, the Pilot fine nibs are fine enough for note taking and doing math work but also don't feel scratchy. I haven't tried many other nibs for reference though, and I'm curious how a Pilot EF nib would be.The solid color Preras look classy in my opinion - even more than the demonstrators - with the metal accents and the clip. Another Pilot option around this price range is the Explorer, but I'm just not as drawn to that aesthetic. The Prera is light weight but feels well made. Like many others have mentioned, the capping mechanism feels very satisfying. The pen is small and meant to be posted, but I find it comfortable to use unposted when I just need to take a few notes. The cap posts securely and makes it feel a bit more like a full size pen. For reference, I am a 5'10" guy and would say my hands are a little on the larger side. The round section has a bit of a different feel than the subtle triangular shape on the Kakuno. These don't have the large stepdown seen on the Metropolitan - the other highly recommended first fountain pen from Pilot - which ultimately led me away from that pen.For ink refills, the Prera can be fitted with some of the Pilot converters (not included) but not the big CON-70. However, I have just been refilling the cartridges. The opening of the Pilot cartridges is wide enough to use an eye dropper, if you happen to have one of those but not an ink syringe with a needle. This has worked well and I can do it without losing much ink or making a mess now. I did ruin a cartridge by squeezing it hard and cracking the plastic, so be careful if you're trying to reuse them. I really like the default Pilot ink for taking notes on copy paper and standard spiral notebooks. I picked up bottles of Namiki black and Namiki blue, which I believe are the same as the cartridge ink. I've also tried some of the Pilot mixable cartridges - they are compatible with the Prera and Kakuno, and the colors are nice, but they seem to bleed and feather somewhat more on my standard paper.For about $24 (the price I paid on Amazon), I am enjoying the Prera as a second fountain pen. I would still recommend the Kakuno as a first pen though - it's pretty tough to beat for about $10-12. Now the Prera serves as my primary telework pen and the Kakuno as my EDC pen. I would be interested if Pilot made a full size (or perhaps oversized) version of the Prera that otherwise has the same aesthetic if it were around the same price point.

I got the Prera in Lime Green, and I've been using it constantly since it arrived and I inked it up (Diamine Coral). Here are a few of my reflections/observations:• The lime green color of the pen in the listing photo, at least with my monitor's color calibration, is slightly more green and a little more fluorescent than it is in real life. That being said, I love the color of this pen. It is vibrant and saturated without being hard on the eyes. And the silver appointments and silver stainless steel nib go very well.• Weight-wise, this is a light pen. Due to the amount of metal on the cap, I'm pretty confident the cap bears the majority of that weight. So while it's perfectly serviceable to write with unposted, I find it too light, but posting the cap fixes that easily. When posted, it is very well-balanced, making the pen feel a little more substantial, but also keeping its lightness.• I would categorize this as a small pen. For some comparisons (capped), it is about 5/16" shorter than a Platinum Plaisir, 3/4" shorter than a Lamy Safari, 5/8" shorter than a Pilot Falcon., and about 9/16" shorter than a Sailor 1911S. And that is the same when they are posted as well, except for the Lamy Safari, which is about 1-3/16" longer. I would also say the body is about the same diameter as the Pilot Falcon and Sailor 1911S. Despite being short, it, again, feels well-balanced and nice in the hand while writing.• A converter did not come with the pen, but a cartridge did. I did not try the cartridge, so I can't say anything about that. Instead I ended up buying a Pilot CON-40 ink converter at the same time. It was kind of a bummer it was not included--it was an extra $5.49 at the time I bought it--but it was worth it to get separately.• The nib only came in one size, Fine, and it is indeed fine. At least when it arrived for me, I did not have to make any adjustments at all, and it wrote great right out of the box. It is a hard nib with no flex and has a pleasant amount of feedback without being scratchy.• I can't comment much on the clip since I don't really use them, but I shall try to expand a little. I tried slipping it onto the collar of my t-shirt, and I had to use two hands. I had a much easier time with the stiffer fabric of my front jeans pocket. I tried clipping on both the inside and outside of the pocket, and it clipped with almost no effort, so that was nice. The clip does have a little give to it at least, and it seems/feels like it would be a pretty strong clip.• The last thing I'll touch on is the cap itself. I've only had this pen inked up for a couple days, but so far I haven't had any hard starts at all. I'm assuming that a good portion of that credit goes to the seal of the cap (could be wrong though). In any case, I am such a huge fan of this cap. It's a snap/friction cap, so no threads or twisting involved. It comes off very smoothly and easily. When clipping to the outside of my jeans pocket, I just had to make sure to clip it on by holding the cap, not the body of the pen. Even though it is easy to uncap (uncapping with one hand using your index finger and thumb is effortless), it still seems pretty secure, and I have yet to have it come off accidentally. Capping the pen is just a smooth as uncapping, and it makes a very satisfying snap. Due to the ease of the friction cap, this is a perfect pen for when you need to take down a quick note. I just used it for one of my work meetings where I needed to be able to jot things down at a moment's notice, and it was great for that.In conclusion, I would highly recommend this pen in general. It's a great pen in a reasonable price range that writes well, feels good, and looks good. The cap just makes this pen an immediate go-to for quick notes, which is a huge win in my book. As the headline says, who knows, I may just have to get myself another Prera in the future. Anyway, I hope my novel of a review was helpful!

This is a very unique fountain pen.It's cheap with zero features of a cheap pen, it's light but has substance, it has a mass-produced nib (fine) that write smoother with perfect wetness than pens costing well over $100.The feed is designed differently than any other pen I own & works flawlessly.It'll be my EDC, if it's lost or damaged it's not a budget breaker.The nice finish & attention to detail is truly a mystery at this price.You couldn't find a nicer gift for someone needing a good reliable comfortable writing fountain pen & not a status symbol.

I cleaned my pen at work and left the nib drying overnight at the office and to my great distress, someone threw it away so I resolved to stop bringing any pens who I would be devestated to lose to work. Unfortunately now I would be devastated to lose this pen as it is such a nice pen. The only thing I dislike is that it's a bit short when posted for my particular preference. But a great, affordable pen (to anyone saying $20 is a lot for a pen, you're not wrong, but this is really a great value for dollar and is a great entry into the hobby)