the pilot kakuno is such a good fountain pen. genuinely one of the bear on the planet. ~$12 USD. like most modern fountain pen nibs, the kakuno nib does not flex (and if you try to flex it or any non-flexible fountain pen nib, including most modern gold nibs, it will splay, misalign, need adjustments, or break), but it does, however, write better than pens that cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars.
the nib on the pilot kakuno (steel pilot #5.5, swappable with every other pilot #5.5 pen nib) made me realize how much more I like writing with pilot steel nibs than almost every gold nib I have ever used. which is only a few, but still. when people say steel nibs can be better than gold nibs, nothing screams it louder than pilot.
if you have fountain pens, if you think "should I spend $300 on a fountain pen" and have never used a pilot #5.5 in a pen that takes a con-70 converter like the kakuno does, you are missing out.
I have never in my life used a bad kakuno. I have heard of a bad kakuno once, and I think it wound up being user error. every pilot kakuno fine writes the same line. every pilot kakuno medium writes the same line. without being cleaned/flushed first. and yet they are fully disassembleable if something goes horribly wrong!
meanwhile I have never had two lamy safaris write the same. sometimes their extra fines write thicker than their mediums. two extra fines are never the same. almost every single lamy safari line pen/nib I have used needed adjustments first. and they hold less ink than pilot and cost three whole kakunos.
the goal of a starter fountain pen is, in my opinion:
relatively cheap (~25USD and under usually)
steel nib (gold is easier to splay the times, especially for someone not used to using a fountain pen nib.)
refillable and straightforward filling mechanism capable of holding a lot of ink at a time (cartridge/converter typically, and if converter compatible, a quality converter)
straightforward to hold, gently shaped grip OR nib that easily writes, and writes consistently, at a lot of angles (big sweet spot)
does not need cleaning/flushing first
easy to clean (easy to remove nib, feed, fully take apart to its most basic parts)
multiple nib sizes and ideally easily swappable nibs
consistent quality of parts, consistent performance. all fine nibs should feel the same and write the same fucking size line!!!
EXCELLENT QUALITY CONTROL
and basically writes how a fountain pen should write, right out of the box, every time, without wondering if yours is a bad one somehow
there is no fountain pen better than pilot kakuno that I have ever used or even heard of that fits this criteria, from anywhere in the world.
once you know how a fountain pen should write, you get a better idea of how a fountain pen should not write. and once you know that, as well as the basics of fountain pen maintenence, filling mechanisms, nib and feed adjustment, there are a ton of cheap fountain pens that are awesome deals.
think of a banana. bananas generally taste similar, but vary in shape, color, freshness, damage, texture. some are harder to peel than others. if you pick out just A banana, without knowing what to look for for what you want to use it for, you might wind up disappointed. and even if you know what to look for, fruit and vegetables are kind of a lottery. hard to get exactly exactly what you want, but if you know how to use bananas with different qualities, you are golden! one for oatmeal, one to eat plain, one for a banana bread. and even then, some bananas are just bad
a lot of fountain pens are like that, where they only work well or write at all if you already know what to look for and what to do in response. most fountain pens are fixable if you have the right experience, knowledge, tools.
but even in the best of circumstances, two of the exact same type of fountain pen often feel a little bit different. the nib feels a little different. feed is a little wetter. a fountain pen is a barrel (longest part), section (where you hold), feed (ink->nib), nib (nib), filling mechanism (the "fountain" that contains ink), cap. parts can have tiny tiny variations, machine errors, manufacturing residue, damage, human error
and variations with manufacturing and assembly can also mean, no matter how much you work on it, the pen might just be shit. it might be cheaper to just buy a new one. duds exist.
but if every single banana had the same texture, taste, freshness. tasted how a banana should taste, and you got the exact banana you wanted every time, and you were able to recommend a banana from anywhere in the world and it would be cheap and wonderful and consistent and easy to peel:
that would be a pilot kakuno.
baratheonpilled
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
janainaart
germansingergirl
