Pilot Kakuno Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Kakuno isn't the pen that you're going to pull from a suit pocket to sign an important document at a stuffy business meeting. In fact, this pen is very easy to dismiss at first glance. It's not sleek and sexy, and it isn't going to wow your friends. Despite first appearances, the Kakuno is a very good pen. It's certainly marketed towards children but, cute packaging and smiley nib aside, it's a great option for anyone from the first-time pen buyer to a pen fanatic who's looking for a solid performer to test inks.

The Pilot Kakuno's body is made from a lightweight plastic that comes in several color combinations. I chose the Kakuno with a solid gray barrel and orange cap. The pen's grip is translucent and slightly moulded, much less so than the grip of the Lamy Safari. The translucent grip shows the inner workings of the feed mechanism, which is a plus for those who are learning about pens and want to know what's going on under the hood. The Pilot Kakuno is very light, but the grip and thicker barrel create an extremely comfortable writing experience.

The Pilot Kakuno's cap uses a snap fit mechanism and caps securely with a satisfying click. Although there's a small plastic nub to assist with uncapping (I assume), this pen is almost impossible to uncap with one hand. This comes from someone with gorilla hands, so avoid the pen if uncapping with one hand is important. The secure cap does protect from accidental uncappings and leaks. The pen fits comfortably in hand both posted and unposted, and the cap posts very securely on the pen's barrel. The cap has flat sides that prevent the pen from rolling.

A Pilot standard ink cartridge accompanies the Pilot Kakuno's cutesy packaging, but the Pilot converters fit as well. I popped the squeeze converter out of my Metropolitan and snapped it snuggly into place in the Kakuno with zero issues, aside from the crappiness of the squeeze converter.

The Pilot Kakuno's nib is on par with the nib on the Pilot Metropolitan, aside from the addition of a subtle smiley face engraved on the nib. It's a stellar nib for the price. I chose a Kakuno with a medium nib, since Japanese nibs run very fine. The fine nib on my Metropolitan is much too narrow for my liking, but the medium nib on the Kakuno is perfect. The Kakuno's medium nib is comparable to a European fine nib, like the one on the Lamy Safari. The nib lays down a juicy line and glides across the paper with ease.

At $10 or so on Amazon, the Pilot Kakuno is an excellent starting point for those diving into fountain pens. How does it hold up to the Pilot Metropolitan? It really depends on what the user is looking for. The Metropolitan is a classy-looking pen with a nice weight, but the Kakuno provides a superior writing experience, thanks to its secure posting and slightly moulded grip. Both have nearly-identical nibs, but the Kakuno's creative design gives it an edge over its older sibling.

Forgive the inconsistencies in the writing in the last part of the review. I ran out of ink mid review.

Casual Sunday - November 15, 2015

It's Sunday, which means it's time to pour a cup of coffee, snuggle up next to the pooch, and catch up on current events.

Interesting Finds:

• Goulet Pens Blog: Happy Fountain Pen Day! - This is a little late, but the folks at Goulet Pens created an awesome Fountain Pen Day video.
• Scription: Stress Release by Distressing a Pen - This video makes me cringe, but the results are stunning.
• Papa's Got a Brand New Bag — The Pen Addict - This bag is hard to resist.
• Midori Travelers Notebook Review — The Finer Point - An excellent review of my favorite notebook.

Purchases:

• The North Wind Ink Drop - Goulet Pens offers an ink sampler subscription that ships 5 ink samples to your door each month for $10. It’s a great way to try tons of different inks without selling a kidney. This is my first month, and I can’t wait to give these inks a try.
• Lamy 2000 - I finally pulled the trigger, and it’s so so good. Rambly review to come.

In Other News:

• 7 things I did to reboot my life. — Medium - Wil Wheaton hits the Reset button.
• Real-Life First Person Shooter Controlled by Chatroulette Users Pits People Against Infected Aliens in Space - The title says it all. This is unbelievable.

Thanks for checking out this week's issue of Casual Sunday. Check back in on Tuesday morning for a brand new blog post or follow A Better Desk on Twitter or via RSS feed so that you don't have to. Thanks for your support!

Introducing The Penventory

Looking for a particular pen or ink review? Check out the new Penventory page in the menu bar. Here you'll find a completely sporadically updated list of all of the fountain pens and inks in my collection, as well as links to related reviews and Buy links. Entries are separated into Pens and Inks and listed in alphabetical order by brand. I hope that this makes it easier to find what you're looking for at A Better Desk, but please leave a comment if you have suggestions. Thanks for reading!

Diamine Pumpkin Ink Review

Noodler's Black has been my goto ink for some time, but the rapid expansion of my pen collection meant that it was time to branch out. Orange is my favorite color, so it was an easy choice for my second ink. I wanted a bright color to mark up student documents, and orange is a nice alternative to traditional and fear-inducing red. Fall is my favorite season (insert pumpkin spice sipping anecdote here), so the fall themed Diamine inks, like Pumpkin and Autumn Oak, were calling to me. Diamine Pumpkin appeared to be the brightest of the bunch so I committed to an 80 ml bottle.

Diamine Pumpkin in the the sunlight

Diamine Pumpkin is a vivid orange that lays down a bright line on the page. The ink works very well with flex and wider nibs and offers a bit of shading, but it can run a little dry on finer or dryer nibs. It has a relatively fast dry time and does tend to leave little crusties on my nibs. I've read that this is common with bright reds and oranges, but it's barely noticeable and very easy to clean.

I absolutely love Diamine Pumpkin. I typically keep this inked up in my Ahab flex pen or TWSBI 580AL, which has a juicier fine nib. Although inks like Noodler's Apache Sunset or even Diamine Autumn Oak are a better choice for shading, Pumpkin is perfect for a bright but consistent ink.

Stats

• Dry Time: Less than 30 seconds
• Wetness: Low
• Shading: Low
• Feathering: Low
• Saturation: Medium

Tools

• Lamy Safari - F nib
• Noodler's Ahab - Flex nib
• Pilot Parallel - 6mm nib
• Rhodia DotPad

Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Metropolitan is the quintessential fountain pen. Its simple black body is sleek and businesslike, tapered on both ends with little decorations, aside from a shiny black band of plastic around the barrel. The pen's brass body gives a nicely weighted feel. The Metropolitan's slick design and thoughtful packaging give it the appearance of a $50 pen, a pen that I would feel comfortable carrying in a suit pocket while attending a fancy conference or important meeting. I can't say the same about my Safari.

The cap of the Pilot Metropolitan uses a snap-fit mechanism. I normally prefer threaded caps; however, the Metropolitan provides a satisfying click. The cap feels magnetic as it powerfully clicks into place and takes a bit of forced to uncap. There's no need to worry about the pen coming uncapped in a pocket of a bag; it simply isn't going to happen. Although capping and uncapping the pen is satisfying, the pen's posting performance is surprisingly poor. The cap wiggles while writing, unless it's smashed down onto the barrel of the pen. Fortunately, the pen is very comfortable to write with while unposted.

The Pilot Metropolitan is my first Japanese fountain pen. I read that Japanese nibs run fine compared to European nibs, so I wanted to compare the "fine" of the Metropolitan with the "fine" of my Kaweco, TWSBI, and Lamy. I've never written with a hypodermic needle before, but I bet it's much like writing with the Pilot Metropolitan for the first time. The nib scratched across the page, leaving a razor thin line, but pulling up bits of paper with it. The scratchiness went away after a few minutes of writing, but the fine line remained. The Pilot Metropolitan "fine" is dramatically finer than the "fine" of any of my European fountain pen nibs. Those looking for a similar line as a European fine nib would probably prefer the medium nib version of the Pilot Metropolitan. Despite my preference for a thicker line, the Metropolitan lays down a juicy consistent line and slides across the page effortlessly, which is surprising for its tiny nib.

The grip of the Pilot Metropolitan leaves much to be desired. The slick plastic become slippery and uncomfortable after long writing periods. This wouldn't be as much of an issue, but the grip is also very thin, which makes it hard for larger hands to grasp firmly. I know from experience. The grip mirrors the shiny black band around the pen barrel and is separated by a metal midsection. The pen is just as stunning uncapped as it is capped.

The Pilot Metropolitan is shorter, with a thinner grip than the Lamy Safari. Despite its smaller stature, the Metropolitan has more heft, due to its brass body.

The Pilot Metropolitan comes with both a squeeze converter and a cartridge. I greatly prefer piston converters to squeeze converters, and the Pilot's converter reinforces this preference. The squeeze converter has a metal strip that runs along the converter and can be pinched to ensure that the converter takes as much ink as possible. This is an improvement over similar squeeze converters, like Kaweco's converter for its Sport line. Unfortunately, the converter is opaque, which makes it very difficult to tell whether or not it's completely filled. This combines with a small converter capacity to provide a poor filling experience.

At $20 or so, it's really not a question of whether or not to buy a Pilot Metropolitan. You will own one of these pens eventually. For most, the question is whether or not this should be your first fountain pen. If you're looking for a sleek but professional-looking pen to take to your jobby job, this isn't a bad place to start. It's a well-performing pen that's well built and sturdy. This is probably where I should end the review, but there's something that's been nagging me about this pen.

No one could argue that the Pilot Metropolitan isn't a very good pen for the money. The problem is, the Metropolitan just isn't very interesting. The mint Kaweco Skyline Sport was my first heavy-use pen, and I still find it so exciting to use. The color is unique, and the retro touches make it fun to use and look at. It's not a perfect pen, but it's memorable. I would never confuse a Kaweco for another brand of fountain pen. The same goes for my Lamy, with its divisive grip design, and TWSBI, with its clever nib mechanism. I've had several people compliment my Kaweco and TWSBI 580, but no one has even noticed my Metropolitan. Although the Metropolitan is a safe introduction to the world of fountain pens, it's not a very fun one.

I started writing with a fountain pen because I wanted to have fun while writing, to motivate myself to take notes and improve my handwriting. To me, quirky and unique pens are what make this hobby attractive, and this pen simply isn't either of those. The Pilot Metropolitan is a very good pen, and you'll like it if you buy it. It's only fair to note that the pen comes in a few colors and design variations, but they do little to make the pen more exciting. The question is, do you want a pen that you'll like, or do you want a pen that you'll love? I want a pen that I love to use, even if it has flaws. It's oftentimes the outrageous design choices that make pens interesting, and the Metropolitan plays it so safe that it's completely forgettable. The Pilot Metropolitan is merely a stepping stone to far more interesting writing experiences.

*The plain black version of the Pilot Metropolitan is not currently available on JetPens, so this is an Amazon Affiliate link.