Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen with Piston Fill & Ink Window - Fine Medium Nib - Burgundy Body

If I had to choose one pen, it would be this one.

No, its nib is not as high quality as the Pilot nibs I've tried.

No, the pen is not as well made as a Pelikan.

But for what it is, and the price they ask, it has become my go-to pen. Particularly if things might get a bit rough. The pen has been so reliable that the (slowly fading) infamous smell has become a source of comfort.

The feed is not elegant, but it is very robust and quite reliable. The nib's line can be adjusted. When it arrived, it wrote too wet and large a line for my taste, so I removed nib and feed and reinserted them so that the nib extended further beyond the tip of the feed and the feed was not inserted as deeply into the section. There is room here for fine tuning that other pens don't offer.

I have a pressure test that causes most pens to blurp large drops of ink while I'm trying to write. Only this pen and an old Sheaffer have ever passed that test.

Using the instructions on a Youtube video entitled "Noodler's Ink piston filler repair/restoration" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooiu2r3zHWc&feature=related) I removed the piston, wrapped the threads of the endcap with 3 wraps of Teflon tape (PTFE Thread Seal Tape MIL SPEC T-27730A) and screwed the endcap back into the pen. This gives me an eyedropper pen capable of holding over 2mL of ink that can be filled by removing the nib+feed and filling from there.

I plugged the small vent hole in the side of the cap with wood glue, eliminating the nib drying out.

I anticipated that this slender pen would cause me to cramp my hand gripping it. The opposite happened. It is easier for me to avoid clenching this pen with a Death Grip than with any other pen.

Really quite a disappointment. I don't know what type of glue they used on this, but what a stench! $14.00 better spent on a bottle of Noodler's Ink than this pen.

A really good buy! Having read the previous reviews I bought my pen with some trepidation. I needn't have worried. There was no odor on opening the package and the build quality was quite good. What is more a piston fill which works properly time after time for this price is quite exceptional. The nib while not as smooth as gold etc. writes perfectly well and I enjoy using this pen. Set aside your anxieties, you will be getting what you hope for from Noodlers as always and will enjoy the writing experience for a pen costing only $14.

As much as I love Noodler's Ink I have to say my piston fill pen is not what I had hoped. My was burred upon arrival and I am having quite a bit of a problem with ink flow. I will admit that I am using Noodler's own "Whaler's Ink" which is known to be thick so that may be the problem. Quality and feel wise you get what you pay for. This is not a terrible pen a good investment for a "beater" pen but not what I would pull out to write letters to friends on fine quality paper.