Pilot Cavalier Fountain Pen - Fine Nib - Black Body

Love love love this pen but have been unable to buy the converter since I bought it--still out of stock. I am dying to get a converter so I can use all of my inks.

I've had my pen for over a week now and I am very pleased with it. It certainly lives up to the high marks people have been giving it in the reviews. It's a slim pen but there is still some substance to it when you heft it. The nib writes a fine smooth line that dries almost right away. I wanted the red one but Jetpens was out of stock then so I might get another one soon!

I love my Pilot pens, especially the 0.4 Cavalier Executive Gel ink pen in black and silver. As a lefty I use fountain pens occasionally and found only the Lamy version to work well enough for me. But this pen had plenty of good reviews and I haven't found a Pilot pen I didn't like and this one is no different. All of the reviews are spot on, writes smooth, thin and dries fast enough for me. The ink doesn't bleed in my Moleskine and the line is thin enough for small detailed drawings (about 0.6).

Great weight, great feel and one of the finest (yet smooth) lines that I've found in a fountain pen. The line is fine enough to dry almost immediately, which is why I ended up getting one as a gift for a left handed friend of mine. Normally, fountain pens are useless to him because he pulls his hand through the ink as he writes, smudging everything. He has no such problems with the cavalier.

For about 1 month, I was not pleased with this pen.

It skipped, the fine line seems extra fine, and it seemed scratchy and not smooth. What I failed to notice was that the pen came to me with a slightly bent nib - like a beak.

After about a month, I was planning on getting another pen to replace this one, when decided to give it one more try. I took a napkin and used it to help bend the nibe as straight as possible using a ruler to gauge the straightness.

After straightening out the nib, this pen does write smooth and consistent. I'm using con-20 converter and Noodler's Eel Polar Black.

I think it would be good advice to always check the straightness of the nib of a fountain pen after receiving it.