PILOT Kakuno Fountain Pen, Clear Barrel, Extra Fine Nib, 0.3mm

This is such a great little pen (and fun to write with too!) for the amazingly low Amazon price of approximately $10. So much to like here: this particular pen has a <M> medium nib, which is my favorite for this pen. It can use and ink cartridge or a converter and as you can see, this one has a converter; it’s almost out of ink but from the writing sample you can see I have use bottled ink with the converter (Diamine Emerald). The barrel and cap have angled sides, preventing it from rolling away like a round barrel can; the cap snaps off and seals tightly; the clear barrel shows the ink color and volume. It is extremely lightweight acrylic, which means I can write with it for long periods of time and not have hand fatigue. It feels good in my small hand posted or unposted, although I like the balance better when it is posted. This reliable little pen is a great way to jump into fountain pens for beginners, especially children. This is the second one I’ve purchased for myself, just because it’s fun, inexpensive and writes so well. Highly recommend.

I purchased this pen around a month or so ago. The extra fine nib writes smoothly without any issue, and the ink is fairly easy and simple to refill. I've used both cartridges and a converter and have found no issues so far. As of now, I'm currently using Pilot's con-70 converter alongside their blue black ink. The pen body is made of plastic and is relatively comfortable to hold in my hands. The only thing I have a complaint with is that if I decide to mindlessly leave the pen upside down and capped when no longer in use, the ink tends to leak into the cap. However, this is easily solved by just remembering to place it upright so no biggie. Additionally, some of the ink gets stuck in the grip section, but maybe some maintenance on the pen could clean a bit of it off. I'm actually surprised with how durable the pen could be. I accidentally left it in one of my pockets, so it was thrown into the washing machine. When I found it again after, I was lucky to find that there was no damage to the pen (aside from a bit of water getting stuck) and no ink had leaked into the clothes. This is excellent for its cheap price and I would 100% be willing to buy this fountain pen again if I need a replacement! It's honestly one of my favorites to write with as a beginner.

Perfect fountain pen for beginners! It is such a lightweight pen and super easy to use. It comes with a single ink cartridge that is not refillable but if you want refillable ones I got these Pilot Fountain Pen Ink Converters and I absolutely love them. The ink that I use to refill them is Diamine Fountain Pen Bottled Ink they have lots of colors and are super affordable too. Overall I love these pens and think that they are super great for beginners and love that the nibs are interchangeable too.

Kaküno Demonstrator pen, Medium NIB. The pen arrived in a large cardboard display box instead of the typical loosely packed small air-bubble envelope. I had no idea what it could possibly be. The box looked as if the inner box slides out. It does not. The box has a magnetically hinged flap. Inside the gold embossed "goldspot" gift box were 5 Iroshizuku ink sample vials, the Kaküno pen in a foam cutout, a Pilot Black ink long cartridge, a Pilot CON-40 ink Converter, an instruction leaflet. I was pleasantly surprised, bordering on shock; Christmas arrived early this year. This is my second Kaküno fountain pen, so I am intimately familiar with it. My first was a dry writer that needed extensive tuning. Knowing what it had taken to get that pen to write wet, I threw all caution to the wind, and without first flushing the pen out as I would normally do, I syringe filled a spare Pilot cartridge with Robert Oster Aqua ink, waited a minute to let the ink saturate the Feed Follower fins, and put the pen to paper. It wrote perfectly right out of the box - it layed down a nicely defined Fine saturated dark line; the NIB had minimal feedback (the was no dragginess), was not scratchy, did not have "catchy" spots that would malform characters or cause lettering to bunch up. It wrote as well as my tuned Kaküno, meaning perfectly. There were no hard starts, no false starts, no skipping, no blobbing; dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s were perfect. The Kaküno is not a "Juicey" pen, though; it is moderately wet, bordering on the dry side, so moderate flow and wet bottled inks are suggested. A Japanese "Medium" NIB is about the same width as an European, or Western, "Fine". The pen is ergonomic, has no sharp edges. The Section has slight sloping facets that provide a natural fingertip hold; the barrel stepdown is not obtrusive, not objectionable, not irritating; the Section grip is over an inch long. The plastic is very high quality, it doesn't feel cheap, as if it could crack by just looking at it. The pen does not dry out in under 60 seconds when left laying on the desk uncapped, in fact it doesn't dry out even after 4 minutes. Excellent! Exceptional! You will not need to get into the habit of continually capping and uncapping the pen to prevent the pen from drying out. The air holes in the cap help to minimize NIB creep by minimizing the air vacuum that would suck ink onto the NIB as the pen is uncapped. Don't fill in the 3 cap holes. The NIB unit can be rotated to fine tune one's hold - very important for left handed writers, especially "lefties" that crane their hand at awkward angles to write "from above". If you are in the habit of storing your pens NIB pointing up, the two barrel end holes will need to be filled in to prevent the NIB from drying out overnight. A new user should not attempt doing so (and neither should they worry about it) as it will be beyond their expertise to do so without damaging the barrel. Do NOT store the pen NIB down as the ink WILL drain into the cap and make a big mess. Horizontal storing is suggested; buy a nice fountain pen case, or just use a rectangular eye glass case layered with soft cotton or foam. When picked up from horizontal storage the pen will write perfectly with the very first stroke. There is no metal clip to prevent the pen from rolling, but neither is there the irritating metal clanking sound a Lamy metal clip makes, for example. The hexagonal facets on the cap and barrel will prevent most rolling, the small Cap stub should bring it to a full stop. Capped, the centre of balance is exactly where the cap meets the barrel; uncapped, the centre of balance is exactly at the half way mark of the pen. The pen is neither too light nor too heavy. The cap weighs 4 grams, the body weighs 7 grams, slightly more when inked. Posting the cap is possible and is suggested; the cap edge isn't sharp and not likely to irritate the web of the hand; no pressure is needed to keep the cap firmly in place. A syringe refillable Pilot long ink cartridge holds ~0.9ml, Pilot Namiki IC100 cartridges hold ~0.8ml, the Con-70 holds ~1.0ml, the Pilot Petite short cartridge holds ~0.6ml, the supplied CON-40 converter holds ~0.4ml. The Cursive Italic NIB from the Pilot Plumix can be transplanted into the Kakuno, and while listed as being 1.0mm it is closer to an European Medium, ~0.7mm. To take full advantage of the 5 goldspot supplied ink vials you will need to get into syringe refilling, although I suppose you could dip the supplied converter into the ink vial to fill up, but you will need to be extremely careful when doing so. Always put a dab of Silicone GREASE on plastic threads to prevent cracking whenever you re-ink the pen. This an EXCEPTIONAL starting pen. I prefer it to my TWSBI Eco, Wingsung 698, Lamy Vista, Jinhao 992, and Jinhao X450. The Kaküno is the pen I most reach for, the one that is always "at the ready" on my desktop. Thank you, GoldSpot - you "hit it out of the Park." And thank you Amazon. The package arrived in perfect condition and in a timely manner. Merchant rating: 5 stars; great service.

I own some more expensive and nicer fountain pens than this one, but in terms of value this ranks near the top. It writes nearly as well and almost as smoothly as my Pilot that has a 14K nib. I would recommend this pen over other entry level fountain pens, including Lamy's popular entry-level models. As good as the Lamy Safari and Al-Star are, the Pilot Kakuno is a smoother writer, less expensive, and has a less rigid grip geometry. Another reason to get this pen is that it is one of the few Pilot fountain pens, and the only really affordable one, that is compatible with the Pilot Con-70 converter. Pilot may not advertise this but I can confirm it works if installed correctly. The Con-70 has more capacity and is simply much more user-friendly in terms of ink filling than other Pilot converters. If you are new to using these types of fountain pen converters, I recommend practicing with room temperature distilled water before using fountain pen ink. For experienced fountain pen users, affordable pens like this are great for experimenting with inks that you may not feel comfortable using is one of your expensive pens. Recommended.

Absolutely love this pen! It writes so smooth and it makes me feel fancy.

This is a great fountain pen, and I’ve bought several now. It writes consistently, is easy to hold and it’s just an overall nice pin. I love that. It’s affordable enough that I can buy a few. These are a great gift idea as well if you want to get someone something that feels special without a huge price tag.

I really love this pen! I've had fountain pens in the past. They never worked well. They leaked and were uncomfortable to write with. This pen is smooth and the ink is controlled and consistent. It's really fun to write with.

I wanted to try an inexpensive Pilot fountain pen to see how I would like the nib. I ordered a pen with a Medium nib. In my experience, most Japanese Medium nibs produce a line width closer to a Western Medium than a Western Fine, and a Japanese Fine is more like a Western Extra Fine with a considerable difference between them. I was hoping for something like a Western Fine, and I was not disappointed. The Medium nib was exceptionally smooth and gave me the line width I was looking for. I ordered a second identical pen to see if my experience was a fluke. The second pen performed exactly the same way, so there seems to be consistency between nibs. Both pens wrote very well straight out of the package. The pens are very light, post well, don't dry out, and are easy to clean out when changing ink. The nib and feed can be removed easily for cleaning by pulling them straight out. The section has flat areas to encourage a three-finger grip, and I find it quite comfortable. The shape of the section makes you hold the pen a certain way, but the nib and feed can be rotated to any position, letting you position the nib perfectly for your writing style. These pens don't have a clip, so if you want to carry one in a shirt pocket, you might want to use a pen sleeve. The clear plastic body lets you check your ink level without removing the barrel. The plastic seems somewhat prone to scratching, but seems fairly durable. A pen sleeve will help keep the pen in good condition. The pen comes with a Pilot cartridge. Pilot sells cartridges in only a few colours, but you could add a Pilot CON-40 or CON-70 converter so you can use any other brand or colour of ink you choose. All in all, I think this a very good, reliable pen at a very reasonable price.

muito boa

The product itself is very good! I love Pilot Kokuno Fountain Pen. Ink glides smoothly. I gave only 3 stars, however, because the pen came to me already opened and ink cartridge already plugged-in the pen! did I buy a second-hand pen??? Quesrionable seller, in my opinion..

Speedy delivery . The pen is very reasonably priced and I am thrilled with how well it writes - I bought the extra fine and it is really smooth and fine, not scratchy. Very pleased with this purchase

Klasse zum Zeichnen