I like cheap pens. I have quite a few of these Jinhao pens from China because they’re cheap. You can get them for less than $10 from Goulet Pens. But they’re fairly ubiquitous on ebay for even cheaper (new) or Amazon for more money.
I don’t know what to tell you. They aren’t what you’d expect. They don’t feel cheap. I don’t use them much. Not because they’re bad, they’re not. They write very very nice.
They’re REALLY sturdy pens. I… I kinda want to see what kind of materials you could shoot one through, with a crossbow. I realize that’s not a normal test of a fountain pen, but it is one of the things that goes through my mind with this pen.
The pens come with a standard converter included. I’ve had one of the converters not quite put together and had to fiddle with it, but it ultimately worked fine. I’m not sure I’d want to take one fully filled on a plane because I think it might be more prone to blurping ink, but I haven’t had a chance to test that.
It has an ergonomic ridged grip that’s relatively comfortable. The pen is HUGE. I don’t use these pens much because they are absolutely gigantic and heavy. If that’s your thing, you’ll LOVE these pens.
The Good
- cheap enough and solid enough to mess around with customization of the nib if that’s your jam
- variety of styles
- firm snap-on cap
- ergonomic grip
- well-balanced without cap
- nice smooth writer
- standard cartridge and converter
- may possibly be able to be used as a crossbow bolt in a pinch
The Bad
- huge
- heavy
- short cap insert leads to ink residue
- this pen is exhausting for me to use and tires the ligaments in my hand I have the most problems with.
Overall grade: C
I like cheap pens but I have tiny hands. If you like big pens and you can not lie… these are the pens for you.
