Pen Review: Pilot Vanishing Point with a Fine Nib

[OldSchoolYoungin]

So, my latest order from Goulet arrived, including my very first VP. I opted for the beautiful brown with rhodium accents and gold nib in fine point.

The pictures will tell most of the story, hopefully.

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The VP comes attractively packaged in a black Pilot box with tan felt lining. Good enough for me, and good enough to re-use it as a storage box to keep her safe. Packaging is normally not something I care all that much about, but if I'm paying over $100 for a pen, it doesn't hurt to atleast take some pride in it's presentation.

But what's this? A false bottom?

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Underneath, we find a care guide, a cartridge and metal cartridge cap. Not bad...
Now, let's take a look at the pen and that unique nib.

Here she is disassembled. The build quality is excellent; this one won't break on you anytime soon. The pen comes standard with a Pilot converter, but can also be used with the cartridge shown earlier.

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Now, that nib! 18K gold in fine point. And it's, well...fine. It's VERY fine. This would easily equate to an extra fine in Western pens. That's what I was looking for, though, so no faults there. You can pick up whatever other nib size you please for around $50-60, though, just in case it wasn't what you were expecting. I've heard that the medium nib is very much a Western medium, though. You apparently don't have much in the way of what most think of as a "fine" point. No personal experience with that, but I may buy one just to find out.

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I'd also like to add that the gold nib has some spring to it if any pressure is applied. I don't think "flex" would be the proper term and you're not getting much line variation. This does add a little more character with such a fine nib, though.

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I'm thoroughly enjoying the pen so far, but there's one tiny thing that I adjusted. May seem a little odd to some of you, but for whatever reason, when the barrel is completely tightened down, it leaves a little too much of the nib exposed when writing. To remedy that, I back the barrel off no more than a half millimeter so that less nib is exposed. Not so much that there's any risk of the barrel loosening completely, though. This, to me, makes a lot of difference when it comes to writing comfort. Yes, I'm weird and I know it.


The pen writes beautifully, if not a bit dry. Again, that was what I was looking for, though. Keep in mind that your hand is practically locked into a certain position when writing, your fingers being on other side of the pocket clip. Not much room for personal choice, but I don't find it to be an issue; some might.

All in all, I think the pen is a fine purchase. Extremely convenient design and excellent as an EDC pen for jotting down quick notes, but comfortable enough for longer writing sessions, too. They retail for around $140. After using and testing the pen, I have no issues with the price. Time will tell to see how well it stands up.

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[jumper]

Great review Allen, thanks for putting the effort into it. Although I doubt I'd ever buy a vanishing point pen I enjoyed your review and all the eye candy attachements.

 

[andrew98]

Great review. I love my Vanishing Points. I have two pens and all three nibs. I found a huge discount on a broad nib several years ago, so I bought it with the intent of grinding it to a stub after I learned how.

The Medium does approach a western medium, and I would agree that this pen's fine nib is pretty much an extra fine in reality. My fine is slightly scratchy, but it's the nib I use most for some reason. The VP is the pen I use most, just because it's so practical and easy to use. Most of my writing is just quick notes and lists.

-Andy

 

[syngent]

Nice write up Allen, thanks for sharing... the VPs are on my radar but have been bumped a few times with other wants lol

 

[Dave258]

Thanks for the review! I have never used the fine nib, but I have the medium and broad. The one problem I have with the vanishing point is the ink capacity. It seems to hold a very small amount.

 

[airmech]

Excellent review!!! I may have to look a little closer at these.

Tom

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

Thanks for the review! I have never used the fine nib, but I have the medium and broad. The one problem I have with the vanishing point is the ink capacity. It seems to hold a very small amount.

Yes, the ink capacity is pretty small. On one hand I guess that's OK for those of us that like to use a different ink often.

Speaking of filling up and ink capacity, I neglected to mention this earlier. For those that don't own one, the VP is just slightly different when it comes to re-filling. I was testing ink samples and kept wondering why it would go dry so quickly. Turns out I wasn't even drawing any ink! It was effectively a dip pen.

With the nib unit in hand, look at the underside and you'll see this hole:




The nib MUST be completely submerged up to that hole in order to fill it. Just a newbie tip. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to use any samples from Goulet with this pen as the level of ink in them isn't quite enough to come up to that hole. You'd need to use a syringe, instead.

 

[Artimid]

I was going to ask if a syringe would work, so thank you for that.
I do believe that the VP are the pens are the best looking pens, and it is nice to see they are standard converters and not those pump things that give me such trouble. So I could certainly use this pen then.
As far as filling with ink goes, though, how exactly can you measure the amount of ink left inside? Is the converter solid, or is there a view window of some sort?
Also, something I have wondered, when the pen is closed does it still dry out? If I leave my pens uncapped for a long time they start to dry, or something, a bit and need to be recapped for a quick "recharge." Does the VP have to worry about that?

 

[Alacrity59]

I have the extra fine. It is wonderful for writing notes on the sides of pages in texts as well as planners. When using so little ink the small converter lasts a fairly long time. It does not go dry when I pause for a couple of minutes. The only problem is if I write a bit large and fast then the ink flow can't keep up.

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

I was going to ask if a syringe would work, so thank you for that.
I do believe that the VP are the pens are the best looking pens, and it is nice to see they are standard converters and not those pump things that give me such trouble. So I could certainly use this pen then.
As far as filling with ink goes, though, how exactly can you measure the amount of ink left inside? Is the converter solid, or is there a view window of some sort?
Also, something I have wondered, when the pen is closed does it still dry out? If I leave my pens uncapped for a long time they start to dry, or something, a bit and need to be recapped for a quick "recharge." Does the VP have to worry about that?

It's not hard to tell how much ink you have left, just takes a little work and a bit of precaution to avoid making a mess.

As mentioned, the Pilot-50 converters are pretty small. Here's one for size comparison:



Here is the converter attached to the nib and other pen innards. As you can see, there's no way of telling how much ink you have left at first glance. However, you can carefully separate the converter from the rest. There's a little metal stopper that prevents ink from getting all over the place, but it can still be messy if you're not careful.

Everything still attached:



And the converter separated:

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

Oh, and the VP doesn't dry out readily. That's one of it's many advantages. Great pen for everyday, on-the-run use.

 

[Isaac]

Great review. My VP is always an attention grabber. Like what others have chimed, the ink capacity is lacking, but can get me through a day.

 

[Artimid]

Oh! I didn't see it used the Pilot-50 converter! I have a few of these. It might be my writing, but the average 50 will last me about two weeks of constant writing (about 15-20 pages of college rule) before I notice it is running out, and even then I can still write for a few more pages once the ink is completely empty. With the nibs costing $60 each, it certainly would be better to go with a fine I suppose, than an extra-fine and see it be overly scratch for long writing projects.... this might have to be my first big pen buy. >_< Thanks for the review, I'll sort out my budget.

 

[cameraflier]

I got one as my first "real" FP. It's a real workhorse. Hard but smooth writer.

After three years of abuse, the little door at hides the retracted nib finally broke. I sent it to the Pilot service center (Florida?). It disappeared for about a month. I got no acknowledgment of reciept or anything. Then one day it reappeared, fully cleaned and repaired. No cost to me.

Also, the nibs are cheap. There is little excuse not to get an arsenal of sizes. They were $20 each at the time. Dunno about now.

Nice score.

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

They were $20 each at the time. Dunno about now.

Nice score.

They run about $50-60 now. Sometimes they're offered through BSTs on sites for $40 or so. That's still not bad considering it practically makes it a new pen.

 

[andrew98]

Also, something I have wondered, when the pen is closed does it still dry out? If I leave my pens uncapped for a long time they start to dry, or something, a bit and need to be recapped for a quick "recharge." Does the VP have to worry about that?

When the nib is retracted, there's a little trap door that closes behind the nib to prevent it from drying out when not in use. If you left the pen sitting unused for a long while with the nib exposed, it would dry out.

-Andy

 

[Suzuki]

I have one in medium and like it very much - its a great pen for travel and has a very nice nib.

As stated above, the only real issue is the capacity, which is adequate with a medium nib, but would likely be more of an issue with a broad nib.

 

[strop]

This seems to be a real love/hate pen. I have a couple but only use them occasionally. Something no one has mentioned, I think, is that the clip placement can be awkward for some, depending on how one holds the pen.

 

[chuckr9]

I like the pen, but find I need to use a good lubricating ink (like Noodler's Blue Eel) to keep it flowing well.

 

[andrew98]

This seems to be a real love/hate pen. I have a couple but only use them occasionally. Something no one has mentioned, I think, is that the clip placement can be awkward for some, depending on how one holds the pen.

Some folks write with their index finger curled over the top of the pen, and I've read complaints about the difficulty in grasping the VP that way.

-Andy