Top Ten Nibs

[Music] david here with fig boot on pens today i thought i would do something a little different i wanted to discuss nibs specifically i wanted to share with you my favorite nibs in my collection and talk about what makes each of them special to me personally and that's a key point this is a personal list of favorites when it comes to nibs there is no right or wrong it's whatever works for you there are folks out there who swear by their left footed oblique double broad nibs and other folks who only love a straight medium nib and there is nothing wrong with either i will say that over time i've grown more adventurous in regard to nibs when i was starting my pen journey i was pretty much strictly a medium guy the main reason was that i knew i liked mediums and i didn't want to spend money on a pen only to have it arrive with a nib that i potentially didn't care for but as i said i've loosened up a bit in that regard and now i'm a little bit more willing to branch out in regard to nib options but i will say that this list is very medium heavy compiling this list was a challenge this was a top 10 list the hall of fame not the hall of very good so tough decisions needed to be made my initial list had 30 pens on it but that was way too many then i cut that down to 20 and eventually 13 which is the top 10 plus three honorable mentions it pained me too much to leave off completely in regard to this list i chose not to include any special grinds the main focus is my favorite out of the box nibs now i will say i've had a couple of this these nibs worked on but it wasn't to change the grind it was only to tune the nib to perform as originally intended in addition the focus of this list is uh on performance not just looks now looks can certainly play a factor but there are several nibs which i love the looks of that did not make this list so in order to take a look at my top 10 favorite nibs please join me over here at camera2 to begin with i conducted a little poll on youtube where i asked viewers to let me know what their favorite nib was in their collection there were some pens listed which made my list but unfortunately most did not and that's okay as i mentioned everyone has their personal tastes the top three pens mentioned by viewers did not make my list so i felt that they at least deserved to be mentioned here number three on that list was the pilot custom 823 the custom 823 is a pen which many people rank as their favorite pen in their collection and it's well deserving of the title i really love mine i did experience some flow issues out of the box with this pen however it's the only pilot that i've ever had any issues with out of the box you know i felt it must have been a unique issue because i had a couple of different well-known nib meisters take a crack at working on it to improve the performance but no one could figure out the issue that is until i had mike matsuyama take a look at it and he was able to tune it up and get the nib working to perfection but this nib is fantastic and well deserving of an honorable mention here next up is another pen from pilot and that is the falcon now this is one of the pens in my collection that i need to get around to reviewing sometime it has a very unique looking nib it looks different than any other pilot nib that i'm aware of and it just has a bit of bounce and flex to it that are really really nice i do care for this nib they're just other pilot nibs out there that i care for a bit more and finally on the viewer honorable mentions we have a classic pen from lamy the lami 2000 this pen had the most votes on my poll and it's well deserving i will say though while i do love the design and looks and feel of this pen the nibs on the three different versions of this pen i have you know this hasn't necessarily blown me away some folks feel that the sweet spot is a bit hard to find on these nibs personally i haven't had any issues with that but overall i have to say for me while i feel this is one of the best values for your money pens and a true must-have for any collection the lamy 2000 nib is in the really like it category but that's not enough to cut it for my top 10 list okay now on to my honorable mentions i have three each of these could have very easily made the top 10 but tough decisions had to be made the first honorable mention is the pelican i love the looks of this very large nib this was probably the first nib that i really debated about what size to get this nib really goes against the norm a medium is more like a double broad and a fine is more like a broad it has a fair amount of flex and bounce and is very smooth i end up getting a fine and it has performed great for me i just love this nib it's fantastic next up is a classic pen which narrowly missed cracking the top 10 and that is a montblanc 149. there really isn't much to dislike about this nib this particular one is a fine i did have an issue where after a while it got out of alignment in a very odd way and i had to have the nibmeister mark bakus line things up again for me at a show last year he did a great job and it is back to performing outstanding and i just think it's a really classy looking nib as well the last honorable mention is another pelican and that is the m800 now this pen here is the m805 which has the silver colored trim this nib was a revelation for me i had always heard about people talking about a nib so smooth that felt like you're writing on glass and i really didn't know what that felt like until i wrote with this pen it is the epitome of glassy smooth while still maintaining a high performance the m800 is pretty much a perfect pen in my opinion and the nib is outstanding enough honorable mentions let's get to the list and i decided to rank these i didn't go for a no particular order everyone's a winner type of list coming in at number 10 we have the most reasonably priced pen on this list and that is the faber-castell loom so here we have at number 10 the faber castell loom um i have long sung the praises of this nib it is my favorite stainless steel nibs and happens to be the only stainless steel nib which made this list not that size equates to quality but it happens to also be the smallest nib on this list as well this one is a medium the main thing that i love about this nib so much is the feedback it is a very distinct feedback um you know and you know you could put a blindfold on me and put this nib on a generic pen and i could identify it very very easily it's smooth but with a feedback that isn't rough or scratchy or with any drag it's a unique feeling that's a challenge to describe but once you write with it you'll know what i'm talking about and in the like 50 to 60 dollar range in my opinion this is the best nib out there that you could buy okay number nine and it's a nib manufactured by bach and comes attached to the coned bulk filler king size so we have number nine the konad bulk filler king size this one is also a medium i could be mistaken but i believe this is their number eight size it's 14 karat gold and has an excellent combination of precision and smoothness with just a hint of feedback it is wet and juicy and you're really never lacking for ink flow with this nib i don't come across this larger box size that often but it is well worthwhile and it performs very well conants have been rather difficult to obtain lately but i have yet to come across someone who has purchased one who was disappointed the mach the pens are machined very precisely and the nibs are a joy to write with on to number eight i wanted to include a pen from visconti on this list and i debated between two i have this millionaire here which is an interesting pen the cap and barrel are made from marble and this pen has visconti's 23 carat palladium nib i have a number of visconti's with this particular nib but as you'll find with nibs of the same make and size at times they could have different personalities of the medium palladium nibs from visconti in my collection the one here on the millionaire is my favorite but it's not the visconti nib that i chose for this spot that would belong to the blue ripple so we have the at number eight visconti blue ripple this is a bit of an older model from visconti and utilizes an 18 karat gold nib they use these before transitioning over to the palladium and within the last six months or so they've transitioned back to utilizing gold nibs which i feel was a good move for them first of all i just love the two toned accents on this nib it's very smooth and has a fair amount of flex to it it's one of those nibs that when you give it to someone to try out for the first time they typically say ooh as soon as they start writing with it it's really a pleasure to use and you know i like that it's attached to a unique model as well there were 999 of these made but you don't come across them that often okay on to number seven and at this slot is a pen from another italian manufacturer but this one is relatively new to the market only a few years old the company is leonardo and the nib is attached to this momento zero grande model so we have at number seven a uh leonardo momento zero grande now i mentioned at the top that my collection is rather medium heavy early on i found a large number of fine and extra fine nibs to be a little too scratchy for my personal tastes this pin here is one of the reasons i've really begun to significantly expand my nib horizons this is an extra fine and it is just glorious it's extremely smooth and just glides across the page this nib showed me what really well-tuned extra find brings to the table and i very much like it i find it helpful to use on lower quality paper where a larger ink flow would be a detriment i could have easily placed this pen higher on the list i really like it that much this is one of those pens that i enjoy handing out to friends and seeing their reaction when they use it it is always very positive on to number six it is from a well-respected brand that is unfortunately no longer with us that brand is omas and the nib is found on this model the my lord arko so at number six we have the omas my lord arko to begin with i know this video is all about nibs but i can't help but take a moment to show off this arco celluloid it is one of my favorite materials one of my prized pen possessions is this small piece of arco quick side story i acquired this small piece of argo right here at a show i think it was dc in 2018 through asc who had purchased the old rod stock from omas when they went out of business i would show this to folks and everyone was just in amazement it is just so cool it was originally a bit rough and when i showed this to brian gray of the edison pen company he offered to polish it up for me so i mailed it off to him and his wife andrea actually polished this up it's a small thing but i really like this small square of material in regard to the pen there is another somewhat long story that i've told before that relates to it but this pen has been through a lot it has been around the world several times in the somewhat near future i have a review of a scribo pen coming up and i'll tell the story again since it relates to the good folks at scribo but what we're talking about today is nibs this nib is 14 karat gold i had purchased this pen pre-owned and it had some ink flow issues i sent it off to mike matsuyama to it make some adjustments and it performs like a dream while it's a medium nib to me it feels like it performs more like a fine now i try to wipe down my nibs you know but while before i show them on camera so they don't have nib creep but at times it can get a little bit challenging so we have some ink on here but this nib is amazing and i adore it it's very precise it has a little bit of feedback and a little bit sharper than a standard medium nib okay halfway through five down and five to go coming in at number five is probably my favorite looking nib i just love the design and it has the performance to match the nib is on the danny trio ginkai so we have here at number five the danny trio genkai just look at this thing it is gorgeous danny trio actually has two different nib designs they also have a fireball design that i really like if i should ever pick up another danny trio then i'd like it to be one with that fireball design but this one here is equally as stunning now my research tells me that this symbol here in the middle is the japanese kanji for emperor i really like these little flares on the side as well kind of almost looks like little lightning bolts it has a fair amount of bounce and writes a very nice medium line it has a small amount of what i like to call good feedback meaning that it just adds some personality to the nib as opposed to it feeling scratchy or like you're writing with a dull pencil it is very pleasant the combination of solid performance and a stunning look makes the danny trio genkai nibs one of my absolute favorites getting closer to the top at number four we have a pen from pilot and that pen is the custom eight four five so at number four we have the pilot eight four five this is pilot's number 15 nib it is 18 karat gold if you don't know on the side of most pilot nibs they stamped the month and the year the nib was manufactured in this case this nib was made in march of 2016. you know you hear that japanese manufactured nibs are typically a step down in regard to line width from western nibs a japanese medium will write more like a western fine for this medium nib i find that it's more of a half step down more of a medium fine as opposed to a straight fine it's extremely smooth but unlike the m800 where it's like writing on glass the nib of the 845 has a touch of feedback that i really care for a great deal it provides an effortless writing experience that helps make the overall price of this pen well worth it in my opinion home stretch three more to go and coming in at number three is a nib that i had said on many occasions is my favorite but when it came down to ranking these nibs it came in at number three it is from sailor and it is the nib on the king of pen so for number three we have a we'll just say sailor king of pen this one is on the sailor king of pen pro gear sky it's 21 karat gold now i mentioned this before but nibs have their own personality i have five different pens in my collection with the identical medium king of pen nib but each of them feels a little bit different it's like identical twins that are tough to tell apart but once you get to know them it becomes easier to see the differences between them my favorite of this king of pen nibs is here on this pro gear sky i love the looks and the size of this nib it just looks classy i also find that with the larger sailor nibs as with the larger pilot nibs it loses the japanese step down this is a medium and it writes more like a western medium or even abroad it does have a bit of flex to it so with a slight amount of pressure it's more like a western broad sailor nibs give me a feeling of precision and accuracy this nib isn't overly firm but it's not too bouncy and it has some very pleasant feedback while i care for all of my king of pen nibs like i said this one here is my favorite and is high on my never sell this pen list on to number two this is another very large nib i believe it's the largest pilot branded nib it is the number 30 nib which can be found on the pilot custom arushi so at number two we have the pilot custom arushi this nib is 18 karat gold like sailors nibs pilots have a very classy look to them this is a large pen so this oversized nib doesn't look out of place also like the sailor king of pen nib the line width is more western than japanese this nib here is a medium and has a fair amount of bounce and feels extraordinarily soft and smooth so it's not just glassy smooth there's a softness with a hint of feedback which makes you say whoa when you first experience writing with it it's a unique combination that i don't find on any other pen in my collection and it's something i hope you're able to experience some day if you're ever at a pen show or at a retailer which carries this model i would strongly encourage you to test it out if you can it's an experience you won't forget okay we have arrived at number one the grand poobah the pinnacle of this nib peak and appropriately enough there is a mountain peak stamped into this nib it contains the image of mount fuji in japan and that pen is the namiki emperor so here at number one we have the namiki emperor now when i first saw this pen in person the only thing i could see was the enormous overall size this pen is comically large and once you remove the cap you're greeted with this extremely oversized number 50 18 karat gold nib your first thought is how on earth am i supposed to write with this thing it is an attention grabbing pen i was on a plane last year back when we could actually travel and i was using this emperor to write some letters and i could see that the people sitting next to me were looking at me a bit puzzled which is understandable this thing is huge the most amazing thing about this pen however is the writing performance while it is the nib is monster in size it performs just like a standard medium japanese nib you can get a bit of flex out of this nib but i also feel that it is more precise and finer than the smaller nibs of both the pilot 845 and customarushi even though this pen is very large i find it to be very usable and very comfortable in my hand this red feed is very cool as well but regardless of the feed and the rest of the pen the nib itself is worthy to have the title of my favorite nib using this nib will always bring a smile to my face it is truly a joy to use as with the customer rushi if you ever have an opportunity to write with a namiki emperor don't pass up that chance so there is the list of my top 10 favorite nibs it was fun putting this list together i wanted to make it a point to produce these types of like list videos a little bit more often in the past i tended to keep them for the end of the year if you do have a favorite nib which i failed to mention then feel free to share it in the comments this is one of those things that you know i would check out when i was just getting started in collecting pens um you know i wasn't going to be purchasing some of the high-end pens on this list but if i went through the comments and kept seeing a lower cost pen showing up again and again then it was a leading indicator to me that that might be a pen worth checking out so feel free to share your opinions in the comment until next time thanks for watching and i'll talk to you later

Channel: Figboot on Pens

Views: 64,808

Rating: 4.8874617 out of 5

Keywords: figboot, figboot on pens, fountain pen, fountain pen review, nibs, nib reviews, top ten, fountain pen nibs, pilot, namiki, visconti, faber castell, sailor, leonardo, danitrio

Id: 2jOHagQkMes

Length: 23min 24sec (1404 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020