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Chthulhu · Rawr.

http://www.zebrapen.com/products/pen/v-301-fountain-pen

I found some at the local Office Depot this afternoon, much to my surprise, red-tagged at $3.03 each, in black only. I grabbed a two just out of curiosity, and so I'd have more than two cartridges to refill. It appears to use a fibrous-wick-type feed similar to the Pilot Varsity/Vpen, started in a reasonably short time after it was inked, and lays down a fairly wet line somewhere around a Japanese M. Surprisingly, the cheesy looking nib is tipped, and tolerably smooth.

The cartridge looks like an oversized short international, and the barrel has a stop down inside to hold the cartridge firmly onto the back of the section. The pen caps and uncaps snugly, and the barrel makes a very nice whistle when blown through.

For three bucks I certainly won't complain.

jor412 · Vintage

That's a decent looking pen for $3.

The cheapest pen I saw here was at an Office 1 store. It was a butt ugly Schneider. The store only had the matt faux metal finish so maybe it was the color. But the pen didn't look like it went through any quality control. The section looked cheap and uneven in parts.

Chthulhu · Rawr.

This thing is pretty solid, stainless steel and black thermoplastic, and moderately light (15 grams inked). The inner cap grabs onto the section with a nice snap, but the outer cap is a bit wobbly around it. Well worth three bucks, but probably not worth five.

jor412 · Vintage

LOL

Chthulhu · Rawr.

For another three bucks each, I went back and grabbed an R-301 roller pen (I've wanted a refillable roller for a long time!) and an H-301 highlighter. All three use the same cartridge type, though the highlighter ink is obviously different. All three pens have different refill part numbers on the Zebra Web site, though I expect the ink in the R and V refills is the same.

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Pulled and emptied the cartridge of its bleedy, feathery black ink, flushed the feed and cartridge, and refilled with Waterman blue. Much better.

jor412 · Vintage

I like cheap pens that work. They make sense :p

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Fail: both tines broke off just behind the tipping; inspection with a loupe shows some discoloration and pitting at the end of what's left. I opened the other pen and inspected the nib, and there's some discoloration in the same place where the first one came apart, possibly whatever flux was used to fuse the tipping onto the nib.

jor412 · Vintage

Oh wow, that was fast. Good thing the pens were cheap. But what poor manufacturing. I mean, why bother making something that'll break in less than a month? They could've stuck to their usual disposal pen lines that at least last until the ink runs out.

Chthulhu · Rawr.

I pulled the nib and may try grinding it to a stub italic, but I'll also have to reshape the end of the feed; there was already very little nib projection beyond it.

Or maybe I'll yank the feed out and tap the section for an Esterbrook point ...

Sailor Kenshin · Experienced

Chthulhu wrote:
This thing is pretty solid, stainless steel and black thermoplastic, and moderately light (15 grams inked). The inner cap grabs onto the section with a nice snap, but the outer cap is a bit wobbly around it. Well worth three bucks, but probably not worth five.

�Pretty much.� I just got one in blue and started test-driving it today.� To me it's more of a F-ish M.� ;p

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Okay, the second one has been working nicely for more than a week with no signs of impending doom. I *think* what may have happened was that the tip of the nib got snagged on the edge of the inner cap (there's a ton of clearance there for it to stretch and "snap" onto the section) without my noticing it. :-/

Sailor Kenshin · Experienced

I've noticed that about the cap, too. I'm always, like, "Huh? Is it on or what? What is that thing inside there?"

Chthulhu · Rawr.

I've had the same problem with Pilot Varsity pens. At least there *is* an inner cap, but the design is flawed.

Sailor Kenshin · Experienced

I like the heavy 'click' you get when capping the pen. But it's as you say.

I hoped for something I'd like as much as the Preppy---still, it's a three-dollar pen. I'm getting to like it more as I write with it.

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Same here: it *does* write well, if I can keep the ink flowing.