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I think the writing with the Homo Sapiens is nicer than the Sport. Maybe it is the ink?

An interesting line up, Garry!! I have different models of each brand - A Visconti Mirage Mythos Zeus, A Laban Gloria Blue Sapphire Guilloché, and both a Opus 88 clear Demonstrator & Clear Omar. Of the 3 brands I definitely prefer the Opus 88 for the ease of use, filling, cleaning, and the ability to shut off the flow of ink for travelling.

Gary, doesn't the Visconti out price all of these by a very long wide margin? Should this be an unfair comparison of price, materials, manufacturing?

The homo sapiens is my favorite pen model out of all of my pens. Fits my hand perfectly, and the shape and ink capacity is perfection to me. I have quite a few editions, but it remains my favorite.

Of the 3 I only have the Opus 88 in the Demonstrator model. Love the size and feel when I write with it. I only had the Homo Sapiens as a ballpoint but I really liked the volcanic resin and the weight as well as the balance. I have never owned a Laban but I have read and heard so much about the pen. This is a tough decision but I will throw my hat to the Opus 88.

Lovely pen! I have had one in my cart for a couple of days, considering purchase. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy!

The thing I envy the most listening to these is the weather. We are in the autumn here in Slovakia and the mornings are 1-5 degrees Celsius.

I think the Kanji symbol for green and blue is the same traffic lights in Japan are red,yellow,blue.

Is it my eyes or is there a little bit of feathering of the ink on the paper?

Without a doubt my favorite is the fountain pen. I have no prejudices against Jinhao, compared to the past they have improved a lot. Certainly they will never be at the level of Japanese ones like Platinum but also the price is very different. Congratulations for your videos that I follow with great interest.

The Kyanite is my second Vac 700R. I love the color over the iris. But that is just personal preference. I just received it yesterday so it is not inked yet. My original is a fine nib and is the best writer I have. The Kyanite is a medium and I’m hoping it will the same. I enjoy your videos and specifically your into.

Am I wrong, or should this have a #6 nib?

This is a demonstrator done right. Attention to detail and aesthetic and showing off the inner workings without laying bare its unsightly bits. What a beautiful color, too.

I now understand why people spend so much money on fountain pens. They last for years with minimal amounts of ink and maintenance. Once you try one of the cheap pilot or platinum fountain pens you'll get hooked on it!

@GarryEves the one pen type I wish you would have included is technical pens, such as Koh-I-Noor Rapidigraph or rOtring Isograph. But I can understand why you did not include them as they may not be reasily available and are a lot more expensive than all the writing instruments in this video. The can cost around $25 - 30 USD each.

I truly enjoy the Jinhao 80 with Lamy nibs, but none of them is gold. Anyone tried it?

FYI Rollerballs can be refillable, so if you like the feel of the writing on the paper, consider purchasing this version. Same goes with gel pens, and they don't break the bank. Personally, I have all four versions of pens, and OG Chungwa pencils, each serves its own purpose. Thanks, Gary, for taking a moment to recognize the other writing instruments on your channel.

Well, I whink we can all agree that now is the time you did a comparison between the BIC ballpoint and Homo Sapiens. For scientific reasons, of course.

My favorite is the fountain pen. The ballpoint is good for lending to those who ask to borrow a pen.

That was an interesting video Garry! It's kind of fascinating to read up on the history of the different writing instruments. For example, the ball point got its start in 1888, but was not commercially viable until around 1945, and was invented to write on surfaces that a fountain pen wouldn't work on!! Today, I refuse to write with a ballpoint because of how much pressure it takes to write with. I do have a couple of rollerball pens that I like to use at certain times. One of them is a Montblanc that my wife bought me for our anniversary quite a number of years ago. The other one is a recent acquisition, the Retro 51 Tornado Stealth Black Cherry. I'm not easily impressed by rollerball pens, but that one is a nice pen. It will be interesting to see what you come up with next!!

I often carry an Opus 88 when I travel. Lots of ink capacity (3+ ml) and completely safe on airplanes.

I just got a Jinhao 80 and I'm really enjoying it. I immediately swapped the nib for one of my spare Lamy nibs - a great feature for this pen, and a great alternative if you don't like the Safari's grip section.

And they're off!

goodness, those pencils are kind of expensive.. I can get them for about 10 cents

The Jinhao 80 wins easily. I have several different nibs for mine. To me, writing with a ballpoint feels gritty, like writing on sandpaper, especially when compared to a smooth fountain pen on quality paper.

Some years of drawing with fountain pens has ruined ballpoints for me even for writing.

Would it be a fair comparison between this pen and the Prera?

Were did you get your dip pen its nice nice video

3 years later I accidentally watched this video again. Now were I starting over, I would buy 5 Kings of Pen, in a range of nib sizes (requiring some custom grinding). I know what I like.

Another great look at this pen. You make my head spin, lol.

You make all inks look good 👍🏻

that is a nice looking fp:)

Pencil smudging is deliberately used by some artists.

You brought it back! I cannot blame you, it is a great pen.

I have a FC Grip which this reminds me of a bit. The grip was around $30 US, so maybe not quite as nice - but it would be interesting to compare.

Fountain pens are like Pokemon, we want them all! Said the man who is close to empty his fourth ink bottle, which totals 100 ml, and with an average of 12 pages per 0.5 ml, it means having written for the "modest" total of 2400 pages. It is like rewriting by hand War and Peace twice. As to your reading list, I am utterly impressed! You, sir, are a serious reader! What you said about being lost if you could not read anymore reminds me of what Borges, the greatest writer to never get a Nobel prize, said about what he would do if he would recover the sight (he became blind because, at his times, cataract could not be operated), he said he would go into his library and read and read, non-stop.

That pen does look nice, the colors are matching perfectly. The nib seems a bit small, but it is consistent with how the pen tapers off toward it, so it does not look odd like we can see in some Chinese pens that imitate a big pen, like a Montblanc, and match it with a tiny small nib.

I've heard the ergonomics on this pen are very good and it's very comfortable to hold. I've been thinking about making a purchase because of this.

Hi Garry. I have one Hexo with the same B nib, but in bronze. It seems to me that in one of the shots you didn't close the barrel fully. There's a hard stop that makes the logo on the barrel to line up with the nib. It does that on mine. The nib is easy to pull out for cleaning and there's no nib collar. It is similar to a TWSBI Go in that regards. It's a nice writer. Hope you enjoy yours as I enjoy mine.

What kind of tripod/setup do you use for overhead shots?

Nice first impressions Garry. My one & only Faber-Castell pen is the Silver Hexo with a Fine nib, and I got the converter to go with it. I think FC is one of those brands more heavy into art supplies than fountain pens, at least in the States. The pens are definitely not marketed too heavily. All in all it's a decent pen that writes well, but I think it's easily dismissed.

Hey Gary, FC Hexo is one of the nicer pens i have. Thanks for the perspectives, another FC pens i like is the grip fountain pen, very affordable. By the way have you heard of the Jinhao 10? Stay Safe and bless

Hi Garry, mate could you please give me the name of the seller.

Very, very good !!! ( Brazil )

Great first impressions, Garry. I really like the way it feels in the hand and the nib is surprisingly smooth. This could be an EDC for me. Mine did not come with a converter, nor the nice box. I got a converter and the cost was under US$30 which was incredible. I love the blue ink. I have been looking for a dark blue. I want one to pop off the page. This may be the one.

The FC Hexo may be the nicest pen yet, priced under $50-75 USD. It is certainly the nicest performing pen in my collection of pens priced in that range. I have it in a fine nib, and it is a fantastic writer. It is puzzling to me that so few folks seem to have tried them. It may be that the very basic look and construction doesn't appeal to many, but that is part of what appeals to me about the FC lineup. They are "sleeper" pens, for sure.

With the ink in the barrel and a white cap, it is a nice combination.

Three great pens. I am being slowly won over to the Lamy 2000 but have not yet made the purchase. I really enjoy my Leonardo MZG. I purchased a fine and medium nib unit as well as a 1.1 stub with the pen. All are very nice.

Gary, I’m so proud of you. I was one of your first watchers when you started out on TH-cam. We used to complain about your sound quality and microphone… But now look at you! You’re fantastic!