I have this pen and absolutely love it. There’s something about the convex, round and clear barrel that really shows off the ink. I have mine filled with Pilot Yama-Budo, and it just flows back and forth like a small vial of rich red wine. My friends will often just hold it and slosh it slowly back and forth in appreciation of its beauty.
I bought this pen with an EF nib 6 months ago, I use it for writing summaries and notes for my study. It performs well, even better than pens that are far more expensive and have a gold nib. As a leftie, I decided to try an EF as I want to write small texts in schemes and mindmaps I like to draw. I conclude the TWSBI Vac Mini is a very good buy, it offers much value for the money! Carry on Blake, I like your very informative videos and you show a good taste, the gold-green ink is marvellous!
Thank you so much! I appreciate it. The price of pens does not always correlate with performance. In fact I've had more issues with gold nib pens than steel ones.
The Vac 20A is such a great addition to this pen. Just filled my new Vac Mini last night. It required 3 pumps to completely fill the ink chamber, but like most people, I was impatient and pumped it pretty quickly. I think i can achieve the same result by being a little more patient between pumps. It is a nice writer with an EF nib.
A former co-intern once called my TWSBI a boss pen. I don't think it looks out of place in an office, but I guess it really depends on a person's taste. I'm thinking of getting this one since I lost my amber colored 530 and another pen during the sudden work from home order. I thought I brought it home with me and when I couldn't find it I thought it was safe enough on my desk and that I'd be back soon anyway. Boy was I wrong... Anyway, nice review. I was also looking at a Moonman, but I really want to try the vac system. Plus, TWSBI's customer service is awesome.
Thanks for the comment Rosey! I am sorry to hear you lost your 530. Regarding the office, I think it really depends on how casual the environment is. The Vac Mini is a great choice.
Thanks for these informative videos. I haven't had a fountain pen since when I was at a high school back in Mongolia in the late 80's. I always wanted own one again but my knowledge on fountain pens has been shallow. Luckily last month I came across an instagram post on a Japanese fountain pen brand named PLATINUM and bought the one with a music nib. It is amazing! Now I have been watching reviews on bottled inks and notebooks, and your uploads have been educational. Thanks.
I bought this but the smoke model recently and I think they have changed the design where they removed the inner rubber seal and instead now there is a triangular metallic barrier, but still in doubt whether it seals off the ink to the nib compartment
Thanks for the comment! Looking at pictures of the current model I think you are correct. When they changed the Vac 700 they called it the 700R but I wonder why they didn't update the name of the Mini.
The nib on the Diamond 580 is #5. However, it is a proprietary mod of the standart #5 shape. The lenght is the same but the shoulders are much wider. I once tried to put the nib of a Diamond 580 on a Kaweco Liliput. It fit and the ink flow was stable, however it looked very odd. The clip being mounted to the cap with a seperate metal piece and two screws is an interesting design choice. It simplifies manufacturing but slightly reduces durability (altough you can argue against this since it allows the clip to be replaced with little effort by a repairsperson in the case of significant damage). In the past I have seen a Diamond 580 with a really abused clip. I knew the owner and they used to clip it on ski pants and entire notebooks. Due to the extreme tension, the rivets came loose and the clip became wobbly (however, I don't think this was the more important issue compared to the fact that the clip was bent up 45 degrees).
Thank you for the comment and for confirming that it is a #5 nib. I think that you are right that it is probably cheaper to manufacture the clip in two pieces.
I have this pen, it gets compared to my Custom 823 and Visconti Homo Sapien lol it's definitely worse than those, but it's also so much cheaper. It's the pen I recommend to people who just want a refillable pen that will last a life time.
I like the pen but the barrel tends to get cracks. I have already replaced the barrel once. Now the new barrel is starting to crack, my thought is that this occurs right where the cap would thread if you post it (I like to post my pens). So, no more Vac minis for me.
While everyone is busy watching you and lending their expert opinion; let me ask you this. Give away the Vac Mini to me; we ain't got the luxury of such pens over here. 😂😂😂😂
I have this pen and absolutely love it. There’s something about the convex, round and clear barrel that really shows off the ink. I have mine filled with Pilot Yama-Budo, and it just flows back and forth like a small vial of rich red wine. My friends will often just hold it and slosh it slowly back and forth in appreciation of its beauty.
I agree and yama-budo is a great choice. Such a fun pen.
I bought this pen with an EF nib 6 months ago, I use it for writing summaries and notes for my study. It performs well, even better than pens that are far more expensive and have a gold nib.
As a leftie, I decided to try an EF as I want to write small texts in schemes and mindmaps I like to draw. I conclude the TWSBI Vac Mini is a very good buy, it offers much value for the money!
Carry on Blake, I like your very informative videos and you show a good taste, the gold-green ink is marvellous!
Thank you so much! I appreciate it. The price of pens does not always correlate with performance. In fact I've had more issues with gold nib pens than steel ones.
The Vac 20A is such a great addition to this pen. Just filled my new Vac Mini last night. It required 3 pumps to completely fill the ink chamber, but like most people, I was impatient and pumped it pretty quickly. I think i can achieve the same result by being a little more patient between pumps. It is a nice writer with an EF nib.
I love the TWSBI ink wells. They do such a good job with them. Glad to hear you like yours.
A former co-intern once called my TWSBI a boss pen. I don't think it looks out of place in an office, but I guess it really depends on a person's taste. I'm thinking of getting this one since I lost my amber colored 530 and another pen during the sudden work from home order. I thought I brought it home with me and when I couldn't find it I thought it was safe enough on my desk and that I'd be back soon anyway. Boy was I wrong...
Anyway, nice review. I was also looking at a Moonman, but I really want to try the vac system. Plus, TWSBI's customer service is awesome.
Thanks for the comment Rosey! I am sorry to hear you lost your 530. Regarding the office, I think it really depends on how casual the environment is. The Vac Mini is a great choice.
Thanks for these informative videos.
I haven't had a fountain pen since when I was at a high school back in Mongolia in the late 80's.
I always wanted own one again but my knowledge on fountain pens has been shallow.
Luckily last month I came across an instagram post on a Japanese fountain pen brand named PLATINUM and bought the one with a music nib. It is amazing!
Now I have been watching reviews on bottled inks and notebooks, and your uploads have been educational.
Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
I believe the Vac Mini is a #4 nib, the same as the ECO, Swipe and GO models by TWSBI.
Hi Leela, I believe you are correct.
You have this for 6 years??? I'm sold.
It's a good one!
@@BlakesBroadcast bought it after the video ended, it's on the way haha!
@@johannesalbrecht2503 I hope you will enjoy it! I love mine.
I bought this but the smoke model recently and I think they have changed the design where they removed the inner rubber seal and instead now there is a triangular metallic barrier, but still in doubt whether it seals off the ink to the nib compartment
Thanks for the comment! Looking at pictures of the current model I think you are correct. When they changed the Vac 700 they called it the 700R but I wonder why they didn't update the name of the Mini.
The nib on the Diamond 580 is #5. However, it is a proprietary mod of the standart #5 shape. The lenght is the same but the shoulders are much wider. I once tried to put the nib of a Diamond 580 on a Kaweco Liliput. It fit and the ink flow was stable, however it looked very odd.
The clip being mounted to the cap with a seperate metal piece and two screws is an interesting design choice. It simplifies manufacturing but slightly reduces durability (altough you can argue against this since it allows the clip to be replaced with little effort by a repairsperson in the case of significant damage). In the past I have seen a Diamond 580 with a really abused clip. I knew the owner and they used to clip it on ski pants and entire notebooks. Due to the extreme tension, the rivets came loose and the clip became wobbly (however, I don't think this was the more important issue compared to the fact that the clip was bent up 45 degrees).
Thank you for the comment and for confirming that it is a #5 nib.
I think that you are right that it is probably cheaper to manufacture the clip in two pieces.
Trying to choose between the vac mini and the diamond or piston....🤔
I prefer piston fillers but if you want to try a vac fill the mini is excellent.
I have this pen, it gets compared to my Custom 823 and Visconti Homo Sapien lol it's definitely worse than those, but it's also so much cheaper. It's the pen I recommend to people who just want a refillable pen that will last a life time.
Thanks for the comment! The Vac Mini is a great pen. The 823 and HS are more premium pens but I don't think the Vac Mini is a worse pen.
I like the pen but the barrel tends to get cracks. I have already replaced the barrel once. Now the new barrel is starting to crack, my thought is that this occurs right where the cap would thread if you post it (I like to post my pens). So, no more Vac minis for me.
I do hear of Twsbis having issues with cracking. It hasn't yet happened to me.
While everyone is busy watching you and lending their expert opinion; let me ask you this. Give away the Vac Mini to me; we ain't got the luxury of such pens over here. 😂😂😂😂
I already gave it away I'm afraid.
@@BlakesBroadcast 😭😭 It's okay. But keep posting newer reviews