As for water resistance, I use waterproof, bulletproof, or document ink for anything I want to last for decades, but for disposable writing, I just don't care. I've been using fountain pens for sixty years, and not once has water even been a problem. And I'm not particularly careful about avoiding water. I simply have more joy by buying inks I love the look of, rather than worrying about water resistance. I gave away half my stockpile of ink not long ago, but I still have close to two hundred bottles. Needless to say, most of them have little or no water resistance. If you like shades of purple, though, one of the fastest drying, and most waterproof inks I've found, is Noodler's North African Violet. It's amazing. There is no pen out there that I hate in every possible way as much as I hate the Lamy Safari. I don't even like mentioning it, but the TWSBI plastic, even on their low cost pens, is far better than the cheap junk Lamy uses, and it's coated, so posting it really isn't plastic on plastic. TWSBI doesn't compromise on any of their pens. I never post any pen unless it's a true pocket pen such as the Kaweco Sport, but you aren't likely to mar the surface of a TWSBI pen by posting it. As for the ECO, it's not supposed to be posted at all, despite how often "reviewers" do so. Of course it's top heavy when posted. In fact, very, very, very few quality pens are made to be posted. Only Americans want to post pens, and risk marring the barrel or cracking the cap. A lot of the top expensive brands, or models, can't be posted. Fountain pens work far better when as much weight as possible is down near the nib. I'm not sure I'd call the Metropolitan an entry level pen, considering how much it costs in most other countries, but it's designed to write unposted, as well. One of the reasons Cross pens don't sell well on the American market is because almost all of them are designed so they can't be posted. Cross makes wonderful pens, and if you see the president sign something, it will be done with a Cross fountain pen. As for a writing sample, how about helping to correct a TH-cam caused issue. There is no such thing as a "brown" fox. There is such a thing as a "brown" dog. When I was young, this phrase was three letters longer, just for the sake of accuracy. Everyone wrote, "The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog." Where handwriting is concerned, don't apologize for it, but DO practice and try to improve it. I like Brian Goulet, I think he's good people, but he is trying to sell as many pens as possible, and you don't do that by discouraging those with lousy handwriting. Striving to improve both the quality of your handwriting, and the content of your writing, really should be a central part of using fountain pens. It's why fountain pens are better than gel pens, or ballpoint pens, or rollerball pens. For some reason, cursives affects your brain very differently than printing. It's a highly positive thing, an intelligence enhancing thig. If we lose cursive, we've lost one of the main reasons handwriting is so important. Anyway, a great job of reviewing. I never would have believed it was your first.
I could hear the feedback on that EF. How is the feedback on the fine nib? (I think you said you had an Eco with fine nib?) I am trying to pick out my first Twsbi but prefer a smooth writing experience.
My extra fine Swipe isn't as smooth as my fine Eco, but it's still fairly smooth as far as extra fines go. To me it feels smoother than my extra fine Lamy Safari. If you're worried about smoothness, I'd recommend getting a fine.
I purchased that model (EF nib) out of curiosity. And …I am very disappointed. First, my TWSBI pen is very wet. No matter what ink and paper I use. Secondly, TWSBI EF writes like “M nib” in my platinum or sailor pens. Failure !
@@mariusz_kozlowski TWSBI pens can be quite wet, but they shouldn't be that wet. It's possible you got a dud. I'd reach out to TWSBI and see what they say. They might be able to help.
Thanks! That's not a bad idea, though I've cracked some grip sections (not TWSBI) by messing with that too much, so now I'm nervous. Haha after making the video, I realized that the nib aligns perfectly with one of the ridges of the pentagon, and that the logo is squarely on the bottom, so I think it was an intentional design choice. It was weird to me at first but I'm cool with it now.
Nice review! To be honest, i'm a little bit jealous on North American customers, because they get the second, screw-type-converter for free. For the rest of the world (and also here in Germany), TWSBI delivers the Swipe without the second converter-option... 😭 But after all, it's a great pen and a bargain anyway, also here in Europe!
Thanks for the comment Stefan! Yeah, pen distribution really isn't fair. It's wild to me that they would even provide two converters for us Americans. Most pens at this price point don't come with any!
Thanks Chad! I'm hopeful the second and so on will be much better. I'm in the middle of moving and don't have a good setup or a lot of time at the moment.
Haha yeah it's a good one. Mine is currently inked up and I'm enjoying it. The Eco is a little more robust and classy looking, in my opinion, but the Swipe is a great every day carry. And the spring converter is so convenient!
@@DowntheBreatherHole I just inked up my eco and used it for the first time today… I can confirm it is way way better than the metropolitan I had in terms of smoothness and feel in the hand. I love it
These pens are for people who write horizontally. Most write at an oblique angle. Even if TWSBI has 2 flairs at end of a cylindrical section near nib, it's distracting for those who write correctly at a slightly oblique angle. Good pens don't put that crap at the end of section. It can flair evenly, roundly to hold fingers in place but NOT with two flairs suggesting "You better write horizontally, or else".
The body of this pen is made up of plastic. The pen has to be assembled by fixing each part by turning. The lower plastic body of the pen is weak and may crack at the thread place any time and it will not be aligned tightly with the nib section resulting in a ‘crick’ sound while writing. On the whole, TWSBI made a cost-effective and cheap plastic pen that is fragile and not long-lasting. Rating: 3 out 10.
As for water resistance, I use waterproof, bulletproof, or document ink for anything I want to last for decades, but for disposable writing, I just don't care. I've been using fountain pens for sixty years, and not once has water even been a problem. And I'm not particularly careful about avoiding water. I simply have more joy by buying inks I love the look of, rather than worrying about water resistance.
I gave away half my stockpile of ink not long ago, but I still have close to two hundred bottles. Needless to say, most of them have little or no water resistance. If you like shades of purple, though, one of the fastest drying, and most waterproof inks I've found, is Noodler's North African Violet. It's amazing.
There is no pen out there that I hate in every possible way as much as I hate the Lamy Safari. I don't even like mentioning it, but the TWSBI plastic, even on their low cost pens, is far better than the cheap junk Lamy uses, and it's coated, so posting it really isn't plastic on plastic. TWSBI doesn't compromise on any of their pens. I never post any pen unless it's a true pocket pen such as the Kaweco Sport, but you aren't likely to mar the surface of a TWSBI pen by posting it.
As for the ECO, it's not supposed to be posted at all, despite how often "reviewers" do so. Of course it's top heavy when posted. In fact, very, very, very few quality pens are made to be posted. Only Americans want to post pens, and risk marring the barrel or cracking the cap. A lot of the top expensive brands, or models, can't be posted. Fountain pens work far better when as much weight as possible is down near the nib.
I'm not sure I'd call the Metropolitan an entry level pen, considering how much it costs in most other countries, but it's designed to write unposted, as well.
One of the reasons Cross pens don't sell well on the American market is because almost all of them are designed so they can't be posted. Cross makes wonderful pens, and if you see the president sign something, it will be done with a Cross fountain pen.
As for a writing sample, how about helping to correct a TH-cam caused issue. There is no such thing as a "brown" fox. There is such a thing as a "brown" dog. When I was young, this phrase was three letters longer, just for the sake of accuracy. Everyone wrote, "The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog."
Where handwriting is concerned, don't apologize for it, but DO practice and try to improve it. I like Brian Goulet, I think he's good people, but he is trying to sell as many pens as possible, and you don't do that by discouraging those with lousy handwriting. Striving to improve both the quality of your handwriting, and the content of your writing, really should be a central part of using fountain pens. It's why fountain pens are better than gel pens, or ballpoint pens, or rollerball pens.
For some reason, cursives affects your brain very differently than printing. It's a highly positive thing, an intelligence enhancing thig. If we lose cursive, we've lost one of the main reasons handwriting is so important.
Anyway, a great job of reviewing. I never would have believed it was your first.
Thanks for your comprehensive and informative comment!
I could hear the feedback on that EF. How is the feedback on the fine nib? (I think you said you had an Eco with fine nib?)
I am trying to pick out my first Twsbi but prefer a smooth writing experience.
My extra fine Swipe isn't as smooth as my fine Eco, but it's still fairly smooth as far as extra fines go. To me it feels smoother than my extra fine Lamy Safari. If you're worried about smoothness, I'd recommend getting a fine.
I purchased that model (EF nib) out of curiosity. And …I am very disappointed. First, my TWSBI pen is very wet. No matter what ink and paper I use. Secondly, TWSBI EF writes like “M nib” in my platinum or sailor pens. Failure !
@@mariusz_kozlowski TWSBI pens can be quite wet, but they shouldn't be that wet. It's possible you got a dud. I'd reach out to TWSBI and see what they say. They might be able to help.
Hello from 🇬🇧 great first video.
Thanks Anne!
Nice video!
You can just rotate the nib and feed to help the nib align with the TWSBI branding on the barrel :)
Thanks! That's not a bad idea, though I've cracked some grip sections (not TWSBI) by messing with that too much, so now I'm nervous. Haha after making the video, I realized that the nib aligns perfectly with one of the ridges of the pentagon, and that the logo is squarely on the bottom, so I think it was an intentional design choice. It was weird to me at first but I'm cool with it now.
Nice review! To be honest, i'm a little bit jealous on North American customers, because they get the second, screw-type-converter for free. For the rest of the world (and also here in Germany), TWSBI delivers the Swipe without the second converter-option... 😭
But after all, it's a great pen and a bargain anyway, also here in Europe!
Thanks for the comment Stefan! Yeah, pen distribution really isn't fair. It's wild to me that they would even provide two converters for us Americans. Most pens at this price point don't come with any!
Nice first video
Thanks Chad! I'm hopeful the second and so on will be much better. I'm in the middle of moving and don't have a good setup or a lot of time at the moment.
I kinda want to get the swipe now 🤣 looks like fun and a nice backup
Haha yeah it's a good one. Mine is currently inked up and I'm enjoying it. The Eco is a little more robust and classy looking, in my opinion, but the Swipe is a great every day carry. And the spring converter is so convenient!
@@DowntheBreatherHole I just inked up my eco and used it for the first time today… I can confirm it is way way better than the metropolitan I had in terms of smoothness and feel in the hand. I love it
These pens are for people who write horizontally. Most write at an oblique angle. Even if TWSBI has 2 flairs at end of a cylindrical section near nib, it's distracting for those who write correctly at a slightly oblique angle. Good pens don't put that crap at the end of section. It can flair evenly, roundly to hold fingers in place but NOT with two flairs suggesting "You better write horizontally, or else".
The Swipe is quite adaptable to different grip preferences.
The body of this pen is made up of plastic. The pen has to be assembled by fixing each part by turning. The lower plastic body of the pen is weak and may crack at the thread place any time and it will not be aligned tightly with the nib section resulting in a ‘crick’ sound while writing. On the whole, TWSBI made a cost-effective and cheap plastic pen that is fragile and not long-lasting.
Rating: 3 out 10.
Sorry to hear your experience with TWSBI hasn't been positive. I've enjoyed my TWSBI pens and have had good luck with them lasting.