Pilot Kakuno Fountain Pen Clear Medium

I wanted to update my review for the Pilot Kakuno and thus give it 4 stars instead of the original 2 stars. After thoroughly cleaning the section and modifying the nib, the pen writes a lot better now. Skipping becomes absent and the nib now writes like a western F rather than an EF. I cleaned the section by taking the feed and nib out and thoroughly cleaning them with a toothbrush. And I also increased the flow by splitting the tines a little bit with a brass sheet. I have to admit that this pen feels so comfortable to hold in hand. The grip section is well designed for longer writing sessions. The superior lightweight of the pen is also a great plus!

Great pen for a totally reasonable price. I got the clear one since in my opinion it looks the least childish in the series. The plastic is sturdy. I put a glitter ink in it and the flow was so smooth and delightful. Bonus: it's super easy to clean the feed, the entire thing pops out easily. Rinsing the glitter out was cake. I need to get more of these!

Great beginner pen or easy travel pen. Snap cap is satisfying and secure. Clear body means I can keep an eye on ink levels easily. Med nib has good flow without pooling to much. Highly recommend for fountain pen beginners.

Now that I have a total of 10 fountain pens and I have been using them for everything, I can say, this is my favorite (so far!).I'm finally starting to understand what is and is not important to me.Important:NIB SIZE: I'm left-handed and tend to a side writer so if the nib is too fine, it will get "stuck" in the paper. This nib seems to be somewhere between the Platinum preppy F and M.STYLE: clean demonstrator-style. The Preppy has too much writing on it.PRICE: hey, let's be honest. Pens can be an expensive hobby/obsession. At under $15 this is super reasonable.Not important:A CLIP: don't need them.FANCY: I'm just writing notes in meetings. Not drafting documents at my lovely, antique secretary desk.INTL CARTRIDGE: I'm refilling old cartridges or using ... MoreNow that I have a total of 10 fountain pens and I have been using them for everything, I can say, this is my favorite (so far!).I'm finally starting to understand what is and is not important to me.Important:NIB SIZE: I'm left-handed and tend to a side writer so if the nib is too fine, it will get "stuck" in the paper. This nib seems to be somewhere between the Platinum preppy F and M.STYLE: clean demonstrator-style. The Preppy has too much writing on it.PRICE: hey, let's be honest. Pens can be an expensive hobby/obsession. At under $15 this is super reasonable.Not important:A CLIP: don't need them.FANCY: I'm just writing notes in meetings. Not drafting documents at my lovely, antique secretary desk.INTL CARTRIDGE: I'm refilling old cartridges or using a converter so I don't care that the cartridges are proprietary. The Pilot inks are ok, but I much prefer the Platinum inks.So, if you are looking for a very reliable, inexpensive nice looking, all-around pen, the clear or transparent-colors the Kakuno Medium Nib is the pen for you.

An excellent pen! I own several Kakunos, and they are a joy to write with. I get very cheered up by the friendly packaging and the faces on the nibs. I have some problems with hand pain and motor coordination, so the gently triangular grip section is very helpful and more comfortable than many (it's a much gentler grip than a Lamy Safari, for comparison.) I really like how the clear section lets you see the ink distributing into the feed.

I now have three Kakuno pens with different nibs and use them for urban sketching. I think they are comfortable to hold for long periods and I like the clear body that shows me how much ink is remaining. Speaking of ink, I refill my cartridges from a bottle, rather than use a converter. I get more capacity that way.

I love this pen! It writes so well, is light weight/comfortable to hold, looks great, and feels sturdy. The medium nib is especially good for inks that are chromashading or have shimmer and sheen. The clear demonstrator design shows off these inks well.The low price makes it so easy to own several Kakunos. With tons of beautiful inks available, you’ll want to have several of these inked up. I highly recommend this pen.

I like this pen but I don’t love it. I know it was a Japanese pen but I really wanted a bigger nib. The fact that I could only get a medium is the real reason I rate this a 4 instead of a 5. Besides that the pen works beautifully. A cheap affordable pen for an amazing experience. Don’t like the nib size but I love the pen.

A very dry writer. So I removed the NIB and Follower under flowing tap water, dried out the Follower and found that it was not cut cleanly. I had to enlarge the Follower Feed groove to get better ink flow by sliding a 1 micro Bronze shim down the groove channel. It is now a moderately wet writer that lays down a nicely saturated line. The Medium NIB did not need smoothing.The NIB unit can be rotated to fine tune one's grip and hold, which helps to find the "sweet spot" where there is minimal scratchiness and greatest ink saturation.I find that I cannot store this pen with the cap pointing up as it will dry out overnight, which is a deal breaker because there are cheaper disposable pens, like the Zebra Zensation, that start writing immediately after being stored ... MoreA very dry writer. So I removed the NIB and Follower under flowing tap water, dried out the Follower and found that it was not cut cleanly. I had to enlarge the Follower Feed groove to get better ink flow by sliding a 1 micro Bronze shim down the groove channel. It is now a moderately wet writer that lays down a nicely saturated line. The Medium NIB did not need smoothing.The NIB unit can be rotated to fine tune one's grip and hold, which helps to find the "sweet spot" where there is minimal scratchiness and greatest ink saturation.I find that I cannot store this pen with the cap pointing up as it will dry out overnight, which is a deal breaker because there are cheaper disposable pens, like the Zebra Zensation, that start writing immediately after being stored NIB up after weeks and months at a time. If the unit is stored at a slight incline, capped NIB pointing up, say, laying off the side of a notebook, or on a Calligraphy or Brush Pen Rest, or resting on a #2 pencil, the pen writes almost immediately. I usually rest my pens on an incline to minimize NIB creep.I swapped the Kaküno Medium NIB into the Pilot Plumix and the Pilot Plumix's Medium Italic NIB into the Pilot Kaküno. I can honestly say that the Plumix Italic NIB improved my handwriting. It imparts a certain je ne sais quoi to my lettering. I love it. The Italic NIB is a Japanese Medium, which means it is closer to a European Fine, which I do not find objectionable; ymmv, as some may still find it too broad for their liking.I love the clear, transparent, Demonstrator body as it allows me to easily gauge the ink level in the cartridge. I did not appreciate the air holes on the ends. So I used very short strips of foam to fill the holes, cut and pushed them flush and then used Nail Polish to seal the holes air tight.The cap can be posted. Install the cap, and imitating activating a clicker pen, push the cap down with just thumb pressure.Every time you change the ink cartridge, or flush the pen, put a small dab of Silicone Grease on the barrel threads. The grease will prevent you from over-tightening the barrel and possibly cracking it.