Alan, glad to have you back! I actually have this pen in my rotation this month. Mine is the silver with the clear barrel and has a fine nib as well. I have it inked with Waterman "Tender Purple", and have been experiencing several hard starts/skipping. I think I have a slight case of "baby's bottom". Other than that, for the money, a pretty nice pen!
I have one Asvine V169, I bought after Chris uploaded a video reviewing this pen. This pen is my only vacuum filler mechanism fountain pen so far, I waited for about 2 weeks for this pen to arrive. For my Asvine V169, it has quite consistent ink flow, good with quick writing, I say quite because at time there will be skips, and I am using Iroshizuku Asa Gao ink which is wet. The vacuum filler mechanism fills up to 75% of the total capacity of the ink chamber of the pen, the metallic body will become quite difficult to hold like after 10 minutes of writing (for me, especially if the environment is hot), because grease build up on this metallic pen my pen will slip and I need to re-adjust the position of the pen to write, this pen is good to look at, not too expensive, the weight is fine for me, I like heavy pens, this weight is nothing compare to Jinhao Dragon pen (the dragon pen is like a mini mace, yes you can use it like a metallic club and spank your opponent's ass with it haha). This pen needs to have some friction pads or some anti-slide layer to prevent slipping due to hand grease accumulating over time. The ink is very sustainable, i used for two weeks, there is still half a tank of ink in the chamber... -_-"
Would be interesting to compare smoke noir with Monteverde’s ‘blue/black’!; not sure this pen is quite my thing but will put your silicone grease demo to good use next time I’m cleaning my Pilot Custom 823!, thanks:)
Good review. I like the skeleton design and price is reasonable. Just wonder about the longevity of the vac filling system, ie leaking. Interesting that it doesn't post but some artwork on Amazon shows it does when it obviously doesn't.
It does post, in so much as the cap will fit and stay on the back. It makes the pen really long, and backweights it quite a bit. For someone who posts every pen possible, it's doable, but it feels like a Kaweco Supra posted. So it's long and hefty, so I would think most people would not like it posted.
Alan, glad to have you back! I actually have this pen in my rotation this month. Mine is the silver with the clear barrel and has a fine nib as well. I have it inked with Waterman "Tender Purple", and have been experiencing several hard starts/skipping. I think I have a slight case of "baby's bottom". Other than that, for the money, a pretty nice pen!
Another excellent review.
I've really missed that 'slam' of the pen on the notebook at the end. It must be your trademark.
I like the look generally, but I wish the skeleton design was more refined - less random. An Art Deco or Art Nouveau design, perhaps.
I have one Asvine V169, I bought after Chris uploaded a video reviewing this pen. This pen is my only vacuum filler mechanism fountain pen so far, I waited for about 2 weeks for this pen to arrive. For my Asvine V169, it has quite consistent ink flow, good with quick writing, I say quite because at time there will be skips, and I am using Iroshizuku Asa Gao ink which is wet. The vacuum filler mechanism fills up to 75% of the total capacity of the ink chamber of the pen, the metallic body will become quite difficult to hold like after 10 minutes of writing (for me, especially if the environment is hot), because grease build up on this metallic pen my pen will slip and I need to re-adjust the position of the pen to write, this pen is good to look at, not too expensive, the weight is fine for me, I like heavy pens, this weight is nothing compare to Jinhao Dragon pen (the dragon pen is like a mini mace, yes you can use it like a metallic club and spank your opponent's ass with it haha). This pen needs to have some friction pads or some anti-slide layer to prevent slipping due to hand grease accumulating over time. The ink is very sustainable, i used for two weeks, there is still half a tank of ink in the chamber... -_-"
Would be interesting to compare smoke noir with Monteverde’s ‘blue/black’!; not sure this pen is quite my thing but will put your silicone grease demo to good use next time I’m cleaning my Pilot Custom 823!, thanks:)
Good review. I like the skeleton design and price is reasonable. Just wonder about the longevity of the vac filling system, ie leaking. Interesting that it doesn't post but some artwork on Amazon shows it does when it obviously doesn't.
It does post, in so much as the cap will fit and stay on the back. It makes the pen really long, and backweights it quite a bit. For someone who posts every pen possible, it's doable, but it feels like a Kaweco Supra posted. So it's long and hefty, so I would think most people would not like it posted.