Sailor Compass Fountain Pen Review
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- A review of the new Sailor Compass 1911 fountain pen. This is Sailor's steel nib entry into a pretty competitive field of quality, affordable pens.
You can find this pen at Goulet, Dromgoole's, Goldspot, and other US Sailor retailers. They've been pretty popular, so you'll have to hunt for the color you want.
Sailor Black ink (bottled): amzn.to/3lCb1WF
Sailor Lecoule mentioned in review: amzn.to/3iJG0On
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UA-cam has been presenting me with your older videos, I'm not complaining! I recently found a 1911 Compass sitting in a jar on my desk. Turns out I thoroughly enjoy it! Looking forward to being able to afford a high end Sailor and doing a comparison
I really want to like this pen, but the one nib option ruins it for me. When I see the price, I immediately realize I might as well buy a Preppy, AND add a TWSBI Eco with a nib I want. If they had more nib sizes, this would have been a winner, I think.
It took 2 years but I finally got a sailor profit professor. The same as the compass but black with gold trim. Now I can compare it with the jinhao 992. I have to admit I am not a big fan of the sailor nib feedback. I think my jinhao is just as good with a smoother nib. And it's a lot cheaper!
Some of the best reviews. Thank you 😊
I've had a Sailor Lecoule for more than a year that I love and use every day, so I was excited to see this pen come on the U.S. market. The color I wanted sold out in less than a day, so I had to wait for the second wave as it were. The translucent purple Sailor Compass 1911 is my most recent pen purchase, and I'm very pleased with it. I'm especially a fan of the included matching converter, the clear feed, and that steel medium fine nib. Thanks for the review!
Love this pen too! It writes well, every time. Loves your reviews. You are relaxed and genuine. Great combo!
Thanks!
Convertor in the box us a huge improvement. You are right, perhaps they are listening. It only took like a decade, but still great to see. Now Lamy needs to do the right thing as well.
They are doing that for Studio and more expensive models.
Finally, I've been waiting for this review!
I call the audible feedback skritch. Each pen I have has some level of skritch, and Sailors have a lot ! 🙂
I grabbed an olive version, it is a vast departure from most of my other pens (LAMY and Jinhao are probably the most heavily represented brands) but not in a bad way. So far I am enjoying it though I do find the nib to be scratchy by comparison to some of my other favorites, like the TWSBI 580, which is also twice the price. I would say it's a fair alternative for someone looking for a pen priced like a LAMY Safari, but wanting a Japanese nib and a more traditional styling.
Thank you, I always enjoy your videos
Have this in the olive green and it's one of my current favorites. I like the way Sailor nibs schwoosh on the paper.
I have really enjoyed using my Compass. I was drawn by the crystal-clear material. I enjoy the way it writes and it's the price range I can afford and still get a Sailor pen. :-) I have it filled with Birmingham Cranberry Twinkle which look good in this pen.
How's the plastic body holding up?
Mine is holding up well, no issues.
i have quite a few pens. But I don't have a Sailor yet. I think this one is gonna make the cut as my first Sailor. I would love one with a gold nib but times are not what they were in 2019. got to take the budget way into new brands I don't have now days. If I don't like it $40 isn't going to put me on the couch. wher in 2019 I'd drop $140 no problem. thank you for the review and glad to see Sailor put out a pen in the budget range with a converter.
Deleting old comment and putting a new one in its place. I finally took the plunge and have my first 3 Sailors on order. I must admit the range names are rather confusing and I don't know what's what, but I have on order a 1911 Profit Kurogane, a 1911 Profit Junior (I don't yet know if these are the same model but just colour variants, and if these are the same as the Compass) and my first steel nib ProColor, also known as a Shikiori. Their ink lines are even more confusingly titled. This is one area where Pilot wins for me; Pilot make it far easier for the prospective buyer.
It would be interesting to see how I feel about my Jinhao 992s, Monteverde Monzugh and Wing Sung 9133 when I compare them against the real deal, the ProColor. It'll also be interesting and very annoying if any of these genuine Sailors have barrel plug cracking issues, or whether that's just a thing with the 992 and Monzugh. If the Sailors have the same design, I'm hoping they handled it better than the army of clones.
Definitely a cool looking pen but I can't help but feel it's a bit pricey as for $40 you only get one nib size which is a shame. I think it would've been cool if they'd introduce some more nib sizes like EF, M, B, or even their zoom and music nibs then It'd definitely be worth perusing but at least it comes with a converter, so that's a good start.
Looks nice but I never had any luck with Sailor steel nibs. I have Lecoule, too dry, needed adjustment, I had 500, it was absolute dud, didn't even write. I have 1911S in blue with black finials in H-M as my desk pen and clear demonstrator 1911S with B nib pretty much for fun and man, these are perfect. I don't think Sailor lower-end pens are good deal, they are expensive for what they offer and not that interesting, plus for me they are too fine which I don't like. Pilot Metro is better buy if you want cheap japanese fine pen.
Birmingham just released fourteen new ink colors today, and they are on sale for a limited time, so $7 instead of the usual $9. The shimmer inks are a bit more, but come in a nice new bottle, and the new shimmer colors are also on 20% sale for limited time. So if you want to order Birmingham ink, now might be a good time.
I noticed that no one cleans the nibs off the protective coating on new pens FP’s anymore. Have they stopped using that protective coating a new pens? Or am i thinking dip nibs? Lol
Awesome pen, I’m gonna try just one based on your video thank you
I've never been aware of a protective coating. All I do with mine is a flush, sometimes a disassemble and grease for a piston filler, then I put ink in the pen and go. I received my first Lamy 2000 a few days ago and I didn't even do any particular prep work on that besides a flush. That is one of my grail pens and by far my most expensive to date, bought new from Goulet Pens.
How do you like the 2000?
Graham Lamy 2000!! Wow i can only imagine the joy of owning one. Congratulations sir Thats a nice one
@@dannysvinylrainbow4852 Thanks, I have wanted one for ages but I daren't give in to my cravings too often. Otherwise what feels like an expensive pen now will probably feel disposable in a year.
@@JG3Reviews It is excellent in all regards. If you are planning on getting one then I recommend careful research first. There is an excellent video by Goulet Pens on the sweet spot as there definitely is one. The nib does not have a standard "ball" area of tipping. You have to be very precise and deliberate with your pen angle or else you will experience skipping, what people think are quality control issues. They aren't; the QC is exceptional, but the nib has very specific needs of the user. Meet those needs and it's like writing on a sheet of glass with a stick of warm butter. It is THAT good.
It would be really interesting to see how this compares to the Jinhao 992 transparent, which seems to be a Chinese clone at a fraction of the price. And how the nibs compare.
I think Wing Sung 9133 would come closer when it comes to the nib. A tad bit more expensive than Jinhao 992, but still a fraction of the cost of Sailor.
Me too!!
Yes, that would be a good comparison. Of course, the Jinhao 992 precedes the Sailor Compass by a number of years. Monteverde also has the Monza in this design and other manufacturers have also produced this style of pen. I wonder if the plug in the bottom of the barrel is prone to cause cracking in the Sailor as it is in the 992. I have also had the cap finial shear off in two of the Jinhao pens.
@@333pro333interesting. I have the wing sung too and find the nib is an f. The 992 is a m, wetter and very smooth. I should ink up the wing sung now and try them side by side 😋
Might have to do that. Good idea!
Could you eye dropper convert the Sailor? I didn’t see any holes in the body?
I finally bought the Compass last week. I also wished to eye dropper the pen. But after looking at it over closely, I reckon it is not advisable to do so. A few separate joined parts in the body of the pen makes it dodgy to eyes dropper fill it.
I broke down based on this review and went and found a Lecoule I like, and ordered it. Shame on you for tempting me to spend more money! lol
Ha!
Hi James, a fan here. I have a question about another pen you use, the Hong DIan Forest series. Mine has started leaking ink out of the bottom of the converter. I pulled the converter off to clean it. Did I do something wrong? a little tiny o ring popped off maybe? Help!
I may not be James but some advice I'd give is to see if the ink has gone past the little piston inside the converter, if it has then you're gonna need to dissasemle the converter by pulling the chrome ring off then the piston knob after that you'll need to grease up the little piston piston with silicone grease.
However if the mouth is leaking (which is what connects to the nib unit, a.k.a section) then it means the converter is probably out of order and will need to be replaced but there are some on Amazon.
@@i.c.3157 Thank you so much! this is exactly what I needed to know. Much appreciated it.
Beat me to it. Thanks!
Thanks for your review. I have dozens of pens, and my Sailor Compass is the single worst nib experience I have ever had, even counting all the times I have had to tune or smooth otherwise new nibs. Soooo far beyond scratchy, in its best moments it is unpleasant, in the worst, just plain hard to use for more than a line or two. Nothing visually wrong with the nib, so I am going to have to do some serious examination and work on it. Pity, as I got the olive color which I love, and the rest of the pen is just fine. Also, while I agree this is a nice pen overall, I don't see it as any better made than my Jinhao 992s, which arecl 10x less expensive, with the same basic design. I am not happy with the Sailor purchase considering the experience and price-value relationship.
I wonder if it would do any good to contact Sailor? I had good experience with Diplomat when I had a faulty nib/feed.
I bought a pen from Jet Pens a little over a year ago. It was made by Sailor for the Nagasawa stationery shop in Kobe, Japan. By all appearances, my pen is a Sailor Compass. I love the pen despite the fact that the nib is a bit too narrow for me. The wetness and smoothness of the nib more than make up for the fine line the thing puts down.
You might have a defective pen. For all I'd heard about feedback and a pencil-like quality to Sailor nibs, I have yet to experience such with the Nagasawa.
why does it look like jinhao 992? strange
The 992 is a copy of the Sailor 1911. As is, to my eye, the Monteverde Monza.
@@JG3Reviews The Monza is just rebranded Jinhao that Jinhao makes for them in China. So yeah they do look very "similar."
I didn't know that, but not surprising. I haven't ever dug into the Monza because the 992 was there.
@@JG3Reviews Many western pen brands use one of the Chinese pen makers to manufacture their entry level pens, but it is usually their design, or incorporates parts of their design, whereas this seems like "badge engineering" more often seen in automotive world, where they just slap their branding on an existing model. The Amazon Basics fountain pen is also a Jinhao, but might not be available without the Basics branding, as it might be exclusive to Amazon. Good deal for Jinhao I am sure, as they get to max out their manufacturing capacity, and after all the Basics brands are always contract made by someone not Amazon.
So 992ish 😄