Hongdian Black Carbon Fiber Fountain Pen Extra Fine Nib Elegant Design Smooth Writer with Refillable Converter and Metal Pen Case Set

Brilliant for drawing and sketching.

This Pen is Beautiful! It feels cool, comfortable and well balanced in the hand. Whether writing with high pressure or low, writing fast or slow, the ink flows evenly and so smooth is the feel while writing, even on common notebook paper. Although this pen isn't heavy, it has a bit of weight that shows it's of very good quality. The color is vibrant and even, the look is elegant, to write with, it is truly fun. The slender body of this pen makes it easy to hold and puts minimal stress on my hand, even after writing for over 2 hours. When the cap comes off after writing, it makes a fun popping sound and each time the cap is replaced after writing, it has a snappy click every time. The bottled ink and cartridges which are purchased separately were very inexpensive. This pen has given back the joy of writing to me! It feels like the quality meant for a King with the price that's affordable for a Pauper!

I rarely do reviews, but I just purchased my 5th Hong Dian (that's how it's written on the cap) fountain pen. As much as I don't want everyone to clamber on board and drive up the price of these little beauties, I've gotta give this company some love for creating a really well-made fountain pen on the cheap. I've tried several other 'affordable' brands of fountain pens and have been, generally, not WOWed. I have three go-to brands in this category, of which Hong Dian is one. The colors in the 'Forest' are more muted in person than they appear online. The green is almost a drab olive. However, the image of Purple Forest (as well as the blue) is the closest to a true representation of the actual barrel color. I was originally a bit disappointed in the barrel colors, but I've quickly gotten past that. The pens are actually pretty dang good! I was skeptical about the quality but my first one was on deep discount. I've since purchased 4 more of these pens. They work beautifully out of the box with no fussing over the nib. The ink converters come with the pens, making this an insanely good value for the money. I have a thing for fine nibs and Hong Dian does not disappoint. The EF nibs are the thinnest I've encountered among any brand. The EF are advertised as .04mm (their Fine at .05mm) although they feel like .035mm. The ink flow is perfect, with no skips or bloops. Although, I admit that I occasionally get some minor skipping with the bent nib if that pen hasn't been used in a day or so. The bent nib requires constant use. (I hate to say this, but I prefer the Sailor Fude bent nib and the Pilot stub nib to the Hong Dian bent nib because of that skipping.) The EF nibs, though, write perfectly even if they haven't been used for a few days, like over a long weekend. While quality inks are preferred, the Forest line still writes like a dream when used with cheaper inks. They create thin lines that are as equally suited to ink sketching as they are to letter-writing. In a nutshell, I've got a small collection of fountain pens. The wallet can only stretch so far so I've enjoyed trying out some of the different affordable lines. I am a big fan of the Pilot Metro and Dryden Designs. Among my three favorite lines of Affordable Pens, Hong Dian vies for first place with Pilot Metro. Dryden Designs have rich, creamy colors and a sioothing weight behind them. Their Fine nibs feel a little thick for my taste, but there's definitely a place for them in daily life. Pilot Metro are a good value, come in a variety of fun colors, and write beautifully. Their Fine nibs are true and produce a thin line. The Pilot Metro are rather light, however, compared to Dryden and Hong Dian. The Hong Dian Forest pens weigh only slightly more than the Pilot Metros, but the weight of the cap on the end of the pens give the impression of them being far more heavy. This not a complaint, as they are well-balanced and the weight of the pen is welcome when writing fine, detailed lines. I have surprised myself because, over the course of the pandemic, Hong Dian's Forest line has become one of my favorite pens. After a year of using these pens, I'm even happier now with them than I was in the beginning. I use them daily and, although I'd hate to lose one, they are affordable enough to replace should a Terrible Thing happen to one. I've even branched out to try other Hong Dian fountain pen lines based on the success of the Forest line. I am super pleased with this pen and highly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy EF nibs.

Cool colors, writes nicely!

Wow! So glad I bought this. Love the overall weight, design, color, and ink flow. Glides across paper and no ink skips, very smooth. Makes writing enjoyable. Not sure I notice the difference between fine and extra fine though. About the same for me. Would buy again for the great price. One minor annoyance, the pen cap/top doesn’t stay sealed; it turns and spins as if loose. The cushion inside the top must’ve shifted. At one point it did stay closed tight.

I ended up coming back and editing this review after having the pen for a few more months. I don't have a lot more to say than what has already been said: generally, this is a really nice fountain pen for a very reasonable price. It feels nice in the hand and has a sleek, modern look. The nibs are generally and overall pretty incredible given the cost. While the difference between an EF and an M is not as substantial as in other brands, all of my nibs so far have written very smoothly. The fude and architect options are nice bonus options-- the fude/bent nib is an especially great example of the type. I have three big gripes that depress the rating for me, with the second two being the bigger offenses. The first is simply that 3.4mm is not a very common bore size. This really limits what cartridges can be used, for those who prefer to use them. Given that it comes with a converter, there are plenty of other pens with proprietary cartridge sizes, and that I use bottled ink most of the time, this is only a minor inconvenience... but one still worth nothing. It could certainly be a frustration for someone new to fountain pens or someone who does not want to use bottled ink. Second is that the pen feels unbalanced when posted. I didn't really notice how much until I tried using it for longer writing sessions. It's actually quite disruptive and uncomfortable for me when trying to write for anything longer than 10-15 mins at a stretch. Ultimately, this isn't a big surprise for a metal pen, and it's a little long when posted anyway. I still think it's nice to have the option for posting a pen with these kinds of aesthetics. It's just a bit of a shame it's not a little more balanced that way. Lastly, the biggest drawback is that the seal is pretty iffy on some caps. It's not a constant problem but I have experienced some lightning fast drying out of nibs, or even evaporation of ink from the converter. If this were a truky big and recurring issue I'd be giving this a lot less than four stars, but it's definitely worth noting. There were a few times it took a lot of effort to get the ink flowing again after the pen sat unused for just a few days. For whatever reason, this was largely eliminated after a nib switch for that pen, so I guess it's not solely a bad cap seal problem... just something to be aware of. I would say this is a pretty great *early* pen for someone just getting into the hobby and who is prepared to deal with some idiosyncrasies, but I think there are much better choices for first-ever fountain pens out there. Overall, though, I'd still recommend this pen pretty highly. It's a great pen for the price despite its quirks. I don't buy duplicate pens super often but I still have three of these. It's also a bonus that the nibs are interchangeable with some other great Hong Dian pens like the M2 pocket pen. 4/5 stars.