Ink Piston Fill Flex Nib Clear Demonstrator Medium Point Fountain Pen - ND-17000

Really good flex nib pen for the price. I think I got really lucky on this particular production unit or I’m not experienced enough in the “fountain pen world” to know any better but I’ve rarely had any hiccups (as pictured on the “g” in “writing sample”) and the line variation is super good (with some needed pressure of course. I’m only docking this a few stars because the smell makes this impossible to take with you to work without someone asking if you farted. Edit: as of 3 years from the original review I can say the smell has gone away… not sure when but I can say with confidence it went away after the first year or so from use, just don’t put it in a bag before then haha

I’m so grossed out. In all my years of fountain-penning, I have never had an experience like this. I received a new pen order. I opened the box and the smell was so overwhelming my whole body immediately recoiled. My husband was in the kitchen when I opened the box. He was standing ACROSS THE ROOM and within seconds shouted out, “Uh!! What’s that SMELL?!!” The pen fell out of the plastic wrapper. I picked it up to put it back in. The smell stuck to my fingers!! I immediately washed my hands and the smell is still faint under the soap’s perfume. 😱🤢 My stomach is turning (no joke). I went to Amazon to check the reviews. and Eighty eight out of over six hundred people have complained about smell. 😱 One person even noted that it smelled like cheese. They are wrong. It smells like *rotten* cheese. That’s been fermenting inside a dirty sock that’s been worn for weeks, then stored under someone’s yeasty fat roll, who hasn’t taken a shower for a couple more months. Too much for a description? No. No It’s not. It’s not too much. Because that’s how bad this pen smells. 😩 One review said it smelled up their whole pen case and all of the other pens in it. Ew!! I would never put this thing in my pen case. My stomach is still turning. My question is… why would a brand new pen smell like that?! 🤢 I don’t know if I will even return the pen. I want it out of my house asap so I may just throw it away. Also, my Fountain Pen Revolution Ultra flex works way better than this one. There should be a warning in the description about the smell!! 🤢🤮🥴

I do think the Konrad and the Ahab are better pens, but if you like thin and small and still want a piston filling demonstrator pen with a flexible nib, this is where the money's at. I have two, one that I ground the feed out to gush ink, and this one, which I kept stock. Noodlers pens DO REQUIRE SOME FIDDLING. DO NOT BUY THIS AS A FIRST PEN. You will have to likely adjust how deep the nib and feed are in the body (further out = more flex, closer the feed is to the tip of the nib, more inkflow) and maybe use a razor blade to cut the ebonite feed a bit, but this will take any standard #5 nib as well, and is a proper piston filler. The biodegradable vegetal resin isn't as crystal clear as a TWSBI's plastic, but it's still quite clear, and it's tougher than any other plastic you can think of. Nathan Tardiff of Noodlers has a video of himself driving over a konrad (Same material) with his car twice and it wrote fine, and then firing one out of a shotgun (it survived) It does have a VERY strong odor out of the box, some people HATE the smell, so if you don't like the pen's odor, stick it in a drawer for a week and it will dissipate quickly. It's a very thin, light pen with a good posting cap. The nib is nice, will flex very broad (western EF to about a 1.1-1.5 stub) though it does require way more pressure than a "vintage" flex pen, if you want to write bold and broad, this will do the job, no problem. It will get tiring to do after 10-15 minutes, unlike a vintage flex pen, but that isn't this pen's intent. It does write like a slightly springy gold nib when writing normally, which I really like (not like a soft nib, but softer than regular steel nibs) Piston mechanism is smooth, simple, and reliable, and it holds a good amount of ink (2.5ish ml) The only issue I have with these nib creapers is that the cap has no inner seal, so it can't be sat in a drawer, inked, like a platinum with a slip and seal cap or even a jinhao. The konrad has an inner cap and the ahab seems to not have much issue (my neponset is ebonite without an inner cap but seems to not have trouble either) it will dry out if left for a week inked and unused. So only ink this pen up when you want to use it, and the rest of the time, keep it empty, and you won't have any issues. Overall, if you have a few dollars more and don't desperately want the thinnest pen you can find, I suggest the ahab, or if you need something a little smaller, the konrad, which are a bit more versatile and have a more easily swapped #6 nib. But for what it is, this is a solid little flex pen.

I've read a lot of the complaints (unreliable, smells bad), AND the glowing reviews (a flex pen for cheap, a tinkerer's pen), and here's my take after one month of consistent use. Yes, it works well when it works, and I did enjoy the "tinkerer's" aspect of heat-seating the feed, and fine tuning the nib. And I loved having a relatively flexy pen for my fun inks. However, for me, that novelty ran out. I've had ink sputter onto me (and my clothes) while writing, random blobs of ink bleed through my papers, ink leaks, rapid drying-out, and I'm pretty sure the section isn't machined correctly to even fit the metal nib because it has to be pushed so far in to stick, it's barely usable. Cosmetically, the section-to-barrel area is definitely crooked. So while this was truly fun for a few weeks, and I even came to endear the acrid smell, the thought of getting it out for another use turns me off. For the low cost, yeah, why not enjoy a few weeks of "tinkering" and fun flex writing. For me, that lasted a month, and then the word "tinkering" started to seem like a fancy way of saying "this pen was poorly made, please fix it yourself." I may try again with a Konrad or Ahab down the line, but for now, the Creaper is fondly remembered but has been laid to rest.

This is a very nice pen with great features -- piston filler, nice weight, elegant and classic design, flex nib -- and at a bargain price. But, unfortunately, the awful (almost nauseating) smell makes it unusable. Even when washed with warm water and a mild dish soap the pen's bad smell did not go away. Note to manufacturer: PLEASE use a different material -- this pen would be wonderful if it did not smell bad. As it is, it sadly cannot be recommended.

I bought this pen because for some time I wanted a fountain pen with a flexible nib to practice calligraphy and handwriting. The flexible nib pens of other brands are more expensive, which makes this pen an excellent option with good cost-quality ratio. The pen does not look pretty, it looks rustic but it works well, it is easy to carry and I really like its transparency. To be honest, I thought the pen nib would be much more flexible, which disappointed me at first but I got used to it. Something I did not like is its smell ... I think that because of some type of lubricant used in the piston, the pen has an unpleasant smell and in fact the ink takes that strong smell once on the paper. I hope that with time that is not already a problem. I recommend this pen for stylized handwriting, take notes and practice a little, but definitely it isn't a pen for calligraphy works that require delicate and beautiful lines.

Back in November 2017 I was a rank amateur with respect to fountain pens and "accidentally" lucked into buying this Noodler's Ink Nib Creaper, although that's not what the description said, that's exactly what this is. I now have 7 fountain pens and I use several every day for writing in my journal, doing genealogy research, or drawing pen and ink. I have 5 or 6 bottles of ink and my favorite combination is definitely this Nib Creaper with either Noodler's Eel black or Noodler's Navy. The eel lubricates so I don't get the scratchiness of some of the fine nibs, but the Navy is such a beautiful ink. As a novice I struggled a little but quickly figured out how to work the piston fill to fill it with ink. I have cleaned it once since Nov, but normally it just works with using a soft paper towel to wipe the nib. Great being able to write a finer line and a bit broader just by bearing down. I'm ordering another one to use with Ghost Blue Invisible Ink. Overall this is an amazing writing instrument. Just never, ever fall asleep writing in a journal in bed with a fountain pen! And if you do . . . Dawn and lots of cool water and a rag can usually get that ink out.

I seldom write reviews. But.. I have a lot of pens, not just a lot, an obscene number of pens. I fell in love with fountain pens in my teens owned and wrote with Shaeffer's all through high school many decades age. Never mind. This pen. This is such a carefree pen to own and write with. I love the piston barrel for ink loading and the clear profile allows you to see your ink supply. I've had no sticking, no skipping, no blotting and no bleeding. I pick it up, open the top and the ink goes where I want it. I can ask no more of a pen that is less than $20! I'm buying it again, and yes the plastic smells but I don't write with my nose so I love my stinky Noodler pen!