Hey! Here’s another Weekly Loadout submission, this time from Chris S.
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Submission by Chris S.
Chris’ Description (Left to Right):
- Lamy Safari Green : Lamy Turquoise : 1.1 stub nib
- Platignum Studio Lime green : Noodlers Dragons Napalm M nib
- Pelikan 140 : Akkerman South Forest Green O nib
- Pilot 78G Green : Noodler’s X Feather B (stub) nib
- Noodler’s Ahab Orange : Diamine Imperial Purple Flex nib
- Faber Castell Basic Carbon Fibre : Mont Blanc Toffee Brown M nib
- FP Revolution Dilli Blue : Akkerman Deep Sea Blue M nib
- Jinhao 186 Silver hatch : Pilot Apricot Regular nib
- Paper: Pukka Pad 80gm Vellum
Favorite Combo:
- Pelikan 140 – Forest green, so retro!
Least Favorite Combo – Did something just not click? :
- Noodlers ahab, still struggling with scratchy flex nib
Editor’s Note:
Here’s a bunch of nice pens I really don’t have much experience with! I have a ton of Safaris (Apple Green LE included) that I use on a daily basis, and love. There’s no way I could hate on that old Pelikan, it looks great, and I’m a bit jealous of the oblique nib. I haven’t tried a 78G yet, but I hear good things! I totally agree with you on the least favorite Ahab, I finally got mine to write decently, but it was more of a hassle than anything and I can’t say I’m the biggest fan. I like your choice in inks, and the different nibs really balance this loadout.
Great pens, thanks for submitting!
If you would like to submit your Weekly Loadout of pens, ink, and paper, please share by clicking here and filling out the form!
Further Reading:
edjelley.com - Fountain Pen, Ink, and Stationery Reviews 
Nice load out.
The closest thing I have to these is my Pilot Metro (black) with a Pilot Plumix italic nib, loaded with Noodler’s X-Feather. It should perform pretty close to the Pilot 78G. It performs quite nicely. But I do have to say, Sailor Kiwa-Guro beats X-Feather at its own game. I’ve seen X-feather show some feathering on crappy paper, but Sailor, is smooth sailing (pun intended) on the same paper.
I like to match the color of the pen with the color of the ink, so if this was my set, I would load Sailor Apricot in the orange Ahab. I was intrigued by the purple ink in that Orange Ahab, but that’s just the OCD in me talking.
Lastly, I hear folks have a problematic experience with the Ahab. It is one of my favorite everyday-use, knock-about pen. In it’s original state I wasn’t a huge fan of it either, the Noodler’s Flex nib is a bit scratchy, and if you really want to go for flex, you’ll be better served with a vintage flex pen. Greg Minuskin sells awesome flex pens but you have to watch his site like a hawk and act fast if you see something you like, a few seconds of delay in hitting that send button on the email and you’ll loose out.
The things I did to the Ahab to make it my favorite, were the following:
1) Swap out that nib for a Monteverde, or a Goulet #6 nib, I prefer the 1.1 stub nib size. and
2) Converted it to an eyedropper filler, which is easy enough to do with some silicone grease. Now I have a mammoth ink supply and I keep it at my desk in the office for weeks and still not get to the 50% point even after daily writing and drawing diagrams.
I think I’m rambling here, but thanks for sharing.
I’m with you on the Sailor. The kiwa-guro is one of my favorite inks, and my go-to black ink. It’s one of the smoothest and best performing black inks out there (in my opinion). I wasn’t a big fan of the X-Feather. It’s hard to try out other black inks when you already have one that works so well.
Nice! I am a fan of most of these pens! I say most because I am forever bitter about my Ahab. I am so jealous of those of you who have working Ahabs. I know, I know. I complain about it non stop. Lovely color on yours though! Yummy ink choices. I love seeing what everyone else is using – thanks for sharing Chris!
Hi Azizah, if you want you can send me your Ahab and I can see if I can get it working. I have tons of spare noodler’s nibs here and I can swap it out for you if the nib is the problem.
The best thing though, like I mentioned, is to get rid of that nib and put a monteverde or goulet size 6 nib in there. You’ll have no issues.
If it’s the feed that’s the issue, then the capillary channel can always be cleaned out with an X-acto knife, and even the feed can be heat set to mold to the shape of the nib.
I find that the Ahab has a better section than the konrad. The Ahab is generally a better pen overall. Its section has a groove where the nib sets in, and the feed goes only so far and then it hits a stopping point.
The konrad section however has a perfectly round interior, and there is no hard stop for the feed, and so you constantly have to guess how far to push the nib and feed into the section.
And best of all you can make an ahab into an eyedropper filler and I love eyedropper filling pens.
Regards.