Asvine V126 Vacuum Filling Fountain Pen, Matte Black Acrylic Extra Fine Nib, Large-Capacity Pen with Gift Case

This is an excellent pen though maybe too large for smaller hands. Asvine also make a smaller vacuum fill pen that is similar in size to one of the Pilot pens which would be better for smaller hands and it is equally good. The nib is large, attractive, smooth, and writes well. Ink flow is normal, neither wet nor dry. There is no color (clear, demo) and being a vacuum fill, there are of course no refills except for bottled ink. The ink capacity is huge, so if you have a favorite ink/color and do lots of writing, this pen is an excellent choice. If the size and more complex maintenance/cleaning of a vacuum fill system suits you, this is one great pen, and a great value besides. It comes with the tools to disassemble it for occasional deep cleaning if you are comfortable with doing so.

So we own various pens that might be considered, depending on your specific criteria, competitors - PenBBS 355, various Opus 88 models like the mini and demonstrator, basic Nahvalurs , Jaipur V2, Kanwrite Heritage, Conklin, etc. And at this point these are my preferred pocket pen. (Note that I don't consider many of the previous pocket pens: pretty much anything that doesn't allow for closure of the ink chamber like Opus 88 models, the 355, and this pen do, doesn't really count as a proper pocket pen in my view, and even then some pens are too big for the pocket.) That said, of the above pens what I find is that the Kanwrite Heritage is an excellent host for desk usage involving nib unit changes or flex nibs, while Asvine 126 pens are great for daily pocket usage. These are good nib hosts. I have a Franklin Christoph SIG Fine nib on the stock Asvine feed + unit. I've not had this particular nib behave well in the Opus or PenBBS despite trying different feeds and units. it's been prone to random blotting and other inkflow issues. For the 355 I also had to sand down the finial thread for fit. On this pen, it just writes, with reasonable and safe ink flow. I do regard the factory "extra fine" as more of a fine-plus than an extra fine, but that's pretty much the case on most stock extra fine nibs in my view - they're often barely different than factory fine, and often mean factory fine is closer to medium. It's fine for writing with so long as you don't prefer writing extremely small. It write perfectly well, and perhaps slightly on the wetter side of things. I have noticed that once in a while the feed will stop for a moment for no clear reason (NOT skipping) - I think this happens when I forget to open the main chamber until after I've written extensively with it closed or have pocketed it cap-up without closing the main chamber. I assume that means both behaviors somehow lead to an occasional air pocket interacting with the feed. That said, it's not a frequent issue *at all* and solves itself in a couple seconds most of the time. A blip because I forgot to open or close the main chamber is much preferable to blotting or variable ink flow, so I don't mind this at all. I hate fountain pens that use ink cartridges - ink cartridges always leak, break, dry out, or otherwise cause problems, so IMO this is far and away preferable to anything that uses cartridges. I also tend to view regular piston fill pens as too prone to leaking for pocket use. Which makes this easily the best pen for regular everyday use under $100 IMO. It does post, though a bit loosely. I find the size to be slightly shorter than I care for unposted, and slightly taller than I care for posted, but that's not bad by any means - it's a more comfortable size than the Opus pens all round, though I think the length of the 355 unposted is slightly preferable compared to the Asvine V126. Have two of these and may get one more just to have another nib available for pocket use. Do wish they cam in more colors, especially more non-gold metal finishes.

Just to start off... I own a Pilot 823. I know this is a copy of the 823; and no, it's not as good as an 823. Not even close. Now that that's out of the way, this is an awesome pen. The flow is good, and the medium steel nib is extremely pleasant. NO scratchiness, NO baby's bottom, NO skipping, NO hard starts. It is smooth with just the right amount of (good) feedback. The tines were perfectly aligned. There is even a little bit of flex -- well, more flex than I would expect from a Chinese steel nib. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive pen that is a pleasure to use and you don't mind buying from a company that pilfered the design from another company, this should be on your short list. I have no idea if it will hold up in the long term... looking at it, I can tell that it won't be as durable as a Pilot. But there is nothing about it that leads me to believe it will self-destruct in the short term. I'd definitely take this pen over anything from Jinhao. Keep in mind that this is a vac-filler. It takes some effort to use. You need to unscrew the knob if you're going to write any decent amount or you'll cut off the ink flow to the feed. Maybe just leave it unscrewed unless you're going to be traveling around with the pen a lot. Additionally, it takes some practice and a trick to get a full fill, as well... could be messy until you get the hang of it. They are a little more work to clean out so I would advise that you pick an ink and stick with it to avoid the hassle. If you have the money and want something in this form factor, get the Pilot 823 instead. If, however, you can't or don't want to spend that kind of cash on a pen, this is 80% of the pen for 10% of the price.

The thing about fountain pens is that it’s impossible to make every pen perfect. Some manufacturers are better at it than others. I have some more expensive pens like a Montblanc that I have never been able to get to write well. Even had the nib worked on twice by nib meisters. Needless to say it’s sitting in my drawer. There are usually some bad reviews of a pen like this and sure the quality control probably isn’t perfect. But the pen I received is amazing. The nib is very nice and writes smoothly. It wrote perfect out of the box and didn’t need any tweaking or tuning (both of which I am somewhat capable of doing as needed). The pen is not too dry and the ink flow is very good. I’ve tried a number of pens of different makes and ended up giving most of them away. I am down to four pens these days. A vintage Parker 51 and a Parker 45, a Kaweco Sport for every day at work, and now this pen. I was very surprised at how much I liked it because of how picky I seem to be. The medium nib is just right. I sort of wish it came in broad but I guess I can’t have everything, at least not for $30. The vacuum fill is pretty neat. I journal a lot so the ink capacity is nice. The size, weight, and balance is great. I really don’t have anything to complain about. Overall I’d say this pen is definitely worth a shot. Purchasing any fountain pen is a bit of a risk because you can never be absolutely certain of what you’ll get. For $30 this writes as well as pens that cost $100-200, at least for me. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect fountain pen. There are pens that sit in your drawer because you just don’t love them. And there are pens that you write with every day because all in all they feel just right to you. For me this pen falls into the latter category. I don’t think it will find its way into my drawer anytime soon.

Wonderful looking for the money. Writes great, love the teal color and you can see the ink in the body. I like that you can fill the pen in the front instead of Vacuum filling saves alot of hassle without getting ink on you if you make a mistake with the plunger and want to get a full fill. It's like eye-droppering. The size is very nice it is not large like the C-80. This is easy to clean so far. The nib is a regular medium nib, not the large #8 nib. The weight is real nice as expected. Not sure of the durability yet. The pen wrote right out of the box, I put some shimmer ink in it and it handled it well. I might buy another one in the near future.

I am amazed at the writing experience of this pen every single I pick it up. I purchased the pen with an EF nib and it writes pretty close to a true Japanese EF. This is the only sub-$200 pen where an EF nib is both this fine and this smooth when writing. A few comparisons to the Pilot 823 (which is a clear design inspiration for this pen): - the V126 has very similar mechanics and functionality - the V126 feels a little "cheaper" and slightly lower quality Compared to many of the "budget" brands, however, this feels like a premium pen. I would strongly recommend it for someone getting in to fountain pens over some of the standard recommendations in this price bracket. My one gripe is the threads on the cap. Nearly every time I recap the pen I find the threads getting crossed and have to fuss with it a few times before it screws on correctly. (Pictured with Robert Oster's Turquoise ink.)

My first V126's rear cap at the end of the plunger was loose and looked to have chewed up threads right out of the box. Amazon directed me to contact Asvine through their website, which at the time(4/19-ish) would only link me back to the Amazon store. Went through that loop a couple times before issuing a standard return and replace through Amazon. However, my second one looks to be spot on and exactly what I'd expect. This pen did have some sort of light oil over the surface of the exterior of the pen, which I cleaned off with a mild soap and microfiber cloth. I went ahead and moved toward cleaning the nib and found I could not pull it from the feed. After cycling water throughout, I determined it seemed clean enough and so went ahead to ink it up once dried. So far, the nib has proven to be one of my smoothest to date. Operation of the plunger was simple and easy to get a feel for. The pen looks exactly as pictured, however I do wish there was a Teal offered with silver adornments. So far, it feels as quality as any of my other pens. Time will tell how it stands insofar as durability, I don't really see any immediate points where I expect failure. We will see.

Update: Learning curve: Now up to a 4 Star. Stub Nib writing really smooth and lays ink down very nicely. Learning how to use a Vacuum pen vs a Piston is key. Once I learned how to properly fill this V126 Vacuum the pen wrote flawlessly. See Updated Picture. My initial review when I received it was disappointing and gave it a 1-Star. Now 24 hours later it seems the ink flow has improved and better as the pen has sat with the ink soaking into the chamber rubber seal. You have to press somewhat when writing to get the full Stub width and go slower than with other Stubs. My Asvine P20 writes so much better, it has a Stub and it is Night and Day with this V126, which explains why I'm left disappointed and my high expectations not met when I purchased this Asvine. Totally different writing experience in two Asvine pens. P20-Excellent. V126-Not so much. Will I buy other Asvines, the answer is yes. I paid $28 for this Asvine V126 piston, keep in mind the P20 Piston was $29 with a Stub Nib was such a joy that I didn't think twice on purchasing this one. Ink Flow: Excellent Ease of use: very good. There is a learning curve to fill chamber. Smoothness: Excellent Appearance: It looks nice with the transparent chamber. Quality: Very good My expectations were very high in this purchase, at onset my experience was not good, but it was my fault for not knowing how to properly fill the chamber of the vacuum style, vs a Piston, but for $28.00 great buy. It received very nice reviews on YT, it did not translate to my initial experience because I was not filling it correctly. I will be updating this Review with time if things change one way or the other. With the Updates, the Star Review will also change.

Beautiful fountain pen, smooth writing experience with <EF> nib. Extremely comfortable either posted or unposted. Paired it with Pelikan 4001 "Violet" ink. I highly recommend it. If you are new with the vacuum filling method it can be a little weird in order to fill it in the very first time. There's a user guide leaflet inside the box, but YouTube videos can be easier to get it going. It's basically a very good replica of the much more expensive Pilot Custom 823 <F> nib, therefore I've chosen a color that doesn't give you that strange feeling of using a costly wannabe. The dark trim and steel nib totally make a difference from the "original". It's my second Asvine fountain pen that I purchase (the other one is a N7 Peacock Blue <EF>, you can check my review) and both of them are awesome and very good writers.

I have a few Asine fountain pens. This is by far my favorite. In fact it is in my top 3 fountain pens that I have. Just holding this pen, I want to write. I am just sad I don't have more to write down. The frosted black demonstrator body looks and feels great. The black nib and accents looks fantastic. The pen holds a lot of ink. The ef nib writes great. Smooth with a bit of feedback. Feels nice in the hand, some weight which sits between the fingers and crook of the hand. I can recommend this pen.

Envío rapidísimo. Buena relación calidad-precio. Escribe muy suave con un punto medio-fino. Es fluida, lo que es magnífico, y es capaz de escribir con el plumín invertido con un punto extra fino. Su capacidad de tinta es enorme, sobre todo si conoces el truco para conseguir una carga completa. Los acabados son muy buenos y es cómoda. Postea bien. No merece la pena gastar más dinero, hay plumas que cuadriplican su precio sin ofrecer más. El plumín es rígido, yo preferiría un plumín más blando. Faltan opciones de plumín grueso y "stub" o itálico, ese es su único punto negativo. Resumiendo, es un excelente producto y muy bien construido por su precio. Existen muy contadas opciones ligeramente más baratas con este sistema de carga pero no tienen su calidad de construcción.

It's a amazing fountain pen that works well, feel smooth and looks beautiful. The first one I got didn't flow very nice so I had to exchange it. The new one is perfect. But for this reason -1 star. I don't think this will be a common issue and I would buy this pen again. Be aware that the fine is still almost like a medium. If your looking for real fine writing for for the EF.

Increíble Pluma, preciosa, llego justo a tiempo, nada mas que desear, recomendada al 100%