First Impressions - Dux 240

I give my first impressions of a Pakistani fountain pen.
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[@MechFrankaTLieu]

Dux is an export sub brand of Hero from China , usually to South West Asia region , this said pen is basically the same pen as the Hero 240 with the Dux branding , this branding is also used by Hero Pen on its own in house branding of school / workhorse range of ink, This particular nib is usually referred to as the Delta nib or Duck Bill nib in its home country. While its not a vintage pen, it can be termed a retro model as the same model had been around since early 1980's , and just as many of these old retro model goes the filling might be just bad QC, sub par assembly or more likely just needing a good overall cleaning and flushing. I had quite a few Hero 240 and they fill just fine , but I would advice a full Cleaning and Flushing through and through

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thank you for this. From the comments this video has gotten, I had guessed something like that. It's nice to hear it confirmed. And I had not heard a specific name for the nib!

[@NelsonFJ]

I have a Hero 240, with the same nib (branded "hero" with the usual characters), the same converter, the same clip and, in general, the same appearance. A pen that writes surprisingly well, but is always leaking. Thanks for the video.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

A few people have mentioned the Hero connection. I wonder if Hero manufactures this pen for Dux.

[@pen.venture]

brings out a lot of memories from my early school years - I used to write with a HERO

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Glad to hear that. Several in the comments have mentioned the Hero.

[@matthewbeddow3278]

Thank Jason. It does have a vintage look about it from a distance but once you've taken the barrel off and held it, judging by your review / first impression, probably not. I guess its made down to a price because the country its sold in, if that is the country of manufacture, people have less expendable income. The sack fillers in these cheaper pens are always a challenge I find some time the breather tube comes out of its hole in the feed sometimes but not in this case because it was filling after a fashion. I guess for the money it's a pen that works, I mean its the price of a loaf of bread roughly so you've gotta admire that, although the downside may be very poorly paid workers but that a whole other discussion.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Yes, the economics of pens in different countries is quite complicated. The pen writes well, it's just the filling that isn't so good.

[@tleek]

The thumbnail had me convinced that it was a vintage pen! The styling on this guy is actually really cool. Uncapped it reminds me a bit of an Eversharp fifth avenue

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I agree. Quite nice styling.

[@ichirofakename]

I have a couple Wing Sung 765's with that style of "folded" nib, NOS from the 90's. Works fine, seems extremely durable. Cost something under $4. All metal. Stupid aerometric filler.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

It's the first of this type of nib I've tried. And it's quite nice, except for that aerometric filler.

[@retrodonut1185]

Never knew Pakistani pens were a thing! Thanks for the interesting review. It does look like one of those cheapo Chinese aero fillers, which are more trouble than they are worth as you noted!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Pakistan has a small number of companies, but they do have some interesting pens. This one is quite nice, except for that awful aero filler!

[@davidanderson3425]

I own a Dux 240 as well. I agree about the filling system. Pretty bad. Similar experience with the Hero 616. I also found the nib to be very soft and if you're not careful....

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I've had good and bad experiences with these fillers. With the flimsy shields like this one, the filler usually bad. I had the same experience with the Hero 616. Good to know about the nib!

[@youu4325]

Great review

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thank you!

[@joshuanorris5860]

Sheesh it performed pretty good. Maby a cool pen to gift someone if its cheap? Is the grip weird? You said it was kind of triangular but is it triangular where you hold it? Maby it will get easier to fill when it breaks in... Where its brand new maby the air bubbles arent going away or something. I am really happy with the more expensive pens i got recently, like yourself, and so i dont plan to spend much anytime soon. BUT i am interested in some super cheap pens like this just to try some new things for very cheap. So i found this interesting... :) Too bad it wasent a cheap vintage pen lol

[@WaskiSquirrel]

It felt good to hold and I didn't notice anything about its shape. And this one really is a good pen, except for that whole filling thing.

[@Johan-vk5yd]

Aerometric filling seems to be nobody’s favourite! I guess it’s sensitive to high surface tension that might come from residual manufacturing oils in the connection between the feed and the tube. I always do extensive flushing with pure water to get them going before I dip them in ink. The connection can sometimes be faulty, the tube being pushed in too far, blocking the way to the outside of the feed. That can be helped by pulling the tube out, and cutting it at a slant before reinserting. If you otherwise like the pen it might be worth the effort investigating that. I like the looks of that slim green pen!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'll experiment with cleaning and with the tube. It's an attractive pen and a decent enough writer. It will never be a favorite, but it's worth trying.

[@WaqasAhmad-wz2wm]

I am Pakistani. This dux 42 is pen I wrote with in my school my first fountain pen. Yes it has a terrible ink storage system but still it retains ink. And the pen beats Parker when you write at full speed....🙂. A pen which costs less than a dollar in Pakistan. Yesterday I bought a new one just because once I wrote with it......🇵🇰🇵🇰

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Interesting about writing at full speed. I may have to try a race of some kind!

[@WaqasAhmad-wz2wm]

@@WaskiSquirrel well in our country students write a lot so students write at a very fast pace....

[@avishekchakrabarty2560]

@@WaskiSquirrel as full speed he meant to write very fast to keep up with what the teacher/lecturer said!

[@avishekchakrabarty2560]

@@WaqasAhmad-wz2wm I wish these were available in India as well now, they were once popular in 90's now fountain pen have disappeared from the market due to ball and gel pens.

[@IAT1964]

I have a couple identical pens but with a Hero branding. So seems like an identical copy. Got them for about 2 USD each from the stationary section in a grocery store. Not bad writers. Rubbish filling system.

[@joshuanorris5860]

Hmm wish i can find some for a couple bucks ha. Id get a couple of them at least ha.

[@joshuanorris5860]

Just looked on ebay and i see them for $4 CAD but its $14 shipping lol. Wish i had a good place to get them :P Looks like amazon had them but doesent anymore...

[@WaskiSquirrel]

It sounds like our assessment agrees!

[@fountainpencollection8337]

Dux brand actually has a lot of models in three lines but almost all are copies of Hero models that are also heavily inspired from somewhere else ! : ) The build materials are cheaper then Hero 's but they write better . :)

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I am pleased with how this one writes. This is a corner of the pen market I have not explored much yet.

[@alanpareis734]

Love the pen and the nib design. To bad about the pseudo “areometric” type converter. Nothing wrong with the real “true” Areometric. I’m writing right now with a c 1953ish Parker 51 that I inked on May 5th of this year, 4-6 areometric squeezes, Greg Von Faber Castell Stone Grey. Haven’t used the pen in 2 weeks, uncapped and wrote immediately.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

My aerometric in the Parker 51 works great, and so does the aerometric filler in several Jinhao pens. But, then, there is this one...

[@Scouzeboy]

Greetings from Australia. Can you place a standard converter in it. May be an improvement on what's there now.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

That's a good question, and something on my list of things to try.

[@atulvala9145]

Wow

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thanks!

[@therealjenso]

Will it accept a converter?

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I have not tried that yet, but it's on my list.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

This old comment just appeared on my list of comments! The aerometric filler did not come out easily, so I didn't try a converter. sorry!

[@flabbybum9562]

Interesting review, many thanks. I like the way you test a pen in terms of its ability to function as a no nonsense writer. It's telling when an inexpensive pen like this, can write well from the word go, whilst far too many supposedly premium brands are producing pens with just too many needing micro-repairs before they work properly.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I agree. I own one of those expensive pens you're talking about. I've been very shy about buying more expensive pens. This one is a good writer, just not good at filling.

[@atulvala9145]

Ok

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Glad you came!

[@sjkbnvf]

Its from pakistan

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thank you!

[@stephanfeinen3923]

Still an interesting pen. According to another review and commentaries, this seems to be a pen made in Pakistan: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3abgmifi82krpo And it seems to be a copy of a Hero 240 pen...

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thank you! Pakistan seems to match my own research. I wonder if it is made by Hero and marketed by Dux?

[@atulvala9145]

It is from china

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'm told it's modeled after a Chinese pen, but Dux is a Pakistani company.

[@francescomotolese4644]

Ahah really sqiushable converter

[@WaskiSquirrel]

True, and doesn't work well.

[@greyareaRK1]

Dux sux?

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Just the aerometric filler.

[@alanpareis734]

Actually the filler does not sux😜

[@francescomotolese4644]

I have a wing sung with same nib but it's an horrible writer

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'm pleased with how this one writes.

[@francescomotolese4644]

A fascist nostalgic pen..... Love from Italy Prof.😜

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Kind of a fun pen, other than the filling.