The Pilot Kaküno • Great Back to School Fountain Pens 2020

[@kan-zee]

In the beginning of my fountain pen collection (Jan 2024) This was my second fountain pen purchase ....after purchasing a staples office fountain pen 'Parker vector' ($20 cad). This ($17 cad, = Med / $24 cad, Fine nib) Kakuno is a super workhorse, easy to refill the large ink cartridges , with a simple pen syringe and ink of choice. I highly recommend this brand of fountain pen , for all beginners, students and those who want to stretch their hard earned work dollars.

[@JG3Reviews]

Yep, it’s hard to go wrong with the Kakuno. 👍🏼

[@davidmcguigan5497]

Thanks for the paper tip, James, that's really helpful. My budget for this "hobby" allows for only so much pricey paper. Great idea for a video series--this old student is looking forward to it. Peace.

[@JG3Reviews]

I know what you mean. Paper adds up quickly if you write a lot, and then as another KZbinr was saying a few days ago, it's tempting to treat the better paper as too precious to use and there isn't much point to that.

[@tomshult3044]

The Kaweco sport clip works well on the Kakuno if you want to pocket clip the pen. I agree that it writes well.

[@zoot9393]

These pens are lovely! Mine is a soft, dreamy violet color, I use it to write my stories.

[@CosminMiron]

I got the same Kakuno based on your review....10$ in Romania, and i managed to fit in a Jinhao converter with no problems....it's such a cute and wonderful writer....thanks J!

[@sillypinkmate]

Thanks for the info, I never knew using Jinhao's generic converter would fit in. It's a huge help~~

[@CosminMiron]

@@sillypinkmate pay attention to the cartridge system....mine fortunately is international cartridge, not proprietary Pilot cartridge....i've tried with Pilot cartridges at they don't work in my Kakuno.... But the international do.....so that's the case!

[@ciannacoleman5125]

It may be like the Pilot MR (Metropolitan), a European specific version that takes international converters

[@carylewis4215]

Fantastic! I'm looking forward to the series.

[@makarababies]

I love that pen! I paid $13 on Amazon few days ago, plus $5 for the converter and I love the fine nib. I also use with some daiso books and not bleed through, it works for my everyday school

[@seanthomas8864]

I was already going to buy a Kakuno this week, but I enjoy the review. I am VERY thankful for the heads up on the composition books!

[@catmyc]

Nice job! I also bought this Kakuno pen of M nib in May from French Amazon, but with a lime green cap. It writes quite smoothly with moderate (very personal feeling) sense of friction and does not scratch the paper. From an Asian user's point of view, the M nib may still be too bold for everyday note taking while A fine nib should be the best.

[@NelsonFJ]

Along with the Pilot Penmanship, the Kakuno, with an extra fine nib, was used in most of my college notes. I could find 350 ml bottles of pilot blue-black, and refilled the cartridges due to the greater ink capacity compared to the con40. Excellent pen for students.

[@bikkies]

If you didn't already know (and I didn't until recently) the CON-70 fits the Kakuno perfectly and gives much more capacity than the CON-40. A bit fiddly to clean but if you don't change your ink colours often, that may be a non issue.

[@NelsonFJ]

@@bikkies Thanks for the info; I also use them now, with the Kakuno and the Explorer. At the time, they were not easily found in South America.

[@HJKelley47]

I love my Pilot Kukuno (yellow/white) with a M. nib. I find that this nib writes more like a F/M vs a true medium nib. Though this not a costly pen, I would not have a 'smiley face' if I lost it (LOL). Still using my original cartridge--refill it using a syringe. Thanks for the info on this fountain pen & cost friendly notebook.

[@VyPham-ki4lp]

Hi. How many times have you refilled your original cartridge? I've just bought this pen, and I want to refill with a syringe just like you are. How many refills would the cartridge last, do you think? :)

[@HJKelley47]

@@VyPham-ki4lp : I'm still refilling the original ink cartridge using the syringe. I also write with many other fountain pens, so the Pilot is not the only pen I use. I would guess I've refilled that same cartridge about 7-8 times in the past year. I do not store any pen without cleaning it, including the cartridge. I clean the cartridge using a syringe--squirting water inside of the cartridge until all ink is removed. I siphon any remaining water out and let it dry overnite. For my Kukuno the original cartridge is still in the pen. I will buy new cartridges when the old cartridge begins to leak, or the seal is inadequate. By using this method, you can fill that cartridge with any of your favorite ink colors. Sometime this year I might need to purchase a new ink cartridge for the Kukuno. Living on a budget, this method has saved me money. I did one KZbin vid for filling an ink cartridge and ink converter with a syringe (helps to keep hands ink stain free): kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHq1hHR-ipuEa7M

[@hkm424]

I watch your videos often but rarely comment. Thank you so much for letting us know about the notebooks being in HEB! I'm in Brazoria & Galveston county. Many thanks & prayers to your wife as a teacher (they deserve so much more love for what they do). Fingers crossed no hurricanes hit on the first week of school, or at all. Many Blessings, -Heather.

[@JG3Reviews]

Thanks, and stay safe! Two possible hurricanes in the Gulf is just so 2020.

[@carlamariestudios]

Thanks for the review, I am going to try out this pen.

[@stepheninks]

That’s crazy that you posted this today, because I just started filming a video of the kakuno for my channel. I actually love it so far! I got a con-70 for it! I’m also a teacher. Best of luck and good health to your wife and kids!

[@bikkies]

I only recently learned the CON-70 fits the Kakuno. Within minutes I ordered several 70s. This makes the Kakuno a great choice for EDC now I no longer need to use a CON-40 with its tiny capacity or a squeeze converter that is opaque.

[@paulherman5822]

Thanks again for another good review of a decent, inexpensive pen! After really bad experience with Walmart "toilet paper grade" composition books, I was starting to despair of finding one that plays nice with fountain pens in my price range. I'm certainly going to be hunting for a "made in Vietnam" one (or more)!

[@nanjappa42]

I used Pilot pens during my college years-1958-64.They were two pens of the same model- I do not know the exact name of the model.. They were simple EDs. They were probably plastic, with a mosaic pattern body. One was grayish black, the other was brown and white. The nib was scratchy at first, and it took lot of writing to make it smooth. [ I cannot find their image now on the Net, though the model with lever ink filling system resembles the simple ED model that I had.] But the nib could not tackle the paper the government schools supplied, so I had to change the nib before the final exam. In those socialist days in India the import of the pen was not allowed, but we could easily get smuggled ones. They were affordable and good. Next came the model with metal cap. These were sturdy and easily took the rough handling of those days. Though simple, they did not appear 'cheap'. With all the so called advancement, Pilot now cannot make a simple, sturdy , affordable pen for the school-college population. Often I think it would be good idea for them to simply revive their old model. But this proprietary cartridge system is a dirty, cheap business trick.

[@CatholicZola]

"I do like the cleverness of the breather hole being the, well, the nose, the breather hole of the face" We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made--God gave us breather holes on our faces 😭🙏 God is good, all the time

[@ranrizkyandika]

My first fountain pen that makes me goes down the rabbit hole....

[@Jerry-ho8le]

For study M or F?

[@lindasue8719]

I bought one a little while ago and the cartridge it came with just ran out. I was hoping I could get away with inserting a different brand of cartridge (which didn't work) and I noticed that the part that punctures the cartridge is different from all others I've seen (I'm not that knowledgeable on different fountain pen types). When I removed the original cartridge, it looked as though the flat bottom/opened end wasn't a small puncture, but rather the entire bottom was "popped out". Is that normal for this kind of pen and its stock cartridge refill? Thanks!

[@JG3Reviews]

Yes, that is normal. Pilot uses a proprietary cartridge instead of the more common international standard.

[@lindasue8719]

@@JG3Reviews thanks for the reply!

[@basicdose.9872]

I like it.

[@2ndskinmineral]

I went to my local stationary store yesterday looking for this particular model. They have it for almost US$15. 😭😭😭

[@JG3Reviews]

I got mine for about 12, I think, but I saw one more recently for around $10, unfortunately, I can't for the life of me remember where that was. It was an online retailer.

[@2ndskinmineral]

@@JG3Reviews the other famous pilot Metropolitan in the US is only $15. In Thailand, it is $50.....urggggg

[@JG3Reviews]

Wow. That is quite the difference.

[@dashsunil]

@@2ndskinmineral You are right. Here, some of the retailers like Loft selling at 60 USD. That's for me is ridiculous amount. I am happy with my Monami Olika which costed me 100 baht. My everyday writer at school. Their ink cartridges are very good as well. I would suggest you to get this. 😊

[@dashsunil]

@@JG3Reviews thank you for your affordable series, James. Thats very helpful for majority of the audience. 😊

[@frankspage]

Great review! Thanks! If I may suggest... the last segment of all fountain pen review should be always: how fast the pen dry out? 2 weeks? a week? 1 day after last use? a few hours? All reviewers miss this important point imho. To me, that's a big factor tbh. I don't care how awesome, cheap, expensive or whatever the pen is/has to offer, if the speed of drying out renders the pen useless the next day. I don't want to re-wet the nib every time I'm about to write something. Might as well use a gel pen, ball point pen or god forbid a pencil even. You know what I mean? So why am I saying all this? : Because this pen (at least the 5 I had) always dries out in a matter of hours. No wonder tho, there atre "breathing" holes on the cap. LOL. For what? So it can dry out? It could be the best fountain on the budget but.... it dries out like no other. Anyways, sorry for the rant. Great pen for the money!

[@JG3Reviews]

Good point about drying out. I expected that issue when I got the pen and saw the holes in the cap, but so far it has been OK. My guess would be that it's mostly kept in a pen case between uses and that lessens the airflow enough that it hasn't dried out. You're correct, though, that's definitely a possibility that people need to be aware of. Oddly, I have more trouble with my Metropolitan drying out between uses.

[@TheNightowl001]

@@JG3Reviews Wow! I have three Metropolitans (well, 2 Metropolitans and 1 MR Retro Pop) and I have ZERO problems with them drying out, even if they have been sitting in my case for a couple of weeks! I have an extra-fine nib swapped onto one, from a Pilot Penmanship, and the other two are fine nibs, and they are no trouble whatsoever.

[@Ava-wu4qp]

"Communist collection boxes" ...? I feel like this isn't a real thing and you're exaggerating a teacher asking for donated School supplies. You can still use your own pen (expect maybe for standardized tests that require pencil or when red ink is demanded. I did have a calculus class that requested pencils only for homework but never faced any consequences for using pen)

[@JG3Reviews]

The phrase was definitely said in light-hearted humor, but yes, in a couple of the schools my kids have attended any personal pencils and pens were banned so that no one had a more special pencil than another (that's the reason the kids were told, anyway). Only a single pre-approved brand could be purchased, surrendered to the school, and then supplied by the teacher when to the teacher (quite literally "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs"). That's so different from when I was a kid when kids were encouraged to use and were even rewarded for achievement with special pencils. My grandmother, for example, had pencils made with all her students' names on them and gave them out for Christmas every year. In the school district where my wife teaches is a third option. The school district provides all basic supplies. If your grandma gives you a cool pencil? Not a problem, use it all you like (unless it's mechanical). That's a long explanation! 😆

[@garykarlin1777]

You are kidding about that "communist collections boxes," right? I'd hate to think your pen channel is political.

[@JG3Reviews]

Definitely kidding, the channel is not going political. I'd stop watching it myself if it did. lol

[@garykarlin1777]

@@JG3Reviews Glad to hear