I have both the Kyuseido and Gravitas versions of this pen. They are great pens but the unusual colouring of the gravitas makes it pop more. The only issue I have is that there is nothing to act as a roll stop so I have to bring a little pen rest when travelling. I also have a Conid Bulkfiller. The conid is also great but the recent price hikes make it over twice the price of the Kakari. I would rather have both Kakaris with custom grinds for the price of the conid.

Yes you should do the fountain pen shootout. It would certainly be interesting.

I’m saving up to buy this pen with a stacked nib next year!

I followed the development of this pen and would definitely have acquired one from KK were it not for current poverty! This gift was well deserved, Stephen. Thank you for the generous gift of your time and expertise.

Ben Walsh of Gravitas has a Special Edition of this pen with 14k gold nib end ebonite feed (620 EUR) which I (after having seen this video) will most probably purchase now.

Wow, cool pen. Thank you to you and especially to Bill for making it possible for us all to see it. Of course bring on the shoot out, Make it So!

I think this pen is stunningly beautiful, and I love the engineering aspect. Way, way, beyond my price bracket. I have an Asvine V200, which is excellent, and will have to do. 😀

Very nice. I would love to see a shootout between this, a Conid, and maybe even an Asvine.

Penbbs 355 bulkfiller has the same filling system. The engage/disengage mechanism isn't exactly the same, but the method is the same. I don't think it allows you to disengage the piston at the halfway mark. I haven't tried. It's the Asvine V200 that most resembles the Conid, and the Asvine has similarities in looks, to the pen you're reviewing although the V200 is a regular vacuum fill system. The first time I filled the 355, I ended up with ink all over my fingers as disengaging and replacing the rod, displaces some ink and I didn't expect that. Yes, please do a shootout! Only get an Asvine V200 and make it a three way shootout. I've written with both the Conid and the V200 and I preferred the Asvine pen.

Conid used to customise pens similar to a musician's instrument. You could make custom requests and they would do it. They were so successful that they no longer bother to do that. They sell pens in pre-made batches through a retailer. Much of the appeal of a Conid is gone, yet the price has stayed the same or increased. Not to mention, the Conid has some design flaws that have not been corrected in over 6 years. It seems obvious that they stopped innovating due to their massive success. I welcome more competition in the market.

The Sankakusen grind by CY on the standard gold nib will make you slap your mama. Worth every penny it costs. Shame this had to be done without the standard nib because it is an incredible experience.

Beautifull pen🎉

Shoot out to the KS bulk filler? YES!

Oké Stephen... Jij hebt dus een Conid, die ik ook wil, maar niet kan krijgen én je hebt nu deze. Misschien een mooi alternatief, dus zou het fijn zijn dat je ze naast elkaar laat zien. Dusssss. Pieuw pieuw pieuw: Fountain pen sssssshoot out!!!

Another great review....and great pen....I have the version like this but with the 14K nib that I asked to be ground to italic. Love writing with it. Got it directly from Kyuseido. Highly recomment. Just wish they had an option to have a little roll stop button on cap. What is that pocket clip you're using on it?

I have the "Black" version with a 14K 'F' nib ... love it! I purchased mine directly from CY, "Y" Studio, Japan.

Definitely do the shootout! And throw in the Penbbs 355 just for fun 😄

It does remind me of the penBBS 355 which also draws in a full barrel fill. I would suspect it is also significantly less expensive. I also suspect the grip is not slippery if it has some texture added to it like grooves.

Where is the pen being made? Does it have a slippery section?

Really , all systems waste plenty of ink, I alway use a syringe instead.

As an engineer I find this pen aesthetically attractive.

I don't see anything wrong with the pen, but it doesn't really do anything for me either. The "leaving the piston half-way" thing is just a gimmick to me, because it has a shut-off rod(so burping on a partial fill is irrelevant) and I have never felt the need to adjust the weight balance of a properly designed pen. It's also somewhat disingenuous for them to claim their design is based on the 1898 patent rather than the bulkfiller. As they mention(to their credit), the original patent basically sat idle for over a century because it didn't detail how the piston would be prevented from endlessly spinning around in the barrel when you try to unthread the rod from the piston, which is a problem Francis Goossens solved and was then able to patent because it turned a useless invention into a functional product. I doubt Kyuseido would even have known about that patent if it weren't for people falsely claiming that Conid "just copied a 1898 patent" on FPN a couple of years ago. The Kakari is a good pen, I don't think they had to try so hard to make it seem like an entirely novel filling system; it just makes it sound like razor companies slapping on yet another blade and calling it a revolution in shaving.