David, your videos always have a refreshing take, and this one doesn't disappoint. Interesting too, that some steel nibs are good enough to make this more expensive list. Amazing to see the widely different forms and configurations of your choices. There's certainly something for everyone's taste here! Thanks.

When I first watched this video over a year ago I didn't believe that the 2000 would be on the top... but after having used a number of these pens now... I totally agree. It's wonderful.

I enjoyed your presentation and commentary. It contributed greatly to my decision making. First purchase, so thank you.

I've yet to get a pen in this bracket, but ive had my eye on several on this list. Thanks for the video. It's great to see so many good pens side by side!

Another great video from Figboot, thanks mate!

I certainly appreciated these videos. Thank you for doing this. I hope there will be more top ten lists.

Nice work, David. I really enjoy your reviews, and this was one of my favorites.

Thumbs up for the pilot custom heritage 92. I got mine in orange some time ago, and man, it is incredible! If you buy it from Japan it costs just a bit over 100 dollars. It is the perfect size and balance for me as an everyday, workhorse pen, and has probably the smoothest piston mechanism I have ever seen.

Loving this series. Thanks.

Thank you, David.

Great review David. I have no problems with your #1 as that was also my first decent FP.

Since I last commented, I've added a few more from this list to my collection (Karas Ink, Sailor) and find a need to comment on the cost/value S-curve as applied to fountain pens. It's truly wonderful that there is a small ocean of truly great pens in this price range, so much so that it makes it harder (for me at least) to justify going up in price for high end pens. Mind you, I did splurge on a Nakaya about a year ago that stands as the absolute best writer I have -- but it stays at home. For day to day use and carry, I always have one from this set in my pocket!

Certainly a fun, validating video; I have and enjoy 5 of those on this list and one honorable mention: Platinum 3776, Diplomat Aero, Lamy Dialog 3, Pilot Custom 92, Lamy 2000 (two of 'em) and Pilot Vanishing Point (3!)

Enjoyed the review... Totally agree with the #1 pick... It would have been my choice as well... Same reaction to the other ranked pens....well done , it's a difficult group of pens

Great reviews!

Very good information in your videos, thank you. After working for an electric utility company for slightly less than 40 years I find the fact that Karas Kustoms sells pens that can be configured with 2 metals that chemically react with each other quite unusual. Copper and aluminum connected together generate galvanic corrosion and will destroy itself if left untouched for a long period of time. I'm sure that if the pen is used a lot that nothing will happen by the need to take the pen apart to refill and clean out the pen. But if the pen is forgotten about and not used for a long time you will find a pile of white dust where the section screws into the barrel of the pen. I don't know how long it will take but I have replaced electrical connectors where this occurred and a flickering lights or no lights was the reason for me being there. Of course there is no problem if a fully copper or a fully aluminum pen is used.

Yes I’m watching 3 years laters. And yes I’m commenting. Your Segway from pen to pen is profound. You don’t even look down and you just whip out the next pen when the last pen was in your hand literally 5 seconds ago...it looks like magic

GREAT video, David -- I have really enjoyed this series. I like your work a great deal in general, but this series has been really fun to watch. I can't wait to see the next one. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments about the Lamy 2000, and also with the Faber Castell Loom (from your first video of the series). Those two pens in particular are ones that I have only come to appreciate more and more over the months that I have owned them (I've only been into fountain pens since ~ early September, and fell off the deep end acquiring pens pretty quickly). With almost every other pen I own, I will have an initial period of fascination, and then I grow a bit bored with it and start looking around for my next pen. With those two pens, the Lamy 2000 and the Faber Castell Loom, I was initially a bit underwhelmed, but I kept coming back to them, and now I look at both pens and cannot believe how nice they are for their respective prices. The Lamy 2000 is a terrific writer, and its fit, finish, and features are unrivaled for ~$125.00. Where the Loom really shines, as you pointed out, is the nib. It's not just a great nib for a pen priced at ~40.00, or for a steel nib -- it is a great nib all-around, regardless of price or material. The slowly-developing "wow" factor for those two pens has been much more interesting to me than the fleeting "wow" factor I have felt with almost every other pen I own, and if I had to start my collection all over again, they would probably be the first two pens I would buy. Please excuse my rambly post, but I just really thought it was cool to see someone else who feels the same way about both of those two particular pens. Thanks for another great video, and Happy Holidays!

I am so going to save for the Lamy 2k Gotta get one before college Everyone loves it!

I bought the lamy 2000 because of your video. Thank you for making this video!

Thank you for such great content. In your opinion, which is a real buttery smooth nib pen under U$250?

Bock nib on the Caras Custom. I have a Bock nib on my Jinhao X750. Much cheaper. Its great you showed the Pilot Justus. A very good review.

another great video!

Really like this video!!

The Karas Kustoms sounds more suited to hand to hand combat than writing...

loved your video! didn't necessarily agree with your choices but i don't know what i'm talking about with pens, which you obviously do. i liked that you have no annoying habits that distract people from your video.

On #9 and I am thinking to myself "where is the L2k?" Save the best for last! I love my L2K. Great video, a few pens I am looking at buying sometime soon!

In regards to you're copper ink pen.. The oil from your finger tips is causing it to patina much quicker than the parts only exposed to oxygen or sunlight. Great vids. Cheers.

Love Sailor pen designs!!!

A nice selection of fountain pens, a polo from the masters (if memory serves me right!) , a few history bites, what else could I ask for in a video? 😂👍🏻

I'm considering the pilot CH 92 and the lamy 2000. I prefer the look of ch 92 but I prefer the western medium nib of lamy2k, Japanese nib is a bit too small for my liking.

Killer lineup

I was nervous when the lamy 2000 was absent from the list before I knew ot was number one ^^

The Lamy 2000 I think is a contender for one of the greatest pens of all time .Thanks for the Video very interesting

You should do another top 10 list ..this was very enjoyable

Impressive! You have an amazing list here.

Cool list. Disagree with some of them (or at least the choice seems odd), but your list was thoughtful.

Great review! I look forward to favorites over $250. I know that you went over honorable mentions, but I was wondering if you would, rather than list one 10th or third place pen, to have something like 10th place (A) pen or 3rd place (A), and, if there were others within these particular ratings, list it as 10(B), or 3 (B), 3(C), etc. The reason I bring this up is because there are just so many great pens that fall within the $100 to $250 range. I also wonder about pens not mentioned, e.g., Edison pens, and others. I think that many of us can reach a consensus as to what constitutes a great writing instrument with little variation. I also believe lists are most likely based on "current" preference or "grail" pen and this might change over time (or multiple times) as we are constantly (hopelessly) in (futile) search of usually a particular nuance, be it (they) tangible or intangible, guided by our individual viewpoint(s)of the perfect pen. We are hopeless pen addicts, aren't we?! There! I said it!

The only one of those I've actually used is the VP, but I don't think I'd swap mine for any of the top ten. The dialog might be a contender but for the fatness where you grip it, the rest you can keep. The reality of modern pen usage is that virtually nobody sits down and writes a four-hundred word letter or a solid page of text. 100% of my writing is short notes. I write notes in meetings, in lectures, and when going through documents preparing for a meeting or a case or a piece of academic work. Do I want to cap and uncap my pen twenty times in an hour long meeting? No thank you, given the choice of doing that with any of these (dialog excepted) or using a rollerball instead I'm afraid I'd take the rollerball.

Great list! I have to get an Aero. I really enjoy your videos. They are concise and enjoyable. Thanks so much!

Love watching this series so far! I'm on the edge of buying the Lamy 2000 and the Faber Castell Loom. They're both your number 1 (for different price points). 2 quick questions: Which one is smoother? Which one would be "your" everyday carry for long writing sessions?

careful with the Franklin Christoph Stabilus 66. The cap looks nice new with the white ice effect. However, that will fade away by the day. Specially if you get ink in the cap. Which will happen.

David, greetings from here in the U.K. Your reviews make a refreshing change out here in the world of pens. Here I was just about to buy a Lamy 2000 rather than the Diplomat Aero, but your review has made me bite the bullet and buy both of them. Hopefully their EF/F nibs will make me smile. At the cheaper end of the scale I've found Lamy EF nibs to vary massively from true euro EF to nearly an M, I hope my 2000 comes with a true EF. Thanks again for taking the time to put this review together for us.

I'd put the Pilot Custom 823 at #1 on this list. I did see that you had it as an honorable mention on the top pens over $250... It's crazy how much the retail prices vary for this pen, so I can see how it could be considered in one category or the other.

The copper Ink aged around the nib quicker than the rest of the pen because of the oils from your fingers gripping the pen. I have the copper EDK pen from the same company and its doing the same thing.

I got my first fountain pen for 14 euros, like I do with everything I wanna see if I like it for a cheap price, now that I know that I like it, I want a really fancy expensive one, but not too expensive (100/150), thank you for this video.

I might buy a Lamy 2000, but I can't decide if I should go with ef or f. My handwriting is on the smaller side, but when I looked up images of the line width, they didn't look that much different. I'm also wondering if the f nib is a little smoother than the ef. Which nib should I choose?

I wish the price of each pen in the top 10 was mentioned. It would help in my purchase decision.

Hi, thanks for the video! I'm thinking about Lamy 2000 for a while now, but cannot decide on which nib to go - F or M. Any suggestions? Thank you

I like your Masters Polo

If you could choose another pen besides the Lamy 2000 what would it be? I am going to draw with mine as well.

I hereby officially nominate the Aurora Ipsilon de Luxe

would you recommend a parker pen in comparision with a pilot or waterman?

Yet another fantastic top list. Now, you know that I am a smooth nib kind of guy. Therefore, I must ask which pen has the smoothest nib?

I always thaught it was bigfoot on pens 😂realised it just now

Very good show, I love these type. But why such a wide spread? The other two were $50 increments and this was $150 spread, why not a $100 variance? Not a criticism, just a question. You are quickly entering the Matt Armstrong universe and getting close to SBRE. please keep them coming.

You block your mouth with the pen when you're describing it. For those of us who have hearing deficits, we rely on the ability to read lips when it is difficult to hear what someone is saying. It's impossible to read your lips when you block your lips with the pen. Thanks for your videos, as always. I enjoy watching your channel.

Nice pens, would have like to known the price of each, some more close ups, and see it in action writing.

Why the Dialog3 over the VP? love your videos btw

I love ya David but I have to disagree about the Pilot Justus. It’s a good nib if you simply want a nice, bouncy gold nib. But its flexibility is severely lacking, and the “adjustability” of the nib is shamefully ineffective. On good paper, and trying many different inks, the writing samples I made comparing the stiffest and softest extremes showed nearly no difference. It did *feel* different, but that’s it. As a more accurate test I used carbon paper to do the same writing comparison, as it lets you see only where the tipping material hits the page without ink to muddy the results. And the results for my pen showed almost zero actual variability between the softest and hardest settings. I sold it off soon after. To this day it’s one of my most disappointing pen purchases. But I do agree that the body’s chasing looked beautiful.

Hi. Great videos like always. Btw, how many pens do you have in your collection and do you want to sell any of them?

Birthday pen may be in the video. As long as it is blue and no more than 300 bucks

Have you ever tried any Marlen fountain pen?

Where can you get a Delta Stantuffo Oro for $250?

Do you have a kaweco al sport?

I like an enthusiast who likes his Lamys..not everyone is a fan of Lamy... i am a hardcore fan of the brand

No vanishing point....

no pelikan in here...strange...

Why doesnt Cross make anyones top list of pens? they're expensive, are they not worth the price?

The price of dialog 3 is way above $250.

Pilot VP > Lamy Dialog 3

A Western broad vs. a Japanese broad. Hehehe

PLEASE stop saying 'Very unique' and variations. 'Unique' means 'one of a kind'. You can't get more fucking unique than that.