Pen Review: The Pilot Custom 74

February 11, 2017

I've reviewed a lot of Pilot pens on this blog, but for some strange reason I've never taken the opportunity to review what I consider one of their best, and certainly one of their more accessible, fountain pens. The Custom 74 is one of the first higher-end Pilots that I purchased, and I recently added another to my collection. I'm glad I did!

This blue demonstrator might be one of the prettiest pens in my collection.

Pilot makes several versions of the Custom 74, but only the demonstrators are available on the North American market, to my knowledge. The Japanese market offers some lower-cost pens in solid acrylics, including Dark Blue, Black, Deep Red, and Dark Green. (You can sometimes find these Japanese pens with in-between nib sizes, like SF (soft fine) or FM (fine medium).) Along with the Vanishing Point, you'll often see the Custom 74 marketed as the "entry level luxury" Pilot fountain pen, and it's a great option for those looking to buy their first $150+ fountain pen, or upgrading from a steel nib to 14k gold.

An older photo of the Custom 74 violet demonstrator (far left) that I no longer have. This picture offers a good size comparison of the Custom 74 to the (from left) Pilot Vanishing Point, Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black, Sailor 1911 Large, Nakay… — An older photo of the Custom 74 violet demonstrator (far left) that I no longer have. This picture offers a good size comparison of the Custom 74 to the (from left) Pilot Vanishing Point, Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black, Sailor 1911 Large, Nakaya Portable Writer, and the Pilot Metropolitan.

The Custom 74 is a good size pen, but at the same time there's no excess length or girth, and the transparent acrylic weighs very little. I can use this pen comfortably posted and unposted, though some might find it a touch too long posted. As I mentioned, I've owned two of these colored demonstrators over the years - the blue and the violet - and both pens were stunning to look at. The sapphire-blue acrylic featured here is a personal favorite, and pairs perfectly with Sailor Bungubox Sapphire ink.

I've always found Pilot nibs very tastefully engraved. I especially like the rhodium-plated version.

The Custom 74 color demonstrators feature a relatively stiff, rhodium-plated 14k Pilot nib that offers a super smooth writing experience. I would say these nibs (which come in fine, medium, and broad) correspond more to western sizing, as opposed to traditional Japanese nib sizes that tend to run narrower. The pen shown here has a wet medium nib that writes a fairly broad line for a Japanese pen, but on a brightly colored pen like this one, I prefer a nib that lays down some ink. Fortunately, the Custom 74 comes paired with Pilot's high capacity CON-70 push-button converter, which only works with Pilot's larger pens. (Make sure you check compatibility before purchasing a CON-70 for another pen.)

The Pilot Con-70 converter on the Custom 74, showing the length. Be sure to check compatibility.

A final note on the Custom 74 nibs: these nibs tend to have a lot of tipping material, which make them excellent - and relatively inexpensive - options for nib customization. Before my next pen show, I may try to pick up a couple of Custom 74s with broad nibs to take with me, just to make sure I have a good option to give to Mike Masuyama or Mark Bacas....

The nib on this Pilot Custom 74 writes a nice fat medium line.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The color demonstrators are by far the most popular options in the Custom 74 line, and are available in transparent blue, orange, smoke, and violet. This pen, in my opinion, is one of the better buys in the fountain pen world at $176 (as of 2023, available directly from us in the T.G.S. Curated Shop). You get an incredibly attractive pen with an amazing nib and a high-capacity converter. For these reasons it's made my list of Best First Fountain Pens over $100. Personally, I think the color models are attractive enough to justify the extra money, especially with the rhodium trim, but it's a matter of personal preference.

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Pilot's Dr. Grip Full Black Retractable Ballpoint Pen

A Big Box Store Bargain: Pilot Dr. Grip Full Black

August 30, 2016

Do you ever have those moments where you discover something great that you had completely forgotten about? A year or so ago I threw a couple of inexpensive retractable ballpoint pens into my shopping cart during an Office Depot run, intending to keep them around as utility pens and, eventually, to review them on the blog. I discovered them again in my wife's car this past weekend while moving some furniture. One of them was this Dr. Grip Full Black, and I've been using it off-and-on since.

A close-up of the Dr. Grip section, featuring rubber/gel padding that makes for a very comfortable writing experience over long sessions.

The Dr. Grip Full Black is the "stealth" entry in Pilot's long running, and very popular, Dr. Grip series. Loved for their comfort more than their looks, Pilot advertises Dr. Grip pens as intended for "students, office workers, or anyone who writes a lot and requires a comfortable pen in their hand." The Dr. Grip series has also received an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation, because it's "easier to use for people with arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other hand problems." The central feature of the Dr. Grip series is the wide, comfortable rubber grip.

The Dr. Grip Full Black uses Pilot's Dr. Grip "Center of Gravity" ballpoint refill, which from what I can tell comes only in a medium point. Though a touch wide for my taste, it's one of the smoothest standard ballpoint refills out there on the market, and it writes a consistent dark black line. The "Center of Gravity" line of Dr. Grip pens claims to be better balanced than the standard Dr. Grip, and I suppose it is. Taking into account the cushioned grip, overall balance, and light weight, this is a very comfortable pen to write with.

A size comparison between the Dr. Grip Full Black against the Fisher Space Pen (far right), the Kaweco Supra (second from left) and the Kaweco Brass Sport (far left)

The Dr. Grip Full Black falls into the category of pens that I think of as "cheap refillables": non-disposable pens that are inexpensive ($10 or less) and readily available. Previously, I reviewed the Pentel Energel Alloy, and the Pilot G2 Limited, both of which are excellent options if you need a sturdy pen body, enjoy a specific refill, and don't have a lot of cash to burn. These pens are all readily available at big box office supply stores, and most are Prime-eligible on Amazon. The Dr. Grip Full Black and its sibling, the Dr. Grip Pure White, are available via Amazon as both stand-alone items and lower-priced add-ons. There's even a Dr. Grip Full Black "Shaky Pencil," which I've not tried.

I've always believed that you can get an excellent writing experience in an non-disposable pen for around $10, even at the big box stores. I'd highly recommend you give the Dr. Grip Full Black (or any of the Center of Gravity Pens) a try, especially if you value comfort and ergonomics.

(Note: A few years ago there was a rumor that Pilot was discontinuing the Dr. Grip series. I don't think that's the case, since they are still widely available and Pilot has been introducing new models.)

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen featured in this review with my own funds for my own use.

The Pilot Custom 823 Vacuum-Fill Fountain Pen

Pen Review: Pilot Custom 823

August 27, 2016

The Pilot Custom 823 is one of those pens that sat on my “to purchase” list for a very long time before I actually pulled the trigger at the 2016 Atlanta Pen Show. Once I inked this pen up, I silently kicked myself for waiting so long. I could have saved myself a lot of wasted time and money by paying a little extra for the pen I knew I would like, rather than embarking on a futile quest to find a lower-priced substitute. (Yes, I’m talking to YOU, circa 2015 TWSBI Vac-700.)

Design and Build

While I’m not sure Pilot has a “flagship” pen, the Custom 823 sits atop the mainstream Pilot lineup, both in terms of size and price point. At $288 from almost all retailers, it’s definitely one of the most expensive pens sold under the Pilot mark that is readily available in the US. Only the Pilot Justus, which sports a nib that adjusts from firm to semi-flex, costs more.

The Pilot Custom 823 with gold trim and transparent amber acrylic. The pen holds a massive amount of ink, and it's fun to watch it slosh around inside the barrel.

First impressions: I’m typically not a gold-trim guy, but I find the gold trim very nice-looking here, as it complements the amber acrylic. You don’t see transparent demonstrators in this color very often at all (I struggle to even think of another example). In keeping with the light brown color scheme, the section, blind cap, and cap finial are solid brown.

The Pilot Custom 823 is a big pen. Given the length, I’d imagine that most people would want to use this pen unposted, and certainly those with smaller hands. That said, the pen is lightweight (the amber material is acrylic, after all) and the cap posts deeply, so I often post this pen when I’m on the go and don’t have a safe place to rest the cap. I’ve never had an issue with the weight.

Pilot ships this pen in a standard presentation box with a large bottle of Pilot/Namiki standard blue ink. I’ve not used the ink yet, but it gets excellent reviews, and I’m already a fan of Pilot Blue Black.

And now we get to the filling system, which probably serves as both an incentive and disincentive for people to purchase this pen. The Pilot Custom 823 is a vacuum-fill pen, not a cartridge/converter or piston filler. The pen fills when you retract and depress a metal plunger, creating in a vacuum that sucks ink into the pen on the downstroke. The pen holds an absolutely massive volume of ink, making it the perfect pen for someone who writes a lot for long stretches without an opportunity to refill. I haven’t measured, but my understanding is that completely full, the pen holds 2.2ml of ink. Writers or compulsive notetakers need to seriously consider this pen. Along with the Conid Bulkfiller, it’s my weapon of choice when I’m headed out on the road and only want to take 1-2 pens with me. Between the two of them, they hold at least a week’s worth of ink. Note: A vacuum-filler is different from the vintage “vacumatic” filling system, which is a pump filler. (See my previous review/explanation of the vacumatic filling system here.)

The filling system also makes the Pilot Custom 823 an excellent traveling companion because it's essentially leak-proof. When the blind cap is closed, it seals the ink in the reservoir, preventing leaks caused by pressure changes on an airplane, in a hot car, etc. If you are going to use the pen for longer writing sessions, however, you will need to loosen the blind cap slightly to open the seal and allow ink to flow freely. With the blind cap closed, the feed holds enough ink to get 1-3 pages of writing, depending on the size of the nib and your handwriting.

The Nib and Overall Writing Experience

I rarely have a bad experience with Pilot nibs. On the high end pens that I’ve tried such as the Custom 74, the Custom Heritage 92, and now the Custom 823, the nibs need little-to-no-tuning. Unless you order directly from Japan, the Custom 823 is available only in Pilot's stock fine, medium, and broad 14k nib. It’s a large, stiff nib, labeled “No. 15” size, which is roughly the equivalent of a German No. 6.

Pilot’s stock nibs run slightly wider than Japanese nibs made by Sailor and Platinum. Had I purchased a stock nib with the intention of writing with it unmodified, I probably would have gone with a fine. However, since I acquired this pen at a pen show, I purchased the medium so that I could have Mark Bacas add an architect’s grind.

For those of you unfamiliar with specialty nib grinds, an architect’s grind is best described as a “reverse stub” or “reverse cursive italic.” These two grinds have wide downstrokes and narrow cross-strokes, whereas the architect’s nib features a wide cross-stroke and a narrow downstroke. (See the writing sample below, and I’ve written more on this here.)

Writing sample of a medium architect's grind

So what do I think? Every time I write with this pen, it fills me with joy. It’s a true “writer’s pen”, and has made my list of pens that I always have inked and at the ready. I can’t stomach the thought of this pen wasting away time sitting in storage, and when you’re as big of a pen-hoarding crazy person as I am, that says a lot.

This Pen is NOT a Good Fit For…

Serial ink changers or neat freaks. 2.2ml of ink will last you a loooong time. You’re not going to be “writing through a fill” in an afternoon, unless a sudden attack of hypergraphia sets in. Furthermore, vacuum filling systems are somewhat difficult to clean. Sure, you can flush most of the ink out fairly easily, but you’ll always have just a touch of residue around the seal and caught in the silicone grease that seals the threads. Unless you’re extremely sophisticated with pen repair and assembly, I’d recommend learning to live with this and NOT taking the pen apart, which voids your Pilot warranty.

Where to Buy

The Custom 823 currently retails for $336 (as of 2023). While it’s a not-inexpensive pen, the combination of the filling system and larger 14k gold nib still makes this pen a relative bargain, especially once you consider how easily most gold-nib fountain pens jump above the $400 mark. Until recently, one of the drawbacks to living in the United States (or, really, “outside of Japan”) was that you didn’t have access to the Custom 823 in any color other than Amber. While that’s changed somewhat as of the date this review has been updated (2023), in that Pilot now sells the “Smoke” black demonstrator in the U.S., U.S.-based retailers still don’t have access to the clear demonstrator version, or the special colors released through Japanese retailers such as Bungubox.

The Hi-Tec-C Coleto: Getting into the Multi Pen Game

May 7, 2016

I don't own a lot of multi pens. Two, to be exact, and they're both different versions of the same pen: the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto. To me, the multi pen evokes images of those chunky Bic multi pens they used to sell at the grocery store (or hey, maybe they still do), which would work for about a day before they crapped out. So I ignored multi pens for many years.

As the story usually goes, of course, I started listening to the Pen Addict Podcast and learned about the joys of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C. The Hi-Tec-C is my go-to ultra fine-point gel pen, but I often color-code my notes and there are certain times, like when I'm traveling, where it's inconvenient to carry around a fistful of gel pens in different colors or multiple fountain pens loaded with different inks. That's where the multi pen comes into play.

The Coleto makes it easy to see what color refills you have loaded in the pen.

What I like about the multi pen is that it is completely customizable. My personal favorite is my Coleto Lumio, a higher-end model that comes in matte black. I have it kitted out with a .5mm mechanical pencil and .4mm blue-black, orange, and purple refills. For situations where I don't want to carry multiple pens on me, it's a complete solution.

The cap of the Coleto flips up, allowing you to drop in the refill. The gray refill on the left is a .5mm mechanical pencil cartridge.

If you're interested in dipping your toes into the world of multi pens, the Coleto is a great place to start. The Coleto Lumio is more expensive and harder to find, but is a very professional and nice-looking matte-black pen. (Other colors are available, too.) One of the great things about multi pens is that unless you are going really high-end, like certain models of the the Zebra Sharbo X or the Lamy 2000 multi pen, you're probably not going to spend more than $30, and often much, much less. At least not on the pen body itself.

Where multi pens eventually will get you is on the refills. The Coleto is far from the worst on this point: you can buy the refills in bulk to get the price down to about $1-2 apiece, and they last for a reasonably long period of time if you use them for moderately intense writing tasks like jotting down ideas in your Field Notes. However, if you're using a pen like the Zebra Sharbo X that takes smaller D1 refills, you will burn through the refills like there's no tomorrow, especially if you write a lot. You can offset the cost by avoiding D1 gel refills and moving to a hybrid ballpoint-gel ink like the Uniball Jetstream version, which last a good bit longer.

The Coleto sports the same ultra-fine point that made the original Pilot Hi-Tec-C famous.

The Hi-Tec-C Coleto refills come in .3mm, .4mm, and .5mm sizes. As I mentioned, you can buy bulk color assortments until you figure out which particular colors you like, then stock up individually. [Note: as of 2024, we have opened our own pen shop and are now happy to announce that we sell the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto directly, along with the refills. The specific models listed in this review are nearly 10 years old and no longer available, but the Coleto 1000 and Coleto 500 are the new equivalents.]

Pen Review: Pilot Custom Heritage 92

March 2, 2016

I'm really mad at Pilot (or maybe I should be mad at the U.S. Distributor, Pilot U.S.A.). Why? Because Pilot makes a pen that is nice-looking, and an exceptional writer, but is only available in the U.S. in one color with an MSRP set twice as high as in Japan. I'd go so far as to say that this pen could be a flagship offering for Pilot here in the States, yet it gets little love or attention, probably because of the price.

The pen that I am talking about, is of course, the Custom Heritage 92 demonstrator. The clear version is sold by U.S. retailers, including PenChalet. Pilot also makes three different colors of the demonstrator in the same transparent plastics as the Custom 74 line: Blue, Orange, and Smoke. Unfortunately, as of the time of writing, these versions are Japan-only, but are still easily accessible through Amazon and eBay.

General Build and Appearance

The Custom Heritage is a solid pen. Some colored plastic demonstrators feel cheap, but not this one. The barrel, cap, and especially the piston mechanism (discussed further below) all feel especially solid. It's a nice mid-sized pen: big enough to use comfortably posted or unposted, but not so huge that it weighs down the front of a shirt pocket or is otherwise inconvenient for daily carry.

As I mentioned, the color scheme on these demonstrators is substantially similar to the color scheme on the Custom 74 demonstrators available here in the US. One difference is that the end caps are transparent gray, which sets off nicely against the orange. I've always wanted a pen in Pilot's clear orange acrylic--now I just have to pick up a blue version as well, which has a sapphire-like quality and is also stunning.

The piston knob on the Custom Heritage is gray, which accents the orange nicely.

The Fine-Medium "FM" Nib

The Custom Heritage sports a 14K gold number 5 nib. Pilot's standard gold nibs are springy--they're not semi-flex nibs like the "FA" nibs and the nibs on a Pilot/Namiki Falcon, but you can squeeze out a touch of line variation. What's unique about the nib I have, though, is the width. Pilot makes a "FM" nib (or a Fine-Medium), which is the perfect width for me to use as a daily writer. On more absorbent paper, the FM nib leans more to the medium side; on Rhodia or Clairefontaine, the nib writes more like a Western fine. In terms of ink flow, the pen writes perfectly out of the box. It has just a hint of feedback.

You can definitely squeeze some line variation out of the Pilot FM nib--it's not a nail--but I wouldn't call it "flex" or even "semi-flex."

A Piston Filler that Fills Completely and Is Easy To Clean

I saved what I consider the best aspect of this pen for last. In my piece on pen cleaning that I published a while back, I lamented how piston fillers had fallen out of my good graces because they were more difficult to clean. Not so with this pen! The piston mechanism is smooth and extremely efficient, meaning that the pen will take a full fill of ink, and on the flip side, will take a full fill of water when you are trying to clean it. Many piston fillers will only fill the ink chamber 3/4 or 2/3 full, which not only fails to maximize the ink capacity of the pen but requires repeated flushing to clean it. I've been using this pen with red ink (among the most difficult colors to clean), and I've been able to flush this pen completely clean with only 3-4 cycles of the piston.

Flushing the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 when I received it for the first time. This pen is full of water. Notice that there is only one slightly visible air bubble in the upper left of the ink chamber.

The Pricing Conundrum

I'm not a huge fan of clear demonstrators, so I didn't have to decide between buying internationally through Amazon or supporting a U.S.-based retailer. It is, however, unfortunate that Pilot sets the MSRP on the Custom Heritage 92 at $275 in the U.S. (Retailer "street price" tends to be around $220.) That's too high for this pen, regardless of how nice it is, and I would think this makes it nearly impossible for U.S. retailers (at least those abiding by the distributors' rules) to compete on this pen. The Lamy 2000 typically sells at a price point between $120-140, and I'd pay that for the Custom Heritage in a heartbeat.

Takeaways

I love this pen, and it's jumped to the top of my queue since I received it a few weeks back. (I do a lot of copy editing, and there's something about writing with red ink in an orange demonstrator that I find incredibly satisfying.) Moreover, at the $110 price point, this pen is up there with the Lamy 2000 as an option for purchasing a first gold-nibbed pen, especially if you are looking for a piston filler. I purchased this pen off of Amazon, though they are also readily available on eBay as well, sometimes for under $100.

Some Extra Credit

A few other people have reviewed the Pilot Custom Heritage. Mike Dudek over at The Clicky Post reviewed the clear version with a medium nib, and Pete Denison has reviewed the blue version, also in a FM nib.

If you're interested in reading further on the reasons why pens are priced differently in various markets, I recommend to you this piece by Ian at Pens!Paper!Pencils! You can also check out PIlot's reply to Ian's piece, as well as this reaction by Dr. Deans at Pen Economics.