Learning to flex and love it – or – Two tines apart, the Ahab story.
I am still in the honeymoon phase of collecting pens – every week there seems to be something new in my bag to write with. I had been reading a lot of reviews on flex nib pens as I had yet to purchase one, and really liked the varied line widths it can produce. I wanted to try to work the pen into my calligraphy projects, use it for sketching, and still add it to my daily carry rotation. After watching a lot of the videos on YouTube by Brian Goulet from the Goulet Pen Company I decided on a Noodler’s Ahab – and I was not disappointed.
There are a few nice flex nib options in the $10-$30 range, including a few others from Noodler’s themselves. For me the big draw with the Ahab was the volume of ink it can carry in both piston convertor and eyedropper mode. By day as a Creative Director I find myself sketching out web page designs with developers for hours at a time. This can really blow through ink quick, but with the Ahab I have never had to worry. In eyedropper mode I would say it is the equivalent of having a supertanker strapped to your pen – perfect for my day-to-day needs. From an artistic standpoint it is really comfortable in my hand so I can sketch with it for long periods and the pressure needed to spread the tines is effortless and consistent.
There are a ton of colors available (and I mean tons – 48 at last count) and they include a few demonstrators (transparent so you can see your ink levels) so you are sure to find a design that fits your color preference. I went with the Gray Fox – a dark gray with wisps of red blended in. It has a screw and post cap which I love as I tend to like a longer pen for balance. The grip area necks down and gives your fingers a solid place to rest, though if you like to hold much closer to the nib you may find the diameter a bit narrow. While writing it will flex from what you might expect from a normal fine nib to about a 1.1mm for line width (you may get more but I don’t like to put too much pressure on the nib). The piston convertor is easy to use and holds a lot of ink (1.9ml) but if you go the eyedropper route it will hold an impressive 6ml! I currently have it in piston mode as I am trying most of my inks in it – currently Noodler’s Lexington Gray which I love for sketching as it has some great shading properties.
So if you are looking for a great flex nib pen, and want to write for long periods between ink refilling, this is a great choice – and at only $20 quite a bargain in my opinion! I may actually pick up a few more so I can keep a few inks available at the same time – and there is certainly no shortage of designs to pick from.
