on saleNoodler's Nib Creaper Flex Fountain Pen - Cardinal Darkness

I like this pen very much. It is very lightweight. I also like that you can see the ink level. It writes very smooth, although can't seem to get the Flex part of it. I am a lefty, so that could be an issue. It even writes a fine line on cheap paper which was a total pleasant surprise. Most pens seem to feather too much.

I have a couple of dozen assorted Noodler's pens (Konrad/Creeper/Ahab/Charlie/Neponsit/Boston Safety). Obviously from that.... I like them. Like most (but not all)..... This one worked fine straight out of the box with no tinkering. The material for this appears to be CAB (cellulose acetate butyrate), based on the look/feel and butyric acid smell. CAB is a vegetable resin. When CAB begins to biodegrade/decompose, it releases butyric acid ('butter acid'....a spoiled butter smell). The decomposition is accelerate by high temperature, humidity, and packaging (which contains the butyric acid....creating a feedback loop, accelerating decomposition). That could explain why a 'fresh' Noodler's pen smells .... they're boxed, in a plastic wrapper, and fresh off the boat from India (hot/humid climate).Whatever the material is..... I've had good luck soaking new pens in a plastic cup filled with a satured solution of water and baking soda for a few hours, and then flushing them with water before use. The reduces the smell to the point where you have to hold it right under your nose to smell it. If the material is CAB, that would be explained by the butyric acid reacting with the baking soda to form non-volatile sodium butyrate (no smell).Working on the assumption the material is CAB, I NEVER store these pens wet when I'm done with them. I take them apart, thoroughly air dry them, and then put them back together before storing them in an open pen holder. Storing wet cab pens in a closed container/display-box would be a recipe for 'stink'. The combination of heat, humidity, and enclosed storage cause the fastest decomposition of CAB and fastest release of butyric acid. The baking soda wash, followed by drying the pens well and storing them in open containers has worked really well for me. None of the Noodler's pens I have can be 'smelled' unless you hold them right under your nose, using this method.All of that said..... I love these pens because they have great flex and decent quality at unbelievably low prices. The colors are great. A little Armor-All once in a while gives them a nice sheen.

Maybe I just got lucky, but my pen worked great straight out of the box. The feed seems especially wide and deep, and it handles shimmering inks better than any of my other pens. I would guess the two are related. I'm a bit surprised with how often I reach for this pen. Really nice flex and fairly easy to use with just one small caveat:The cap and piston **** have quite a bit of friction with their threads and can take some force to get moving. Some silicone grease helps, but then if you put it on the cap threads it ends up on your hand. If you have grip issues, this might not be the pen for you.

I needed a beater pen for work, and I liked the idea of trying out a flex nib. It's firm enough to use as a daily writer and soft enough for screwing around when you're in your 10th meeting of the day discussing appropriate power point color schemes. I have 2 of these, in fact, and both are subtly different than the original nib creeper I bought about 10 years ago, which I thought was interesting. One is a drier writer and the other wetter- I'm deciding not to mess around with anything because so far I can use each in different applications.

Things I like about this pen: Flexible nib, smooth writing nib, piston filling, easy disassembly for cleaning (makes it great for glitter inks!), I like the finish - not garish, ink window helps me to know when to fill with another ink color. Lastly, it is comfortable in my hand when I write for longer sessions.