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So I was at Walgreens the other day picking up some OTC meds and wandered past the pens. There it was, the Zebra V-301 fountain pen for $3.99. I initially resisted Zebra pens thinking they looked nice but kinda gimicky in some way, until I was handed one by a delivery driver needing his paperwork signed, I was instantly converted! Now as a fan of both fountain pens and Zebra, I couldn’t resist such a bargain. Given the price point, my expectations were fairly low.
I’ve used the Pilot disposable fountain pens and I’d have to put this one in the same class, not necessarily a bad thing. Stainless body, cap, and nib with plastic fittings, it comes with two black ink cartridges that appear to be the standard “international” size (though I don’t have one handy to compare to) refills should be easy to find at nearly any office or stationary store. These type of cartridges aren’t meant to be refilled but easily can be with a syringe. I like to mix my own ink for custom colors but for now I just stuck with the black.
The ink is smooth and fast drying and appears to be waterproof. The nib is what I would call a medium-fine and just slightly scratchy which isn’t unusual for a new pen or a fine point so I’ll forgive for now and hope it polishes up with use. Nice dark black too. By comparison, Cross looks rather brown-ish and Parker has a bit of a green cast to it. I also have Waterman ink but not in black and while all of the inks were about the same for bleeding, only the Parker and Zebra resisted smearing with a wet finger.
My only complaint is about the cap. It takes a lot of force to get the cap off and on and when posted on the rear of the pen, it’s loose and rattles around a bit.
On the whole, it’s a pen worthy of the price and more. I’ve certainly paid more for pens I like less. I’d recomend this one as an entry point for someone who wants to try a fountain pen but doesn’t want to invest much, or maybe for traveling somewhere you wouldn’t want to lose a more expensive pen. Or simply for someone looking for a solid fountain pen on a budget. If you’re just looking for some black refill cartridges, definitely get these, the ink is really nice.
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