Appearance.Very simple design. When capped, the only metal you see is the chrome of the clip. I guess Conklin decided to balance the look by making the section chrome as well. The name Conklin appears in cursive on the clip as well as the section.
Size and weight.Not a big pen! 5 ¾ posted (5 1/8 capped). Light to med weight. Very comfortable to write with when posted.
Filling system.Cartridge/converter.
Nib.The Victory sports a semi-hooded steel medium point set on a clear feed that is quite smooth with a good flow with no skipping ever!! Wrote when I inked it up right out of the box and it starts right away even when it sat for a long time; some times a whole month.
I like the quality of this pen. The body (I think its plastic) feels like it was made to last for a long time. I feel I can drop it on the ground a million times and the body wont crack I havent tried that though!!!
The only thing I dont like is the chrome section. In my case, I hold the pen high enough where the slippery section is not a problem for me, but I simply would have liked to have something else. But, like I pointed out before, it has to be this way, otherwise it wouldnt have any metal showing, other than the clip and that just wont look right, IMO.
I dont own any other Conklin and I heard some bad things about the feed and flow issues in the past, but in this case, with the Victory, Conklin got it right!!! At $35 USD (and it came with a matching BP) I recommend this pen to anybody.
I've personally not had a chance to handle these. But, I think for $35 you got a great set of pens. The only problem I believe I would have with them, is like you, the smooth metal section. but a higher grip usually sorts things out ok.
Thanks for the post bud. Dennis
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Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito ~Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them
i also wish it would have been wider. that would compensate for the metal section. i have other pens with metal sections wider than this one and somehow i don't mind the metal section too much.
Thanks for the review! The metal section would be a huge drawback for me; it is one of the things that makes the Parker Vector not the pen for me. When I hold the pen to high I can't write properly.
How's the ballpoint by the way? What kind of refill does it accept?
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Man is what he eats
Ludwig Feuerbach
Vice and virtue are products like vitriol and sugar
"It's like writing on a piece of glass with a buttered finger."
Nice expression Dennis!
About gel refills: I have bought a Parker gel refill once. I'm not so enamoured as Dennis is. They are more expensive and have a shorter life than a normal refill. Most disposable gel pens like the cristal bic suck! The skip and dry out. Very bad writing experience.
For real smoooth writing I prefer a quality wooden pencil.
__________________
Man is what he eats
Ludwig Feuerbach
Vice and virtue are products like vitriol and sugar
Peter, I felt the same way that you did about the section; it was especially slippery in my hand. I solved the problem by taking some steel wool to it. Nice matte finish now, and grippy, too!
Dennis, if I'd known that you hadn't seen one, I'd have brought mine along last Friday. You would have enjoyed it; Dillon's nib work on this one was REALLY good!
Steel wool From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)
A piece of steel woolSteel wool or 'wire wool' is a bundle of strands of very fine soft steel filaments, used in finishing and repairing work to polish wood or metal objects, as well as for household cleaning.
Steel wool is made from low-carbon steel (low enough to be close to plain iron). It is not made by drawing ”steel wool wire” through a tapered die, but rather by a process more like broaching where a heavy steel wire is pulled through a toothed die that removes a thin wire shaving.
Steel wool is commonly used by woodworkers and craftsmen working with paint, lacquer and varnish. Steel wool should not be used on oak, as traces of iron remaining afterwards may react with tannins in the wood to produce blue or black iron stain. Bronze wool or stainless steel wool may be used to avoid this.
Often it is used for professional cleaning processes not only on wooden surfaces but also on marble, stone and glass, because it is softer than these materials. For household cleaning use in many countries, including the United States, steel wool is sold as soap-impregnated pads under such trade names as Brillo Pad or S.O.S.
Steel wool also serves as an acceptable form of Ne'itzah (scouring) according to Orthodox Jewish laws of Kashrut.
Very fine steel wool is sometimes carried for use as tinder in emergency situations; it burns even when wet, and can be ignited by fire, a spark, or by connecting a battery to produce joule heating. See campfire.
In Europe, steel wool products offer an enlarged range of grades like the coarser grades 5 and 6 and the very fine grade 0000. Rust-free (stainless, or inoxydable) steel wool is also available.
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Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito ~Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them
ok, i did it! it didn't work too well with the steel wool (SOS pad), maybe because of the soap. but i got a very fine piece of sand paper (i'm not sure of the grit size... but it is f-i-n-e) and this time it worked, improving the grip. thanx again guys!