I recently did a post about a $200 mechanical pencil vs. a $2 pencil. It was fun, so here is a fountain pen follow up, albeit in a more reasonable price range.
The contenders are the $10 Kaco Retro and the $1 ish Jinhao 911.
I like hooded fountain pens. Like Marge Simpson and potatoes, I just think they’re neat. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a lefty, but I tend to flip these pens upside down and have to re-situate them more frequently than standard fountain pens.
Both pens get kudos because they write pretty well – and that’s saying something for the cheap Jinhao 911.
The $1 Jinhao 911 did not always start with ease, but it wasn’t bad either, and it started later as well. It’s steel and heavy, which impresses me. (My dad instructed me that only heavy turntables were any good, so that may carry over.)
The $10 Kaco Retro definitely wrote with more ease. It’s plastic and light and has a nice effortless quality about it when it writes. And the retro is that nice aqua color.
Style wise, and writing wise the retro wins. Price wise, the Jinhao 911 wins, just because it isn’t junk. And almost everything for $1 is.
The Montana Writing Company 
2 thoughts on “Budget Hooded Fountain Pen Review – $10 pen vs. $1 pen”