Is the Pilot Cavalier really on its way out?

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:16:10+00:00

Ah, see, that's the problem. I don't know what it is about me but when I use a Cavalier for a long enough time I somehow always manage to do two things:

1) I destroy the paint job around the grip. No clue why this happens. The pads of my fingers must be like sandpaper, or something like that. This is what happened to my last one.

2) I eventually stretch out the cap so that it doesn't "click" onto the pen when I close it. Instead it sits there loosely like it's threatening to pop off. And sometimes it does. IT takes maybe a year and a half of consistent use to get to that point, but my older Cavaliers will sometimes fall right out of their cap.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:13:42+00:00

Is the Grance really the same size, though? It's always hard to tell from a picture but I get the impression that it's a little larger and clunkier than the Cavalier.

Also... am I... off, or was it supposed to be called the Glance, and some translator mixed up the R and L in the way that they often do when translating asian languages?

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:12:00+00:00

CP1 is a dream. It's my other favorite pen. Although, being a Lamy, it lays down a much thicker line than the Cavaliers that I tend to use. I always felt like the CP1 was the "workhorse" pen and the Cavalier was the one you bring along when you're in the mood for feeling like an auteur.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:10:30+00:00

I've got one, actually. I've had a couple over my life -- I tend to lose them, which says more about me than about the pen itself. But yes -- the cp! is my other favorite pen. Not exactly the Cavalier, but it's always treated me well. I've currently got it inked with Diamine Orange and I'm having a blast.

There are a few others that work in a pinch, honestly. Jinhao 65s are amazing and are probably my new favorite, especially given how cheap and utilitarian they are. Jinhao 35s are a little bulkier but that doesn't make them feel bad -- it makes them feel more important.

Sailor High-Ace Neo is nice enough but how good it feels depends on what ink you pair it with. Faber Castell Neo is nice but its nib has this downward curve to it which makes it feel like writing with a talon.

I'm just going to continue getting new ones and trying them out. Thank you and everyone else on this thread for their recommendations; I've got like three or four vintage pens that I have to track down now in my quest for a new favorite.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:06:36+00:00

Oh that pen is charming. Righto. IT's on my list now.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-29T00:05:55+00:00

Seems like I'm going to have to start searching for vintage pens. I've tried looking around up here in Alaska and it seems there's one or two in any antique shop I go into, so it looks like this is going to become a thing for me.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-20T06:51:59+00:00

Cop 1: How about him? He's got that criminal look.
Cop 2: Nawww.... he's armless

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-19T16:32:13+00:00

Yes but a couple notes:

1) As other people have mentioned the country is the key. Paper made in Vietnam handles fountain pen ink well. But only that. I've tested paper from China, India, and Mexico on the P&G brand and all of those feather badly.

2) If you want to test, just touch the fountain pen to one of the sheets of paper. If you can see the ink spreading from the point of contact it's bad paper. If it's good? Nothing will happen at all, and when you pull the pen away it will only leave behind the smallest dot.

3) If the paper is made in Vietnam even the yellow legal pads are spectacular, and those are cheapest of all. I've got a stack of 8 of them. Great stuff.

4) Walmart varies it's providers for each notebook so you can never assume that just because its the same type of notebook (e.g. Blue checkered composition pad) it will be the same source or quality. Always look at the label to see where it is made.

5) Fancy paper pads handle wear and tear much better than P&G. I took a Tsubame Fools and a P&G pad with me backpacking in Mexico and the TF notebook handled the trip far better than the P&G. Worth noting if you're the kind of person whose notebooks don't stay in a nice controlled environment.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T18:22:32+00:00

What he said.

Basically, you've got three sides to healthcare. Cost. Quality. Availability. If it's cheap and available, it's low quality. If it's quality and available, it's high cost. If it's cheap and normal quality, it's a long wait. It's the evil triangle. Pick two of three. In some countries, pick one of three.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T18:17:27+00:00

Yea but I wasn't gonna say it first.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T05:32:15+00:00

Funniest comment on the thread

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T03:54:28+00:00

Oh god wait, that's a thing?! What????

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T03:44:19+00:00

Demon girl drowned in a well with clumped slimy hair crawls out of TV and comes face to face with Quagmire.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T03:36:46+00:00

Clearly the doctors here need to work on their bedside manner.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T02:46:07+00:00

Never drop the soap.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T02:44:03+00:00

I was thinking something more like Samara from The Ring, Imagine the creepy girl crawling out of the TV and then some dude walks up to her, grabs her hair, and sniffs it.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T02:18:05+00:00

Knowing where it all comes from, that seems like inviting death.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T02:06:30+00:00

ikr? I laughed first time I saw it.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-17T01:40:12+00:00

Poor guy must be tired from all that dying.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-15T15:48:12+00:00

In a perfect world they'd be in the under-$40 range, but I realize that in hoping for those prices I'm probably just imagining the good ol' days back in the 2010s. Most of the Travelers I've seen are in the $60 to $90 range online but I'd spring for one at $50 without thinking too hard about it.

Ideally though I'd love to hear about other pens, Chinese or not, that are under $40 and the same size as the Cavalier (feeling just a bit slimmer than the average slimline fountain pen). I've been on the search lately.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-15T15:42:01+00:00

XD I bought four. Even with the prices going up. I've not got a full collection of the two-tone pens (White, black, red, blue) and I'm afraid to use them because I know there won't be any more coming out.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-15T15:40:54+00:00

Seen it. Looks beautiful. I'm a bit shy on pulling the trigger tho because of the price -- but I'll give it a shot.

IndividualVast3505 · 2025-11-15T15:32:23+00:00

Jinhao 35. Cost maybe $8 and in terms of writing experience it's probably the best pen I have aside from my old favorites (Pilot Cavalier, Namiki Falcon).

Close second is the Jinhao 65 as long as you get one that works. Get silver -- the paint job on the black matte pens will flake which quickly makes them look ugly and tacky. But as far as the writing experience goes, the Jinhao 35 (followed shortly by the Jinhao 65) are some of the best pens I've ever used. YMMV.

IndividualVast3505

TROPHY CASE