Nakaya sizes - confused.

[Holsworth]

I have spent a fair amount of time on the Nakaya website recently, planning to buy myself a birthday present. However, as nowhere in the UK sells Nakaya (at least that I've found) and I won't be leaving the country any time soon, I am hunting for every last little bit of detail I can before I click buy. The size chart on the Nakaya website has left me confused, and I can't seem to find a definitive "this is how fountain pens are measured" instruction. The Nakaya website lists:

Total length
Length without cap
Length with cap

In my mind those first two should be the same thing, but the total length listed on their website seems to be anywhere between 14mm (decapod piccolo) and 35mm (desk pen) longer than the length without cap.

So what is that difference? Surely too varied to be the nib. Is it the grip section? So that would make length without cap actually barrel length. And that begs the question does the total length include nib, or is it to the end of the grip section? I am very confused.

Or, to avoid further confusion, can anyone tell me the length (including nib, without cap) of a piccolo, a portable decapod, a portable cigar and a long cigar?

Any help appreciated!

[mhosea]

Perhaps the nibs.com measurements will be more useful to you.

http://www.nibs.com/pen_measures/

Perhaps these captions on the Nakaya site became more ambiguous in translation. I think the "total length" on the Nakaya site is probably the length of the pen capped, the "length without cap" is stem to stern without the cap (including the nib, as you would measure the height if standing the pen on its nib). The "length with cap" is probably the length posted, which I gather is not usually contemplated with Nakayas.

[Holsworth]

Thanks Mike. You're right, those measurements do seem to make more sense. I've been sitting here for ages with a TWSBI Micarta (biggest pen I have with me) and a ruler trying to do comparisons!
Unfortunately nibs.com just confused me even more because it was all in inches! 😉

[tandaina]

Yes, total length is capped. (Remember Nakaya *do not post*)
Uncapped length is the length of the body and section (I have no idea if they include the nib in that measurement, sorry).

Nakaya are so umm, chubby I'd be surprised if anyone had trouble with them for size reasons. If you are considering a Piccolo I'm happy to take pics of mine with some common pens to give a size example.

[carlc]

Holsworth



Iguanasell do stock a limited number of Nakayas and as they are based in the EU there are no customs duties. Maybe worth a look and perhaps even emailing them?



Carl

ETA: A quick looks shows they are currently sold out except for one pen with a hefty price tag. You could email them to see if they import to order or are getting any stock in.

[Holsworth]

Well, I've measured all my pens (with and without caps!) to do size comparisons and I've narrowed my choice down to 2 (from 4), so I'm getting somewhere! Shortlist is portable cigar and decapod.

Carl - thanks for recommending Iguanasell, hadn't heard of them before. I've looked at Mora Stylos, and the difference between their price compared to the Nakaya price plus import duty etc isn't much at all. Maybe I just need to plan a holiday to Paris to buy it from Mora Stylos!

[The Good Captain]

Yes, total length is capped. (Remember Nakaya *do not post*)
Uncapped length is the length of the body and section (I have no idea if they include the nib in that measurement, sorry).

Nakaya are so umm, chubby I'd be surprised if anyone had trouble with them for size reasons. If you are considering a Piccolo I'm happy to take pics of mine with some common pens to give a size example.

Uncapped length doesn't include the nib. For example, Portable and Aurora 88 measure the same at 4.25 inches.

[mhosea]

Uncapped length doesn't include the nib. For example, Portable and Aurora 88 measure the same at 4.25 inches.

Let's get the captions right, please.

"Barrel Length" on nibs.com does not include the nib.
"Length without cap" on nakaya.org does include the nib.

E.g. on Nakaya.org, the Montblanc 149 "Length without cap" measurement equates to 5.24". The nibs.com "Barrel Length" measurment is 4.14". There are similar differences between the Nakaya pen measurements on the respective sites when comparing these columns.