PENBBS 268

Well, I'm used to budget oriented Chinese pens being a mixed bag, but so far PENBBS has impressed me.

The 268 vacuum piston filler actually feels nicer in hand than my TWSBI vac that cost three times as much, it also writes a smoother more consistent line (standard fine nib). For a pen that regularly sells for under $20 delivered, this is pretty amazing performance IMO!

I also have a couple 352s, an extra fine nib unit and a medium nib unit... the nib wasn't very tight in the medium unit on arrival, but tightened up nicely with light pressure to seat things better. I have to say that the extra fine and medium nibs are decent, smooth writing nibs, but the fine is truly excellent and writes a functional, if somewhat dry, *true* EF line inverted. On that subject, I'd call the "fine" a fine-medium, the "EF" a fine and the "medium" a fairly typical European medium, all writing a bit on the wet side and quite reliably, though the EF can't take being uncapped for too long before it starts poorly.

These certainly aren't going to tear me away from my vintage Pilot addiction, but it's cool to have a reliably excellent maker supplying visually interesting pens for under $50 in a variety of shapes, sizes and filler mechanisms... now they just need a good broad and a tipped stub nib to flesh out the line ;)

Thank you for bringing this brand to my attention and for your review.

Penbbs is on the roll since a long time. The Vacuum filler, Bulk filler, the piston filler (forgot the number. The flat top. Now discontinued AFAIK), 323 and 494.