The new Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen with Aerometric Fill System

We all know that Noodler’s makes a bunch of great quality fountain pen ink, so when I saw that they were now also making their own brand of fountain pens too, I just had to get my hands on one to test out.  I found this Noodler’s Aerometric version of their fountain pen over at JetPens for a reasonable $24.  The version we will be looking at here today is the mottled green ebonite body with a fine medium nib.

The Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen Cap and Nib with Aerometric Filler

The body of the Noodler’s Aerometric pen is a handmade ebonite that is available in mottled green or mottled brown.  Don’t let the big words fool you though “mottled” just means that the body of the pen is either green or brown with a modest amount of black swirled into it.  Hopefully the photos I took for this review show that interesting green on black contrast if you click on them for larger versions.  The cap on this pen has a pretty simple clip that has the text “NOODLERS INK” running down it vertically.  The nib itself also says “Noodler’s Ink Co.” across it, however I was a little surprised to see that it didn’t have the nib size stamped on it anywhere.

Full body shot of the Noodler's Fountain Pen

I really love the smooth rounded lines of this pen.  It is one of those pens that is so simple in its design, but yet it still has some style to it.  The shape, color, and style of this pen give it a real retro look and feel.  The dark green and black body with the subtle chrome accents of the clip and ring on the cap provide just enough contrast to keep this pen from just looking like a really dark solid black or green.  The feel of the ebonite body is rather nice, it has a very hard rubbery feel, with a semi-gloss finish that still allows you to get a nice firm grip on it while you are writing with it.

Inside the cap of the Noodler's Fountain Pen

I am mostly accustomed to caps that are either threaded, or that snap on and off, but with this Noodler’s Aerometric Fountain Pen, there are four metal prongs inside the cap that act as little springs that tighten as you post the cap on the back of the pen, and as you put the cap back on the pen.  This mechanism for holding the cap on works very well, and I’ve never had that feeling of not knowing if the cap was firmly attached to the pen as I have sometimes had with other pens.

The Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen Aerometric Filling System

Inside the Noodler’s Fountain Pen you can see the aerometric filling system there on the left of the above photo, with the cap and body in the center and right.  If you have not used an aerometric filling system before, it is nothing to be intimidated by.  Where you see the cut out shape in the silver there, there is a metal pressure bar that works to push all of the air out of the bladder inside.  With the pressure bar firmly pressed down, you just dip the nib into your selected ink and release the pressure bar to begin sucking in the ink.  The Noodler’s aerometric seems to hold a good deal of ink, although I have only been using it for a few days now, so I have not had it run out on me yet.

Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen with Aerometric Filler Size Comparison with Lamy Safari

As far as size comparisons go, the Noodler’s Fountain Pen with Aerometric Filler is about the same length as my Lamy Safari both with and without their respective caps posted.  I had a hard time finding any pens that I have that are a good comparison for the circumference of the Noodler’s Fountain Pen, but it is thinner than the Safari pictured above, and probably close to the same thickness of the Pilot Varsity fountain pen.  For a pen that I would consider to be a little on the smaller side, it certainly has a nice heft to it.

Noodler's Ink Fountain Pen Aerometric Fill Writing Sample

Writing with my new Noodle’s Fountain Pen with the Aerometric Filler and fine medium nib provided the experience that I would expect for an entry level type fountain pen in this price range.  The nib passed over the paper in my Doane Paper Ideal Journal fairly smoothly, and the line it put down never skipped and was pretty consistent.  I used my Noodler’s Forest Green fountain pen ink with the pen because it seemed like the most appropriate match for this task.  I will say that this pen and ink combination wrote fairly wet, so it might not be ideal for any of you lefties out there.

As far as the balance in your hand goes with this pen, I have to say that it feels slightly top-heavy with the cap on, but not to the point where it becomes a nuisance to write with.  Even if it does become annoying to you, the obvious and simple solution is to write without the cap posted.  I was also happy to see that there was very little nib creep with the pen, although I did have one experience where I had a minor mess happen.  I think it was because at one point I dropped the pen (only about 10 inches from hand to desk) while capped, then the next time I uncapped it to use it, I had a splattering of ink come out on my paper.  Most likely this was my fault, not that of the Noodler’s Fountain Pen itself.  At $24, the Noodler’s Aerometric Fill Fountain Pen seems like a pretty good value from our friends over at JetPens.

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