HONG DIAN Hongdian M2 Black Forest Mini Fountain Pen, Fine Soft Nib & Sleek Shape Aluminium Short Pocket Travel Pen (Midnight Blue)

First of all - I'd just like to say I got this pen because I like my Brass Kaweco Sport pen. Very, very solid and practically the same size as this Hongdian M2. I love the size. Kaweco also make aluminium versions, but for a fraction of the price, I thought I'd try the Hongdian. So...the review. It comes in a wee cardboard box, which contains a nice sturdy aluminium box. It's actually a bit too long for the pen, but who's measuring. It's not going to stay in the box - this is a workaday pen, ideally sized for carrying around pretty well anywhere. I've attached photos showing the size - with cap posted and unposted. There's also one showing the Hongdian M2 and my brass Kaweco Sport. It comes with an ink filler, although you can also use 'standard' ink cartridges. I say 'standard' as my Kaweco and other pens also profess to use 'standard' cartridges, but their openings are too small for this pen. So - as long as you have the correct size cartridges (standard 'long', I think), you'll be fine. As I don't currently have a bottle of ink, I plumped for cartrdiges, as personally I do find them more convenient. However.....I don't know if it was a problem with the pen or the cartridge (or me!) - but I just couldn't puncture the cartridge seal with the pen. In the end, I had to use a pointy penknife. However, once installed and ink flowing (took quite a few shakes for this to happen), again, this worked fine. Now to writing - I haven't as yet crafted an essay with this pen, but I can say it writes very nicely and you can vary the ink flow nicely. This isn't to say that if you press hard (DON'T!) it floods - but if you use it with the 'correct' pressure' it has a nice flow. If you press it lighter, you can almost shade with it. Very controlled. My Kaweco has a 'Medium' nib, so I went for the 'Extra Fine', which I believed to be one step finer than the Kaweco Medium, which I actually find a wee bit too large. It's lovely - but - it doesn't quite suit my writing style, as I do tend to write small and the pen forces me to write larger, or else the ink just all all smooshes together. The Hondian M2 with super fine nib works just dandy - just right for my little scribbles. It's a very light pen, being aluminium, but it feels very solid and sturdy. It screws and unscrews well - both the cap on the pen and the barrel - and the barrel also has a rubber seal for extra security. Be careful you don't lose the seal, though, as it does have a tendency to roll off. It's maybe slightly too large - but it isn't loose and when tightened up, again it's absolutely fine. Just something to be aware of. Back to the nib, which doesn't appear to fill up with ink in use - just enough to impart the ink on to the paper, which it does in a nice smooth fashion. Obviously it isn't going to compete with the best of nibs, but I don't have any complaints. The pen feels very smooth to the touch and it sits in the hand well - although to use it unposted you would need a really small hand to have it sit right. So - posted it is. The cap fits well - it doesn't slip off and you can easily turn it to have the clip resting on your hand, as I do, to give the correct angle for writing. Once put where you like it, it stays put. The clip is spring loaded and it's nice and solid. #EDIT It's still as spring loaded as it was - however, I've nearly lost the pen on a few occasions (once I found it on our drive the next morning!), as it does NOT clip onto a pocket very well. It's just too smooth and it keeps sliding out of my pocket. It doesn't affect my enjoyment in using the pen, but I am worried that one day I'll lose it - all because the clip doesn't hold on properly (The Kaweco does...). The Midnight Blue is an absolutely gorgeous deep blue. So - overall, I really like this pen. It has a couple of small flaws, but the plus points far outweigh these, for me. It's already sitting in my pocket, next to my Kaweco, for day-to-day use. I have black medium in my Kaweco and blue fine in the Hongdian. Both work great - but I must say I couldn't now see myself buying an aluminium Kaweco (as I had been considering doing) - the Hongdiang M2 is just too good an alternative at an exceptional price. It's also finished very, very well. So buy one! I doubt you'll regret it. Oh yes - the company seem nice and friendly, too :)

I write alot for my job, and at home, so I decided to treat myself to a fountain pen. I did alot of research about the Hongdian M2 and heard and read nothing but good things. Decided to buy it, I went for the Forrest / Army green and it's a lovely colour. It feels nice in the hand posted and unposted when writing ass it's nicely weighted and balanced, it's convenient to have in your pocket as it's a nice compact size. I used Diamine ink and the converter was very easy to use, straight forward to fill, no mess. I've used it for writing, to sign things, and to sketch, and it performed well in all applications. I would happily recommend this pen to anyone, especially for the price, you'd pay alot more for less quality. I went for a fine nib and it's smooth and flows well, I would like to try a medium nib if I was to buy another one in a different colour, which I probably will, just because I really like this pen, and it would be nice to have a couple of them with different coloured inks in.

Nice looking pen in midnight blue, nice and portable, the fine nib is still quite a thick line so extra fine would have been better for me. Most things are actually good about this pen, just one caveat. Because it’s aluminium and smooth it was impossible to grip the pen, my fingers could not get a grip on the pen so I HAD to find a solution or the pen was not going to get used. Any thin rubber sleeve I tried to put on made the pen impossible to join together again. My eureka moment was putting double sided tape onto the bit where I grip the pen, this finally gave me something to hold on to properly and didn’t interfere with the screwing together of the pen when it’s unposted. Hopefully HONG DIAN can rectify their glaring manufacturing error in future and gnarl the grip so it can be held securely to write with. It is a good handy pocket fountain pen at a good price.

Absolutely superb pocket pen which honestly is better than my Kaweco's. Aluminium is standard for M2's but I liked the look of the Brass version. Being made of Brass makes it heavier but coupled with the small size gives the pen a solid, "dense" feeling in the hand which is very satisfying. Only & a quarter turns to uncap which is excellent for a pocket pen. The spring clips main function is to provide a roll stop, the Kaweco's don't need this due to body shape. Does work OK but it grip isn't super tight. Of no concern for me as I never added a clip to my Kaweco's due to their small size. The nib is excellent, another Chinese "Knott" engraved nib, very smooth and wet when writing. An interesting observation is that Hongdian didn't just produce a Brass version of the M2 as an exact duplicate of the Aluminium M2's. Brass is significantly heavier, it looks as if it was produced by machining bar stock, and posting the pen, which as with the Kaweco, you need to do, would make the pen unbalanced. However, they made the Brass version so that it posts more deeply on the body and this adjusts the balance point making the pen very comfortable to use. An attention to detail that should be commended.

Exceptional quality fountain pen, which becomes truly outstanding when you consider the price. Writes beautifully with a consistent flow until the last drop of ink. Does NOT start to produce dry lines just because the ink supply is getting low. I bought a Mont Blanc from 1950 about a year ago, on an impulse. When I did some research and discovered it was made to be the “cheap” line…the 3rd best out of 3 (apparently), but 75 years later, it still writes perfectly and so smoothly, I understand why they are considered one of the best made pens of all time. This Hong Dian M2 feels just like the MB…with some basic care, it will still be perfect long after I’m gone.

This is an excellent writing tool. I'm one of those that choose to write in ink still and have had various ink pens over the years, a Rotring being my last and favourite purchase. I wanted a replacement but did not want to pay big money for the branded names as I don't use pens as much as I used to. This pen is small but not tiny and when the cap is place on the body it becomes a well balanced writing tool. The best bit though is the way the ink flows every time you reach to use it, I have had a number of more expensive pens that do not write anywhere as nicely as this on demand. A more common thing being the ink had dried and it took several pen strokes to activate the nib. For my needs this is 5*, maybe not for the purists or those with deeper pockets, it writes smoothly and and demand every time.

My other fountains pens are off the expensive variety - Mont Blanc, Yard-O-Led, Parker Centennial and a nice handmade silver pen. But I saw this miniature pen and was intrigued, and so I bought it. Intended as an inexpensive pen to keep in my bag, I wouldn’t be too worried about losing it, should that happen. It arrived a little while ago and after filling it from the bottle (it has a piston but this can be exchanged for cartridges), I was ready to go. It looks great, the size is very appealing, and it holds nicely in the hand, with a good balance. Most importantly, the (in my case, medium) nib just danced effortlessly across the page, with a good flow, neither too wet nor too dry. No slipping, no catching. It just wrote. And beautifully. This gorgeous little pen is a revelation and far, far better than I expected. It would be perfect as an inexpensive introduction to trying out fountain pens - though I think it’s much more than a mere introduction. Highly recommended.

*pin holding the clip in place falls out and the clip keeps falling off or becoming loose* otherwise it is a nice pen but this issue is really pivotal to its use and aesthetics, this is my first hongdian and this is really disappointing