Forest Knobwood Pallene
[AZB-FP-TiB-0001]

This is the first fountain pen I’ve used in more than 20 years, the last being a $400 Monte Blanc Classique back in 1985. This pen was a 2008 Christmas gift from my good friend Keith, and his wonderful wife.

It came to me gift wrapped and boxed, with a blue ink starter cartridge and a cool refillable reservoir that until now I’d never seen one like before. The Forest Knobwood has a color I’d describe as dark coffee and cream, very subtle and with darker brown to almost black grain running through it.

What I like most about this pen is the closed end, where instead of a metal cap to hold the top-cap it has a flare at the end of the barrel. This flare seems to serve a purpose, deliberate or not, as it fits along the edge of my hand while writing perfectly. Most pens tend to cause my hand to cramp up, due to the arthritis I’ve come by with age, but not this pen. If I lay it gently in my hand, with the flare resting just above and between my thumb and forefinger and let the pen do the work, it flows across paper effortlessly and is a true joy to use!

While I haven’t used a fountain pen in at least a couple of decades, I still remember the way my $400 Monte Blanc nib seemed to grab at the paper surface when writing. Not this pen; its’ German nib runs across the paper without any grabbing, flowing as smooth as can be. Now I can’t seem to put it down, really looking forward to hand-writing again after using nothing but my PC for correspondence since 1999. If you haven’t used a fountain pen in awhile, or if you suffer from hand cramps while writing as I normally do, then you should really give this pen a try. I highly recommend this pen for these reasons and more; I am extremely happy with it!