Short-Term Impressions: Namisu Nova Pocket

I'm calling this "short-term impressions" because while I've had the Namisu Nova Pocket for a couple months now, because I always have several fountain pens inked at a time, I haven't used the Nova Pocket every day for the last couple months. But I will say that every time I use the Nova Pocket, I do want to use it as my only pen, which is significant, given my penchant for using many pens at a time.

Before I get into story time, as I'm wont to do, here is a scan of my very first impressions (written probably a few days after I got the pen) written on paper with the Nova Pocket:

Transcript

I really like the feeling of capping & uncapping the Namisu Nova Pocket. The metal on metal, with the satiny beadblasted texture makes a delightful noise & feels very tactile. I get a similar feeling from my Kaweco AL Sports, but the Nova Pocket's extra weight makes a difference. It feels like I'm interacting with an artifact, something weighty & important.

I also appreciate the short threads for capping & uncapping. They make the action feel like you're working with some kind of machinery, similar to the artifact feeling, like you're slotting something into place to solve an ancient puzzle.

I thought that the Nova Pocket was lighter than the Gravitas Pocket, but my scale indicates they're the same weight, or at least aren't significantly different in weight. I think sometimes my hands aren't in the mood for weighty pens, so when I write with heavier metal piens, I'm not sure if I'll tolerate it well. The newness of the Nova Pocket so far overcomes its weight.

I love how small it becomes when capped. Not only does it feel more portable, but it also feels more robust, indestructible. It feels super dense and squat. Combined with its texture, it feels a little like a fidget object as you hold it.

The medium nib performs well. After a while I started to dislike JoWo mediums because they wrote really broadly & made my handwriting look even sloppier. This line width is more reasonable, more like what I imagine a medium-fine/fine-medium width to be (I don't have any in my collection yet).

Looking back at what I wrote, it feels kind of melodramatic, but the sounds it makes when capping and posting, and the satisfying feeling of using this pen might evoke similar feelings from you. 🙂 Now back to story time...

Kickstarter

I previously bought a Horizon fountain pen from Namisu's site in the Petrol colorway and was impressed with it, especially at the very reasonable price, so when their Kickstarter campaign for the Nova Pocket started making the rounds, it didn't take much cajoling for me to back it. And because they had the reputation of delivering on previous Kickstarter campaigns, I didn't feel wary about backing.

Pen arrival

When I got the Nova Pocket in mid-June, I was pretty excited. I originally bought it with a fine steel nib, but I also ordered a medium titanium nib as an add-on. The additional nib came with a separate grip section, which was surprising. Considering you can screw in the nib unit into the grip section, I don't know why they included the second section, but I guess it's a nice thing to have in reserve.
I didn't even try the F steel nib, instead opting to fit the titanium nib immediately. This was my first titanium nib, so I was eager to see how different it might be from steel nibs.

Oops

I made a mistake the first time I inked up the pen. I didn't screw the section and nib housing together as tightly as I should have, so when I used a cartridge of Herbin Ambre de Birmanie as the initial ink, basically all of the ink spilled into the cap (I stored it upside down in my pen holder to get the ink flowing). 🤦‍♀️ After cleaning all that up (the cartridge was empty!), and tightening everything down, I put in a cartridge of Kaweco Midnight Blue (in case somehow how the Herbin cartridges were the problem...unlikely), and it worked fine. I hadn't used these cartridges in a long time (I bought them with my very first fountain pen, a couple years ago!), and forgot what a nice blue-black the ink was.

Looks and design

I love how this pen looks. The Petrol colorway is so well-executed, with the colors smoothly transitioning from one to another, and the edges of the pen being emphasized by contrasting shades. So beautiful.

The design of the pen is so sharp, but it doesn't feel clinical. It's minimalist but inviting, which, I guess, is helped by the colorway I chose. 🌈

As I mentioned in my written first impressions above, the beadblasted finish is really nice, providing a clean, satin finish for the anodization, and appealing texture.

There is a tiny "N" on the cap, opposite the side with the clip, which is a nice, unobtrusive branding touch.

The design of this pocket pen is familiar, with the cap threading onto the back to give the pen comfortable length for writing, but I feel it's exceptionally done. The threads for capping and posting are short, always appreciated for ease of use. The pen is so well-balanced when posted that it feels lighter and more comfortable than other similarly-sized metal pocket pens. That being said, even though the pen is exceedingly short when not posted, I can still comfortably use it unposted, even when writing a full page in my journal. I think the longer grip section helps in this regard.

I have one tiny nitpick about the design. When I first assembled the pen, the clip happened to be always aligned when I posted the cap. However, because the nib housing and grip have a few moving parts, the clip can get misaligned if you decide to disassemble things for cleaning, or whatever. So now my clip is slightly misaligned when posted. I tried to unscrew and rescrew in the nib housing to fix the alignment, but didn't have the patience to fully fix it. 🤷‍♀️

Thoughts on the titanium nib

I was initially slightly disappointed with the titanium nib because it didn't feel as bouncy as I thought it would. I'd read all of these posts and reviews for titanium nibs that mentioned they were soft and bouncy, but I probably was overestimating how bouncy they would actually be. And likely because this is a medium nib, it wouldn't be as bouncy as a F or EF.

Regardless, after writing with it several times, I grew to appreciate the soft feel of the nib against the paper. It does have a different feel compared to a steel nib. If I put more pressure down, it still feels smooth and glides across the page, but has soft feedback. Perhaps this is what people meant by bouncy? 🤔

Oops #2

I actually wrote the pen dry, which doesn't always happen, as I might get tired of an ink before I finish it. I refilled the cartridge with Herbin Larmes de Cassis, a very nice violet-berry color that fits the color scheme of the pen well. Yes, it's a rainbow-anodized pen, but the majority of the pen is purple/violet/pink.

Anyway, as I was closing up the pen, I accidentally dropped the grip section and attached cartridge onto the hardwood kitchen floor. At first, I thought the nib was unscathed, but it seems the nib did suffer impact. When I first tested it out, I felt a little bit of scratchiness on cross-strokes from the tines being slightly misaligned, but it generally wrote fine. I wrote a bit more with it and tried to wiggle the tines into alignment by pressing the nib down, rocking side to side onto a notebook page which may have helped, because now it doesn't feel like the tines are that misaligned.

I have some pictures below showing the alignment now. There is some part of the right tine that looks like it might be more damaged on the top, but I can't tell for sure. (Update: I wiped off the nib and saw the "damage" was just errant ink and/or lint.) I'm lucky it at least writes well enough and doesn't need immediate repair or replacement. 🤦‍♀️

Currently inked

Speaking of Herbin Larmes de Cassis, it works really well in this nib. The performance feels so well-matched, and the color goes so well with the Petrol colorway that if I were the type of person who only inked up a pen with one ink, this might be that ink. But I am not a monoinkist, so I look forward to trying many other inks in this pen. I will keep Larmes de Cassis in mind, though, as one of those "perfect ink" pairings.

Final thoughts

I love the Namisu Nova Pocket. So far it is my favorite pocket fountain pen. Any other pocket pens will have a hard time dethroning it, but I'm happy to try others that you all think might fit the bill!

If you are thinking about getting one of these, I hope my impressions gave you more information to decide on buying. As for me, I will keep an eye on future Namisu releases (and revisit pens they've already released), as the Nova Pocket and Horizon have shown me that Namisu is a great fountain pen maker that sweats the little details.