Noodler's Ahab Flex Fountain Pen - Mesa Tortoise

I wanted a gold pen and when I found this I was stoked. I was finally going to try a flex nib! First, I did not expect the smell that came from this pen. It was bad! I let it air out for a good two weeks before I wanted to touch it again. A quick google search informed me of this unique smell and why it exists. Now I don't even notice it! I will say there is a learning curve with it. I got the Robert Oster African Gold ink for this one and have NO REGRETS with that decision. I love watching the ink come out of the nib and sit on the paper and dry to where the ink looks magical. I liked this pen so much I bought another one! That's when I found out no two nibs are alike. lol. My second one did not write smooth. It was not juicy. It was purely scratchy and unenjoyable to write with. Same with the third one (that bought at the same time as my second one). I have since learned that I can try to heat set the nib. I haven't attempted to do it yet, but I have high hopes it will solve the problem.

Defect Maybe?

This pen must have been on sale for a reason? I am unable to get through a journal entry with out skips and taking action to get flow. This pen has frustrated me to no end. It has changed my attitude toward fountain pens in three days! It is nice looking is the only positive of this pen.

Definitely worthwhile, can require tuning with some inks

I got the Ahab pen in two colours, and have been using one in its stock configuration with Noodlers Heart of Darkness and another one in eyedropper mode with Bay State Blue (yes, I was feeling dangerous). The Heart of Darkness pen has worked with 100% reliability, proving this is a solid workhorse pen with the right ink. On the other hand, the pen I used in eyedropper mode has been spilling ink into the cap on an unpredictable basis. Let's say I familiarized myself with the proper techniques to clean Bay State ink out of various surfaces while I learned about how to adjust the nib, clean the cap, and try to get it not to spill again. As far as I can tell, the HUGE reservoir of the eyedropper mode makes the pen very heat-sensitive while capped, although I haven't had any burps while writing. The flex handwriting on both pens looks very good, much better than my old Nib Creaper or the Noodlers Charlies that I've found to be a bit wet, and competitive with my more expensive Pilots. Great value, but be prepared to buy more than one and either experiment to find an ink that works reliably, or be prepared to learn about the advanced aspects of adjusting & heat-setting a nib.