Pilot E95S Fountain Pen Overview
It's no secret, we're big fans of Pilot pens. And fountain pens like the Pilot E95S show you why. It's a pretty unique pen and one that I was more impressed with once I had it in my hands than I was just looking at pictures.
The Pilot E95S is a compact pocket pen when closed, but becomes a full-size fountain pen when the cap is posted. It features a very cool 14k gold inlaid nib and a delightful snap cap.
Read on for our full overview!
Video Overviews:
We've got two options for you here. If you want to watch a shorter video, check out this newer one by Drew:
If you want to watch our original in-depth video overview by Brian from 2014, we've also got it for you here:
Pilot E95S Overview:
Background:
The E95S fountain pen is known in Japan as the Elite 95S, which for copyright/trademark purposes had to be named something different in the US. So the “Elite" became “E”. That's the story!
Colors:
The pen comes in two different color options: Black, and Burgundy/Ivory, each featuring gold trim.
The Black one is pretty straight-laced, but the Burgundy/Ivory is really interesting. It's not only our personal favorite but also a best seller.
Size:
It's a small pen, a really small pen! Only measuring 119mm long (4.7in) closed, it kind of looks like a stick of mascara or lipstick or something! But when you open up and post the pen, it lengthens up quite a bit to 147mm (5.8in), which is about the length of a ‘normal' pen. This makes it a nice, compact pen.
It'll be a little too short for bigger-handed folks like me unless you post it, but the almost effortless sliding cap actually makes it a pleasure to do so.
The E95S is really light, too, only weighing about as much as a LAMY safari, even though the E95S is made of metal.
The Cap:
We've gotta talk about the cap for a quick minute. The Pilot E95S features a snap cap that has an incredibly satisfying feeling to open and close. It's one of the pens featured in our 10 Most Satisfying Pens to Cap video!
How It Fills:
It's a cartridge/converter fountain pen that uses proprietary Pilot ink cartridges and also comes with a Pilot CON-40 converter. It'll also fit the CON-B squeeze converter (sold separately).
How It Writes:
It's awesome. I really haven't met a Pilot nib I don't like at this point, they just really know how to do their nibs (which they make in-house). And this nib is cool, it's 14k gold and inlaid into the pen body which gives it a really unique and kind of vintage look.
It's also smooth and has a lot of spring to it. Press the nib and you can get some line variation, but I'd go easy on this because it's not advertised as a soft or flex nib at all. Don't overdo it.
But wow, that EF nib especially is really, really small, and writes with a little bit of tooth which is perfectly alright and expected given how thin a line it draws.
The fine and medium nibs are very smooth, and the medium in particular is a nice, wet writer.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
- Very light, portable.
- Incredibly easy (and fun) to cap/uncap.
- Classy looking, definitely looks the price.
- Price is great - it's a very affordable 14k gold nib pen.
- Inlaid EF, F, and M nib is unique, looks cool, and writes really nicely.
Cons:
- The smaller CON-40 converter limitation means a smaller ink capacity than other pens that can accept the larger CON-70 converter.
- Because the pen is light, I wonder how well it'll hold up to abuse. Treat it well.
- Short length means it pretty much has to be posted to be usable, by most hands.
Summary:
The Pilot E95S might not be the easiest name to remember, but one glance at the pen and it'll definitely stand out to you. If you're in the market for a Pilot Vanishing Point or Pilot Falcon, basically a gold-nib pen that's really convenient as a pocket pen, I would certainly give the E95S a look.
