Hong Dian Black Forest Fountain Pen Review | One Smooth Operator 

Mine has just arrived - and it is perfect. I've always dreamt of a fountain pen, now I'm going to give my students Fs with great pleasure!

I own this pen as well and it is an excellent pen. To be honest it is the smoothest nib I have ever used, it truly just glides across the paper. It is an amazing buy and a great starter pen as well.

The different shades of black are really cool, but it also seems unintentional. This is actually one of my most used pens, I absolutely love it. It's not the smoothest but somehow it's so sturdy and unassuming that I tend to prefer it on a day to day basis.

I have the Hongdian Black Forest 1850 The Light of Hope pen, which is a Black Forest in a deep blue with a blue nib. Super pen! I love it!

The cap on these are very satisfying to put on and post. Nice sound, and it is on there pretty securely.

Just recently discovered this amazing fountain pen. The brass version feels great, writes even better. Great value.

I have MANY fountain pens and this one is among the smoothest I own. I have it loaded up with Noodler’s Walnut ink & it’s an excellent match. My Fine writes more like a Japanese Medium. Very good flow. Very solid. Very handsome. Arguably the best low cost pen available. Very highly recommended. I liked it so much I ordered the XFine too.

I decided that I wanted to try a fountain pen, I ordered one of these because I liked the look of it. Should be delivered sometime this weekend. Looking forward to trying it and seeing what it's like to use a fountain pen.

It's definitely black brown, and IT IS GORGEOUS. I'm a sucker for fountain pens and this one's my favorite. I, likewise, am glad it turns out that it wasn't black; the brown is just so lovely! I pair it with Pelikan 4001 ink, Brilliant Brown ✒️♥️

Rec'd the pen today and its black, shiny cap, section and nib. Its very understated.

If you can get one, it would be very interesting a review about the Muji Fountain Pen!

I just got two of them last week, a fine and an extra fine. I love them both, there is some variation in the colors. On one of them the cap is about the same dark brown color as the textured part (almost like a dark bronze statue color) and the other is like yours were the cap is a dark brown color and the textured part is darker, almost black. I like the stiff clip, it feels secure in my pocket.

Hi James, lovely review! I've recently started using fountain pens after years being frustrated at ballpoints, rollerballs & felt tips - finally, I've found a style of pen that I like (important, considering that I'm a digital artist that likes to sketch things in pen)! So far I only have a Pilot Metropolitan and a couple of Platinum Preppy pens, but I'm looking to add a few more to my collection. This is a very handsome looking pen, and a very affordable price. Based on your review, I've ordered one of these, thank you!

I own this pen in EF and I love it. It feels really nice in the hand. I was really surprised how good of a pen it is considering the price.

Picked this up a few weeks ago. Superb writer, great balance right out of the box.

Great review! This is a surprisingly great pen for the price. It writes as smooth as some of the expensive gold nib pens, and feels solid in the hand.

I carved the paint off on my black forest and honesty I love it I left the grip and top of the cap as black but the rest is silver and the textured part is almost like a copper I think it ads alot more personality to the pen

Small correction, it doesn't take standard international cartridges. The opening in the converter is larger. It looks like the same size as the Wing Sung converters.

I love my HDs, I have EFN & FN, and they're smooth writing pens. For me, they're much smoother than my Lamys. And much cheaper; weight is awesome, but i prefer if they're a bit more weighty. They're my goto pens now.

Interestingly, my pen actually is solid all black. I've got the fine nib as well, and use the same ink. :-) I agrees, it's a very smooth pen with just enough scratch to feel really good on decent paper. They also sell just the nibs and replacement converters. I'm seriously thinking of getting some so I can easily use different ink colors. Great review!

I have been enjoying this pen for a month and it is one of my "daily carry" pens. Great price and an excellent pen. Another great reviw James!

This is my first fountain pen! Interestingly enough, the cap on mine is as equally black as the body. I really love it.

i’ve been looking at this pen vs. the pilot metropolitan for a while now. this is my first fountain pen and i’m trying to do as much research as possible before buying. thank you for your video and i think i’ll be buying this pen today!

What a relaxing voice, thank you for the review!

Got this pen a few weeks ago, love it. I use it at work for everyday writing. It even works on carbon copy paper lol

My Black Forest is a couple of years older than yours, and the smoother portions of the pen are as deep of a black as the textured part. Not sure when it changed or whether yours or mine is the exception. It is a nice writer though. I do wish it took standard international cartridges though. Just buy the converter when you buy the pen and it is no longer an issue. The news that it takes regular Wing Sung converters is useful to know. The pen is also available on Ali Express cheaper than Amazon usually.

I like that you review the lower end pens. I bought this particular pen 2 weeks ago without seeing any reviews but I'm glad you review it as a good pen

This will be my first fountain pen, I have used glass dip pens which I like but wanted something that I can take with me, arrives today. Thanks for the video, they do have more color choices now for this model.

I bought one and then a second identical pen. I always carry two fountain pens (or a fountain pen and a ballpoint pen) because I don’t want to run out of ink. I agree with everything you said in your review. This is an excellent pen for the money.

I just bought this pen on Amazon in the Fine nib for drawing!! ✍🏻 💕 I also have some of the Noodlers Ink on the way. I can’t wait to get it!! 🥰 Thanks for the great review!

Like this pen a whole lot. Writes great, good value, and it feels nice and solid; I like the positive snap when you put the cap on and when you post as well. It inspires confidence to carry it in a shirt pocket.

I bought 4 last week, both colors, and the big fat black one, which they gave me two more for free, with ink. 5 pens for about 30$, but I live in Beijing. Ink included. They have some nice others called the seasons. They are great. Post great and are tanks. The black nibs are cool. Write smoothly and very wet. Yes the nibs screw out to exchange for a fude or 0.4 or 0.5.

James, you’re a bad influence on me (just kidding). After seeing your review, I went to check out the pen on Amazon with no intentions of buying it. The low price got me though. I love it! It’s such a sturdy little pen and what a smooth writer. It may be one of my favorite pens. One of the little things this company has done that makes a big difference in the way this pen writes is that little spring in the converter which helps keep the ink flowing beautifully. No hard starts or scratchiness. Thanks for a great review.

I agree this was one of the first fountain pens I bought, actually the first, I just found it on amazon with good reviews. I am still a newbie only several months in. However this is still one of my top writers out of about 30 pens I now own. I am curious to try an EF nib now as I have the F nib. I am impressed with the price as it is very high quality. I see you already commented that standard cartridges don’t fit. I bought a bunch on the link on amazon that was in the description of this pen as listed on amazon. I bought the white version of this as well I liked it so much. Thanks for the review, there isn’t much out there on this one. Now a new subscriber to your channel.

Hi! I have it and i have 6013. I'm very impressed by both pens. The writing is very fine and without noise, that rustle like a carioca. I'm super impressed. Cheap but high quality.

I have one with. fude nib that I use for drawing. It has Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink in it which is waterproof so that I can apply watercolours on top. It’s a perfect pen, never dries out, no hard starts and still looks brand new after a year of use.

These is indeed a great pen. Mine is quite all black, I like the two tone on yours too..

Have one of these, very comfortable and well balanced. Easy to write with. Great for the money.

A nice video for an interesting looking pen - thank you 🙏🏻 I am not a great fan of brown inks, but I like Faber Castell Hazelnut Brown. It is not very dark, but it shows some shading that tends to a darker look.

Looking at just the pictures of the pen, I thought it looked good and sturdy. You just confirmed it. Thanks!

This review convinced me to pull the trigger and buy this pen. So glad I did. I'm using noodler's black swan in English roses and a more perfect ink and pen pairing I've never seen.

Price is right. Just bought one. Good review. Thx.

After seeing your review of this pen, I decided to buy it. It's affordable price tag and the fact that it comes with a converter made the decision that much easier to make. You were right. This pen is fantastic! I got the EF nib and I simply love the feel and the precision of the lines. Thank you for another excellent review!

I receive mine tomorrow! So excited! I have a close friend in the military who I intend to write letters for. Now I only wish I had your handwriting!

Excellent review! I think you mentioned but I wanted to confirm: IS THIS 'FINE NIB'? As I see options of fine nib, extra fine nib and bent nib in my buying options. Great review again!

Just I'm using very satisfied the 'Black Forest'. It's very close to the MUJI Aluminium, and this represents a good compliment, Imo.

I recently got one in the mustard yellow, which is really a PY129 Green Gold, lol, medium nib. It's fantastic, smooth, easy fill, nice size cartridge. I've ordered a bent nib as well. Nice review, thx.

I'm a new subscriber, and I've been enjoying going back and watching your previous reviews. Thanks for sharing this interesting pen. I recommend Noodler's Walnut ink; it's a dark enough brown that I sometimes dilute it to be able to see it's brown, and it has a waterproof component.

Thank you and I just love your videos. I just ordered this pen, from amazon with a nice brown/black noodlers ink.

Okay, you talked me into it. I've seen these pens listed on Amazon, but knew nothing about them. Time to try one.

I love that you have a review for every pen that i found on Amazon 😂

I was looking at these on Amazon, because I wanted to try a fude nib with US shipping and the pickings are a little slim at that that price. I'm new to fountain pens and didn't want to spend much in case I can't get the hang of it. The other choice I saw was the Jinhao pens, one with the shell inlay. Hopefully whatever I picks works. Your review was very helpful 😀

Thank you for the video. First time here; you have a great voice for narrating! Thank you for the clear explanation.

Just watched your review. I’ve been looking for a “brown” fountain pen and very much liked your review of this pen. I like fine or extra fine nibs as I have very small handwriting. I’ve ordered some Monteverde Brown Sugar ink to go with it and they will arrive from Amazon (UK) tomorrow! So, just perfect timing - thank you very much! :-)

Just got this one. I'd might wanna try one a medium nib bit this fine one I got is uber fine itself 😘

Thanks for the review. You've got e interested in picking one up!

I picked up one of these, because I needed to replace a pen that broke and I got so use to writing with a fountain pen that using a ball point felt weird. My old pen was also a cheap pen being a Dryden.

I returned mine. Really cool looking and extremely smooth but very heavy and uncomfortable grip. Can't beat the price though.

One of my wish lists for next month! I've only started into FPs last month I think and already bought several pilots(cheap ones),jinhaos,and a wing sung 3013(after watching your review). Trying to limit how much pens I want to buy even though it's not expensive while practicing my handwriting. By the way the "dian" in hongdian sounds like tea-en(as in pen).

Could you please do a video on your style of handwriting. Would love to learn your style. Or maybe you have a video where you write out the whole alphabet? Copperplate is a bit stuffy looking but it’s all I know lol. Thanks!

Mine is arriving tomorrow from Amazon, of course.

If you’re looking for a great dark brown ink for this...Noodlers makes several...Whaleman’s Sepia (via Goulet) and Walnut. Walnut is a stellar performer.

Got one of these myself - great value - thanks for the review!

Commenting before watching. I have this pen with the fude nib. I LOVE IT! 🥰

I have a dark blue with an extra fine nib and it is fantastic. I put noodlers crocodile green in it and love it

At first I just loved your reviews. Now I start to think I really hate them, because I end up wanting to buy everything. Great-terrible video, by the way. I love-hate it.

Second day of using this pen. Best pen ever. Writes beautifully. Using the very fine nib. How long befroe the pen stops working no matter how many times i clean it.

The Hongdian pen arrived. It has very good weight and balance, and the nib is very, very smooth. The only thing I don't like is how skinny the grip is. I have trouble holding it. I found a solution that works for me years ago. I cut a silicon pencil grip to length, snip it up the middle with scissors, and drop it over the grip. Feels wonderful. When I'm not using the pen, the grip stays on the back, ready for use. Not a necessity, but it does let me use very skinny grips with more comfort. I would suggest not using the enclosed cartridges. I've heard many complaints about them, with many blaming the pen. I used the convertor, but after I rote for a day, I cleane dout the pen and inserted a cartridge. Bad flow, hard starts, skipping, and then the pen clogged completely. Cleaned it out again and went back to the converter. Reminds me of Jinhao pens. People buy them use Jinhao cartridges, which test as the worst brand name on the market, an then blame the pen for bad flow, hard starts, skipping, or not working at all. I very seldom use cartridges, but I think it was a serious mistake making this pen to take both a proprietary converter and proprietary cartridges. But it seems very well built, and the titanium nib is smooth, and even has some line variation, and if you don't mind a really skinny grip, I think it's more than worth the cost. On a semi-related topic, I've been using both Lamy and Montblanc cartridges in my Jinhao pens for a couple of weeks now. Both are working perfectly so far. The Montblanc are in solid as can be. Don't know if this is a fluke, but I've used both in half a dozen pens with no problems.

ine was all black. Beautiful.

Thanks James! Very interesting!

I have been looking at this pen quite a bit, am intending to get the green or blue one.

Comparison to the Muji pen would be interesting.

Which do you think is the best purchase? This or the Lamy Safari umbra?

There a 6013 model that's thicker and looks more ergonomic, I'm really curious about it. They have it in all metal and a matte black finish. I like this pen a ton, bit it is too thin for me too. I bought it as my first pen with a lamy Safari and I don't know why I paid twice as much for the lamy when this one is just a pleasure to use

Great review. You mentioned looking for dark brown black ink.. Try Birmingham Pens Winkies Rootbeer bottle ink. Right here in Pittsburgh. I think you will like it.

This pen seems to be less advertised and underrated compared with the other pen brands that we come across.

Hi sir, Just got mine... Impressed with the immediate ink flow (contrarily to what I experience usually). However, did the nib get smoother and glide more, specifically on the up stroke, once it shaped to your hand after months of writing with it ?

Actually mine is all black also there is a little spring in the converter which doesn’t seem to be in yours

Black Forest maybe the forest is hinting brown?

How does this compare to the Pilot Metropolitan? Want to get one of the two as my starter pen? Any recommendation on one vs the other?

Thank you for the review sir

I'm guessing the reason it isn't black is that they had issues with a batch of anodizing and poor quality control - I sure hope the one I ordered is black - I thought the matte back was very sexy! Thanks for the review!

Mine is definitely all black, no trace of brown black.

Manuscript Sepia ink, dark, dark brown black ink...good stuff

Thanks for he review. Might be worth buying it just to salvage the nib for a replacement for your favorite pen! BTW, what note pad are you using and what weight is that paper? Seems to take ink really well without bleeding.

Manuscript Sepia is a Brown/Black ink......

Just curious, but I am fairly new to using fountain pens and I purchased a Lamy Safari, (per your review), recently. I have enjoyed the Lamy very much. How would you say this pen stack up against the Lamy? Similar, or vastly different? Thank you and keep up the great reviews!!!!!

Thx for the review.

How does this pen differ from the all black Jinhao 95? Are they the same pen, different branding? EDIT: Reading other comments, I see it takes the 3.4mm bore cartridges and converter. That makes it a hard "PASS" for me. All my user c/c pens use the 2.4mm bore cartridges and converters, which I have a supply of. I'll stick with the Jinhao 95.

I have the 1851 Green Forrest fountain pen; from what I can tell it's the same exact one as in this video but green. I like it, but if I go without using it for even 4 hours the thing gets completely clogged and I have to scribble for several minutes to get any ink out. Am I the problem? Should I be emptying it with every use? Right now I have it filled with Noodler's Dostoyevsky. Do you have any advice?

Hello brother! I'm looking for my first fountain pen, I'm trying to decide between this one and the pelikan jazz, what would you recommend me? Great video, hugs from Brazil!

It writes well, and has a great feel in hand, imo, but dries out super fast. Even when capped it will dry out in like 24-48 hours. I don't have much pen experience, but that makes it hard to recommend for me.

what nib variety woukd you suggest in hongdian forest for writing on cheap paper, would it be F or EF nib?

Does a 3.4mm bore diameter ink cartridge work with this pen? I am not familiar with the different sizes… (Does it work with cartridges at all?)

Why don’t a lot of people talk about this pen

Hello Sir, Really liking your detailed reviews on Fountain Pens and myself started to use them after a gap of 20 years (I am in my 35s now). Just out of curiosity, wanted to ask how much of a difference in nib roughness is present when a HongDianBlackForest EF nib is compared with its F nib. I am using a wet ink (Waterman Tender Purple) with my BlackForest E.F. nib and since it is an E.F. i feel a little bit of scratchy feeling (no problem whatsoever with the Beautiful and Consistent ink flow from the feeder using Waterman wet ink-Tender Purple). Is the F nib somewhat smoother and tad bit thicker than the (lil'bit) scratchy E.F. nib? Cheers and e-peace...

is it better than the pilot metropolitan or the pilot is just better?

I own a fine nibbed Lamy Safari and I am looking for a new fountain pen. Nib wise, which one is smoother in your opinion, is it Lamy or Hongdian?

Haii good day :') Sorry just wanna ask, can we change the nib?

I found one for 15$ where i live and want to use it for long essays and writing sessions (40 - 80 mins). Would you recommend this? I am a 6th grader btw