The fine folks at JetPens recently sent me the Ohto Japan Tasche FF-10T compact fountain pen to review. I went over to their review page and noticed several comments that suggested that the pen did not perform well so I was a bit concerned. I am truly spoiled by the high-quality performance and low price of the Kaweco Sports which are direct competitors to this petit pen. What I discovered though was fairly flawless performance. The thin, pocket-sized brushed metal pen is both a fine performer for the price and lovely to behold.
I’ve spent over two weeks using this pen almost daily for work notes and general on-the-go writing with not so much as a hiccup in performance. I’ve been using the cartridge that shipped with the pen and while I am not usually inclined to reach for black ink with my fountain pens, I’ve found this to be a good ink.
The nib is marked as “Iridium Point Germany” so that would extend comparisons of the Tasche with the Kaweco Sport as they both use German nibs.
Capped, the Tasche is a tiny bit shorter than the Kaweco Sports and clearly much narrower but the metal body gives the pen a little bit more weight than the plastic-bodied Kaweco.
When posted, the Tasche is much longer at almost 5.75″ long compared to the Kaweco at 5.125″ long. The Tasche has a simple built-in clip as opposed to Kaweco where the clip is an added extra, if you don’t want it, you don’t have to purchase it.
The Tasche nib is a bit longer than the Kaweco but with similar filigree details on the nib, though silver and not gold-toned.
The only flaw I’ve found is that the logo on the pen cap is quickly wearing off. I’d be fine if it wore off completely as I prefer stealthy, understated looks but some people prefer to have the logo proudly displayed so the rub off might be an issue. Also, because of the very small space in the pen body, there are no converters available so it must be filled with a cartridge only. Like the Kaweco, it takes a standard international short cartridge so there are many options for ink brands and colors or you can refill it yourself with an eyedropper or syringe.
All in all, if you are looking for a reasonably-priced, metal, pocket fountain pen with a fine nib, the Ohto Tasche is a good option at $16.50. Kaweco offers a brushed aluminum fountain pen but its about three times the price.
