Conklin Nighthawk Carbon Fiber: forgotten… or just forgettable?

Bet you haven’t thought of this pen in years

Once upon a time I mentioned wanting a “next level” pen after my Metropolitan and Ahab and TWSBI Eco, and soon enough, as the Nighthawk was being phased out by Goulet Pens, my wife surprised me with my first “expensive pen”. I was stoked. I was in love. It was such a cool pen, all black and carbon fibery and chonky.

Comparison with Pilot Cocoon (left), Goulet exclusive Conklin Nighthawk :insert hawk noise: and Conklin Duragraph Merlot and Endless Summer respectively.

I haven’t used it much in recent years, though. It’s not because I’m not too big of a fan of Conklin pens (not to bash anything or any product as I wouldn’t be able to make a pen to save my life, but let’s be real, what the heck was the original Duraflex? Geesh), but because soon enough I bought the Vanishing Point, and the rest is history.

Unlike the other three Conklin pens I have, I actually like the Nighthawk. First of all, it has a black coated, Goulet pens branded, Jowo steel nib. Everyone knows that stamped pens are just superior¹ to anything; I have an EF and a 1.1 stub nib, I have used both, and both write perfectly. The clip is actually quite utilitarian and responsive, meaning if you’re one of those types who like to clip their pens to their shirt pockets², you can absolutely make that happen. The converter works — bare minimum, but you’d be surprised with what I’ve endured from some other pens I will not name³. I really love the general looks of the pen, and the carbon fiber on it just slaps, as the youths say.

So why the question of whether this pen is forgettable or just forgotten? In my book, if a pen is being discontinued and not being replaced with something else, there has to be a reasonable explanation; to my knowledge, this pen didn’t have a successor, and furthermore, there were several other attempts to make carbon fiber work (Monteverde Invincia), none of which worked as much as they should have, or even could have. As I said, this is not a bad pen, apart from a little sliver of plastic flaking off as I uncapped the pen for the first time; it works as it’s supposed to despite the wonky plastic feed. Maybe the idea was what didn’t work out, and I don’t see that many people talk about this pen on the internet. Naturally, before I started this post, the Goulet Pens Podcast mentioned the pen in their newest episode. I swear I didn’t know. Forgotten it definitely is, however, but I don’t think that’s deserved.

Side note, every pen is numbered and thus totally unique. And I’m a sucker for that.

The silliest place to put a number, and to this day I can’t tell if it’s 535 or 635. Top of the blind cap on the butt end.

Furthermore, although the pen uses a Jowo nib, please don’t think you can screw in your fancy nib unit into the pen; Monteverde and Conklin pens use a bit of a different nib collar/feed and the two are not interchangeable, but you can (and should) stick almost any #6 nib in said nib unit. I haven’t had much luck with two Conklin stubs (one didn’t write, the other was skippy) nor Omniflex nibs (one became okay when I fixed it with a razor blade), but YMMV.

Difference between Jowo feed (left) and Conklin feed (right). Don’t mind the barnacles on the Jowo.

Let’s talk pros. The pen is reliable, good looking, and well balanced; it writes really well and is lightweight, so even though the grip is a bit wider than what I’d prefer, it’s still comfortable to use. It definitely looks super cool and if I were Batman, I’d sport it to no end. And, from my experience, this is likely the best Conklin pen I’ve used⁴.

Cons: it’s discontinued, and it hasn’t been replaced with anything else. I’m not a fan of it having a proprietary nib section either.

At the price point it had at the moment of discontinuation, I feel like it might have been a bit more pricey than it should have been, but honestly, it has a friggin carbon fiber thingy around itself.

I’d say it’s not fair this pen didn’t get that much love; that would be my verdict. It’s most definitely forgotten — but also slightly forgettable, as I don’t believe it would sell if it came out again. However, I’m glad I have it in my collection, and it holds a special place in my heart as it’s a gift from my wife who had no idea at that point that I’d fall so deep into this rabbit hole she wouldn’t be able to see me with binoculars and a map of Narnia.

Do y’all have a pen no one else knows or cares about? I’d love to give it a Google search and see what it’s about. No pen deserves to be alone.

1. Except when they aren’t lol.

2. I really don’t know anyone who does that but I am obsessed with having the option to look like a cool 1950s person in a fedora, and you can’t achieve that look without a pen in your shirt pocket.

3. But may imply it’s a screw in converter in another Conklin pen. However, I’ve also had a Pilot Con40 not suck up ink. Come on.

4. The pens include Conklin Duragraph Merlot (stub and replacement stub), Conklin Duraflex (LE and introduction to the Omniflex nib, and y’all know what that fiasco was), and Conklin Duragraph Endless Summer (gift from a friend who also fixed the nib issue before it was sent to me).