I was curious to see how inexpensive pens would do in a drop test. The candidates are both Jinhao Pens -the 566- a Lamy Safari Clone, and the hooded nib Jinhao 911.





Pretty simple assignment: drop the pens from an average height table on to a hardwood floor 50 times, and see if they would still write. I had the pens open with the cap on for the test as pictured above.

Here is the result:

Kind of a surprising result – I had my money on the Jinhao 911 – but look at how well the Jinhao 566 did. It still works, whereas I will toss the 911. Here are closeups of the nibs post drops:

Jinhao 911 after 50 drops

Jinhao 566 after 50 drops

It probably comes down to weight. The Jinhao 911 is all metal and thus heavier than the plastic 566. If the nib hits the floor first, the impact will do more damage. I suppose there are other factors, but that’s what I’m going with for now. Interestingly, the other parts of both pens fared well- no cracks or dents, and the converters were fine. This happened during the course of the test:

Pen drop

Here are each pen’s results up close:

Jinhao 911

Jinhao 566

That’s the results. Surprising, interesting, and a win for the Jinhao 566.

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