TWSBI Eco

Overview

The TWSBI Eco is a Taiwanese-made piston-filling fountain pen and one of Garry's most-owned models -- he has bought five over the years, one for each available nib size (extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and 1.1 stub), specifically so he could compare them directly. It was the second fountain pen he bought when he got back into the hobby (after a Pilot Metropolitan), and it remains one of his go-to recommendations for anyone starting out. Pricing has risen over time: he paid around AUD40-45 for his early Ecos, with later purchases and quoted prices climbing to AUD55-60.

Design and Appearance

Shape: A simple, uniform-width cylindrical tube -- Garry repeatedly and affectionately describes the Eco's body as just that, a tube with a nib in the end. He's consistent that this is the pen's biggest looks weakness.
Cap: Hexagonal or faceted shape, contrasting with the round caps on pens like the Lamy Safari and Pilot Metropolitan. Reads TWSBI on the front band and ECO on the back, with Taiwan or in one case China underneath.
Clip: Stiff, simple, with a cutout Garry likes for the bit of visual interest it adds. He rarely uses clips so the stiffness doesn't bother him functionally.
Body: Fully transparent demonstrator construction in most of his Ecos, he also has solid colour versions. He loves being able to see the ink and watch the piston mechanism move. The piston takes up roughly a third to half of the internal barrel, which he flags repeatedly as the model's main practical downside, you lose meaningful ink capacity to the mechanism.
Section: Notably narrow and thin compared to most of his other pens, a recurring criticism across nearly every video. He has fairly large hands and says the section is the one place he would ask TWSBI to widen, even by just 1 to 2mm.
Country of origin label: Garry noticed at least one of his newer Ecos says China on the cap band rather than Taiwan, which is printed on his older pen, flagged as an interesting unexplained change.
Pen looks scores across reviews range from 6 to 9 out of 10 depending on what it is compared against, averaging around 7.5 out of 10.

Filling Mechanism

A piston filler. Twist the blind cap at the end to drive the piston down into the ink, then twist back to draw ink up into the barrel. Garry finds it simple and reliable, and likes being able to watch the mechanism work through the transparent body. The main downside, repeated in nearly every video, is that the piston assembly occupies roughly a third to half of the total barrel length, reducing usable ink capacity compared with cartridge converter or vacuum filling pens of similar size.

He generally avoids posting the cap, worried that doing so risks accidentally twisting and triggering the piston mechanism and spilling ink, though he confirms it is technically postable on most of his Ecos, seating onto a rubber O ring near the section.

Measurements

Measurements vary slightly between individual pens and nib sizes reviewed, but are broadly consistent:

Total length capped: about 13.8 cm
Length unposted: about 13.0 to 13.07 cm
Length posted: about 16.9 cm
Body width: 1.21 to 1.25 cm
Cap width: 1.39 cm
Section width: 0.82 to 0.94 cm at the narrowest point
Full pen weight: 22 to 23 grams with ink
Body weight alone: 13 to 14 grams
Cap weight: 8 to 9 grams

The Nib

TWSBI Eco nibs are steel, and the model is sold with a wide range of swappable nib sizes -- Garry owns all five: extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and 1.1 stub.

Size and branding: TWSBI's own steel nibs, single colour finish (Garry has said he'd prefer a two-tone nib for visual interest), with a decorative border, the TWSBI logo, and the word TWSBI engraved. Likely a number 5 (sometimes described as 4.5 or 5.5) size nib, smaller than nibs on many comparable starter pens.
Swappability: nibs and feeds pull out easily and can be swapped between Eco bodies in well under a minute -- Garry has done this repeatedly to put his preferred 1.1 stub nib into his favourite green body.
Extra fine: feels stiff and a bit scratchy on textured paper, with some catching noted on Tomoe River paper specifically.
Fine: still slightly scratchy but noticeably less catching than the extra fine.
Medium: a clear step up in smoothness and quietness; this is the nib Garry says he waited far too long to finally get, despite having owned Ecos for years.
Broad: very smooth, slightly tactile, quiet -- one of his most-used nib sizes today, as his tastes have shifted toward broader nibs over time.
1.1 stub: his favourite of the five and the first Eco nib he ever owned, with a soft, bouncy feel and excellent natural line variation. If forced to keep only one Eco, this is the one he says he would choose.
General nib feel: across most of his Ecos he describes the nib as feeling stiff when new, softening and becoming more expressive with extended use over time.
Flow: generally wet and reliable, though several reviews note isolated flow hiccups after the pen had sat unused for a week or more in hot weather, usually resolved with a couple of shakes. He avoids shimmer inks in some of his Ecos because the feed can clog, though in pens where he has used shimmer he says a quick ultrasonic clean resolved it permanently.

Writing Experience

Across the five nib sizes and many reviews:

Comfortable for short to medium writing sessions; the narrow section can occasionally cause hand fatigue on longer sessions, more so for reviewers with larger hands.
The pen feels light in hand, in contrast to heavier metal bodied pens like the Monteverde Ritma or Pilot Metropolitan.
Garry consistently rates it as one of the better starter to intermediate writing experiences, not flashy, but dependable.
Writing experience scores across reviews: 9/10, 9/10, 8/10, 8/10, 7/10, the lower score coming specifically against the Cross Bailey Light's tactile nib, averaging around 8.2 out of 10.

Inks Used (as referenced across reviews)

Garry tends to ink-match each Eco to its colour where possible, since several are demonstrators:

Diamine Black Ivy: used in his green 1.1 stub Eco in multiple videos. A dark green ink with a striking red sheen, repeatedly described as one of his favourite combos in any pen.
Diamine Jacaranda: used in the fully transparent Eco; a purple ink chosen specifically because the clear body let him use any colour without needing to match.
Colorverse Pulsar Pulse: used in the cerulean blue Eco, his most recently acquired of the five, completing his full set of nib sizes; a blue ink with a subtle red sheen.
Diamine Cranberry: used in a comparison video paired with a Jinhao 9019, though this was actually inked into the Jinhao rather than the Eco in that particular video (the Eco in that video used Jacaranda).
Diamine Ash, Diamine Flame, Diamine Appletini: used respectively in the extra fine, fine, and 1.1 stub Ecos during the dedicated nib battle comparison video.
Van Dieman's Devil's Black: used in his original extra fine Eco, one of the first bottles of ink he ever bought; a deep black he was planning to eventually replace with Noodler's Heart of Darkness.

Garry likes being able to use any colour ink in his clear Ecos, given the demonstrator body, and treats his solid-colour Ecos (black, green) as semi-dedicated to certain ink families.

Comparisons and Rankings

vs Wing Sung 3008 (Noodler's Heart of Darkness vs Van Dieman's Devil's Black)

The 3008 is a budget Chinese piston filler at a fraction of the price (about 2.50 AUD vs 45 AUD). Garry calls the 3008 a cheap throwaway pen he is happy to lend out, while praising the Eco's nicer cap, clip, and overall finish. The Eco wins clearly on writing experience and looks.
3008 = 6.5/10, Eco = 7.0/10

vs Jinhao 9019 (Diamine Cranberry vs Diamine Jacaranda)

The 9019 is a much larger, cheaper cartridge-converter pen (about 12 AUD vs 55 AUD) with a number 8 sized nib compared with the Eco's smaller number 5. Garry rates the Jinhao very highly for its price point, calling it exceptional value, while still preferring the Eco as a slightly more refined overall package.
9019 = 8.33/10, Eco = 8.0/10

vs Lamy Safari and Pilot Metropolitan (three way starter pen showdown)

A direct head to head of the three classic starter pens. The Safari was marked down heavily because Garry found its nib too dry with most inks he tried (despite enjoying the body shape and shirt pocket friendly clip). The Metropolitan and the Eco tied as his top recommendation for new fountain pen users, with the Eco edging it slightly on ink flow and the Metropolitan edging it slightly on value once converter costs are factored in for both pens.
Lamy Safari = 6.75/10, Pilot Metropolitan = 8.25/10, TWSBI Eco = 8.25/10

Fountain Pen Tournament 2024 (audience-voted format, no individual numeric scores given)

The Eco progressed through at least three rounds of Garry's 2024 YouTube tournament:
Heat 3: TWSBI Eco (1.1 stub, Diamine Black Ivy) vs Cross Bailey Light (medium nib, Lamy Crystal Benitoite). Garry found the Cross pleasant to write with but visually uninspiring; the Eco won the audience vote to advance (confirmed by its appearance in the next round).
Semi-Final 2: TWSBI Eco vs Ranga Santa (both 1.1 stub nibs). Garry preferred the Eco's nib softness and bounce, but rated the Ranga Santa nicer to look at and more comfortable in the section. The Eco progressed to the Final, again implying it won the public vote.
Final: TWSBI Eco (1.1 stub, Diamine Black Ivy) vs Monteverde Ritma (broad nib, Robert Oster Moss). Garry called the Eco one of the best second-pen recommendations he can make, while praising the Ritma's weight and comfort for users with larger or arthritic hands. The transcript captured does not record which pen the audience ultimately chose as champion -- that result was announced separately on a YouTube livestream and is not present in these source notes.

Overall Scores Summary (where individual numeric scores were given)

Fountain Pen Focus (1.1 stub, Diamine Black Ivy): 8.75/10
vs Wing Sung 3008: 7.0/10
vs Jinhao 9019: 8.0/10
vs Lamy Safari and Pilot Metropolitan: 8.25/10
Average across scored reviews: approximately 8.0/10

Note: the three Fountain Pen Tournament videos (Heat 3, Semi-Final 2, Final) used an audience-poll format rather than Garry's usual numeric scoring, so they are not included in the average above.

Build Quality

Garry reports no personal issues with cracking or mechanical failure across five Ecos owned over several years (one held for roughly three to four years at time of review), despite being aware of internet reports of cracking issues with the model. He finds the piston mechanism easy to live with and the pen straightforward to deep clean by pulling the nib and feed and flushing with a syringe.
Build quality scores: 8/10, 8/10, no issues reported elsewhere -> average approximately 8 out of 10

Value for Money

Consistently positioned by Garry as one of the best pens to recommend to someone moving beyond their very first fountain pen:

Originally around AUD40-45 when he bought his early units; later units and current pricing closer to AUD55-60.
He explicitly walks back his earlier framing of it as a true beginner pen, suggesting it now fits better as a second or third pen given the price rises.
Considers it very good value despite the price creep, citing reliability, easy nib swapping, and the range of available nib sizes and colours.
Value for money scores: 9/10, 8/10, 8/10, 8/10 -> average approximately 8.25 out of 10

Key Recurring Themes

Bought five, one of each nib size: extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and 1.1 stub, specifically to compare them against each other.
Always has at least one inked: usually one of his most reliably-used pens in rotation.
Tastes shifted toward broader nibs over time: he started with extra fine and fine, and now reaches more for the broad and 1.1 stub.
The tube description: Garry uses this same self-deprecating description of the Eco's plain cylindrical body in almost every video featuring it.
The narrow section is the most consistent criticism: raised independently in nearly every comparison, regardless of which nib size was being used.
The piston mechanism eating into ink capacity is the second most consistent criticism.
Frequently recommended as a starter or second pen: his go-to suggestion when asked what a new fountain pen user should buy.

#summary