[suzakus]

I haven't been in the fountain pen world for a couple years, but it was typical for everything except the Japanese pens to have consistency issues. I wouldn't fault this on the OP's usage habits with his regards to TWSBI issues. I've heard they've gotten better, but again, haven't been buying for years at this point.

Namiki is the same as Pilot yes. The flex falcon's are notably scratchy, and it's a well known issue. The general cheap pens (i.e. the metropolitan and co) are amazing, both in consistency and performance. The Falcon nibs on their #15 pens (most famously the 823) don't have the scratchiness, but can have flow issues.