The Pilot Juice was one pen I didn’t have too much hope for. Initially I bought this to get the free shipping from JetPens. I was off by just the cost the cost of this pen. I had heard a little bit about how vibrant the colors were in this specific line of gel ink pens. So I purposely selected a color I never thought I would use: green. I have seen a lot of green ink pens during my time in high school. It was almost a staple among the girls especially. I never understood the allure of having a green pen at all. To me, the standard black, blue, and red was always enough for my purposes. I still hadn’t awakened to my adventurous side when it came to flamboyantly colored writing instruments.
One of the first things I noticed straight out of the box, was the brightly colored grip and clip that matched the color of the ink. The barrel is transparent, allowing one to see the ink inside. While this is pretty common, it provides some nice advantages. Firstly, while using the pen, it is easy to keep track of the ink level inside. Secondly, it’s really nice to look when not in use. The ink inside is deceptively dark. When laying down the ink onto the page, the color is quite the opposite, a rich, bright green that reminds me of freshly sliced cucumber. This can be good or bad, because depending on the color of the paper, it can be very easy, or very difficult to see.
The nib was quite stubborn at first. After being greeted with numerous hard starts, I almost gave up on this pen completely. However, I pushed forward, thinking that maybe with more use, it would become softer. My effort was not in vain, because after the fourth day of consecutive usage, it started flowing. After this small “grace period”, the hard start problem disappeared as if it never existed.
While the grip is thin, it still manages to do a relatively good job. However, due to the thinness, my fingers started hurting after long writing sessions. One major complaint I have, is that the grip is a dirt magnet. It is very hard to clean with you fingers as it tends to clump up and stain the grip. As you can see in the picture above, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to fully clean it to the pristine condition it was in when it first arrived. Other than that, I have no other problems with it.
The clip is spring-loaded, so it’s rather strong and won’t slip very easily if carrying in the pocket or in a case. At the same time, it doesn’t take too much effort to use it. Rest assured, it functions perfectly.
Overall, I feel that the Pilot Juice is a very nice gel ink pen. The various colors it comes in, all seem to be nice and vibrant, allowing for a lot of different uses. I can see this as a sketch pen in the hands of an artist. While it is a little stubborn initially, the end result is a smooth and consistent ink flow that will make the pen glide across the page. I recommend checking it out.
The Passionate Penman 