Uni-ball Vision Elite Rollerball 0.5

Alongside the Ohto Fude Ball 1.5, I really wanted to try out another rollerball style pen, as I usually don’t write with one as much as I used to. Ever since my Morning Glory Mach 3 ran out of ink, I’ve been hesitant to get another rollerball. While I can appreciate the feeling of the ball gliding across the page, it just didn’t give me a sense of feedback at all.

I have slowly noticed an actual change in my tastes for what I look for in a writing experience and it is something that struck me as surprising. For the longest time, I was all about the smoothness of the nib and as minimal feedback as possible, but now, I find myself desiring a little feedback and finding some sort of appreciation for what it brings to my writing experience. Maybe I can chalk this up to my character maturing and being able to appreciate different things instead of restricting myself. Only time will tel I guess. Anyway, back to the review

Needless to say when I first wrote with the Vision Elite, my conceptions on how a rollerball is “supposed” to feel were thrown out the window. Due to using the Uni-ball Signo for the longest time, I’ve gotten used to the slightly scratchy but pleasant sensation of writing with it. It gave me a perceived sense of precision and consistency that the Morning Glory simply couldn’t because of the way it would sometimes deposit extra ink onto the page causing variations in line width. The Vision Elite seems to be a strong middle ground in between the two. Smooth enough at varying angles due to the rollerball and having just the right amount of feedback that almost made me mistake it for a gel pen.

The grip section is very well designed and the diamond-shaped groove pattern provides a decent amount of purchase while not cutting into you fingers. Initially, I had problems adjusting to how thin the section was in relation to the rest of the pen and my extra string grip led me to feel uncomfortable and my hand started cramping. It took a couple of days to really find the right grip strength and placement that allowed me to comfortably use the Vision Elite. Once I found that specific combination, my writing experience improved by leaps and bounds.

While I haven’t been able to test it, the pen is supposed to be airplane safe with a “protective reservoir inside the barrel that prevents air from expanding in the ink tube” (excerpt from JetPens description). Since I’m taking a couple of summer courses, I won’t be able to test this out until late July, but when I do, I’ll definitely come back and update the review with my thoughts.

I’m very happy with my decision to get the Uni-ball Vision Elite as it is a pen that provides a great middle road to choosing between a gel pen and a rollerball. The consistency of the line as well as the ink make a great pairing and absolutely catapults this pen to the top of my Top 5 Rollerball Pens list. The Vision Elite has very quickly grown to be my most reached for pen when it comes to both note-taking and writing in general. I highly recommend this to everyone who likes using gel pens or rollerballs as the Vision Elite allows you to experience the best of both worlds.

 

P. S. I know I’ve been releasing a little slowly, schoolwork is ramping up and I’ve been inundated with numerous projects to keep track of and exams to study for. I’m in the final stretch, so I’m almost done. Expect maybe one more review tomorrow to cover for the first half of April, but after that, I won’t be able to post until the semester ends on May 4. I’ll take a week break to rest up and refocus for summer, then I’ll post 2 reviews for the second half of April and the first half of May. Thanks so much for your patience and support guys, it really means a lot to me. Wish me luck for finals! 🙂

 

Rotring Tikky Graphic – 0.3mm

The Rotring Tikky was something that I really wanted to try out because I was getting a little tired of my standard Staedtler Pigment Liner and wanted to try something new. I picked it due to the positive reviews on JetPens and it being cheaper than the Pigment Liner.

One thing that I was a little surprised about was the relatively consistent lines. I had previously read some reviews on the Tikky from different pen bloggers and some had mentioned that the line was pretty inconsistent for them and was mainly based on the amount of pressure when writing. I found that not to be the case for me and can only wonder whether they have since improved it, as most of the reviews date back a couple of years.

The clip is really stiff and will properly secure the pen. I kept this in both my Nock Co. Sinclair, my jeans pocket and my shirt pocket and the clip still holds firm. I was a little worried that the jeans pocket would warp the clip a little bit due to how thick the material was, but it turns out that the clip is much more solid than I thought. That being said, it is really easy to scuff up and as you might be able to see in the picture above, the edges are really scratched, but it doesn’t take away one bit from the durability.

One thing that I really loved about the Tikky was the grip. Initially, I was a little skeptical at how well it would perform due to it being so thin. I was pleasantly surprised by how grippy it was, as the texture provides a decent amount of purchase on the pen, regardless of my sweaty hands. It was pretty consistent and comfortable during longer writing sessions and I practically never had to readjust my grip.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my decision to get the Rotring Tikky as the Staedtler Pigment Liner was my go-to for a long time and this was a nice change of pace. The two are quite similar, but the Rotring shines through due to minute, but highly effective changes, thereby improving the writing experience. I particularly like the grip sections and the clip design of the Tikky as it gives the pen a versatility that the Pigment Liner doesn’t have. On the other hand, I found that note-taking was a little difficult.

In one of my classes, all of our quizzes are done on cheap printer paper. Using this pen for quizzes quickly became a hassle and it was almost impossible to use with the amount of bleed-through. I can get away with writing on cheap paper with the Sakura Pigma Micron, Staedtler Pigment liner and nearly all the other felt-tip pens I’ve reviewed so far. The Tikky just didn’t play well with cheaper paper and I was restricted to using it on Rhodia and Maruman notebooks. It’s the one thing that keeps this pen behind the Pigment Liner on my Top 5 list, but I would definitely rate it higher than the Pigma Micron.