Review 2/3
I purchased the Jetstream due to a recommendation from one of my friends back in Cali that swore by it. He said, and I quote, “It is by far the best pen I have ever used and if I could chose one pen to use for the rest of my life, the Jetstream is my choice”. Very high praise, coming from someone who I helped get into pens and stationary. He’s extremely picky with his writing experience and had gone through several pens throughout the years, but this is the one that immediately grabbed his attention and the one that he still writes with today. With such a sterling recommendation, I knew I had to eventually try it out, despite my then slight dislike of ballpoints. The years went by, he and I fell out of touch for a long time and I just recently reconnected with him. One of the first things I remembered was his love of the Jetstream and asked whether he’s still using it, to which he replied that he is and still loves it. Time makes us all bit wiser, and after finding some great rollerball style pens, I was coming around on considering using ballpoints. It was the perfect time to experience what my friend did and I leapt at the chance. Suffice to say, he was right about everything.
I absolutely love this pen. It was love from first write and after constant use for the last 5 months, my love for this pen has consistently grown alongside using it. Everything from the design to the writing experience is downright amazing and I have never experienced such a great desire to write more with a pen since I first used my beloved Pentel Energel.
The simplistic design that is classic Uniball takes a nice detour to something that is extremely elegant with an all black finish and a slightly textured plastic body with tastefully minimal branding. The overall design is very streamlined, as would be expected from a pen called Jetstream.
The clip is pretty standard and not really that durable. I did notice a bit of excess bending when I tried to use it in the same scenarios as the highly flexible clip of the Tombow Airpress and it would not bend far enough to allow for versatility in how I carried it.
That being the case, it found a nice home inside my Nock Co. Sinclair, where I keep all the my daily drivers. More often than not, after first experiencing the amazing feeling of gliding across the page with it, I found myself reaching for it more often. In fact, I’ve been using it exclusively for taking notes in the stats class I’m currently in. It feels great writing with it and as an added bonus, with me enjoying writing, I’m also paying more attention to the material, being in a good mood and all.
The Jetstream’s grip is really nice, allowing for a lot of purchase while also not bulking up the pen’s slim profile. The grooves in the grip are reminiscent of a shark’s gills, which also adds to the whole jetstream vibe that the pen gives off. The grip tapers off at the sides, allowing for a good amount of cushioning near the front, where it is most necessary and there is a very distinct delineation in the curve where the writer can feel where the extra padding is. I feel that it’s a very good choice as it prioritizes the comfort of the writer while also allowing for a confident grip for long writing sessions.
Overall, the Uniball Jetstream is a very well designed, sleek and comfortable pen that offers an amazing ballpoint writing experience. The ink is smooth, consistent and great with all kinds of paper. I would highly recommend anyone who wants a great ballpoint pen to put the Jetstream at the top of their list, because it is certainly on the top of mine.
The Passionate Penman 