Pilot Frixion Point 4

Now this is a pen that I personally found to be much more comfortable than the slim version I reviewed a while ago. The body is larger than the slim (go figure), but this change in the size and width make it that much more easy to write with.

The cap is a welcome addition as it is much better than the knock archaism on the slim. It caps nicely with a resounding click and is not going to accidentally pop off any time soon.

The grip is a little thin, but it surprisingly makes up for it by being made of a slightly squishier material than the standard plastic grips I’ve gotten used to. It reminds me of the Alpha-gel pencils that were extremely popular in high school. Though not as squishy as that, it definitely does a decent job in helping keep stress off my fingers when I grip slightly harder than usual. With the stress I’ve been under studying for finals, I’ve noticed that I’ve been squeezing harder than usual.

The ink is the same as the last Frixion, a thermo-sensitive ink that can be erased through the power of… you guessed it: friction. One of the things I’ve noticed after lurking on many a pen store scouring the various reviews is the possibility of getting a bunch of lemons in a pack. People were complaining about how after a few sentences or after a couple of weeks, the Frixion dried out quickly. One trick to reactivate the ink would be to put it in the freezer as recommended by JetPens. Now I personally have yet to face this issue with either of my Frixions so I cannot make any conclusions as to the validity of these claims, but I figured I should mention it, just in case any of you were looking into picking one up.

The eraser boasts the same efficiency of the slim and I have yet to find any difference in the erasing ability of either. While I can’t confidently claim that all the Frixion erasers have the same level of reliability, I can infer that based on my experience with these two, the standard should be about the same across the board. JetPens created an amazingly detailed comprehensive guide to the Frixions that you can check out when making your decision.

The Frixion Point 4, as this particular model is called, is a great pen that completely bows the Slim Ball out of the water in terms of comfort. The erasable ink allows it to be used in any setting whether for personal or office related tasks. The ink erases without a fuss and the pen is well-designed. While a little more on the expensive side, the convenience of being able to erase while using a pen makes the cost worthwhile for me at least. If you’re interested in pen with erasable ink, look no further than the Pilot Frixion series.

 

Pilot Mutli Ball Rollerball

100th post! Yay! New milestone. Onwards to 250. 🙂

I was recommended the Pilot Multi Ball Liquid Ink pen by a friend and I simply got it just to give it a try. Little did I know, I would find such as amazing pen in the process. The Multi Ball is a liquid ink rollerball pen that has a fine tip. The writing experience is reminiscent of the Retro 51 but it has one very important difference, the size of the tip is absolutely perfect for me. The grip, while a little thin, is well designed with small circular indents to helps when I choke up my grip to try to gain maximum control. I tend to post most of my pens, but on the Multi Ball, the clip tended to dig in to my hand, so I just decided to not post. This was fine as the long body of the pen allowed for comfortable use without needing to post. Overall, I’m very happy with my decision to try this pen out. Go try the Pilot Multi Ball out and you’ll be surprised by the way it handles in comparison to the Retro 51 and for those looking for a thinner rollerball, give this a try.

Pilot Precise V5

If someone asked me the question: What pen can I get at a department store that’s good?, I would immediately point them to the Pilot Precise V5. If I had to select one widely available pen that anyone can walk into a Staples and purchase, hands-down, this would be my ultimate choice.

Simple in its construction, the V5 is one of the first “expensive” pens that allowed me to discover the rabbit hole. It wasn’t until much later that I got to try it out again, only to be put off due to me embracing micro tip gel pens at the time. After I renewed my opinion towards rollerballs after trying out the Morning Glory Mach 3, I decided that it was time to try the V5 out again and give my opinion about this amazing and highly available pen from Pilot.

 

The first thing that many will notice is the clip as it is slightly thinner than most of the other clips I’ve seen on pens of a similar nature. The metal is highly bendable and can potentially warp out of shape should enough stress be put into it, my problem is with exactly how much was needed before it warped in my pocket. Just the simple action of bending down to lift a heavy box caused the clip to bend too far. Fortunately, being thin also means that it was easy to readjust and tighten up a bit. However, this is one of the drawbacks that prevent this from truly becoming my go to pocket pen.

The body is made of a durable plastic that can honestly take a lot of damage. I’ve dropped these on quite a number of surfaces and the pen’s held up with just a couple of nicks and scratches here and there. It was never damaged to the point that it affected the performance.

The grip is one of the things I initially loved about this pen. At the time it was a total trip for me to able to see the feed of a pen. As time went on, I spoiled myself with the sublime grips on Pentel pens and this caused a change in opinion. This pen no longer fits my standards for grip. While I do have harsh standards that I judge every pen by, I also look at the price and whether it was expected at the price range. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for jotting down quick notes, but for someone like me who has sweaty hands, as I have no doubt mentioned time and time again, the grip does little to secure my fingers. It’s just a standard piece of clear plastic that is smooth on all sides, no etching or surfaces meant to help with grip. It was the perfect pen for taking notes in class as most of my classes were only 50 minutes long. I found that during Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where the class period was elongated to 1 hour and 50 minutes, writing with it became a bit of a hassle.

The nib is one of the few things that draws me back to this pen after all this time. I still remember the first day of high school where I used this pen in all my classes and watched as the black luster of the ink dried slowly on the pages of my notebook. It was a wondrous feeling that gave me no small sense of satisfaction to watch. to the me back then, it was almost a magical effect. The lines were consistent, crisp and dark. I have yet to find a more widely available and cheaper pen that performs as well as the V5.

In short, this is a starter pen of sorts. A durable, lightweight pen that can take a lot of damage while at the same time laying down clean and crisp line while gliding across the page. It’s available in both 0.5 and 0.7mm configurations and is definitely worth the price. So next time you’re in your local department store, don’t hesitate to head on over to the stationary aisle and grab a pack of these. I highly recommend you guys to try it out. Comment below on your experience with the V5. Until then, write on, my friends.

 

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Maica 0.4mm

While I was a little intimidated by the JetPens description, I must admit this is a very well executed revamp to an absolute classic. The ink is the same as the one present in the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, but for some reason, I felt like it performed better than the original. JetPens did a comprehensive guide to Hi-Tec-Cs and the weight listed for the Maica and the Hi-Tec-C were the same at 0.40oz. They go on to mention that the Maica is an abbreviation of “my color”, which makes total sense seeing as the Maica is available in a veritable rainbow of colors.

The body is slightly heavier ad more “filled out”, resulting in a rounder profile. The cap is flush with the body. This means that there is a ridge formed near the grip area. Unlike many other pen companies that would simply leave it be, Pilot took the initiative to round out the edges, so props to them for paying attention to details.

The grip is still not that good, but feels much better than the original in my opinion.While the little bumps don’t help too much, they are more functional than the straight lines on the original Hi-Tec-C.

I’m not too crazy about the jewel on the cap that sparkles lie “my favorite jewelry”, but it’s not as distracting as I thought it would be. While by no means subtle, it doesn’t look too ostentatious and strikes a nice balance with the pens luxurious design.

There will be no charms strung through the cap loop for added “pizazz”, but it doubles as a very functional and minimalistic roll stopper.

Rest assured, you don’t have to be a teenage Japanese girl to enjoy the design choices on this pen. I for one think Pilot did a great job on the overall concept and would love to see another revamp, hopefully with a rubber grip that’s comfortable. Thanks for reading and as always, write on, my friends.

Pilot Frixion Ball Slim Review

Straight out of the wrapping, the pen seemed too thin for me to use. I had numerous flashbacks about the Marvy LePen as to how uncomfortable it was to use. Surprisingly, in hand, the size was a bit on the slimmer side but comfortable enough for short use. My biggest grip however, is the absolute lack of a grip. The pen is all pretty much one piece of plastic and for some reason, Pilot decided to skimp on the rubber and put little circular grooves near the barrel to substitute for a dedicated grip section. While I wasn’t exactly okay with it, if it had been executed well, I wouldn’t have bothered. The fact that they put the grooves far away from the tip and spaced them out too much, it resulted in an unnecessary addition that did nothing to help the pen stop slipping from my hands. Having naturally sweaty hands, I found myself readjusting my grip every 15 minutes in. This lowered my opinion of the pen overall.

On to the coolest part of the Pilot Frixion, the thermosensitive ink. I initially didn’t realize that this was an erasable pen, I just had it in my wishlist, so I added it to my cart just to try it out. Lo and behold the back intrigued me for a while, until I wised up enough to test whether it was an eraser and indeed it was. I use pens for all my schoolwork for a reason. That reason being a boost in confidence, by laying the ink down on the page, I have unequivocally put down my answer to the question and will not erase again and again in bouts of self-doubt. While it has worked for the most part, it has also led to some frustrating situations. In scenarios where I made stupid mistakes(like writing amounts down wrong), it has been an unnecessarily difficult undertaking of crossing my initial response while replacing it with the correct one. This pen will change all that. It will help me maintain the confidence booster while at the same time allowing me to go back and correct my mistakes neatly. If only it weren’t so unwieldy.

The shape of the eraser is more spherical in nature, keeping the overall design scheme. the whole pen looks like a futuristic rocket. Smooth curves with nary a sharp edge. Why would the eraser be any different? It does a great job of erasing the ink, without leaving the annoying shavings behind relying entirely on friction(get it?) to complete its task.

The knock doubles as a clip, albeit a rather small one. When it was sitting in my Nock Hightower, it was barely holding on. Hence, I found that it was much easier to loop some thread or wire through the hole in the knock and wear it like a necklace.

While the ink is pretty cool and the eraser works wonders, I find it hard to give this pen a good score, as I had a lot of problems with the lack of a grip. It was very unwieldy and I can’t see myself using it often other than the occasional quick jots. However, the best thing this pen has going for it is potential. If Pilot manages to improve some of the design flaws, the Frixion could potentially break into my Top 5 Gel Pen list. Until then, give it a try if you’re looking into erasable pens, but for those with big and/or sweaty hands, this might not be the best choice to start off with. Thanks for reading and as always, write on, my friends.

Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pens: 2.4mm, 3.8mm and 6.0mm

At one point in time I was looking into getting my first calligraphy pen. I took to the web and read reviews posted by many fellow stationary reviewers. After debating for a while, I chose the Pilot Parallel pens.

The thing that drew me towards the Parallel line was without a doubt the nib. It is very similar to the Automatic pens I’ve seen showcased on websites like JohnNealBooksellers and PaperInkArts. The fact that it could accept a CON-50 converter was another big plus in my book. In my mind, more ink equals more fun.

The pen came with very simple packaging that included a plate to clean in between the nib, 2 ink cartridges (red and black), a metal cartridge for flushing the pen (not meant for ink) and an instruction manual. The first thing I observed when I picked the pen up was its weight, or more specifically, the lack thereof. This is a very light pen.

Pretty much every part aside from the nib is made from plastic. The weight is more towards the front, allowing for less pressure to form lines. The nib is slightly rigid, but allows a rather generous amount of flex for a broad edge pen. It laid down a consistent line every time I used it. The line variation that came about from the nib flexing was a lot of fun to play around with.

The three sizes I opted for were the 2.4mm, 3.8mm and the 6.0mm. The smallest size the 1.5 didn’t interest me as I already had a Lamy 1.5mm stub nib. The caps are brightly colored, and allow for easy identification even if you lose the stickers.

I would recommend these pens to anyone who has either an interest in learning a calligraphic script that requires a broad edge pen, or someone who wants to mess around with huge nibs. At just $12, it is the perfect pen for experimenting with new inks.

Pilot Metropolitan Review

My fall quarter started today, so back to school it is. However, as promised, I will be holding a Welcome Back Week of Reviews. For this week (starting today), I will be posting a minimum of 1 review per day. One of the days (most likely Friday), I will be putting out all the ink reviews I’ve been procrastinating for months now. That totals to about 6, I think. I’ll be posting a couple of paper reviews over the weekend, so look forward to that. It’s gonna be a hectic week with homework and all, but I just love you guys that much. So without further ado, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for.

Packaging:

For a budget pen that is usually a “first fountain pen” for a lot of people, the packaging is really nice. Mind you, it doesn’t compare to Pilot’s more expensive options, but it’s nice nonetheless. It reminds me a lot of the tins in which I stored my Camlin geometry set. Thin yet durable, secure when closed, and easy to open. The one visible drawback would be the plastic window being a huge dust magnet.

First Impressions:

One of the first things I noticed out of the box, was the size of the pen. Photos can be deceptive, as it is longer than it looks. Albeit being slimmer overall, the length is comparable to that of a Lamy Safari. The heft was noticeable when I lifted it. The weight was distributed more towards the front, but was balanced very well. For a plastic pen, it sure doesn’t feel cheap.

Once uncapped, there was a noticeable decrease in weight, but it maintains balance well. This is where I discovered my first problem with this pen.

As you see in the picture above, the transition from the barrel to the grip is too sharp. This results in a rather annoying edge which feels uncomfortable if your grip is too hard.

On the positive side the pen posts very well. While I usually post my pens, this one didn’t require it. Even without posting, the length is comfortable in my hand (and I have big hands). This is one thing that surprised me, as I thought that I would definitely need to post. However, anyone who wants to post can do so. When posted, the weight is still balanced nicely, and the cap is secure.

Nib/Performance:

I opted to get the M nib, as I was seeking a writing experience and line width similar to my Pilot VP. After a couple of hours of use, I’m really impressed with how good this nib is. I can safely say that at this pen’s price point, you will be hard pressed to find a nib that performs like this. Not that I had any doubts of course, with Pilot being so strict with their QC. It wrote like a dream when I had just filled it up, but the experience slowly deteriorated with the declining ink level, which brings me to my main quibble with this pen.

When I unscrewed the barrel, I was greeted with the sight of a Pilot squeeze converter, which made me cringe. These are cheap and hold the least amount of ink possible. While I wasn’t expecting a Con-50 coming standard, I thought to replace it with my own spare one. Lo and behold, no matter how hard I pulled, the converter wouldn’t budge. After putting as much pressure as I could possibly muster, the converter finally gave in and popped out. I fitted my spare Con-50, and inked it up. The skipping problem I was initially having disappeared like it never existed. So my advice would be to either have a spare Con-50, or purchase one along with your Metropolitan, as the standard converter is not even worth mentioning.

Final Thoughts:

All the hype I hear about this pen has all been justified after using it for some time. I find myself thinking about why it took me so long to purchase and review it. Since it’s release, this pen has come a long way. Pilot has expanded the colors and patterns to cover the tastes of a large amount of people and have kept the quality at a decently high level. While not perfect this pen performs better than any I have ever used at its price range. It truly is one of the perfect starter pens and will last a long time. I highly recommend this pen to everyone who wants a cheap, durable pen that performs beyond its’ price range.

Pilot Juice 0.5mm Review

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.

Pilot Petit 1 Review

I was very surprised with this pen. I was told by one of my friends that this is actually a throw-away (disposable) pen meant to give people a taste of writing with a fountain pen. My first thought was, after I’m finished with it, I would throw it. I had yet to try it until then.

After trying it for the first time, I was a little skeptical, as it was one of the hardest starts I’ve ever had, comparable to the Pilot Hi-Tec C. So I started slowly squeezing the cartridge, in a hope to saturate the feed and get the ink flowing. This took a while, leaving me a little frustrated. After overcoming the hard start, I extensively tested it on my Rhodia DotPad.

The nib alone made me question whether this pen was indeed disposable. The Petit1 comes with a standard Pilot F nib. I have always steered clear of Japanese F nibs, as they are often the equivalent to Western EF nibs, which are too small for my writing style. Pilot is one of my favorite pen companies, because of their nibs. While in the past, they weren’t very consistent in terms of quality, the same cannot be said now. They instituted a completely new and extensive process for QC in the recent past, and it has transformed my experience with any Pilot fountain pen I came across since. the nib is smooth out of the box, and lays down a consistent line once the feed is properly saturated.

When Pilot uses a variation of the word “petite” as the name of one of their lines, you can be assured these pens indeed exhibit this quality. They have found a very balanced shape that is neither too long nor too petite. While the pen is small and can fit into my pocket, it can also comfortably post, allowing a person with larger hands (me) to effortlessly use it.

Simple, low-key branding helps keep the overall minimalistic feel to this pen. You can take off the sticker in this picture, but I was too lazy to do so.

Overall, this pen managed to really surprise me with its balanced form, minimalistic looks, and amazing nib performance. While it is technically a disposable pen, I don’t see myself throwing it out anywhere in the near future. If you want to experience writing with a fountain pen in a variety of vibrant colors, or want to give someone else such an experience, don’t hesitate to give them one of these.

Pilot Petit3 Brush Pen Review

Is is weird that this pen gave me flashbacks to high school? Well, something you might not know about me, is that in high school, my foreign language of choice was Japanese. My parents were bewildered by why I would choose Japanese, but being the loving, supporting people they are, they encouraged me to follow whatever inclinations were telling me to take Japanese. I never really discussed the real reason I chose to take Japanese, but now that high school is in the past, I can finally come clean.