Stipula Passaporto Crystal Clear Eyedropper Fountain Pen

Possibly M nib? Not entirely sure. Delicious Pendleton mix BlaKWa ink though.

The Stipula Passaporto was just a distant, expensive dream until I stumbled upon it half-priced at the DC Pen Show (at Speerbob’s booth) and couldn’t resist.

It’s a bit like a cigar, except you can write with it and it probably won’t give you cancer and OKAY IT IS NOTHING LIKE A CIGAR

The design of the pen combines several of my most favorite things: compact, clear body, fountain pen, made in Italy. The only thing that could make it better is if it could dispense espresso through my skin into my blood stream while I write.

Remember when I would be awake in the daytime and have natural daylight for these pictures? THOSE SURE WERE THE DAYS

The body is a sturdy sort of resin something or other, and seems to hold up well in spite of making numerous unprotected trips in my pocket. It can be filled with standard short cartridges, or as an eyedropper pen with bottled ink. It even comes with its own glass eyedropper. The cap screws on to close, and presses onto the back to post. When closed, the pen is Fort Knox secure. This is not a pen that will unscrew in your pocket. The cap, when posted firmly, is pretty secure (though can be knocked loose), and makes the pen long enough for comfortable long-term writing. And my, is it ever comfy! I LOVE the thicker body barrel for writing.

Chance of humidity: always percent

Now, for a few negatives. This first one drives me crazy—condensation in the cap. Or ink in the cap. Or worse, BOTH. It happens often, and especially when I carry this pen in my jeans pocket. The pen is secure, so I’m not worried about this stuff getting out, it’s just annoying that it’s there at all.

Sure it writes wonderfully NOW…

The second BIG big negative is that I could not get a steady writing flow going right out of the box. It was crazy frustrating, and I tried everything I could think to do (besides take it back, because I would admit no defeat). At last beaten, I took the pen back to the ballroom, and escorted it (and some cash) over to Pendleton Brown to see if he could do something for it. And he did! It writes wonderfully now, a nice tactile smooth with an ink flow that never fails. And he hooked me up with some of his Waterman BlakWa ink mix, which I am currently in love with.

Little leaf keeps pen | From rolling down the table | Some but not all times

You might think, with these two major problems looming over it, that I might not like this pen. But fountain pens are funny things. Maybe it’s their offbeat nature. Maybe it’s a psychological attachment fueled by all the dough you fork over for pens like these. Who knows. But in spite of its problems, I love this little pen. I’m glad I got it, and I enjoy using it.

Unfortunately, I don’t see any clear versions of the Passaporto fountain pen at Speerbob’s, and none of the other colors are for the price I got mine at. If you’re looking for this pen at an unbeatable price, you might have to make the trek to a fountain pen supershow to get a good deal. Or scour the internet. Best of luck in your quest.

The X-Pen +prototype+

My tiniest writing sample yet

This will be my first review of a prototype. Arash Malek emailed me out of the blue, asking if I would be interested in reviewing one of the prototype samples from their Kickstarter campaign, and like always with these kind of review requests (seriously, are these trick questions? who says no?) I said yes.

I guess I should have used normal items of scale, like rulers or coins. Too late now!

My first reaction was a delighted “OH MY STARS AND ENVELOPES; IT’S A TINY PEN!” I love small pens with an eye toward everyday carry convenience. Other notable pens that activate this joyous whimsy include the Kaweco Liliput, the Pilot Petit1, the E+M Workman Pocket Clutch lead holder, the Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock—but this is the first compact felt tip pen I’ve encountered.

You haven’t seen photoshopping this poor since the dawn of the internet

Let’s talk about design. It looks like a battery. Or a robot cigarette. Probably both! (Stay away from cigarettes, kids, robot or otherwise. Except for this X-pen; it’s not actually a robot cigarette.) It’s strange and I like it. I’m not an engineer, but if I were designing a hip-and-with-it engineer, this looks like the sort of pen I would have ever in the hands of that engineer.

Hexes aren’t just for witches and wizards

As you probably know (unless you hate science and fun), magnets are one of the coolest things discovered for the human technological arsenal (sorry to be speciesist, but how many aardvarks using magnets have you seen?). The cap closes and posts with magnets. I cannot stress enough how satisfying it is to close the cap. Yes, it’s also very functional and keeps the cap securely in place, but most importantly it’s way more fun than it really should be. I find myself idly opening and closing the cap just for the fun of it. Functionality bonus!: the hex on the cap unscrews the hexamabob that holds the refill in place.

Note: there’s no finish on this round of the prototype, so the steel sleeve in the front is starting to rust a bit—this was noted to me by the makers before I got the prototype, so I’m not concerned.

You may recall my discovery of the Pilot Fineliner, and my delight in its performance. Well, though my sample came with a Pilot Razor Point refill, you will be delighted to note that the X-pen also takes the Pilot Fineliner tip/refill. MOST EXCELLENT.

Boring ordinary Pilot Razor Points

The Razor Point refill itself is quite nice—though I feel like it takes perhaps a couple of words to warm up, after that it’s nice and smooth, no drying out or whatever other problems exist in the felt-tip writing world. Even though it’s short, it’s long enough even unposted for a normal writing experience; and even though it’s pocket sized, it’s thick enough (thicker than the original Pilot Razor Point body) to be perfectly comfortable.

ACTION! DRAMA! EXCITEMENT! PEN!

From what I’ve seen in this prototype, I think the X-pen will be an excellent pen (IS THAT WHAT THE X STANDS FOR HMM?). It’s very exciting to see some pennovation that goes beyond just another body for Hi-Tec-C refills. Thank you to Arash for providing me with this sample!

Check out the X-Pen Kickstarter campaign, and get in on it while there’s still time!

Ohto Rook Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Black Red Body

Sorry, Shoreline Gold, but you could never hope to beat turquoise as the destined color for this pen

Spoiler alert: this may very well be my favorite compact fountain pen.

It's a grower

The Rook is designed for pocket perfection. The aluminum body is so lightweight, you might mistake it for plastic (I had to bite mine, like a pirate with a suspect gold piece, to make sure it really was metal…it seems like metal….you’d better buy and bite one yourself, though, just to be sure). It is the shortest fountain pen I own, by 0.4 cm, shorter even than the Kaweco Liliput, which JetPens STILL erroneously claims is the “smallest fountain pen at JetPens that accepts standard international short cartridges”—the Rook accepts standard international short cartridges and by JetPens’ own measurements is shorter. But it’s also much cheaper; perhaps that’s why it isn’t getting the recognition it deserves?

Put it in your change purse, your cigarette case (instead of cigarettes; smoking is bad for you, kids!), your pocket, behind your ear, inside of a larger pen...

Sleek and durable body, has a clip, easy to open (once you figure out, after a comedy of frustration, to hold the black end part on the non-clip end and pull away the rest of the black body and clip end), snaps securely shut, and when posted boasts the useable length of a full size pen. And it’s sturdy. This is what a pocket pen needs to be: quick and convenient, for ease of use, but also sturdy and reliable, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth using.

Efficiency like this, it's gotta be German.

It’s not my favorite nib on a compact pen—my heart belongs to Kaweco on that score—but it’s still a good nib. A little on the dry side (especially compared to something like the A. G. Spalding), the nib is more tactile than smooth, but it’s never scratchy. Ink flow is good, unless I let it sit for a month or more without using it.

Not the most attractive scrollwork accents, but it tried.

What matters is it does what I need it to do, without any notable problems that would get in the way of writing, and the design is comfortable enough that I could write for an extended period of time if I need to. Be warned though: the barrel, as you can see, is a bit slim; if you find thin pens uncomfortable then this might not be the pen for you.

Your pocket's new best friend

My only complaint against the Ohto Rook is that the red band around the clip area isn’t the same shade of red as the grip; the clip-band is just a little lighter, perhaps a fraction more orange. But for such a great pen, that’s pretty nitpicky stuff.

Ohto Rook Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Black Red Body at JetPens

Lamy Pico Pocket Size Extendable Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm Medium Point – Black Body

Just like a BIC! For once, I mean that as a compliment; BICs are great for sketching and subtle shading.

I was originally hesitant to get the Lamy Pico—this was back before I totally lost my mind and started dropping some serious Jacksons on fountain pens. Even now, I am reluctant to break the fifteen dollar barrier on any non-fountain pen. But motorcycle trips are special occasions, and in the name of finding the perfect motorcycle pen I finally bought a Lamy Pico back in May of last year (when the Lamy Pico was $10 cheaper).

The Thomas Jefferson doubloon and 1 euro cent piece will be my new references of measure for pens

Design-wise, a thousand gold stars for Lamy. Sleek matte black finish, compact body with a thick barrel (too many compact pens tend to favor needle-thin chopstick bodies), nice weight, and no clip (clips are bulky and can get caught on things in my pocket). Originally I didn’t like that the Pico had no clip, but I’ve come around.

Why does this have to jut out so impudently in what would otherwise be such a streamlined casing?

The only design feature I’m currently not thrilled with is the logo. I stand by what I suggested previously: make it flush with the body, recessed into the metal, and make it out of a powerful magnet so I can attach it to various metal bits on my motorcycle. Or refrigerator.

As is, I have to be mindful of where the logo is (when writing without gloves on), lest I have it pressing into my skin. The argument for the raised logo would be that it acts to stop the pen from rolling away (unless the pen has some momentum, then it’s avalanche straight down desk mountain). However, I’m not intending to use this pen on tabletops, so that’s not one of my concerns.

You know what would be better than a Lamy Pico? If I had some scrambled eggs right now. But I can't very well scramble up some eggs AND type these captions, now can I??

Generally in my off-bike, deskside tests, I’ve been happy with the deployment mechanism. Occasionally it’ll still stick; you just need to push back down and it’ll keep going. Would be a lot better if this never happened at all, or happened so rarely that it wouldn’t be worth mentioning. Oh well! Doubt the ten dollar price hike has fixed this problem.

Paper enemy #1

And here we have what is hands down the biggest problem with the Pico: the refill. Maybe Jetstream set the bar too high for me, so when I fork over the dough for a nice ballpoint pen that isn’t as smooth as butter and black as the deep voids of space, I’m disappointed.

Dear Lamy Pico refill: No, we will never be friends. Because if you weren't so awful, you really wouldn't be the Lamy Pico refill, would you?

Didn’t help that I got an extra particularly especially shoddy refill the first time around (I bought another at my local pen store, and got to test it before I took it home). It writes well enough—takes a little squiggle to warm up if it’s been sitting around for a while, but otherwise pretty consistent. No egregious or particularly obvious skips, blobs, or inky aberrations with my new refill. If we had a scale, with absolutely horrible pens at the bottom (I dare not name names) and Jetstream pens at the top, I’d give this a 5.5, maybe a 6. Just barely above average, but I want smoother. I want darker. I DO NOT WANT TO BE REMINDED OF PENS SO CHEAP THAT PEOPLE PRACTICALLY PAY YOU TO WALK OFF WITH THEM WHEN I USE THIS PEN (no offense, BIC). I still haven’t found a refill that fits. Monteverde claims its mini pen refills fit Lamy brand pens, but the Pico must be an exception (or Monteverde must be a pack of liars). It fits into the pen just fine, deploys and there it is, but as soon as you press it to paper it goes right back up into the pen. Useless. If anyone can find a better refill for this pen, let me know. (Psst, Uni-ball. You would make a killing off of me if you sold refills that fit various other pen bodies. Like this one)

Bottom line: with the price hike and the mediocre refill, I can’t say that the Pico is worth it. The only justifications for getting the Pico are probably either that you want a compact ballpoint pen with a wide body, or you’ve got money to burn and are intrigued by the deployment mechanism. Or if you’re trying to buy every pen ever. I’ve warmed up to mine, but unless you’re flush with cash or being given this as a gift, there are much better pens you could be getting with that money.

Lamy Pico Pocket Size Extendable Ballpoint Pens at JetPens

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock Gel Ink Pen – (0.4mm Black & 0.3mm Clear Blue)

After "Slim Knock," I was going to write the colors and tip sizes. And then, as I posted this picture, I realized I forgot to do that. woooopsss

I’ve had the vague intention of reviewing the basic Hi-Tec-C/G-Tec-C4, but when you’ve got a plate full of pens, some of them fall by the wayside. I’ve been especially hesitant due to how underwhelmed I was by the basic body—given that there are so many other micro-tip options with nice bodies—and wasn’t eager to jump into some Hi-Tec-C-bashing. It’s a popular pen. Don’t want to get on the bad side of the most popular pen in school. They’ll Avery-label me a social outcast, and I’ll have to eat lunch by myself in the cafinkteria.

Look at these precious li'l guuuys!

I liked the look of the Slim Knock enough to pick up a black one, and ended up liking that so much that I went back for a clear blue. Note: these pens aren’t just slim, they are downright diminutive—unless you have delicate little carny hands, you will feel like a giant around these pens.

Fee-fi-fo-fum. I smell the blood of an Englishman? Be he clean, or be he stink, I'll grind his bones to make my ink.

For some people, slim pens are prohibitively uncomfortable. Usually, that’s me. Not on this one. I cannot figure out how the Pentel Slicci feels too thin, but the Slim Knock (which seems to have approximately the same diameter) doesn’t. Maybe it’s the long rubber grip? It’s a mystery. All I know is I often find myself throwing a Slim Knock in for my daily arsenal, while the Sliccis stay home.

Hi-Tec-C Prime. The pen that spurred a thousand redesigns.

A star to Pilot for body design. I’m not going to use this pen to write the next great American novel (or even the next great American novella), but it looks slick, and it’s more than comfortable enough to keep around for everyday note-jotting in the office.

Never run with an exposed-tip pen, kids. You could put your eye out.

I preferred the 0.4mm for writing, and the 0.3mm for sketching. Both have good, consistent ink flow; no blobs or other inkly aberrations. For writing, I had no scratchiness with the 0.4mm. (disclaimer: smoothness at the microtip level is not the same as smoothness in normal and bold pens. If you’re used to above-0.5mm pens, you may think a lot of microtips are scratchy. You just need to accept the fact that not every pen can be like a bowling ball slathered with canola oil) The 0.3mm, however, skirts the line, and has moments, when writing, that it dabbles in a touch of scratchiness. Don’t go for the 0.3mm if you’re getting these pens to write with. However, if you’re looking for a little sketch pen to lay down your preliminary construction lines, then we’ve found a winner, especially with the clear blue. Sketching doesn’t magically transform it into an ever-smooth pen, but for some reason, I just didn’t seem to have much of a problem at all with the 0.3mm when drawing. If there’s scratchiness while I’m dropping down these doodles, I’m not noticing it like I was with the writing.

Let me needle-point out the Slim Knock's main flaw

Minus fifteen points from Pilot for post-dry smudge. None of the lines themselves are smudged, but even though the ink was dry, it was picking up onto the side of my hand, and getting redistributed onto the page (especially noticeable in the white areas). I’ve had the same problem with the Pentel Energel. Pens, why? You have to stop doing this to me.

Branding is informative, without being obnoxious, showy, or boring

Hopefully, Pilot will continue adding more colors to the Slim Knock line. I’d like to see every regular Hi-Tec-C color in Slim Knock style.

Unfortunately, just about every color of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock is sold out at the time of this writing. So, put it on your wish list, and snap some up as soon as they’re back in stock.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock Gel Ink Pen – 0.4 mm – Black at JetPens

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock Gel Ink Pen – 0.3 mm – Clear Blue at JetPens

Kaweco Liliput Al Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Black Body

Featuring the same aubergine ink as my first Kaweco review (not the EXACT same...that cartridge ran out months ago. But this is from the same box.)

This review is long overdue. I am not exaggerating when I say I had four separate photoshoots for this thing, in at least 3 different states, each time dissatisfied with the results. This pen DESERVES beautiful pictures, because this is a beautiful pen.

Taken in the fading sunlight outside of Central Park Zoo

This pen is small—though NOT Jetpens’ smallest, in spite of the claim on the Liliput’s page; the Liliput is 3.8 inches capped per Jetpens, and the Ohto Rook, per Jetpens, is 3.7 inches capped. HELLO, SOMEONE AT JETPENS PLEASE FIX THIS INACCURACY THANKS.

Dare to compare

In spite of being 0.1 inch shy of smallest, the Liliput still boasts an impressively diminutive profile among compact fountain pens.

Regular fountain pens Lamy Safari and Pilot Prera for reference, compact fountain pens A. G. Spalding & Bros. Mini Fountain Pen, Kaweco Sport, Pilot Petit1, Kaweco Liliput, and Ohto Rook for comparative littleness battle

Posted, I believe the Liliput is the smallest of these pens, but not so small as to be uncomfortable. I can even write with the cap off, no problems, but that has more to do with my weirdo-grip than the length of the pen.

Reasons why you would even want to write with the cap off will follow

One of the pen’s greatest strengths is also one of its biggest inconveniences. The cap unscrews to come off, and screws onto the back to post. The cap is very sturdy, once posted. But this is not a maneuver suited to quickly jotting something down; the rounded end doesn’t give enough purchase for the cap to line up and easily catch the thread, and it often takes me a try or two before I get the cap screwing on correctly. I do a little better if I sit here, focusing on the task, practicing—but focusing on getting the cap lined up is not my greatest strength when I’m trying to remember something I want to write down.

Hello, silky smooth aluminum. Wait...WAIT NO DON'T ROLL OFF THE TABLE

On the one hand, I love the barrel. Smooth. Uninterrupted. Slips into a pocket like it’s greased down and dripping with butter. On the other hand, this pen is CONSTANTLY rolling off and away (apparently none of the tables in my life are level) any time I set it on a flat surface without a book, additional pen, or some other object to chaperone it. I don’t know what I would do to fix this problem; I love the look of the pen. I don’t want some ugly bump protruding from any part of it, nor do I want the body to be anything other than rounded. I don’t want a clip. I want this pen to defy gravity, just a little bit. That’s the only reasonable solution I can come up with.

On to the writing portion of this never-ending talent show. The nib writes tactile-smooth; you can feel the nib on the page, but it doesn’t drag. Ink flow is nice and consistent. My only beef is that this fine nib seems to write just as fine as my medium nib; which is to say, I perceived no difference at all.

I'm completely baffled

I don’t know what the deal is. Maybe nib size for the Kaweco brand is just a game of Russian Roulette. Maybe you’ll get the nib size you want. Maybe you’ll get shot in the head and have vodka poured on you. Who knows.

Taken at a bus stop in Virginia

So it writes well, it’s nicely made. Let’s talk ink. Takes the standard short international cartridge. I’ve been asked if I know of any converter that fits in this pen. Here’s the smallest converter I know; I think it’s by Monteverde:

Top: plunger all the way out. Middle: plunger all the way in. Bottom: amount of room left when I put the empty converter in the Liliput and screwed the body back on.

I guess there’s theoretically enough room there for a drop, maybe two, of ink. Feel free to knock yourselves out trying. I’d say your best bet is to get a little syringe and use it to fill up an empty cartridge with the ink of your choice.

All the king's horses may have trouble with Humpty Dumpty, but I have opposable thumbs and no trouble reassembling this pen.

I think the biggest hesitation point for this pen is price. I got it at $53; the price has already increased to $55 (metal prices are going up, I hear). Now, I’m both cheap and poor, so this is a lot of money to me. For moneyed professionals and sensible people who save money wisely, and basically anyone other than me, have no hesitation buying this pen. If you’re like me, and you want this pen but $55 seems like more than one should be spending on any pen, wait one day for every dollar it costs, and if you still want it, get it (that’s what I did). I haven’t been disappointed, despite the few drawbacks. It’s adorable, writes well, and is constructed of quality materials. And JetPens just rolled out replacement nibs, for those of you who can’t decide between sizes; get one Liliput, and then another nib to go in it.

One last glamour shot.

Kaweco Liliput Al Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Black Body at JetPens

Kaweco Replacement Nib – Broad – at JetPens

Kaweco Replacement Nib – Extra Fine – at JetPens

Kaweco Replacement Nib – Fine – at JetPens

Kaweco Replacement Nib – Medium – at JetPens

Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Black Body – Black Ink

Are ballpoint pens the very best pens for sketching? I would suggest a hearty MAYBE!

Final goody from my most recently received bequeathment of complimentary pen-based joy from JetPens. Thanks again to Brad and JetPens! Now, let’s look at this little bugger.

And while we're at it, let's look at this dirty penny.

The nomenclaturally uninspired Zebra SL-F1 is a wonderfully, conveniently small pen. I’ve been keeping mine in a little zipper pouch/boombox (I will save that awesome item and its mini-arsenal for another post) that I keep on my keychain (because, like most people, I lose my keys unless there is a small boombox attached to them). It has a nice little weight to it, with the metal it’s packing, but isn’t actually that weighty, being so small.

Too bad this doesn't extend via high-powered spring-button, like an umbrella. That would be violent/awesome.

Fully extended, it ends up being slightly shorter than Zebra’s Telescopic (at least, as far as I can recall, since all of my Zebra Telescopic pens have buried themselves in the pen hordes and do not wish to be found at this time), and the barrel is definitely slimmer than the Telescopic / a standard pen.

Please ignore my terrible hand. Wait, did I say that was my hand? I mean please ignore the terrible hand of this random stranger, whom I paid in cheap ballpoints to be my hand model.

For me, even though it’s on the short side, it’s still long enough to be comfortable. I tend not to prefer thin pens, especially for extended writing, but for note-jotting (which I think is the primary niche a pen like this fills), it’s fine. If you have very big hands / are the ghost of André the Giant, then this pen might be too short for you.

Pause: can we take a moment to admire the matte finish? And the shiny accents? I'm pretty sure this is a textbook example of the scientific formula for classiness.

Maybe it is just hallucination on my part, but I think the refill that came in the SL-F1 has been the best so far in terms of all of Zebra’s mini pens I’ve tried. It takes the standard mini refill size that all other Zebra mini pens, Zebra Sharbo X multipens, Tombow Pfit, Marvy Petite pens, aaaand many others that I don’t own yet to have a chance to confirm if the refills are the same. I appreciate this refill size standardization, especially since the only refills JetPens lists on the same page as the SL-F1 are Black, Blue, Red, and Green 0.7mm ballpoints. I don’t want my wee pocket pens confined by conformist notions of color and line thickness and ink type. I WILL WRITE WITH WHAT I WANT!

And what I want is this

Back to the refill it comes with; I found it to be of decent smoothness, minimal blobbing in the sketches, almost no blobbing in the writing, and overall consistent. Another gold-star standard of what I think all typical pens should achieve.

The allure of a miniature pen at sunset on a leather notebook on top of the trunk of my car in the parking lot at work.

This is a good pen for keeping handy. As I mentioned, it now comes everywhere with me, [inside of something that is] attached to my keys, ever-ready. Should I need a pen, and find myself desperately trying to remember if I’m carrying anything that is not a fountain pen (which is now my standard reaction to “Can I borrow a pen?”), I know I’ve got this one stored for easy access. Plus, it looks attractive (/doesn’t look like a Doric column). It perfectly fills a niche for small, attractive, inexpensive, and accessible pens.

Once more, my thanks to Brad and JetPens! :)
Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Black Body – Black Ink at JetPens

Pilot Petit 1+2+3 Mini Pens

I see great promise in these pens!

Another exciting sample package of complimentary goodies arrived in my mailbox recently from Jetpens! :D (this little face is obviously shorthand for “one thousand thanks unto JetPens”) I would never have guessed a few years ago how exciting a white Jiffylite bubble envelope could be.

The Pilot Petit is back, and true to cliche it's better than ever

I was pretty bummed when I saw that the old Pilot Petit1 was being discontinued. It wasn’t the best fountain pen; at the time I found the nib to be a bit too wet of a writer for my tastes, but I really liked the principle of the thing. Luckily, I already owned about six Pilot Petit1 pens, and a whole bevy of ink cartridges to go with them.

So naturally I needed more Pilot Petits when it burst back onto the scene. I always wondered what the “1″ in the name was about; seems like Pilot was planning this product expansion all along (or at least, they can pretend that’s what went down).  You’ve got the Pilot Petit1, a fountain pen just like the original; the Pilot Petit2, a sign pen/marker pen (for very small signs, I presume); and the Pilot Petit3, a fude/brush pen.

Note the clear underbelly on the fountain pen; a thoughtful touch that lets you see just as easily as you would with the brush and marker pen exactly what color you have loaded.

We’ll stick to numerical order, for sanity’s sake, and start with the Pilot Petit1.

Hey there old friend!

I don’t know if this is just a variation in quality control or what, but the new Pilot Petit1 seems to actually be a fine nib this time, which is great considering that’s what it’s branded as. Maybe it’s just the one I got, I don’t know, but if the new Pilot Petit1 models really are true fine nibs, that’s great news for the future of these pens when drawing (and writing on multiple types of paper; finer nibs tend to fuzz and bleed less).

Why stop at one round of drawings when I can continue directly overboard with two?

I can’t really see a difference in the nibs, but I felt like the new Pilot Petit1 was better. If anyone knows why this might be, please let me know. Otherwise I assume it’s just wizardry and penmagic.

To the left, an old Pilot Petit1 color-coded to the nines, lest you forget what color originally came in the pen. To the right, the new Pilot Petit1, colored only by the ink within.

The entire body of the new Pilot Petit1 is the same translucent color (mine is purple), including the clip and the cap, in contrast to the old Pilot Petit1 which had a clear cap instead. Another minor difference is that the body of the new Pilot Petits have four very small bumps around the end of the pen, so the cap clips on when you post it instead of just being pushed onto the end until it goes no further.

The sign pen has a clear cap and a translucent clip and body, making it easy to see the marker tip's color

I don’t really do much work with signs or markers. And this marker tip is really a bit too small to be making actual signs. I did test it on some small, glossy, sign-like paper:

The theme was "Why am I trying to get away with NOT having obscene amounts of writing/drawing samples?"

What I’m starting to see is the potential for these three pens to work together in an artistic capacity. Use the Petit1 for doing fine, detailed work, as well as sketching out guidelines and such, then use the Petit2 for coloring in larger areas, making thicker lines, etc. And then use the Petit3 for fun and profit.

Pilot Petit pens 2 & 3 seen here in the wild, sizing one another up before battle(/mating; the rituals of pens are unclear)

Finally, the Fude/brush pen. This is the only compact brush pen I have, certainly the only one I know of, and undoubtedly the only one clocking in at anything less than prohibitively expensive. Coupled with the ability to choose between various ink colors/refill/change ink colors without having to buy a new pen, I think the Pilot Petit3 stands out as a very fun intro option to brush pens. Line variation was great, and the only complaint I have is that I find the solid colored clip to be a little gauche. Maybe do a clear clip instead? It just doesn’t match the rest of the set, or even the rest of its own body.

Pilot may come out with some crappy products, but they make up for it with hits like these.

Pilot’s done a good job improving upon the Pilot Petit. Care was taken with the details—like adding tiny bumps so the cap would click securely when posting, or making the underside of the fountain pen nib out of clear plastic so you could easily see the ink color—and it’s paid off. My hope is that they’ll come out with more ink colors (at least all the ink colors they had with the original Pilot Petit1; several of my favorites are missing), more body colors (currently the only body colors available are in the theme of girlsplosion springtime pastel bonanza), and perhaps even more models (like, say, a Pilot Petit4 rollerball? Petit5 highlighter??).

Thanks again to Brad and JetPens for these samples!

 
Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen – Clear Violet Body at JetPens
Pilot Petit2 Mini Marker Pen – Clear Violet Body at JetPens
Pilot Petit3 Mini Brush Pen – Clear Violet Body at JetPens
Pilot Petit Pen Refill Cartridge – Clear Blue – Set of 3 at JetPens

Zebra Tele-Scopic Ball Point Pen

I almost, ALMOST got the purple toned right on this. Almost.

I picked this up out of curiosity during some trip to one of the big box office supply stores. I forget which one. Do they really carry selections so different from one another? No.

It is a mini pen! Wait noo it is a full-sized pen! WAIT BOTH!

The design seems evocative of, oh I don’t know, accountants and banking. Very sleek, you know, with the silver barrel looking like some kind of architectural column. Or like the legs of a robot’s pinstriped pants. Then there’s the dark, slick upper barrel looking like the soulless depths of some fat cat’s black obsidian desk…this metaphor is going to get away from me soon, so I’ll just drop it.

There’s a lot of metal in this pen, so it has a nice weight to it. Not super heavy, but good to hold. The size of the pen when compact is small enough to easily tuck into a pocket or clip unobtrusively to the side of a checkbook (or something like a checkbook, but not as obsolete), and when extended is the size of a regular ballpoint pen. Of course, if the size of a regular ballpoint pen isn’t your thing, then this is the pen for you. The silver barrel only needs to be pulled about 6 millimeters out for the tip of the refill inside to be fully exposed and ready to write, so you can extend the pen to any length between full extension and tip barely poking out for the pen to work. There’s nothing to snap or lock in place, just telescope it out as far as you like and then write (should I say telescope? It’s really only a two piece telescope, if we want to pretend it’s a telescope. I’m sorry, it’s not a telescope, it’s just telescopic. Moving on).

The writing core poking out of its protective sheath

The ballpoint pen refill that the pen comes with is not particularly exciting. I had a lot fewer globbing problems with this ballpoint than with most ballpoints, but I think that’s because each individual line it lays down involves far less ink than is standard. If you look at the writing sample closely, you’ll note how most of the marks, especially single-pass marks, have a sort of grainy quality to them; this is because the surface of the page is not 100% smooth, and ink isn’t getting in the minuscule texture valleys of the paper. It gives the pen some good sketching potential, with easier control over lighter ranges of shading, but for writing, whatever.

What you should get excited about with this pen is that you can put Zebra’s Sharbo X refills in it. Ballpoint AND gel. I was first clued in to this Zebra trick in The Pen Addict’s review of the Zebra Penpod mini keychain pen, and I thought when I took this Tele-Scopic apart, I wonder if the same will work here too…

Just put it back together like this, only do not bring the barrel in at that angle. That should actually go on the left. The other way is just wrong.

I was very excited to find that this actually works, especially since I am in the “kind-of-want-but-can’t-pay-that-much-money-for-it” camp regarding the Sharbo X. Now I can have 1/3 of the Sharbo X multipen writing experience, instead of what I had before, which was a bunch of refills I couldn’t use because the Penpod is nearly impossible to write with comfortably. But that’s another review.

So you’ve got a simple, classy, inexpensive, compact-for-travel-full-size-for-writing pen body AND the option of oodles of refills. I can’t find much to complain about here.

Moving on to the finer points in life...

I can’t find a link online to this pen on any of the big box websites (neither Staples, Office Max, nor Office Depot), but I know I got mine from one of those, and it came in a two pack. Here’s the info, but no point of sale, on the Zebra website. I trust you guys can figure it out. Also, I’m not sure if this is in the stores or not, but Zebra’s Tele-Scopic line also has a series with brightly colored upper barrels, if the slick-black business pen look isn’t for you. Once you’ve got your pen body of choice, load it up with some Sharbo X Gel Ink refills or some Sharbo X ballpoint refills from JetPens, and you will be cooking with the metaphorical dynamite of excitement that is pen modification.

Get a red barrel for a more convincing simulacrum of dynamite when wielding metaphors

A.G. Spalding & Bros Mini Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Silver Body

No paper is appropriate for this pen.

Disclaimer: this pen was bought for me by a friend in exchange for the use of my Sakura inking pens for a week. I don’t know why I felt such a disclaimer was necessary, but there you have it. I guess this is an approximation of gratitude? Yes.

This is a smooth-looking little pen. This pen is the epitome of all that is sleek and classy.

Post the cap and transform what was merely portable into something functional and comfortable to hold. Like magic.

In terms of appearance, this pen wins ten out of ten points. The design is minimalist professional, everything streamlined and silky, sophisticated and suave. The body has a soft silver finish that I find irresistible—every time I pick this pen up to think of what to type, I just end up stroking the pen. It’s wildly inappropriate.

In terms of size, this pen is perfect for tucking into a jeans or coat pocket. Weight-wise, it has a nice heft for a pen of its size; not very surprising, considering the body is all metal.

This cap is secure. This cap is the metallic pen version of a security blanket. Basically, no monsters will come out of the tip of your pen with this cap on.

The cap snaps into place with a sharp and satisfying click. There’s no worry of having this pen come open in any situation where you don’t want it to. It posts on the end quite snugly; no snap, but still very secure.

But it’s not all sunshine and sleek design wrapped in a bubble of stability. The metal barrel has an unrelenting tendency to come ever so slightly unscrewed from the nib and feed section—never enough to fall off, in my experience, but enough that I have to tighten the barrel back on every time I pull the pen out. So if the barrel takes seven full revolutions to come unscrewed, whenever I pull the pen out it’ll be slightly unscrewed, but never by more than a full revolution. It’s annoying, and I’m not quite sure how to fix it.

The nib is a lie. Or the "F" stands for "FAT"

Now, how does it write? The nib’s got a little bit of tooth when writing, but overall I think it does pretty well for a broad nib pen. Oh, I’m sorry, what’s that? This is supposed to be a fine nib? In what earthly conception of the word “fine” are we talking? The opposite day definition?

AAAAAH WANNA MAKE BIG WET LINES.

Yeah, I’ve harped on this a lot, but I’ll say it again: THIS IS NOT A FINE NIB PEN. At BEST, you could call this a medium. I’m currently using a Rotring fountain pen cartridge in this pen, because the cartridge it came with was EVEN WORSE; by worse I mean wetter, took longer to dry, and just generally got in the way of a satisfactory writing process. On thirsty papers, it’s fuzzy, feathery, and bleeds through at all the spots where the pen last touched the paper. It will dry in about five seconds though. On smooth paper, it’s a left-handed nightmare; dry times of fifteen, sometimes twenty seconds. I can only write one line at a time, essentially, or I end up getting my hand in the still-drying ink as I progress down the page. Maybe if I were to write from the bottom up?

Does it look like it would write so thickly? I do not know what such nibs look like. Is my pen an anomaly? What is the DEAL?

What this pen needs is a quick-drying ink. Unfortunately, the short barrel makes it difficult to put a converter in. I haven’t searched too extensively for a short converter, mind you. Maybe I could fill up an old cartridge with some quicker ink.

Hopefully I’ll get around to experimenting with other inks in this pen—the design is too fine for me to give up on it entirely. I’ll put an update on here when I have the chance to try other ink. As it is, I’m having a hard time using up the ink it’s got to get a cartridge available for testing. Thirsty paper looks bad, smooth paper takes too long to dry. Any suggestions for good paper to use?

If you’re looking for a sleek, compact fountain pen with a rich, wet line, ta-da. I have found your true love, please invite me to the wedding. If you’re looking for a sleek, compact fountain pen with a fine line, the princess is in another castle. Sorry.

Why you gotta be like this, baby? Why you gotta throw down so much ink? You are breaking my fountain pen based heart.

A.G. Spalding & Bros BRFT208 Mini Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Silver Body at JetPens