Pilot AirBlanc Mechanical Pencil – 0.3 mm – Green

I DON’T REALLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MECHANICAL PENCILS I’M SO SORRY

A pencil is a pencil is a pencil. As far as I can tell, they’re all going to work about the same when it comes to standard mechanical pencils. There are rare, exceptional cases, but for the most part the pencil will be judged on aesthetics and comfort, with writing sample factoring in as a strong WHATEVER. But I’m not a pencil aficionado, so maybe I’m just missing something.

When a pen doesn’t write, it’s probably crappy ink. When a pencil doesn’t write, it’s probably out of lead.

The AirBlanc is a peaceful-looking pencil. Very fresh. Very springtime. The kind of pencil a clucking rabbit might hatch. All that green, plus the translucent-pearlescent upper casing…just lovely. The clip especially is a nice piece of design work.

Try to act like that isn’t neat. YOU CAN’T

Unfortunately, I don’t have a heat chamber where I can test the alleged cooling properties of the grip, and the typically sweltering Southern weather in these parts has begun its autumnal temperature descent. I will assume that if it’s hot enough for me to desire a specially aerated grip, it will be too hot for me to want to do any writing.

Though JetPens assures me that I do have a constant hothand problem that this pencil will fix.

As for writing, well, it writes. What else can I say?

HOORAY IT WRITES!

The lead it comes with sufficiently transfers itself onto the paper when applied. Nothing particularly phenomenal, nothing problematic presenting when used. Maybe one day I’ll learn pencil nuance.

Until then I’ll just keep buying pencils and probably underappreciating them

All in all, a neat little pencil. Be sure to keep it in mind when your favorite springtime gift excuse holiday rolls around.

Thanks to JetPens for providing this sample!

Pilot AirBlanc Mechanical Pencil – 0.3 mm – Green at JetPens

Pilot Prera Clear Body Fountain Pen – Plumix Medium Italic Flat Nib – Translucent Blue Accent

This nib's work should look very familiar

Now, this is a story all about how my pen got flipped, turned upside-down—and then it fell on the nib, which turned out to be a stroke of hidden luck—but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Don't look at one of these in person unless you want to buy it...because you'll want to buy it.

Simplistic, but in a most beautiful way. I love every bit of the design, from the little rows of dots around the cap to the delicate curve of the clip. It’s lightweight, but the plastic excuse me, acrylic feels appropriately well-made and durable.

And the way the cap closes sealed the deal. Also the pen. But mostly the deal.

This might very well be the most satisfying capping mechanism I have encountered in a pen. Slides on, then snaps neatly into place. There’ve got to be small magnets involved, the way it gently gives a little pull at the very end as you slide it on—subtle, but utterly, unreasonably satisfying. The cap stays solidly in place (hence why I’m certain it’s magnets miracles magnets), but paradoxically is easy to uncap with even one hand. Let me reiterate: this is my current top pick for best cap.

Not miniature, but it is delightfully petite

It’s small enough to look nice clipped on a small notebook, slipped into a jeans pocket (not as nice as a Kaweco Liliput, but not every pen can be a luxurious choking hazard), or even tossed unobtrusively in your coat pocket, but it’s not so small as to inhibit its useability or be considered a mini pen. I have no problem using it unposted, but people with bigger hands will probably want to post the cap.

Now, about that nib

Tell me what you see above this sentence. If you answered, a really terrible performance from a nib on a pretty pricey pen, then you would be correct! I must have tried nearly half a dozen inks on the F nib it came with. It vexed me to no end. I’ve learned how to use fountain pens and Japanese fine nibs at this point, so it wasn’t me. It was undeniably the nib. And on one of my repeated trips to flush out the pen to try a different ink during a break at work, invisible forces (possibly known as gravity) slapped the pen right out of my hand (not even the whole pen, mind you, just the assembly of nib, feed, grip, converter) and caused it to land nib-first on the hard tile floor.

See how bowed the nearest tine is? And this is AFTER having a professional try to make it better.

It made the writing…kind of better? But not better enough. That’s when it clicked—this feed is exactly the same as the Pilot Plumix feed, and this nib is exactly the same line of “Pilot Superior Quality” found on the Plumix. Could this possibly be the answer I was looking for?

OBVIOUSLY YES!

The Plumix italic nib fit like a dream, and wrote as smooth as a professional ice-skater on a freshly Zamboni’d ice rink. That metaphor may be a little ham-fisted, but I’m not (anymore) and I can actually use an italic nib now in a way that isn’t embarrassing to the entire tradition of handwriting. Add the round grip (as opposed to the Plumix’s molded pliers-style grip) to the mix, a dash of the always quick-drying Lamy blue ink, and I daresay my handwriting even passes as being moderately attractive. You don’t see it? Maybe you’re not squinting hard enough.

Ultimate unstoppable combination pen for most excellent and presentable handwriting

So, after a few character-building hiccups, I now have a highly ideal pen. It’s stood up well, so far, through at least half a year’s worth of casual-use daily abuse, and it’s still going strong.
Pilot Prera Clear Body Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Translucent Blue Accent at JetPens

Pilot Plumix Fountain Pen – Medium Italic Flat Nib at JetPens

Lamy Blue Ink at JetPens

Pilot Acroball Smooth Writing Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Soft Blue Body – Black Ink

There is a significant possibility I would have preferred to be sleeping when I did these doodles

Here we have another upstart to challenge the throne of The Realm of Dark & Smooth, currently ruled by King Jetstream (attended by a noble court of The Earl of Vicuna, Lord Surari, The Duchess of Write Dudes Super Smooth Ballpoints…etc.).

Of noble bearing, with a hint of tire treads

My feelings about this color are not exactly a secret, so any opinion I have on the design of this pen will be prejudiced by my overwhelming feelings about the excruciating loveliness of this color.

Ignore me, it's the turquoise talking

I much prefer the translucent blue/shiny silver combination to the opaque matte grey-silver/solid-and-slightly-different shade of soft blue. Unfortunately, this pen features both of those color combinations, and it’s a bit discordant. Not so jarringly that it makes the pen ugly, but just enough to register a subtle level of subconscious dissatisfaction. While we’re on pen psychology, this pen has a firm and satisfying click to the knock mechanism, but be warned—it is louder than the Jetstream (a consideration for librarians and people who need to write around fainting goats).

Like tire treads, or enlarged candy sprinkles doing a choreographed line dance

The grip is functional, and the rows of little ovals, while perhaps not being the most aesthetically enjoyable, provide good traction. Maybe one day I’ll care more about ordinary grips, and have more things to say about them. Today will not be that day.

I wonder how gross this would look under a microscope

For whatever reason, I was really struck by the smell of this ink when I was doing the doodles for the writing sample. Scribbling on a piece of paper right now, though, I have to put my nose right on the paper to smell anything, and it doesn’t smell too far out of the ordinary.

[In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to note that I've just now experienced a nosebleed, though it probably had more to do with the unseasonably cold, dry weather than me sniffing Pilot Acroball ink. Nevertheless, I'm going to cancel further attempts to smell any inks tonight, and will not be making a smell comparison between various super-smooth ballpoint pens.]

Writing-wise, there’s still no competition. The Jetstream is far and away the best, and will rightfully remain ruler of the realm. In terms of smooth writing, from smoothest to least smooth, I’d rank Jetstream > Vicuna > Surari > Write Dudes Super Smooth Ballpoint > Acroball. The Acroball just has a slight but perceptible drag, particularly noticeable when I switch between various members of the court. And though I wouldn’t use this pen for drawing (look at those blobs up there), for writing the lines are dark and the ink is consistent.

What's the lowest title in the court? The Jack? The Ten of Clubs? That's what the Acroball is.

Even though the Acroball is inferior to every other entry I’ve tried in the super-smooth category, I’m glad to see it on the market. I want to see every pen company roll out their own take on super-smooth (Dear Lamy, you’re next. Please make something to replace that awful Pico cartridge. Thank you), and then I want to see those models continuously improving in the fierce heat of pen competition! Everyone would win. Let’s make it happen.
Pilot Acroball Smooth Writing Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Soft Blue Body – Black Ink at JetPens

Pilot Vanishing Point Yellow Body Broad Nib Fountain Pen

For some reason, my scanner and Photoshop colluded in a conspiracy to make this ink look much more bright blue than it looks in reality. I was powerless to stop their scheme.

It ain’t easy being left-handed.

I resisted the Pilot Vanishing Point for quite some time. Every time I’d pop in the local pen store, I’d always scribble with the Vanishing Point kept on display, and every time I’d leave without one. Didn’t like the look. Didn’t like the clip. But here we are. I blame the particular shade of warm yellow, because as soon as I held it and saw it up close, I had to have it (once payday rolled around). Here’s a tip for whoever’s in charge of these things at Pilot: the fight would have been over months earlier if I’d been pitted against a turquoise Vanishing Point. Special edition color perhaps? Think about it.

CLICK (that sound you hear is a thousand ballpoint click pens weeping in the presence of their god)

I don’t know what to say about the general aesthetic design of the pen. It gives me feelings; I just can’t quite understand what they are. It’s simple. I like simple. I like this pen, but at the same time there’s some nagging thing; I wish I could say more but something about this design doesn’t visually balance perfectly, and I can’t put my finger on what I’m even going on about. Let’s just focus on the yellow: this is a warm and wonderful yellow. Nice weight, though not as heavy as the Lamy Dialog 3 (that will, I promise, be a review for another day). Feels solid and well built.

INK SHALL NOT PASS

What’s the big deal about this pen? It’s retractable. “So is this,” comes the inevitable reply from your average non-fountain-pen-person, as they whip out some cringeworthy retractable offering. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND,” you are legally required to shout, as you knock their plastic abomination from their hands into the depths of a conveniently-located nearby furnace, “THIS IS A FOUNTAIN PEN AND IT IS RETRACTABLE.” It makes a big difference, being able to click (and it is a mighty click), write something, click, and throw the pen back down without having to worry about it drying out, while still being able to use a fountain pen. This means I can use a fountain pen at work, where emergency situations require that, if you’re jotting something down, you have to jot it down NOW and keep moving. You don’t have time to unscrew caps, to make sure they’ve been put back on properly and whatnot. “Why don’t you just NOT use a fountain pen in those kinds of situations?” you may wonder. Look, buster, if we followed that kind of thinking, we’d still be living in trees, eating termites off sticks, and covered in hair.

THE FACE OF AN EVOLUTIONARY WINNER

If you’re right-handed, I’m pretty confident you’ll have no problems whatsoever with the writing of the Vanishing Point. You are free to skip ahead to the next picture. If you’re left-handed, like me, it would greatly behoove you to extensively test this pen out in a store before you buy it. I’ve been trying just about every writing angle and grip combination I can conceive of, but short of learning to write mirrored right-to-left across the page, à la Leonardo da Vinci, I am unable to figure out how to get an ideal and consistent performance out of this pen (as is abundantly obvious in the writing sample above). Of course, as I’m typing this up I’m also scribbling phrases with the pen, and it’s being unusually well behaved right now. I don’t know if there’s some kind of breaking-in phase that I’m having to endure here or what. I’ll have to return to this pen in a later update, perhaps in a few months, and see where things stand. Hoping it’s a phase, and that I won’t have to shell out extra buckos to get the nib ground.

Normally I am a fan of miniatures, but the line of absurdity has to be drawn somewhere

Clips and nibs do not belong on the same end of the pen together. They belong on opposite ends, the way Thoth intended. But then on pens like this and the Lamy Dialog 3, you’d have the nibs pointed down in pockets, just tempting fate to leak onto shirts and all over pockets. So onto the nib end it goes. The clip gets uncomfortably in the way of my natural grip. But my natural grip is wrong, HARRUMPH, and the clip is just ever-so-perfectly situated for the heavenly-ordained ideal tripod pliers grip.

Fun fact: this nib will sometimes squeak on the paper when writing, like a little metal mousey

The nib really doesn’t seem to go along with the rest of the pen, but given that I didn’t buy this pen for the beauty pageant factor, I’ll let it slide. It does its job.

Why did I turn the nib unit around? It's a flippin' mystery

Once unscrewed, the nib unit slides right out. Very simple. Takes Pilot cartridges (for which it has that silver cover pictured….for inexplicable design reasons….given that no one sees it) or converter (comes with both, in a fancy leatherette jewelry-like box). Given that I find Pilot cartridges to be some of the easiest to refill, and that it comes with a cartridge and a converter, I’m not too bothered by the brand-specific cartridge requirement. This isn’t exactly an entry level pen. We’re beyond cartridge wars at this point. It doesn’t take a standard international cartridge? I don’t care.

This review, and all you need to know about the Pilot Vanishing Point, can be summed up in four words: WORKING RETRACTABLE FOUNTAIN PEN. That’s it. Everything else is minor details and quibbles. It’s not perfect, but it remains the only click retractable fountain pen. I’m not going to sit down and draft out  a copy of the Constitution with it, but for quick-jot notes, it’s by and far the best.

Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pens (including my wonderful yellow) at Goldspot Pens

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

Pilot Precise V5 RT

A lack of alternate colors precluded the appearance of leprechauns in these sketches

Perhaps you recall my ultimate beef with the regular Pilot Precise V5: an uninspired design that’s screamingly evocative of the plasticky depths of the cubicled 90s. Great pen, garish body. But Pilot is something of a multi-model king, so I had hope that a better body would exist in the Precise V5 line. Enter the Pilot Precise V5 RT.

Finally, a design that hails from sometime in at least the past ten years.

It’s a definite design improvement. It’s not a mind-meltingly stunning masterpiece of design, but it’s decent, and certainly looks like it emerged from a time after the invention of the iPod. Keeping the unique stacked-disc cone design for the tip was a good move. I also appreciate the improvement of adding a rubberized grip (most capped office pens seem to base their grip section on an ideal of a jagged staircase of uneven concentric cylinders).

Pen doubles as a sewing machine needle

There’s one thing about this much-improved model that bedevils me…the original Precise V5 is a liquid ink pen, but looking at the refill of the retractable model, it seems to be a gel pen? It has that same rust-colored goop section above the ink, like the Pilot G2 gel pen refills. Is it gel? I don’t know. Does it even make a difference? Probably not.

Why stacked discs? Why not? WHY NOT THE WHOLE PEN BE STACKED DISCS? Why not me making consultation of grammar correctingness?

The pen wrote right away after over a month or so of non-use. Would an uncapped liquid ink pen be able to boast the same? Am I willing to leave a liquid ink pen sitting around uncapped for a month to find out? Tune in next time, when the answer will still be no.

Pen also doubles as a bulls-eye, for miniature target practice.

What a disgustingly dirty close up. Maybe there’s a good reason that we can’t see detail like this with our natural eyesight, just absolutely filthy— oh, right, how does the pen write. It writes very well. I daresay it’s even better than the regular Precise V5; certainly felt a little smoother for me.

Now with 100% more dynamic action lines than the regular Pilot Precise!

The design is great, the pen is comfortable, and the ink is dark, smooth, and consistent. In fact, I think the Pilot Precise V5 RT might actually be the good pen that people often mistakenly think that the Pilot G2 is. Take your Pilot G2s, donate them to the penless, and go to your nearest pen store to get the Pilot Precise V5 RT instead.

Pilot FriXion Point Erasable Gel Ink Pen – Violet (0.5mm), Blue Black (0.4mm), and Brown (0.4mm)

Fun fact: the brown FriXion Point was one of the 4 pens in my very first JetPens order

In my experience with the new generation of “erasable” pens, the Pilot FriXion Point (and the Pilot FriXion Color-Pencil-Like erasable gel pens, but that’s another review) is the first pen I tried. It was so impressive and so much fun, I spent several lunch breaks writing things out, holding the paper above a lighter to erase everything, then throwing the paper in the freezer to show my coworkers the resurrected writings later.

Guess which one of these three is marketed to Americans.

Much like the Uni Fanthom, the Pilot FriXion Point is a lightweight pen made almost entirely of plastic. The design on the Japanese FriXion Points I ordered from JetPens has an enjoyable simplicity and classiness; the Pilot FriXion Point available in American stores is inexplicably covered in tribal tattoos that are vaguely reminiscent of flames. I ask again: Pilot, why do you hate America?

What is wrong with this picture? (aside from the color balance)

There is a design flaw that all models share: the eraser gets tucked securely away beneath the posted cap, protecting you from ever using it effectively while writing without taking off the cap and risking it falling off tables / into the clutches of wily domesticated animals.

What, you wanted to actually use these?

The eraser is such a BIG FREAKING DEAL, you would think it would have been impossible for this design to make it to production. I have a hard time imagining that no one at any point in the design process expressed concern about the position of the eraser. What was the reasoning that let this fly out? No one will notice? No one will want to erase anyway? No one will want to use the eraser when they can use STOVES AND FIRE to erase?

Here's something essentially useless that could have gone underneath the posted cap

Pilot has addressed this issue in other FriXion models, but would it really be so hard to fix this on the FriXion point as well? Just put the button with the tip size written on it where the eraser currently is, and vice-versa. Problem solved.

The 0.4mm pens are speaking rudely of the 0.5mm pen. The 0.5mm just wants to be one of the gang! /the 0.4mm pens have been making out or something. Is that pen makeout drool hanging between them? EW.

Aside from achieving the stupidest position for an eraser, the Pilot FriXion Point gets top marks in all other categories. It writes smooth, both fast and slow, has consistent and rich ink, and does what it claims to do—erase. Just don’t be afraid of erasing with it; erase with vigor! You have to, to generate the heat needed to set off the chemical reaction that “erases” the ink. You don’t need to erase like you’re trying to rip the page off, mind you, but you’re also not trying to erase a pencil mark off a butterfly’s wing.

Just pretend like the eraser is totally easily accessible off-screen to the right

While this isn’t my favorite FriXion model due to the much-stressed design issue, it does have the highly desirable trait of being easily available in physical big-box stores. I’ve even seen them in the likes of Rite Aid and CVS! The eraser thing is annoying, but you don’t need that particular eraser; anything that will generate friction and thus, heat, will work. You can even use your finger (though I don’t recommend it; it kind of hurts). Or leave your note on top of the toaster oven while making breakfast. Or take your note outside in Texas.

Write with all three at once for maximum inconvenience

Like I said, these are available all over the place, or, at least the 0.5mm FriXion Point and its color variants are available all over the place. If the place sells pens, there’s a good chance you can find the 0.5mm tattooed FriXion Point there. But for the 0.4mm goodness:

Pilot FriXion Point 04 Gel Ink Pen – 0.4 mm – Blue Black at JetPens

Pilot FriXion Point 04 Gel Ink Pen – 0.4 mm – Brown at JetPens

Pilot G2 Battle – Black Ink

The most writing I've done with a Pilot G2 since middle school, when I didn't know any better

I was asked by Arch Drafting Supply via Twitter what my opinion of the Pilot G2 pen was. My frothing knee-jerk reaction was “IT IS THE WORST THING“, followed by conceding that the 0.38mm Pilot G2 was inexplicably not an affront to human decency / everything beautiful in the world. But I still hadn’t done a comprehensive review of the Pilot G2 line. High time we change that.

Oh maaan look at how astoundingly unremarkable they are!

I’ve already laid down pretty much all the harshness I can in my previous post reviewing the 0.38mm Pilot G2—the design has reached the pinnacle of boringness. Can any pen hope to claim this title from the Pilot G2 through innovative use of the most uninspired and unappealing design techniques known to modern man? Unlikely. A design this steadfastly boring is a classic that will stand the test of time and remain just as boring 20 years from now as it is today.

Little plastic windows opening into the void

There are three elements of design that vary among the different sized models. One is the color of the barrel; the two larger tip sizes (1.0mm and 0.7mm) have smoky translucent barrels, and the two smaller tip sizes (0.5mm and 0.38mm) have clear barrels.

The Pilot G2: as exciting as a rollercoaster, provided that the rollercoaster only travels 1mph and never actually makes it out of the station before you give up and get off.

Second element: the writing on the clip—gold for the 1.0mm and the 0.7mm, silver for the 0.5mm, white for the 0.38mm.

I'VE SAVED THE BEST ELEMENT FOR LAST!!!!!!!!

And your final element: the color of the plastic on the tip (something that most people probably won’t notice, because who refills a Pilot G2 when it runs out? I’m pretty sure everyone just throws them away) is different for each tip size. But enough about the design. What really matters is what’s on the inside. In the spirit of fairness, I went out and bought these pens brand new for this review, hoping that the abysmal quality control would finally break in my favor, unlike every 0.5mm and 0.7mm Pilot G2 I would attempt to use at my last job.

When people say they love the Pilot G2, it's like when teenagers say they'll love each other forever. They just don't know any better.

Thankfully, I had no experiences of utter frustration resulting in throwing the pen across the room while writing this review (this happened several times with several previous G2 pens). All of the pens did what a pen is supposed to do, which is write.

The 1.0mm vs. the 0.7mm, the 0.7mm vs. the 0.5mm, and the 0.5mm vs. the 0.38mm

Of the bunch, I loathed the 0.5mm the most the 0.5mm was my least favorite. There was something that felt off, unsteady, annoying when I was writing with it. The 0.7mm came in at the cut-off of acceptable: perfectly fine if I need to write something down right now, but if I have the time and opportunity to go find another pen to write with, I will. The two extremes, 0.38mm and 1.0mm, turned out to be my favorites.

Baby bear and Poppa bear

Having such an audaciously huge rollerball made the 1.0mm the smoothest among the G2s. My writing looks awful and messy, but I wasn’t getting resistance from the pen (one of my main concerns). And the performance of the 0.38mm is no surprise; we already knew that one was a favorite, with neat, precise, and constant lines.

I doubt I’ll ever go out of my way to make sure I have any of the Pilot G2 models in my daily arsenal, but the 0.38mm and 1.0mm would be just fine in an office drawer, and those pens can rest easy knowing they probably won’t be evicted from one of my many homebound pen cups.

 

No link, because you can find these pens pretty much EVERYWHERE. Probably even convenience stores and bake sales. They’re ubiquitous.

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

Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen – 0.7 mm – in Blue Black, Violet, & Brown

I could not, to save my life, get the colors to come out properly on this. If the sun is out tomorrow, I will try taking a photo, because this is just insane.

I get accused by my friends of only writing about pens I love (which I am somewhat guilty of; I want to tell you about pens I think you should have!)…uh…which is why I decided to review the Pilot Choose gel pens I have. Um, sorry Pilot. Let me say, I admire the fact that Pilot has SO MANY products. I think it shows a commitment to innovation that they’ve developed all these different products and brought them to market, and I admire the breadth of the products they offer, from high-end to low-end. They’ve got some real hits, but with this many products, you’re guaranteed to have some misses.

Your contestants today, demonstrating the three Penternational Standard Positions for Cap Placement. Unrelatedly, I think the color of the violet pen is completely off in this picture. This is what I get for taking 2 second exposure photos in a dimly lit cave/cafe.

Design-wise and aesthetically speaking, I have no complaints. This is a fun and simple stick pen at a great price. The overall look is clean and pleasing, and I like the look of the pearlescent caps with the colorful bodies. Lots of ink, clearly visible. No grip, but the tip unscrews, so I assume there’s some theoretical universe where you could just buy refills to put in the body. Feels lightweight but pleasant in the hand.

They look like happy faces!!! See the little mouth, beneath the color name? They are happy to write for you!

I especially love the caps. The translucent colored-plastic ends make it easy to tell which color you’re grabbing from a cup full of these pens, and for people who are color-blind or can only see in monochrome, the ends are labeled with the color name and tip size. And, if you get maybe six or so of these together in a circle, the semi-teardrop shaped caps will look like a flower! A really haphazardly colored flower. The kind that monochromatic-sighted five-year-olds might color.

Normally you might consider this the business end of the pen. For the Pilot Choose, it is the problem end.

Ink. Ink everywhere. Again, for some reason, this picture is WAY too pink. Again, I blame the cafe. I HAVE LEARNED MY LESSON, I NEED TO TAKE PICTURES IN MORE SUITABLE PLACES.

The blue-black was the worst. There is now blue-black ink on all three pens.

But when it comes to writing, I’ve thrown these pens in cold storage (/unused pen drawer-age). Why? Disastrous mess! The tips have an annoying and persistent habit of gathering excess ink around the tip and then unleashing these collections in the form of blobs, such as might be found on the page, or somehow, inexplicably, all over my hands. That’s the part I don’t quite understand. After using the blue-black pen for the writing sample, I had blue-black ink all over BOTH hands in patterns I could not explain. Some terrible form of blue-black magic, I’d wager.

I’ve gotten used to having enough pens where this ISN’T a problem that I no longer tolerate pens that leave my hands horrendously messy. Maybe if I were doing a bunch of EXCITING HANDS-ON ART,  then yes obviously I’d get over a bit of mess. But writing a letter shouldn’t leave me looking like I’ve been taking painting lessons from Jackson Pollock.

It almost looks like the pen exploded, but no. This is just how it normally looks.

Seriously. Look at this. Look at it.

LOOK AT IT!

This is a left-handed nightmare. Look at the drawings; once I got ink on my hands, I ended up putting smudgespots of ink all over the drawings. That’s a big no-no. I can’t abide a pen that does that. And I don’t mean to kick a pen while it’s down, but it’s not waterproof either, as is claimed. MAYBE….maybe the blue-black was just so egregiously bad…but no, you look at all three pens, and you see ink mess around the tips of all three, and I had bloblems in the writing sample with the blue-black and the brown (and probably will have them with the violet, too, if I keep using it). Even if I just got a bad set, it speaks to poor quality control in this line that would make buying this pen a gamble, albeit a very inexpensive one.

There are a couple of good things though! The (often inconsistent, occasionally somewhat streaky) writing was crisp on the page. Once the ink was down and dry on the page, which didn’t take long, I didn’t have any problems with the ink being picked back up on my hand from the paper. And the colors are nice! The violet’s a bit more the color orchid than it is violet, but it is vibrant. The brown’s more of a tea-brown than a dark brown. The blue-black is a nice one; the blue has just the slightest hint of tealness to it that I really enjoy in a blue-black. So maybe I’ll get the ink out of the pen somehow and use it to paint? That’s about the only way these pens will see much action from me, I’m afraid.

Sorry, pretty pens. :(

Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen – 0.7 mm – Blue Black at JetPens
Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen – 0.7 mm – Violet at JetPens
Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen – 0.7 mm – Brown at JetPens