Office Depot Foray Retractable Ballpoint Review

Continuing this weeks theme of readers favorite pens, this lovely chap you see in the photo above is the Office Depot Foray Retractable ballpoint. Pen Addict reader Amy sent me a few of these earlier this year after a discussion on the blog about which store brand pens are the best. My stance was there is only one that is worth the money - the Office Max TUL Gel. And honestly, there wasn't much disagreement with that. There just aren't many store brand pens that stack up well to their name brand counterparts.

The Foray Retractable is a decent option though. I like the needle tip style, which you don't see all that often in a ballpoint. The pen writes smoothly and relatively cleanly, although there were a few instances of extra ink hitting the page. Overall, it is a decent writing experience.

The barrel has a great design, but just feels average in the hand. It is fully plastic, even the "chrome" parts, so it is lightweight as well. The only thing I didn't really care for was how high the tip section screwed into the barrel shaft. Being a low gripper, that got in my way a bit.

Overall, you could do a lot worse than the Office Depot Foray ballpoint, which I guess is saying something. :) Do any of you have any store brand pens that you like that I need to check out?

Ohto Capstick Cap-Knock Needle Point Ballpoint Pen Review

The new Ohto product has been rolling in hot and heavy at JetPens, and apprently I am on a quest to try them all. Two weeks ago, it was the Ohto Needle-Point Slim Line 0.3mm Ballpoint, and this time around, it is the Ohto Capstick Cap-Knock Needle Point 0.5 Ballpoint. Both of the are unique in their own ways, with the Needle-Point being an 0.3mm ballpoint - which I had never tried before - and the Capstick having a very unique knock feature.

The special knock feature is the main selling point of this pen, along with its compact size. The way the knock works is you remove the cap from the pen and then just post it. There is a small flange within the cap that pushes the tip of the pen out so you can write, and when you are done, you just pull the cap off and the tip retracts back into the barrel. I was a little unsure at first, but it is a very simple operation that works flawlessly.

From a writing perspective, I see a little line width variation on the page, almost like there is some extra ink flow from time to time, but overall it isn't bad. For an 0.5mm width, the black ink is pretty dark, which is something I like. Overall, I will say it writes cleanly.

If I were to carry this pen around and show it to friends in the non-pen circles I travel in, they would certainly wonder why I am carrying lipstick or mascara around. I admit, this pen is more of a feminine design, but at least I can say I am just holding it for my wife. Right?

Click here for the XL review.

Platinum Double 3 Action Transparent Body Multi Pen + Pencil Review

I am a sucker for transparent barrels, and this Platinum Double 3 Action multi pen is just fantastic looking. The entire line is new at JetPens, and comes in Aqua, Crystal, Gloss Rouge, Lavender Purple, and the Fresh Leaf body that I picked up. Platinum does a very nice job with the look and feel of their pens, and this one is no different.

While looks are important, it is the writing performance that keeps you coming back to the pen on a daily basis. This model comes with both black and red 0.7mm ballpoint ink cartridges, and I have to say, these are the smoothest traditional ballpoint pens that I have used recently. It takes little to no effort to pull the pen across the page, leaving a nice, consistent line. Both ink colors are dark enough too, which is sometimes an issue with ballpoint pens.

The pencil is your average 0.7mm mechanical pencil, so it writes just fine. What I do like about the added pencil is that the eraser is under a screw cap and is decently wide - both things not always found on +1 multi pens. So its got that going for it, which is nice.

While I personally will still use my gel ink multi pens more than this one, the Platinum Double 3 Action does a lot of things well and will certainly find its way into many ballpoint multi pen fans hands.

Click here for the XL review.