Review: Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine Blue

Classic.

I could end this review right here, and everyone would be nodding their heads up and down saying, "yep, that pretty much sums it up".  If you care about your writing instruments at all, then at some point in your life you have used a Pilot Precise.  It is one of the best writing, best looking, best all-around pens to have ever been produced.

This pen brings me back to some of my first pen addict memories.  When I first discoverd this pen, I knew it was the one for me.  Heck, it may have even been a life changing moment, from a writing perspective at least.  I'll never forget the ivory colored barrel and the little porthole in the cap that remains a key design element to this day.  My biggest challenge when I was younger was trying to find this pen in purple, especially since it was one of the few nice liquid ink pens you could get your hands on.  I'd check the bookstore shelves every chance I got looking for them, and made sure to buy at least two when I found them, not knowing when they would sell out and not come back in stock.

Fast forward to 2010 and this pen still rules the roost as far as liquid ink pens go.  I understand some people will never take a liking to the needle tip of the Precise V5 or V7, but you are missing one of the smoothest writers around.  Another plus - this is one of the best Moleskine pens I have ever used.  Moleskine paper is generally crappy, especially with a lot of fine tip gel pens, but this one just glides for pages and pages.

What more is there to say?  Pilot Precise - you had me at porthole.

(Thanks to Speedmaster for sending this one my way!)

Click here for the XL review.

Review: Pilot FriXion Ball Knock Retractable 0.5mm Black

I give Pilot a lot of credit for continuing to tweak and improve their FriXion line after first introducing it a couple of years ago.  The original FriXion was a good not great pen, but as far as erasables went, it led the pack.  The fatal flaw with the pen in my opinion was that the eraser part of the pen was on the butt of the pen, meaning that if you write with the cap posted, you would have to take the cap on and off to access the eraser.  That was endlessly annoying to me.  They corrected that with the Color Pencil-like FriXion, putting the eraser on the tip of the cap (duh!) making it far easier to access.  The ball knock retractable seals the deal with the eraser on the end of the pen, and having the clip of the pen as the knock mechanism.

The design of the pen steals a lot from the Pilot VBall RT, with the barrel size and shape, grip, and tip being virtually identical.  The barrel finished is more of a brushed style than a glossy style, giving this pen a very sharp look.  A look I wouldn't mind seeing in some of their other products as a matter of fact.

Of course the big selling point of the FriXion is the ink, and this may be Pilot's best effort yet, at least from a darkness standpoint.  The original ink had nearly a gray tone, which was too light for my tastes.  The Color Pencil-like had a much darker tone, and this new FriXion knock has matched that.  From an erasability standpoint, it works almost exactly like any of the other FriXions.  The ink comes off the page for the most part, but there is stil some shadow left behind.

<rant>Seeing how freely Pilot feels it can change up the FriXion line, you would think they would throw their G2 fans a bone every now and then.  The original G2 is in desperate need of an update, but I assume since it is an office supply cash cow, they don't want to be too quick to upset the status quo.  The GKnock recyclable G2 is a fair option (I actually prefer that barrel), but they could do so much more with one of the most popular pens around.</rant>

Click here for the XL review.

Products used:

Pilot FriXion Ball Knock Retractable Gel Ink Pen - 0.5 mm - Black from JetPens

Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Review: Lamy Balloon Roller Ball

Another one of the great new Lamy products from JetPens, the Lamy Balloon Roller Ball is a very cool pen.  The great looking translucent colored barrels sold me, but would the performance keep me around?  Would you expect anything else from Lamy?

The Balloon Roller feels great in the hand.  The plastic barrel is lightweight, but in traditional Lamy style, it also feels very sturdy.  This is no cheap plastic pen here for sure.  I love how it writes too, but I do have a couple of minor concerns that keep this pen from being perfect.  One, I am getting a little skipping from the ink cartridge.  Until I can order a new cartridge, I am chalking this up as a fluke.  I either need to give this refill a good writing workout, or try another one to compare.  I have marked on the review where you can see the skipping.  From past experience, this seems like an outlier.

Secondly, I love the look of the clip, but I wish it was a little tighter.  That is an extremely minor complaint, but being used to how snappy the clips are on the Safaris and AL-Stars, this one is a bit of a let down.  It is by no means a deal breaker though.  It's just if I was making the perfect pen I would make it tighter.

In the big picture, I like the Balloon Roller more than the AL-Star roller I reviewed recently.  It feels better, and I am enjoying the blue liquid ink more than the black.  It doesn't seem as wet, and if I can get past the skipping it will be great.

Click here for the XL review.

Products used:
Lamy Balloon Roller Ball Pen - Blue Body from JetPens
Writing Pad from Doane Paper