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?

Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller 0.7mm Review

One of the best parts about running a site like The Pen Addict is that you get to hear from a lot of readers about their favorite pens, pencils, and stationery. Even more fun is when they actually send you their products to try out, like Pen Addict reader Joshua, who sent me this now discontinued Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller. Thanks for letting me give this pen a spin Joshua!

One of the reasons he sent it to me is that he was looking for a pen recommendation to replace this one. The Hybrid Gel Roller is a long, sleek, 0.7mm gel ink pen, and Joshua was wanting something similar. My first thought was the Pilot Choose, which has a similar barrel design, but then it hit me. The Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip at JetPens is pretty much he same pen, but with an 0.8mm tip. That being said, Joshua stepped out of the box and tried a few of the more popular gel ink pens like the Uni-Ball Signo DX and the Zebra Sarasa Clip (I think the Signo DX 0.38mm was his favorite btw :).

So, what are my thoughts on Joshua's Hybrid Gel Roller? It's just average. The ink is nice and dark, but it wasn't near as smooth as other 0.7mm gel in pens I have used in the past. It wasn't scratchy, but it felt like the tip dragged across the page as opposed to gliding like most other similar pens. I did like the length of the barrel when writing, but the overall package just wasn't there for me.

Thanks for sending me this pen Joshua - it is much appreciated! I actually have another user submitted pen review ready to roll on Wednesday, so if you have a favorite pen that I haven't reviewed previously please let me know and I'll try to pick one up.

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.