Kaweco Sport Ice Roller Ball Liquid Ink Pen Review

Being the bonafide Pen Addict that I am, there are many cases where I can't wait to get my hands on a pen to try out, and this red body Kaweco Sport Ice Roller Ball definitely had me at hello. The idea of a liquid ink cartridge roller ball is not a new concept, but is a setup I have never used before.

The pen tip is your standard medium rollerball (right in the 0.7mm range), and the ink cartridge snaps in as if you were using a cartridge based fountain pen. I hear on the internets that these types of situations are called a "mash-up".

Kaweco has done a great job with the Sport line, building a barrel that is lightweight, durable, and very functional. With the cap on, the pen is a compact 10.5 cm, but when posted it expands to a comfortable 13 cm. Writing with the cap posted is just about perfect.

I already had the Aubergine Purple Kaweco refills for my Kaweco Sport AL, but I wanted to try a different shade than the blue that comes with it, so I went with the blue black. I honestly wasn't thrilled with my ink selection when I first started writing with it. The ink was a little watery, but the more I wrote with it, the more solid it became. I'm thinking it is a case where it took a little priming, just like if you were putting a fresh ink cartridge into a fountain pen.

Speaking of fresh ink, you can also convert the Kaweco Sport Ice Roller into an eyedropper style pen and use any fountain pen ink you want. Check out the how-to on the JetPens Blog.

The Kaweco Sport Ice Roller Ball Liquid Ink Pen is available in four different body colors for $16.00 at JetPens.com.

Updated for the Doane Paper fans!

Pentel Vicuna Video Review

This is a guest post by Bryan Gushikawa.

The Pentel Vicuna is Pentel's entry into the already saturated market that was started by the Jetstream and is now crowded with major players like the Zebra Surari and Pilot Acroball.  Can Pentel capture any market share with its neon-colored entry?  Read the review to find out!

The appearance of the Vicuña is the first thing that is noticeable when the pen is picked up.  The crazy and bright colors and accents make it look like a 100 yen shop cheap special, but the plastic in the barrel is actually quite nice to hold.  It's ridged on the grip area, but the barrel is not elastomerized, so it's not that spongy stuff that attracts dirt and dust.  The handling of the pen is also quite good:  the weight is mostly forward and the tapered design works in the pen's favor.  The refill itself is a slender type with a gel matrix grease ink that is reputed to be super smooth.  The refill inserts via the rear when the click mechanism is twisted off.

As far as writing performance goes, the ink IS super smooth.  It's very similar to the Jetstream in that it's glassy smooth and skip free.  It's also very dark dye ink and lays down a very solid and pleasant line.  You won't have any trouble writing page after page with this pen!  The width is right at about 0.4mm and there is no bleedthrough on the paper.  A quick dry time is good news for southpaws and the consistent line width makes this pen a good daily workhorse.

Where does the Vicuña fall short?  One is the design that doesn't have the same classy styling of a Jetstream.  The neon colors might be really unsuitable for office use.  The ink also blobs a little bit when writing loops, although the ink dry time is short enough to make this just a little annoyance.

Overall, this pen IS a very good entry and, if you don't mind bringing a brightly-colored, plasticky pen with you, then this is a pretty good deal!  A definite recommend on the strength of the writing performance, with reservations on the styling.

Muji Aluminum Pen Case and Needle Tip Gel Review

My pen friends are the best, and Carmen (@ccorrada) might be the leader of the pack. Her latest trip took her to New York City, and she stopped by the Muji store to pick me up one of the newish Refillable Aluminum Pen Cases for their super popular 0.38mm gel ink refills.

Muji prides itself on minimalism in its design, but even more impressive to me is the seamless functionality of the few parts involved. The barrel has three parts - the tip, the barrel, and the cap - and any other Muji gel retractable ink cartridge fits right in. The neatest part (which I managed not to take a picture of - and neither did Amy) is how there is a cutout on the top of the cap to allows you to see what color ink refill you have loaded. Muji applies Apple's "It just works" philosophy perfectly to minimalism, and this pen is no different.

I have raved about the performance of the ink cartridge time and time again, so no need to rehash that other than to say I have yet to have any performance problems to speak of. What made this one unique to me was the fact this was a needle tip refill, where I have only used the conical tip in the past. In fact, I don't even see the needle tip as an option on their web site, so I'm pretty happy to have been sent this one.

Since these aren't the easiest pens to come by, you should be sure and grab one or several if the opportunity ever arises.