Staedtler Avant Garde Light Multi Pen Review

What do you look for in a multi pen? Are the ink options at the top of the list? A manageable barrel size? A cool design? I personally haven’t put much thought into it, but I always seem to focus on the type of ink and how it writes first, and then the quality and the build of the barrel second. The Staedtler Avant Garde Light has a lot of great things going for it, but one minor issue keeps it from being perfect.

The first thing that jumps out at you about the Avant Garde is the barrel design. It is chock full of “just rights”. It is just the right length, just the right diameter, and just the right weight. This is a really nice pen to hold, and I think it is the aluminum body construction that does the trick. I especially like the clip design.

The pen contains two ballpoint ink cartridges - 0.7mm black and red - and an 0.5mm pencil, which is honestly not that common in multi pens. Most with a pencil component are 0.7mm, so that is a nice bonus. To swap between cartridges, the Avant Garde uses what I (probably incorrectly) call gravity switching. Essentially, you hold the pen sideways and face the marker for the cartridge you want towards you and click the plunger. A single button retracts all cartridges, and you just rotate the barrel and click for the next one. I’m making it sound more complicated than it really is - it’s very simple.

Where the issue lies for me is the “click clack” sound the pen sometimes makes when writing. I think the combination of internal components and aluminum barrel are causing this, but mostly it is my writing style. If you couldn’t tell by now I am a printer. What that really means is I lift the pen up and down as I write my letters across the page. This causes the clicking sound with this pen. When I switch over to writing in a cursive style, I hear nothing because my writing style is smoother.

So, I’m torn. I like everything about this pen, but for my writing style it isn’t the best choice. I am going to keep using it though because it is too nice to set off to the side.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio Review

I have had several readers asking me to review the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio barrel, which is the newest addition to the Coleto line. It has been available for many months now - sorry for the delay in getting around to it!

Pen Addict reader Dan guest reviewed the Lumio for me back in February, but it was only a few weeks ago that I got my hands on one. This is considered the ‘business’ style Coleto due to its more professional barrel styling, and it is sharp looking. My silver barrel is very shiny, and has nice looking chrome accents. It is very comfortable to write with.

Exterior appearance aside, the innards of the Coleto are essentially the same as the standard four cartridge Coleto. The cartridges insert and function the same, and you also have the option of adding a mechanical pencil cartridge. The real question is does the upgraded barrel design warrant over a $12 difference in price between the two?

If you work in an office and don’t want to show off your pink Hello Kitty looking translucent barrel to your co-workers, then absolutely yes, go for the Lumio. Otherwise, you get the same functionality - plus a rubber grip - in the base level four cartridge Coleto barrel, which is my weapon of choice.

Pilot B2P Review

Every now and then I come across a review that gets lost in the shuffle, and the Pilot B2P is the latest example. It looks like I bought this pen in January of this year, and did the written review and photo upload in early February. That is part of my normal review workflow, but then I forgot about it, and it was never posted to The Pen Addict. Time to correct that!

I recall some of my European friends getting their hands on this pen first, well before I came across them in my local Staples. From that point until now the B2P has spread like wildfire, and you can find them everywhere, including JetPens.

What makes this pen unique is Pilot’s claim that this is the first pen made from recycled plastic bottles. Not only is the body 89% recycled, but the entire look and feel is made to emulate a plastic water bottle, and they pulled it off well. It is a real eye catcher, and comfortable to hold.

The one non-unique part of the B2P is the refill. It is a standard Pilot G-2, which is good and bad. Bad in that fact that it is not a new writing experience - if you have used one G-2 you have used them all - but good in the fact that there are options. I am a fan of the 0.38mm G-2, so the standard 0.38mm G-2 refill pops right into the B2P barrel without issue.

Pilot has been making real strides in their recyclable pen lines, and the B2P is my favorite of the bunch.