Cross Townsend Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

When I was in high school, I carried a Cross Classic Century for a while, which met an untimely end when it was run over by a truck in the school parking lot. Nevertheless, I enjoyed using the pen, despite the mediocre refill. It added a touch of class to my notes and essays. The one thing I always held against it when writing, however, was how thin and slippery the grip was.

After developing a taste for finer pens, Cross completely fell off my radar. The pens they sold in the big-box stores never appealed to me, and I had a bad taste in my mouth from the ballpoint refills they used. But, that changed when I got the Cross Townsend fountain pen. To be honest, I was not impressed upon opening the box — so much shiny! Cross is known for their chrome, but it was surprising still.

But, after writing with it, I immediately fell in love with how it writes.

Look and feel

First off, if you're not a lover of chrome, this pen probably isn't for you. To be fair, there are other finishes available from Goulet if you aren't into Chrome. Due to the chrome finish and shape of the pen, it has the look of an executive pen. And, turns out, it's sometimes used by U.S. Presidents to sign bills, so that executive look and feel isn't just for show.

When I first looked at this pen, it triggered an association with the Hughes H-1 Racer — it wasn't made of chrome, but stainless steel is close enough.

The pen feels perfectly weighted in my hand as long as it's not posted. The cap of the pen weighs almost as much as the pen, coming in at 18g compared to the 21g of the body. If you like to post, it does an exceptional job by clicking into place on the back of the pen. It doesn't rattle, wobble, or shake.

The grip section is made of plastic, but it feels nice. Honestly, I don't think I'd like a chrome grip section, and the black plastic helps break up all of the shiny chrome.

The clip is sturdy, but not too stiff. There's "CROSS" branding present on the nib, the clip, and the top ring of the cap. It's not obtrusive, though, and I even had to look carefully to find them all.

The nib is a tad small compared to the rest of the pen, but not in an awkward way.

Overall, it's a really sharp pen to look at.

Writing performance

If it's good enough to sign a bill, it must write pretty well, right? Oh yes. For my tastes, it writes like a dream — exactly how I would expect an executive pen to write. The ink flows freely, the nib is extremely smooth, and there's no feed issues with starting or skipping. Even better, this pen has never had any issues with starting after being stored for over a week with the nib pointing up in a Dudek Cube.

The nib didn't require any adjustment at all, which is something I didn't expect. I had the impression that Cross dealt in such large scale that the nibs wouldn't be perfect out of the box. Maybe I got a perfect fluke, but if all of the Cross nibs come in this condition, that's an extremely good thing for the brand and their fountain pens.

As far as ink goes, this pen takes proprietary Cross cartridges. It comes with 2 black cartridges, but I'd highly recommend picking up a Cross cartridge-converter if you snag this pen.

Worth it

Overall, I really love this pen. At first sight, I didn't think we'd get along at all. I'm glad it proved me wrong.

Goulet Pens sells several models of the Cross Townsend, as well as the converter to go along with them. The model I have here goes for $145, but the price can go up to $450 depending on the body and nib materials.

(Goulet Pens provided this pen at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Pilot FriXion Ball Slim 0.38 mm

We all love to have friendly arguments over our favorite pens. The Pilot G2 is better than the Uni-ball Signo 207! The Uni-ball Jetstream is better than the Pilot Acroball! The Sharpie Liquid Pencil is better than…well, it’s better than a rock I guess. Maybe.

The basis of all of these conversations is that as individuals, we all have specific needs that need to be met with our writing instruments. A pen that may be perfect for you won’t work at all for someone else. I like to use the phrase “That’s why they make more than one pen” all the time to show it’s ok no not like the same pen as someone else.

While erasable gel ink pens are a highly specific category, they are the only category where it is not ok to like a pen besides the Pilot FriXion. It is at the top of the heap, and nothing else is close in quality or performance. You may not like or have a need for erasable gel ink pens, and that’s fine, but if you do, the Pilot FriXion is the only consideration. Arguments otherwise are not being accepted at this time.

The latest FriXion to cross my desk is the Pilot FriXion Ball Slim 0.38 mm and it is as good as ever. Writing with this pen, you wouldn’t know that the ink is any different in formulation from any standard gel ink pen. That is key. It’s a gel ink pen that happens to be erasable. By friction, no less.

If you aren’t familiar with the FriXion, the ink is thermosensitive. This means the heat caused by the friction of the firm rubber eraser removes the ink from the page. It’s also possible for the ink to disappear if your paper is left in too hot of a location, such as in a car in the summer. Your notes aren’t lost forever though. Pop your notebook in the freezer and your writing reappears. It’s like magic!

I love the slim barrel design of this model. It’s very comfortable to write with for me, and the 0.38 mm tip is right up my alley. The eraser work perfectly as well. The only negative is that the refills are smaller than the 0.5 mm Ball Knock, which uses a G2 sized refill and is only slightly more expensive.

Answering the question “What is the best erasable pen on the market” is the easiest question I get in my inbox. It’s the Pilot FriXion, and nothing else is close.

The Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

When I first saw the Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop pens advertised, I was excited about them. I loved the vivid colors, and I had heard good things about the Metropolitan pens before. So, as soon as I could, I ordered a turquoise Retro Pop from Goulet Pens for $15.00.

I've been using it non-stop since it arrived because, as a university professor, I have a mountain of grading this time of the semester. I figured the Retro Pop would make a great grading pen, and I was right.

The Retro Pop is a metal fountain pen, but it's not at all heavy (26 grams/0.92 oz). It comes nicely packaged in an oval clamshell box with a clear top, so you can see the colorful pen.

The metal is shiny and sparkles in the sunlight. Each pen has a different retro design on one portion of the barrel.

The only other embellishment is the clip which has a few decorative elements on the sides, but is otherwise plain. The cap is a snap on.

The grip is black plastic which is always easier for me to hold than metal since my hands get sweaty, especially while grading research papers.

The pen comes with a squeeze converter and one cartridge, but if you prefer twist converters, you can purchase one for $5.50 more, which I did. Squeeze converters are messy and I don't like the limitations of cartridges. The Con-50 holds a teeny amount of ink, though. I blew through several fills as I graded. But, it's not like the pen is difficult to refill.

The fine steel nib on my Retro Pop is smooth but hard (no bounce or flex). As with most Japanese pens, the fine writes more like an extra fine. I like this size for grading because I tend to write lots of notes all over my students' papers (which I'm sure they love). The nib has been a champ–no hard starts; no skipping. I'm very impressed since this pen is so inexpensive.

The Retro Pop is a relatively small pen. It is 5.43 inches capped; 5 inches uncapped; and 6.02 inches posted. The grip (0.33 inches) is pretty narrow, and my hand gets fatigued after long grading sessions.

The Retro Pop comes in six colors: grey, orange, purple, turquoise, red, and green. At $15.00 (plus $5.50 if you want the twist converter) from Goulet Pens, this is the perfect stocking stuffer or holiday gift for anyone interested in fountain pens. Add one of the mini bottles of Diamine or Iroshizuku ink and a Rhodia pad and you've got a terrific starter kit for someone special. If you want all the colors, you can purchase a set for $84.90.

Pros

• A smooth-writing, steel nib fountain pen at a terrific price.
• Lots of bright colors from which to choose.
• Several filling options (cartridge, squeeze converter, twist converter).
• Comes in a nice clamshell box that is perfect for gift-giving.
• Lightweight and suitable size for most people.

Cons

• Neither the squeeze converter nor the twist converter hold much ink. Plan on re-inking often.
• The pen is light and thin. People with larger hands may find this pen too small for comfort.