Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Iconic Color TwinPen Gel Pen Review

I think the Iconic Color TwinPen Gel Pens are worth considering - if you consider up front how you are going to use them.

I was into them immediately for several reasons. I mean, I’m not the type of stationery user who says no to 0.4 mm, needle-tip, gel ink pens, that - oh, by the way - are two sided, have cool colors, and cost just over five bucks for the set. That’s kind of my purpose in life, right?

Korean-based Iconic is not a brand I've used previously (Sarah has,) but I like what they have done here. The barrel design reminds me of the classic Crayon markers, with a simple, clean barrel, ink color band, and short cap. The design is a good mixture of modern and retro styles.

The TwinPen aspect of these pens is the entire reason for buying them. You can buy standard gel ink pens anywhere and everywhere these days, but the double-sided, two-color aspect of these is the main selling point. Black and Orange, Brown and Green, and Blue and Red are the three setups, and a good mix of colors. Would I have argued for purple over brown in the design meeting? Yes, but that is admittedly pedantic at this point.

From a writing perspective, the 0.4 mm needle-tip is a good one, but not spectacular. Similar tips from Uni-ball and Pentel are smoother, as are standard conical tips from those, and other brands, like Pilot and Zebra. These from Iconic leave a clean, bright line, but I feel more metal from the tip than I do from the big brands. They aren’t scratchy, but there is some drag on the page, if that makes sense.

If you think of these pens as note-taking pens as opposed to novel-writing pens, you will be happy with them. I think that is exactly what they are designed for.

The Iconic Color TwinPen Gel Pens are a fun addition to any note-taking arsenal. And the price - $5.50 for the three-pack - makes them easy to take a chance on.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 3, 2021 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Iconic, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Otto Hutt Design 04 Wave Blue Fountain Pen Review

Two months ago, I reviewed the Otto Hutt Design 03 Fountain Pen. I remember that one well, because it took a little bit of time to understand exactly what I had in that pen. The more time I spent with it, the more then pen and I clicked, and I’ve ended up loving it.

You could repeat the exact same process, and same result, with the Otto Hutt Design 04 Wave Blue Fountain Pen.

The Design 04 is a classically designed and manufactured German pen. Otto Hutt has been making pens for themselves, and other brands, for nearly a century, and that experience shows in the end result. The quality is exceptional all the way around.

There are seven pens in the Design series, and the 04 sets itself apart with a lacquered barrel, which allows for several different color and design choices. These range from standard solid colors - such as black, white, pink, and green - to an all black model, to different inlays and guilloche patterns, like with this Wave Blue. There are even different hardware colors depending on the pen. There are more individual models on the Design 04 than there are numbers in the Design series!

The metal barrel of the Design 04 is not overly heavy. You feel some weight, but it is balanced in the hand. Posting the cap is possible, but that does alter the balance of the pen significantly and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Balance with this pen is important due to the narrow nature of the grip section. As someone who prefers this size of grip, it is ideal for me, but I know others will find it to be too narrow. The section is long enough to allow you to grip low up against an upturn towards the nib, or pull back to the middle and reside on the taper. Neither the cap threads or barrel step pose any real challenge to a standard grip.

The stainless steel Fine nib was perfect out the box. And in true German fashion, it is wide and wet. Do I personally prefer finer nibs? Yes. But I’ll be darned if this isn’t a perfect writer. It also started up immediately every time it sat on my desk for several days between use.

I was able to choose which Design 04 I wanted to review, courtesy of my friends at Kenro Industries - the US distributor for Otto Hutt. As I mentioned above, there are a ton of options, and the Wave Blue stood out not only for the pattern, but as a design style I don’t have in any other pen. That said, Otto Hutt didn’t make it easy with all of the great options!

The price varies from $200 to $316 in the Design 04 lineup at Pen Chalet, with this exact model checking in at $280. From a value perspective, I think it is right on the mark. I only have to look back to my Tibaldi Perfecta review to realize that the base Design 04 is a much better bang for your buck. From there, you can choose from a slew of designs and features that suit your needs the best.

Right now, the Otto Hutt Design 04 suits my needs for a well-made, classically-designed, wonderful-writing, German-engineered fountain pen, with other models from the brand residing firmly on my radar.

(Kenro Industries provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 12, 2021 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Otto Hutt, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Conklin Duraflex Elements Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

I have a small family of Conklin pens, and I have been lucky with them in that I haven't experienced the inconsistent quality that some users have. (Essentially the reverse of my luck with TWSBIs). All my Conklins have been beautiful and well-performing, so I was excited to try the new Duraflex Elements Fountain Pen, especially when I saw the fire color. I am happy to say that my luck has continued--and I must call it luck, as our own Susan had a very different experience with her version of this edition.

I'm really enjoying this pen. The color of the acrylic is fantastic, with black, charcoal, red, dark rose, and clear all tossed like a flow of lava. The pen is sturdy, and very solidly made. It does not feel light or cheap, and the cap, clip, and finials are well fit. The cap screws on securely, and I haven't had any leaking or drying out, even when the pen sat for a few weeks without use. The clip is springy but firm, so it fits well over a stack of paper, but won't slip too easily.

The pen is a nice medium size--bigger than a Sailor Pro Gear but smaller than a TWSBI 580, so it should suit most hands comfortably. The grip section is made of the same acrylic as the body. It's a little slick, but it contours nicely to keep your grip in place. It takes cartridges or a converter, which comes with the pen.

A lot of the criticism Conklin receives concerns the quality of their nibs. It's not unearned--there's a lot of inconsistency in user experience, and you don't know if you've gotten a good one or not until you try it. My Conklin Word Gauge is one of the best writers in my collection, but others have had experiences so negative that they've sworn off the brand altogether.

This Elements pen has the Conklin Omniflex nib--a semi-flex nib with cutout wings designed to allow for some degree of line variation. Of course it does not flex the way we all want it to. It can't meet the bendy standards of vintage pens or dip nibs designed for fancy script. But it does flex a bit, and it adds some lovely character to your writing. Much like a stub nib adds a little bit of italic flavor to writing, this Duraflex nib adds a little bit of flex flavor. Not enough, it could be fairly argued, but I don't think it ever promised that.

My nib performs about how I expected it would. It's wide for a fine line when writing normally, largely because it is a very wet writer--a feature it needs in order to keep up with ink flow when flex writing. When pressure is applied on downstrokes, the line widens, creating an effect that would be very graceful and beautiful if I were any good at this at all. But even with my poor handwriting skills, I like the way this pen makes my writing look, and that's enough to make me reach for it when I need to fill a page. (Note: the slight feathering on the flexed strokes is a result of the paper I was using. I had better experiences with fountain pen friendly paper.)

While my friends' experiences make me hesitate to recommend buying this pen, my own experiences lead me to encourage you to try one, if you have access. If there's a pen store or pen show near you, this is a great pen to try in person, before you decide whether or not to buy. It's a total bargain at $60--so long as you get a good one.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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