Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Edison Pen Co. Comet 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!)

The new Edison Comet pen model first caught my eye on the Edison Pen Co. Instagram, and when I saw they were bringing them to the Chicago Pen Show, I knew I might be in trouble. Sure enough, there were trays and trays of temptation there--but this one stood out. I've been drooling over Jonathon Brooks's abalone material since its debut, but hadn't scored any yet. Edison and Brooks combined? There was no way I was going home without this pen.

The unbalanced look of this pen is a bit odd. The top-heavy domed cap is unusual and may not have captivated me if I hadn't nerded out over the inspiration--a comet with a trailing tail. The translucent material at the top reminds me of a crystal ball, and the shimmery abalone looks absolutely magical. It reminds me of very happy memories studying the Hale-Bopp comet in my 8th grade physics class, when my best friend and I were studying astronomy for Science Olympiad.

But you don't need to be a nerd to love this pen. While the cap looks top-heavy, the material is light and the cap posts deeply, so it feels perfectly balanced when writing (whether your post or not). The joins are smooth and the clip is sleek and flexible. The grip section has a comfortable concave center that flares enough to keep your fingers from slipping down to the nib. The threads above the grip section are very smooth.

Mine has a broad stainless steel nib. I don't usually get broad nibs--I prefer needle EFs--but that means I have a lot of EFs, and I knew I'd want to put lighter colored inks in this pen. I also had Brian tune the nib to be super wet and smooth--so it's the perfect pen for inks that I love that are too pale to be read easily in finer lines. Of course, getting a custom tuning of the nib is an advantage of pen show attendance, but I've always had good experiences with Edison's nibs.

Overall, the pen is beautiful, a pleasure to write with, and makes me think of happy memories. The only criticism I have is that it's so pretty that sometimes it distracts me while I'm writing and I just twist the pen in the sun watching the shimmer while time passes by.

I conveniently forget what I paid for my pen (pen show brain fog), but Edison offers a lot of customization of materials and filler systems that influence their prices. A base price for the Comet on their site now is $275, and they have a large selection in stock currently—several of which want to come live at my house. Please go buy them so I don't.

(I bought this pen at standard retail from Edison Pen Co. at the 2022 Chicago Pen Show.)

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Posted on July 28, 2022 by Sarah Read and filed under Edison, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

RIIND Compact Pen Review

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

The world of custom machined pens is so fascinating to me, largely due to the constant innovation and release of new products. There's always something new around the corner to satiate any obscure pen refill or aesthetic needs you may have. At a higher level, they all perform a simple duty: they're all writing instruments in the same way a Bic is a writing instrument. But the individual design, craftsmanship, and vision is what sets these bespoke objects apart from anything you can find that's mass-produced.

The latest machined pen to cross my desk is from RIIND. After a successful Kickstarter run, the Compact and Slim ballpoint pens are being manufactured to fulfill the rewards. At some point, they'll also be available to purchase from RIIND in the event you missed out on the initial fundraiser. The RIIND Compact is what I'm using here, and it's their smaller body that uses a Parker refill. The pen comes with a Parker Quink 1.0mm black refill, and it writes beautifully for a ballpoint. The ink flow is smooth, and it starts writing immediately. While it isn't as crisp as gel ink, it's still a great writing experience and maintains a small package. Since it's a Parker style refill, you have a lot of options if you don't like the Quink refills.

The RIIND is machined from aluminum, and my review unit is actually anodized in a lovely dark blue. This wasn't available in the original Kickstarter campaign, but I hope it's available as an option to purchase because it's a great color.

The grip features an aggressive knurling texture that feels really good when writing. There's no feeling of slipping when using this pen due to the tactile grip. Even though the knurling feels intense, it's not overly sharp or unpleasant. It provides excellent grip while being pleasant to hold and use.

The twist cap uses the same knurling to great effect. You can twist the cap either way to open/close the pen. It takes a little bit of force to turn it, but once you get used to the effort needed to operate, it's a piece of cake to operate with one hand. Since the pen is fairly short, using it with one hand is pretty easy. Not sure if the same can be said for the longer G2 refill sibling.

The twist mechanism is really fun to use and very tactile. The resistance from the spring grows stronger right until the moment the nock clicks over to either extend or retract the refill. The click is crisp and clean, and there's a satisfying sound to go along with it. It's safe to say this can fill in for your favorite fidget toy.

The clip is unique and is one of my favorite aspects of the pen's aesthetics. How many different ways can you shape a tube that holds a refill? That's why the clip design is so important with these machined pens — that's where you can really set the pen apart from all the others. RIIND does that exceptionally well here with a robust clip that acts like a carabiner clip. The attachment points are staggered, giving the clip torsion when you pull it away from the pen body. It works really well! Despite being smooth and not using a clip shape at the end to grab onto things, it has no problem securing the pen to whatever you clip it to. The staggered attachment points add visual interest to the pen due to the lack of symmetry. I love looking at it, and it's also a joy to use.

Since this model is made of aluminum, it's not very heavy. It weighs more than other aluminum pens I own, but not by much. I think most of the additional weight is due to the unique retraction mechanism and possibly a thicker than normal pen body wall. This thing feels indestructible.

Writing with this pen has been a fantastic experience. The Parker Quink refill has never been my favorite, but I've found myself picking this pen up more often than not despite the "sub-par" refill. I've enjoyed using it, and I think most of that comes down to how it feels in my hand and it handles when I'm writing. It's balanced perfectly and offers a fantastic level of control.

When it comes to machined pens, our options are plentiful. It's a fun space to explore, and when you find the right one for your style and taste, it's easy to pull the trigger. If the tubular and gnarly knurling juxtaposition of the RIIND meets your fancy, you'll love using it. At $99 (shipping included for US customers), it's also a fair deal. You can get aluminum machined pens for less (and more), but I think the quality, fit and finish, and writing experience are well-worth the cost of admission here.

Pre-orders are open now for both the Compact, as featured in this review, and Slim models.

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

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Posted on July 20, 2022 by Jeff Abbott and filed under RIIND, Pen Reviews.

Zebra G-450 and G-750 Gel Ink Pen Review

Before I left my day job to focus on The Pen Addict full time, I was in the IT field. I was with the same company for around 15 years, 12 of that in the same facility. I knew a lot of people there, and a lot of them knew me as the pen guy.

For the few that were interested past the “oh, that’s nice,” phase, there were two pens that were their favorites: the Pilot G2, and the Zebra F-301.

I understood the love for the G2. Still do. It’s a rock solid gel ink pen that writes smooth and has dark ink. Wide availability on store shelves expanded its popularity. If you liked school supplies when you were a kid, you were prone to grab a pack of G2’s when you saw them, and sung their praises once compared to the general office supplies you were stuck with at work.

The F-301 was different. There is no doubt that it looked cool, and while not near as ubiquitous as the G2, it was reasonably available at office supply stores, if not grocery stores. And F-301 fans? The ones I met were passionate about this little pen. I’m never one to yuck someone’s yum, but let’s just say my feelings were not as strong about this pen as the G2 at the time.

The biggest failure with the design of the F-301 is the grip. It looks great on the shelf, but once you unpack the pen and hold it, it becomes evident how uncomfortable the plastic ridges are on your fingertips. For a quick note it is passable, but any longer writing is out of the question.

Still, the F-301 proved to be popular due to its construction. It is a durable pen, and the refill was good enough. And I’m happy that this pen has been a success for Zebra, because they took what worked well with the F-301 and improved on it. There is a softer grip model in the F-402, and they eventually added gel refill options in the various G-series models, including the two I’m going to talk about today.

The G-450 and the G-750 are a continuation of the F-301 family tree, and pretty darn good ones at that. The G-450 is the shorter of the two pens by just under a half an inch, and features a rubber grip. The G-750 features a similar full-metal exterior, with the addition of a knurled metal grip. It also has a subtle triangle-shaped upper barrel, while the G-450 is essentially round. The G-designation on both pens mean they use gel ink, 0.7 mm black gel ink to be specific.

Comparing these two pens is difficult because there is not much that separates them from each other. The G-450 rubber grip is the superior of the two, which is hard for me to say as a knurled grip fan. The G-750 knurling is so fine and tight that the grip feels smooth. That’s not how I ever want to describe knurling. There has to be some grab in there, and there isn’t.

I will say that the nose cone design of the G-750 catches my eye. It has four angled steps down towards the tip of the pen, which allows for a great view of the tip and the page you are writing on. There’s nothing wrong with the front-end shape of the G-450, but the G-750 had me inspecting it, wondering why I liked it so much.

With matching 0.7 mm black gel ink refills, there is obviously no difference in writing performance between the two. The ink is dark, and the tip is smooth on the page. There are minimal swappable refill options for these pens, but JetPens does list a few, including 0.5 mm choices. I don’t think you will be successful hacking refills into either of these barrels, as the interior barrel opening for the refill is narrow. In fact, I had a hard time putting the refill back in one of the pens when I removed it for inspection.

Between the two, the G-450 is the clear winner. The grip is more comfortable, and combined with the shorter length, it felt better in my hand while writing. Plus, it is $7.00, while the G-750 runs $9.50.

If you like gel ink pens with upgraded metal barrels, I think you will be happy with either of these options from Zebra. Myself, I’m happy that they keep building and iterating on an interesting product lineup that differentiates them from the competition. I hope that continues.

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

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