Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Zebra Sarasa Nano 0.3 mm Gel Ink Pen Review

The Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen caught me slightly off guard. What is Zebra doing here that they aren’t with one of my all-time favorite pens, the Zebra Sarasa Clip?

Let’s explore!

The two obvious differences between the Nano and the classic Clip are aesthetic. The Nano has a solid color barrel (similar to the Vintage Series,) and a metal nose cone, which is new to the series. The clip uses the same excellent Clip of the namesake Zebra model, and the exact same refill.

The only refill tip size available is 0.3 mm, which is perfect for me. The marketing on JetPens calls this pen “Ultra-fine yet delightfully smooth,” which is just asking for trouble. It’s difficult to pin “delightfully smooth” on a pen tip this fine. By nature, it’s not. It almost can’t be. Now, they are relatively smooth to other 0.3 mm tipped pens, but not compared to other, more mainstream, 0.5 mm tip gel ink pens.

“Ultra-fine” is much easier to agree with, and the Nano is. The lines in this group of pens, the Think 4 Color set, are awesome. They are clean and consistent, and the colors-in this case Magenta, Gray, Night Blue, and Viridian-are excellent. Even the light shade of gray is readable on the ivory page of the Write Notepads Engineer Notebook. Night Blue is the easy winner of this group, but I enjoy them all as a collection.

There are four other 4 Color sets available as well, but if you are interested in this pen, I would start with a single color. Why? They cost almost twice as much as the standard Sarasa Clip, for no good reason that I can see.

Metal nose cone premium, maybe? It’s not the “cushioned by an inside spring to absorb shocks as you write” premium, because I can see no technical difference between the Nano and the Clip in that area. Same refill, same spring, same interior design.

$1.75 for the Sarasa Clip, or $3.30 for the Sarasa Nano? The Nano is not a bad pen-not even remotely-but it provides poor value. I’m happy to have this set of four, but I’ll be shopping in the Clip aisle if I’m looking to add to my Sarasa collection.

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

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Posted on October 17, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Zebra, Sarasa, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Faber-Castell Grip X Ballpoint Pen Review

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

Faber-Castell isn't a brand that I typically associate with ballpoint pens, but turns out they have a lot of options in that category. The one I've been trying out lately, the Grip X, is a ballpoint pen that does well against other popular ballpoint pen refills.

The Grip X is an odd-looking pen — let's get that out of the way. The light gray and silver plastic body and color-matched silicone grip section and clip aren't my favorite features. It looks similar to a fineliner, but upon closer inspection you can tell it's a retractable pen with a fairly low-cost plastic barrel. While you can definitely unscrew the nose cone of the pen and remove (and replace) the refill, I don't think these were meant to be refilled. Similar to Bic pens, these are disposable. You can purchases these pens in bulk to stock up the office supply closet. Durability and longevity are not a main consideration with this pen.

Looks and disposable build quality aside, this pen is a fantastic writer and compares well against other low-cost disposable ballpoint pens. The pack I have included three 0.7mm pens in blue, black, and red. I'm not sure there are other color options (at least not widely available), but these at least cover the basics for office use.

The Grip X is a three-sided barrel with a soft silicone grip section (that also has three sides). The tri-sided grip is subtle, but I can feel the edges when writing with the pen. This makes the pen easy to control and handle when writing. The barrel is fairly slim, so the silicone grip and three sides add just the right small amount of tactile grip that it needs to make it really comfortable. I've found writing with the Grip X for long sessions is quite comfortable.

Getting to the real attraction of this pen: the refill. The 0.7mm tip produces exactly the line width you'd expect when comparing to other ballpoint pens. It's a fine line with crisp edges and smooth flow. It can take a couple of scribbles to get the ink flowing after the pen has been sitting for a while, but it's really quick to start in most cases.

The low-viscosity ink formula makes for a smooth flow, easy starting, bold ink colors, and clean lines. All three colors are fantastic. The black is dark and thick, and the blue and red are both bold and bright. As far as basic ink colors go, these do a great job.

Comparing these ballpoints to others in the same price category, they stand up really well. I still prefer using a Pilot Acroball or Uni Jetstream over this, but it's a close call. When it comes to something like a Schmidt EasyFlow or Parker Quink, the difference is even smaller. Pretty impressive considering how much more the Schmidt and Parker refills cost!

Overall, I've been pleasantly surprised by these pens. At first glance, they look boring. Since they look boring and old, I expect them to have a sub-par writing experience too. In this case, I'm happy to be wrong.

The Faber-Castell Grip X isn't ubiquitous in stationery stores, so you might have to search local online retailers and stores to find some. In the US, you can find the three color pack on Amazon for less than $10. The Grip X has been a great reminder to me than cheap, disposable pens can still be surprising and exciting regardless of your level of addiction in this hobby. Give them a try if you find them!

(Faber-Castell Malaysia provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on October 12, 2022 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Faber-Castell, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Write Turnz Autumn Medley Fountain Pen Review

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my Write Turnz fountain pen I picked up at the Orlando Pen Show. Which one? This one ...

Called Autumn Medley, this brown, caramel, and purple resin is a knockout, and perfect for the fall.

Material beauty aside, do you know what sold me on this pen? The copper clip and finial. While I always appreciate a good clip and finial, it was the custom design on this pen that sealed the deal.

The challenging part with standing in front of the Write Turnz table is that nearly ALL of Jason Olson’s pens have a custom clip or finial, and often both. There were copper designs, like on this pen, brushed titanium on others, and a huge range of Damascus steel clips of different shapes and sizes elsewhere. I was completely enamored with all of the choices, and that was just for hardware!

Jason makes pens from a wide range of materials (fossilized Wooly Mammoth Tusk, anyone?) but I tend to go with something more straightforward for my first experience with a new maker. That’s if you consider Autumn Medley with custom copper hardware straightforward.

Looking at the rest of the Write Turnz pen lineup, it is. And I’m very happy with it so far. Fitted with a 1.1 mm steel JoWo stub nib, etched with the Write Turns logo, it performs great. That is to be excepted, but I made the pen sing even louder with my choice of Bungubox Imperial Purple ink. A more perfect match cannot be found.

The barrel shape fits my hand well. It’s standard in size and weight, with a straight-sides grip section, and a cartridge/converter filling system. The threading is smooth, with the cap taking just over one full turns to remove, and the entire barrel is polished to perfection.

The finial is a perfectly circular copper disk, with no engravings or markings to speak of. I dig the simplicity. The clip is also unmarked, but has a unique short curved blade shape, giving this pen a sneaky cool feature. Both parts will continue to patina over time.

Sneaky cool is what Write Turnz is to me after getting to spend time with Jason and his daughter in Orlando. Their offerings can be a simple or as complex as you like, and I promise you will see something you haven’t seen before on the table. In fact, Jason showed me his Hang 10 project at the show, where he makes pen barrels from discarded surfboard resin. Now that’s what I call quite good!

I believe I paid around $225 for Autumn Medley at the Orlando Pen Show, and while not directly available on the site, many other unique models are. I’m sure you can always contact Write Turnz if you are interested, or have a special request of your own.

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