Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Nahvalur Nautilus Mariana Trench Limited Edition 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.)

Several months ago, I was first introduced to the Nahvalur Nautilus and instantly fell in love with the design. I've used that pen regularly since then, and I'm still attracted to the whimsical design, sturdy construction, and pleasant writing experience. But when has that stopped any of us from buying another version of the same amazing pen? Exactly.

The limited edition Mariana Trench colorway of the Nahvalur Nautilus is absolutely fabulous. It features the rock-solid piston filling system, smooth nib, light weight, and comfortable shape as the regular Nautilus, but in a spectacular blue-green ebonite material with blue PVD coating on the metal bits. It's gorgeous, and it's been by my side for weeks now.

I still love my original Nautilus, but the gold trim was never my favorite. It works well on the purple ebonite, but it isn't perfect for my preferences. The Mariana Trench colors fits that spot perfectly. The swirling green and blue is a great characterization of the deep ocean, along with a sense of green rust that the harsh ocean water causes. The blue metal accents are a great touch. They're really shiny and almost flourescent, which just makes the pen that much more visually interesting. Something to note is that the blue coating on the nib is consistent whether you go with the steel or gold nib options.

Writing with the Nautilus is a great experience. The nib is smooth and consistent out of the box, and the piston filling system works well. It holds a large amount of ink, which makes this pen great for extended writing sessions. The fine steel nib on my pen is incredibly smooth, and I didn't have to do anything to it. It's a #6 size, which is a complimentary pairing to the body of the pen. Nahvalur makes their own nibs, so this probably explains how they're able to experiment with different coatings and effects. Whatever it is, I hope they keep it up.

For me, the Nautilus gets really, really close to "the perfect pen." It's lightweight but still a good size for comfortable writing, it writes well and holds a lot of ink, and it's aesthetically enjoyable when not in use. The only downside I can think of with this pen is the fact that you can't post the cap, but I don't want to post it due to the larger size of the body. As long as that doesn't bother you, I can't think of a reason to dissuade you from buying this pen (or another variant) if it fits your budget.

At $160, this pen definitely has a lot of competition, but it certainly holds its own due to the fun design, light and colorful materials, and superb writing experience. If this pen even remotely interests you and you have the budget for it, give it a try! The Mariana Trench colorway shown here is a limited edition and might be hard to track down at this point, but the Nautilus pen is available in many other fantastic colors.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 24, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Nahvalur, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Pentel Energel RTX 0.7 mm Lilac Gel Ink Pen Review

Lilac is my wife’s fourth favorite Pentel Energel RTX color.

How do I know this? She told me yesterday, when sharing that she was out of her favorites.

On Mother’s Day.

R.I.P., Mr. Pen Addict.

I should have been more prepared. But hey, if I was, I wouldn’t have this article to write, late on Sunday night.

We had a great weekend. We were at a Pickleball tournament all day Saturday (duh,) and Sunday, I spent all day with her, the kids, and our respective moms, both of whom live nearby. I usually sneak in a few hours of work during the weekend, finalizing whatever review post I’m planning on for Monday. But I was still running behind this weekend, with the Chicago Pen Show and Grand Jury Duty still in the rear-view mirror. And, I was having too much fun otherwise.

Around 7 p.m. Sunday night I told her I needed to work for a bit, at least settle on a topic for Monday - even if I finish in the morning. She said “Why don’t you write about my favorite pen?” Dang, she is a smart one.

I already knew what the pen was, the aforementioned Pentel Energel RTX. So I said, “Great idea! Grab me your favorite color and I’ll write it up.”

She couldn’t find Navy Blue.

She couldn’t find Turquoise.

She couldn’t find Violet.

With every miss, my guilt increased.

She finally settled on Lilac, which she told me was her second favorite purple, and still one she liked a lot. So, Lilac it is!

Any Pentel EnerGel is easy to review. I already love them, and they are my favorite gel ink pen to recommend for most users looking for a high-quality 0.7 mm gel ink line, and a wide variety of colors. Is this pen my favorite gel ink pen? No, that honor goes to the Uni-ball Signo UM-151, which I can get in my favorite 0.38 mm tip size, and the same variety of ink colors.

Most people aren’t me, “fortunately,” my wife would interject, and the Pentel EnerGel is the best of the rest for the wider audience.

She has used this pen for years, putting them through the wringer at her job on a daily basis. Not once has she had a bad word to say about it. The refill writes smoothly and consistently, the barrel is sturdy, the knock never fails, the clip always works, and so on. The only complaint is that she can’t keep people from stealing them.

Maybe that is the next frontier for pens - in-barrel tracking devices to reclaim your favorite from grabby hands. (Cross tried, but it didn’t stick.)

When I use one of her EnerGels around the house - mainly for grocery lists, or on sticky notes on her desk - I always enjoy them. They are a real treat to use, and the ink colors are fun. Pentel has made other options that are close to making my every day rotation, like the Euro or Clena, but never the perfect one to land in that rare S-tier air. They are A-tier all day long, which is a pretty great place to be.

Myself, I’m not in as good of a place. I’m in the doghouse until I get her pens ordered, and delivered. Time to make that happen!

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Posted on May 15, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Pentel, Energel, Pen Reviews.

Makers Cabinet Lazlo Brass Ballpoint Pen Review

Makers Cabinet is an interesting company. I first became aware of them when they launched their Kickstarter for Høvel, a plane-style pencil sharpener. I liked the style and concept, but at the time I passed on backing the project due to the cost. I didn’t think I would get enough use out of it to justify the price.

Since the launch of the Høvel, Makers Cabinet has continued to put their stamp on stationery design, reimagining traditional products in modern styles. A ruler. A pencil extender (which I reviewed here.) And now, with Lazlo, a ballpoint pen.

In true Makers Cabinet style, it features a brass barrel, and a few specifically created design elements. Primarily, in the case of Lazlo, the twist mechanism to deploy and retract the refill. From their description:

“Featuring a patent pending, one-of- a-kind magnetic mechanism, that will elevate your writing experience. Diametrically opposed neodymium magnets rotate bidirectionally to engage and disengage the cartridge to create an unparalleled crisp click.”

More on this in a minute.

In addition to the mechanism, it features a custom designed clip, and two extra internal pieces that form a sleeve over the refill inside the barrel, assumedly to assist with the twist mechanism and internal magnets.

For a brass barrel ballpoint pen, that’s a lot. That’s a feature for Makers Cabinet. If I have learned anything, it’s that they are happy to take simple stationery goods and make them “extra.” It’s the Makers Cabinet way.

In the case of the Lazlo, I don’t think it is too extra, but it is a far more fidgety design than I hoped for.

Let’s go back to the diametrically opposed neodymium magnets used for the twist mechanism. It works, but it doesn’t work the same every time. Sometimes the twist engages the refill, sometimes it pokes it out then pops it back in, and sometimes I just overshoot the stop completely and have to keep going around to engage it again. It’s not a consistent station-to-station mechanism. It’s more like sta-tion to stati-on to st-ation. There is no consistency, other than you will eventually get to where you need to be.

Once you do, the writing experience, well, I had to enlist the help of my wife to capture this (volume on):

If I wanted a typewriter, I would have bought a typewriter. Wow, that is a lot of tip rattle. Now, I’m not going to knock them too hard for this, but for a company that prides themselves on their design work, I would think they would have better mitigation of this known issue with a metal refill on a metal barrel. It’s going to happen. How you deal with it says a lot. For Makers Cabinet, there is no dealing with it.

The aftermarket fix is simple, just a little tape around the refill to serve as a shock absorber inside the barrel will do the trick. An internal o-ring on the refill, possibly added by the company before shipping, would help, too.

Neither of those issues are deal breakers for me. They work, eventually, or there is a work around. The clip falls into this category as well, and I think it is the weakest design element of the bunch. In a literal sense, it is too flimsy for a pen this heavy. This is a full brass barrel, checking in at 66 grams (a standard Retro 51 rollerball is 28 grams, for comparison,) and this is a thin, stamped metal, clip that doesn’t even lock down to the barrel. It’s probably a better fit for the aluminum barrel model of the Lazlo, where it is a better balanced option. (Update: Makers Cabinet reached out to me via Instagram and said they will be updating the clip for the Lazlo V2, and will provide a retrofit option for this model as well.)

If your plans are to use this as a heavy duty EDC pen, which is what its style and choice of pressurized refill dictates, I’d worry about how quick the clip would fail. This is less of a concern when used as a desk pen.

With all of that said, I actually think the Lazlo is a good pen, especially given the $90 price point. That was the biggest surprise of all, and is completely fair for a pen of this quality. But I also think it is fair to point out when a company that prides itself on unique designs and ideas falls short, even if it is only a little bit here and there. That little bit makes the Lazlo a good pen, and not a great one.

(This pen was given to me by a reader, and I’ll be giving it away tomorrow!)

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