New Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen Review

Almost exactly three years ago, I reviewed the original Pilot Petit1 fountain pen. Needless to say, I was not a fan at that time, but I have learned a lot of things since then. First and foremost, Moleskine paper is not fountain pen friendly. I alluded to that fact in the original review, but never followed up on different paper - until now.

The new line of the popular Pilot Petit series just recently came out, and included the traditional Petit1 fountain pen, but also added the Petit2 marker pen, and Petit3 brush pen. I went with the Petit1 first because I wanted to give it another shot, and this time on some good paper!

Doane Paper has been my go to paper for years, and the Pilot Petit1 works like a champ on it. I chose blue black ink to test first (why is it that I think all fountain pens are supposed to have blue black ink?), and with its fine nib the Petit1 performed impressively, and I might even say flawlessly.

I got very clean and sharp lines on the Doane Paper. The ink dried into the page quickly, and while there was some show through on the back of the page, there was no bleeding through to the next page behind it. I also tested it on a Rhodia Dot Pad, and it performed superbly as well. The ink doesn't soak into the fibers of the Rhodia as much, so the line is finer, but doesn't dry as quickly.

Pilot has done a great job reintroducing the Petit line, making it fun and affordable for everyone to try out refillable fountain pens, marker pens, and brush pens. I can't wait to see more reviews on these.

Products used:

Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen - White Body - $3.00 from JetPens

Pilot Petit Pen Refill Cartridge Blue Black - $2.25 from JetPens

Doane Paper Writing Pad - $10.95/3-pack from Doane Paper

Pen Hack: Zebra Sarasa Clip to Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier

Pen Addict reader Quinn was messing around last week and came across this near perfect match for a pen hack. I'll let him share the good news:

AWESOME PEN HACK: Sarasa Clip Refill + Hi-Tec-C Cavalier Body = Perfection! This may be common knowledge, but I was just playing around and had to share this discovery. I had always been underwhelmed with the Sarasa Clip body, but not anymore.

I was pretty excited myself to verify this since I love the Cavalier barrel, and sure enough, it is essentially a perfect match.

I swapped the Zebra Sarasa Clip ink cartridge into the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier barrel with no issues (the cartridges do not go the other way around fyi). I started writing away, and the results were impressively solid. The cartridge was a perfect fit length wise, and the only tiny issue I saw was that the tip of the cartridge isn't fully flush with the barrel opening. It is so close though that it actually took me about five minutes to even notice it. That is something that could be tightened up extremely easily if it bothers you.

Sorry for the poor quality on that last picture - I didn't have my real camera handy. If anyone wants to see a better close-up just let me know and I'll take a new one this weekend. Thanks for the great tip Quinn!

#OnePenOneDay Project Update

Things have been going pretty well so far with my #OnePenOneDay project. I have made it through several days in a monogamous relationship with my writing utensil of choice, despite the difficulties. I will say that this cannot be an every single day of the year project though - there are just some days where it is not feasible. But on the days that I consider "project days" I am 100% committed to that pen, and that pen only, for the entire day.

Here are some of the pens I have revisited so far:

Pentel Tradio EnerGel Combo Pen -- I liked this pen a lot the first time around (links go to the original reviews), but the cap not staying posted is still an issue. It is hard to beat the EnerGel ink from a performance perspective, but if I am picking up an EnerGel right now it is the Euro Needle.

Uni-Ball Jetstream Sport 0.5mm Blue -- Still one of my all-time favorites. Nice, clean barrel design, great grip, and an 0.5mm tip with performance to die for. Many people believe this pen is too scratchy, but for me, it is almost perfect.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.3mm Black (with Grip) -- This is the one pen that I can't get enough of for note taking purposes. The line is super-fine and I love how my handwriting turns out on the page. Yes, there are sometimes startup issues when you first get writing, but one it starts up it is one of the best pens around. (In writing this, I now realize I have never reviewed this exact pen. I'll correct that soon.)

Copic Drawing Pen F02 -- I have no idea what is going on with this pen, but it is frustrating me. I was worried about it from the get go since it had been months since I used it. The ink started flowing well enough right out the gate, and for the few hours following. After that, performance was all over the place, leaving me to wonder if the ink had dried up on the inside.

Sharpie Pen -- A classic pen on top of a classic book. The Sharpie Pen is one of my all time favorites for sure. I always enjoy writing with it, and despite the new barrel styles and colors being introduced, the black ink original is still the best.

Well, that is it for this first round of #OnePenOneDay. I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions for this project, and I'll also take requests for pens you would like me to run through the gauntlet once more. Just let me know below.