Pilot FriXion Ball Knock Design Series Review

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

To be honest, I haven't used an erasable pen since 5th grade, and at that time they were horrible.

Apparently, a lot has changed. Erasable pens don't have to be incredibly difficult to use and marginally useless when it comes to writing and erasing. The Pilot FriXion is a gel ink pen that uses friction to remove the ink. I don't even pretend to understand how it all works, but I do know that the experience is much more pleasant than the previous generations of erasable pens. If I had these as a student when erasable pens were mandatory, I wouldn't have grown to hate the phrase "erasable pen" so much. Even now, I'm trying to use that phrase frequently in an attempt to rid it of the awful taste it leaves in my mouth.

The FriXion ink is surprisingly smooth when writing – very similar to other Pilot gel ink pens (but not quite) like the G2. The particular model I'm using is called the Ball Knock Design series, and it features a 0.5 mm point. When you first write with the pen, you can detect a slight drag from the point, but if you can remember to press very lightly then that issue almost disappears.

Writing with the pen is effortless. It doesn't take much pressure at all to put ink on the page, and I haven't seen any skipping or gunking that was extremely common with the old erasable pens. This part still blows my mind. I'm impressed by how well it writes for an erasable pen. It doesn't beat a Pilot Juice or an Acroball or any other permanent gel or hybrid ink, but this is an erasable ink and it's done pretty great so far.

So, it writes fairly well, but how does it erase? Well, I would sum it up as, "Meh." Erasing is easy – one or two strokes across the ink usually does the job, but it never completely disappears. You can always see the trace of what was written before, and that makes me a little perturbed. If it's supposed to be erasable, then I expect it to be erasable like a pencil. Sure, you sometimes can see the writing from an erased pencil mark, but it's much harder to detect than the FriXion ink. This is obviously a personal problem that I need to deal with; if you're in the market for an erasable ink pen, then the FriXion gets the job done with no hassle or frustration. It's a great erasable pen.

The top of the pen contains the rubber tip used for erasing, which is convenient and works well. I was stumped when I first used the pen as to how to operate the retract mechanism. Pressing on the rubber tip (where a knock normally is) doesn't do anything. After a few seconds of looking around the pen, I realized it's the clip that acts as the knock. Takes a bit of retraining to use the clip instead of the top of the pen, but it works well when I remember to use it properly the first time.

There is a tip on JetPens about the temperature-sensative nature of this ink. Apparently, erased ink will reappear if it gets cold enough (lower than 14 degress Fahrenheit), which could be fun to play with but unfortunate if you didn't want that to happen. Just something to keep in mind. I didn't test it out – I take their word for it.

Overall, this is a great pen and I'm really impressed by how far along erasable ink has come in a few years. If you're looking for an erasable pen, this is a great place to start.

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

The Pilot Better Retractable Pen Review

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

Everyone has a pen or two that they feel nostalgic about, right? Something that you used in earlier days before you knew 1) that there is such a thing as "pen addicts" and 2) you are one? Yep. For me, that's The Better Retractable by Pilot with a fine point.

Way before I discovered the Pilot V5 Precise, I had easy access to this sleek 80s looking retractable pen. I'm not really sure when these pens started disappearing off shelves. I don't think I even bought any of these pens. They were always laying around, kind of like the Pilot G2 of today. I'm not sure if I'm correct, but something tells me this was a very popular bulk order item for large offices. And, like the G2, it's above the average in the category.

At the end of the day, this is still a ballpoint pen, so it's not displacing any of my favorite gel ink or hybrid ink pens, and certainly not any fountain pens. I definitely prefer this pen to something like a standard Bic ballpoint. And, depending on how you feel about Bic ballpoints, that's saying a lot.

The line from this ballpoint is really crisp. The ink can sometimes make a skippy line, but the feel is always smooth. In fact, it's so smooth that I don't enjoy writing with it. Strange, right? After using the pen for several writing sessions, I think I've narrowed down the reason that I don't like using the pen. It's a combination of a slim barrel/grip with a super slick writing experience that makes it difficult for me to use. I have a hard time controlling the pen and keeping my grip loose enough to not cause cramps.

But, that's not an entirely fair assessment. I'm using premium, glossy papers. This pen probably wasn't designed for that type of medium. This pen is probably intended on writing on the type of paper that a large office keeps on stock: cheap and crappy.

So, to sum it up, the refill in this pen falls somewhere between a standard Bic and a new Jetstream refill. It's smooth like a Jetstream, but skippy like a Bic.

Now, the design and look of the pen is what has always drawn me in. I love the way this pen looks. There are no unnecessary curves or bumps to make it look stylish or sexy–it's just a straight body with a tapered end to hold the refill. It has a grooved grip section and a nice click mechanism. The clip is really strong, and the clear body makes it easy to see what color you have (that and the colored barrel section that holds the click mechanism).

It looked different than any other pen I saw on a regular basis, and that made it attractive to me. After I discovered much better pens (first it was the Precise V5, and then the almost perfect Signo 207), I forgot all about the Pilot Better Retractable. At some point, I saw some pictures online that had the Better Retractable in it and I had to hunt some down so I could try them out again with a fresh perspective. Luckily, Amazon still carries them.

I'm glad I was able to track down and find a pen that I've always liked, but it's also funny to try something after your interests and knowledge have grown only to find that you no longer like the old thing. It's a great ballpoint pen, but there are just so many better performing options out there now.

Now, to find a great refill that fits in this plain but attractive body...

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An Introduction To Brush Pens

Fountain pens are pretty awesome, and gel and ballpoint pens have their place. I'm not totally on the pencil bandwagon yet, but I have been experimenting for a while with another genre of writing instruments: brush pens.

Before JetPens, I didn't know that brush pens existed. They're not a typical item you find in a office supply store or even an art store. I worked in a college bookstore that stocked lots of fancy art supplies, but never saw anything like this. That's why I purchased a couple so that I could see what they're about.

There's many different brands and models to choose from when you decide to try out a brush pen, but I went with the Pilot Petit3 first. I already owned a couple of Petit1 fountain pens and loved the form factor, so I knew the brush version would at least feel good in my hand and make me smile when I noticed the charming translucent design.

I won't lie – when I first tried writing with these pens, I was really turned off by how they felt. It's so different than anything I've tried. Most pens have a very firm tip that allows you to write in a very controlled way. Brush pens offer a different kind of control. You just need to back off a little.

Brush pens write the way they do because of a cluster of tiny fibers that form the tip. Since there's hundreds (thousands?) of these fibers in a cluster, you get a beautiful variation of line widths and ink flow. I would compare it to a flex nib, but I don't own one to compare it with.

After figuring out to press lightly and limit my upstrokes, I began to really enjoy writing with the pens.

These aren't pens that I would use to write for long periods of time. I've mostly used them to jot down notes and (more often) draw quick doodles. These pens are fun to play with, and that's a good enough reason to have a few. They're fun.

At just under $4, it's a pretty low risk experiment. Whatever you do, be more adventurous when you're picking out your colors. I went with black and blue, and the former is pretty boring. Check out the vibrant colors as they'll shade more and have more character! Personally, I think the Apple Green and Apricot Orange are a great combo.

Also, these pens (as well as the rest of the Petit line) are refillable. For about half the price of the pen, you can pick up three more cartridges. All 8 colors are available as refills, which is awesome.

These are a great introduction to the brush pen category, and you can't beat the value of the Petit line.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)