Posts filed under Pilot

Pilot Dr. Grip Play Balance Shaker Mechanical Pencil Review

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

We all know that there's a lot of preference that goes into the perfect balance and handling of a writing instrument. The lower the center of gravity, the better the control. Too low, though, and it just feels weird. Each pen or pencil has a unique balance, and that attributes so much to the overall writing experience. But what if you could customize the balance of the pen or pencil by adding/subtracting weight to the grip section?

I'm guessing this is the question that came up in a Pilot design session at some point, because that's why we now have the Dr. Grip Play Balance Shaker Mechanical Pencil. There's a lot going on in this name, so let's break it down.

Dr. Grip — contoured and squishy grip that you'll either love or hate
Play Balance — you can add or remove weight from the grip section to alter the center of gravity!
Shaker — you can press the nock at the top of the pencil to advance the lead like any other mechanical pencil, but you can also advance the lead by giving the pencil a little shake.

Pilot Dr. Grip Play Balance Shaker Mechanical Pencil

The Dr. Grip product line has been around quite a while now. If you've never tried one, you owe it to yourself to see if the grip fits your hand and grip style. If it happens to fit, it's really one of the most comfortable writing experiences I've had for a moderately cheap pen that I can buy at most big-box stores. It's got plenty of soft give while also having enough firmness to easily control. For me, the Uni Signo Alpha gel grip is just too soft and I have a hard time writing precisely.

With this mechanical pencil, you have the option of 0.5mm or 0.3mm lead sizes. The version I have is the 0.5mm in the clear body color. There's also black, red, green, and blue if clear isn't your thing. Regardless of the lead size or color, there's a chrome lead advancement button on the top of the pen, a chrome nose cone and lead shoulder, and a small nub at the top of the pencil to keep it from rolling away. There's also a small hole in the nub, so you could theoretically attach it to a lanyard strap or something else to secure it. Unfortunately, there's no clip on this pencil!

I have several mechanical pencils that use the shaker mechanism for advancing the lead, and I have to say that I like it a lot more than I thought I would. At first glance, this just seems like a gimmick that only exists to sell units. But, after retraining my brain that a quick shake will extend enough lead to keep writing, I was instantly sold. The quick shake is milliseconds faster than changing my grip to click the button with my thumb, and it's also just more fun. The shaker mechanism in this pencil is well done — it works easily and doesn't take much effort.

Pilot Dr. Grip Play Balance Pencil Review

Now, let's talk about the main differentiator for the pencil — the reason is exists and has its own SKU: the Play Balance feature. While I'm not a fan of the name, I actually like the ability to change up the balance of the pencil will little effort. I've seen this type of option in gaming mice — the mouse comes with a cavity inside that you can fill up with a number of small weights until you achieve the perfect weight for your preferences. The idea here is similar, but since you hold a pencil upright instead of laying it flat on a desk and moving it around, you're actually shifting the center of gravity when you move the weight around.

So how does this work? Well, the package comes with three weights (equal sizes) and two silicone spacers. The pencil is preloaded with one weight and two silicone spacers. The weight is closest to the writing tip of the pencil. Changing out the weights and spacers is easy — just unscrew the cone, slide off the Dr. Grip squishy bit, and add/remove weights and spacers to the inner section. The grip section slides back over pretty easily, and as soon as you screw the cone back onto the pencil, you're ready to go. Since there are three available spaces to play with, your options are quite numerous. It's been a long time since I had a statistics math class, but I think this comes out to eight unique configurations (I checked the JetPens page after spending an embarrassing number of minutes trying to remember how to calculate the number of possible options, and JetPens had me covered). It's difficult to tell a difference between small changes, but it's really obvious when you from one extreme to the other. This is similar to how it feels to write with a pen that's posted versus one that isn't. For me, the perfect balance is one spacer at the top, and then two weights at the tip of the section. The beauty of this system is that you can find the perfect balance for your writing style or the task at hand!

At just under $12, this is a fun pencil that I'd happily recommend if you need a solid mechanical pencil that also allows you to play with the balance. It seems like there are so many gimmick-y stationery items in this price range, but this one actually delivers. Even if you never play with the weights, it's still a solid pencil that will serve you for decades to come.

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

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Posted on January 25, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pilot, Dr. Grip, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo Ink Cartridge Review

Under no circumstances are fountain pen ink cartridges a good value. The cost per milliliter is higher than with bottled ink, and there is the added waste of a bunch of little plastic cartridges laying around.

Yet, I love them.

As with a lot of things ink life, moderation is key. My current ink bottle situation is an exercise in excess. Anarchy is a better term. Adding new ink cartridges to the situation doesn’t help, but I have some fixed ideas about pen and ink combinations, where the use of cartridges grants me the freedom to use certain pens more.

That sounds ridiculous, and it is. Then again, here you are reading a blog about stationery, so let’s at least be ridiculous together.

Would you be surprised if I told you that in three* of my priciest pens I regularly use ink cartridges? Why? Two reasons: 1. I want to use these pens, and this allows me to use them more, and 2. I found ink in cartridge form that I love.

Point one is laziness, let’s be honest. But if that is what gets me using a pen more frequently, then sign me up for a nap! In conjunction with point two, that ease of use combined with a heck of a good pen and ink combo, well, that is really what it is all about.

When I bought my Namiki Yukari Milky Way, I committed to using only one ink with it: Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. It’s a great color, and a perfect match for the pen. I use it in bottle form, with the Pilot CON-70 converter, aka the best, worst converter in the world. The CON-70 is Pilot’s largest ink capacity converter, which is good, but I can only fill it and clean it well with a syringe, which is bad/annoying. Would I ever be able to get Tsuki-yo in cartridge form so I am less angsty about inking up what is quite possibly my favorite pen?

Pilot announced the launch of their Iroshizuku ink cartridge lineup in early 2022, and after a few delays in their worldwide release, they have arrived. 12 of the 26 stock colors are available in packs of 6 for a whopping $12.50 per pack. Each cartridge holds 0.8ml, putting the cost at two dollars and sixty cents per milliliter. Compare that to the 50 ml Iroshizuku ink bottles, which track at right around fifty cents per milliliter, and you realize how ridiculous they are.

But I love them. One six-pack at a time, because they make me want to use my pen more.

Like I said, there is no narrative that makes these a good value. Except one. How many milliliters of unused ink is sitting in a bottle on your shelf? Is it better to spend $25 and use 25% of it, or spend $12.50 and use 100% of it? There are a lot of ifs, ands, or buts in that statement, but we all want to use our stuff more. Smaller and less cost-effective may work in certain situations, as silly as that sounds.

Again, moderation is key here. I bought Tsuki-yo for a specific use case. I will not be adding another five boxes of Iroshizuku ink cartridges to the collection.

As poor as the price for these cartridges is, the ink itself is fantastic. I wouldn’t have sprung for them if it wasn’t. Tsuki-yo translates to “Moonlight Night” and is a beautiful dark blue with a hint of teal. On the right paper, there is a touch of red sheen to be found around the edges. It matches the Raden planets in the Milky Way wonderfully.

Fountain pen ink cartridges will always cost more than their bulk bottle brethren. They are great for travel, portability, and ease of use. The trade off is the price, and, on occasion, that’s a trade I’m willing to make.

(*The other two pen/cartridge combos I use are the Nakaya Portable Kuro-tamenuri with Platinum Mt. Fuji Blue Black, and the Nakaya Piccolo Negoro Orange with Platinum Carbon Black.)

(I purchased these cartridges from Yoseka Stationery for review purposes at full retail price.)

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Posted on January 9, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Pilot, Iroshizuku, Ink Reviews.

don’t try this at home: vintage pilot vanishing point

(This is guest post by Dennis Moore from a fleeting ripple. No capital letters were harmed in the writing of this post.)

After days of sunny weather, last night’s storm finally brought in the cold. The yellow leaves are wet on the streets, rotting in gutters. People on the streets are finally pulling out their thick coats, tall boots and fuzzy gloves. The glass covers of the bus stop seem to give some protection from the drizzle and the relentless wind. The bus itself looks almost like a ship cutting through the waves. It’s just the water in the potholes splashing taller than the bus itself. It speeds towards you, a freight train on the wet road. It’ll pass you in a moment. The roar of the motor, the roar of the tires, the splash of the water. Gone in a second. No, it slows down, comes to a halt in front of the stop. When the doors open, water drips down inside the bus, every step leaving muddy marks behind.

By nature, I am a curious person. Studying design has only spurred that curiosity forward. So when I learned about the Pilot Vanishing Point, I was obsessed. Fancy working mechanism. A simple problem -ink tends to evaporate on the nib- and an elegant solution -trapdoor. Not the crude, obvious solution of a cap. Ingenious.

Push a button. Out. Ready to write.

Push the button again. Closed off. Sealed.

My problem with the modern Vanishing Point was the weight, the clip just sat comfortably between my fingers. I cannot use a heavy pen for very long. My boyfriend’s problem was that the clip was in the way. So we did what any sane person would do: ordered a vintage one.

The vintage Pilot Vanishing Point is a whole other story. It’s a pen with a presence. Tiniest bit of retro-futurism (I guess it wasn’t “retro” at the time) and mid-century elegance. It is an unassuming plastic, with the cap at the back of the push button, it resembles a ballpoint a little too much. The cone of the pen tapers down significantly, kind of reminding me the old USSR space posters. Or I just spent too much time looking at old propaganda posters lately.

It’s a lightweight pen that fits into your hand a lot more intuitively than the modern version. The further back clip gives some extra place for your fingers, but in return, when you’re clipping it to pen cases, a significant amount of the unprotected tip pokes out. One of my pen cases doesn’t even close. The nib on mine is still gold, even though it is much harder than the Pilot nibs I’m used to. Perfectly smooth, a little on the drier side. It makes me curious about how vintage Pilot nibs are, because it is such a wildly different writing experience from modern Pilot pens.

The unfortunate part about these old Pilot pen is that it fills up with old-style cartridges. Modern Pilot cartridges will not fit into it. Of course we decided to engineer a solution for it. Because the single old cartridge it came with will wear out. Well, there is a Platinum adapter that lets you use regular international cartridges on Platinum pens It’s made of soft, thin plastic. It gets even softer and more malleable once you run it under warm water. Not too warm though, you still want to be able to hold the plastic. Then, it fits over the cartridge fitting in the vintage Vanishing Point. Awesome, right? Now you can use your pen with your endless supply of Kaweco Royal Blue short cartridges that you always throw into the darkest corner of a drawer.

Please don’t try this at home.

I refuse any responsibility for this.

I used the pen for a few days. I realised it was drying out. The line would get painfully dry, skip, then somehow start running regularly again. It bummed both of us out, it was a beautiful pen that we really looked forward to enjoying.

Then the pen started spluttering ink out. A tiny tiny drop or two onto the page every time you push the button to open the “cap.”

This time I decided to take a closer look. I took everything apart, armed myself with cotton swabs and a bowl of water to investigate what went wrong.

Spoiler: it was not the trapdoor mechanism.

The Platinum adapter had cracked. It wasn’t holding the ink cartridge to the pen’s fitting place properly. That’s why it was “drying out.” It needs ink in the first place to dry out, and this nib was not getting any! So... I raised the white flag, took out the adapter, put it in the bin and filled up the tiny little old Pilot cartridge it came with. This is a battle I cannot win.

Now, the pen is heavenly. All the beauty and comfort of the barrel, topped up by the smoothness of the nib. I sometimes underestimate how much a nib/flow problem can hinder the enjoyment of a pen because it always feels like the actual fit of the pen to my hand is more important. Lesson learned.

If you have any old Pilot cartridges laying around, hold onto them. They will become a sought after commodity when our cartridges give out on us. All jokes aside, I am extremely pleased with this pen. I got burned in the near past a couple of times by buying second-hand pens, even from places I trust to inspect the pen. Even if I inspected the pen. Human errors happen. Some of my faith is restored in buying used pens, but I doubt I’ll get them as easily from now on.

Thank you for reading!

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