The Ohto Tasche Ceramic rollerball has been on the short list of pens I have wanted from JetPens for as long as I can remember. I was finally able to squeeze it into a recent order, choosing the orange body from the blue, pink, and purple barrel colors available. The main feature of this pen is the ability of the pen to be carried as a compact pen with the cap on, but with the cap posted, it turns into a full size writing instrument.
The Tasche pulls this off well, but I had quite the time getting used to taking the cap off of the pen. When I first took the pen out of the envelope, I thought I knew how to get the cap off, but I had to fight it for a few seconds, put it down and think about it, and then go after it again before successfully opening the pen. Ok, I thought, now I can do this every time the same way. Next try, same difficulty, but after those first couple of times I knew what the pen wanted out of me when taking the cap off. Since it sizes down so small when closed, there is a long sliver of barrel in the longer than usual cap. This made it a bit tricky, but I've got the hang of it now and it is no problem.
When it was time to put it to the writing test, it performed very well. Better than I expected actually. The ink in my Ohto Orca Ceramic roller spread a little bit when I first used it and I eventually swapped out that ink cartridge of a gel ink refill. I am having no trouble with this cartridge though on my Doane Paper. I think the Ohto tasche is going to find a nice home in my backpack.
Click here for the XL review.
