Pilot FriXion Ball Slim 0.38 mm Orange Review

If you didn't know this already I am a big fan of orange. Orange pens, orange barrels, orange inks, orange detailing, pretty much anything orange. There is no real reason why, other than the fact I am not a fan of red, so I use orange as my red replacement.

What I have never been a huge fan of is the Pilot FriXion line. They are completely fine pens, but usually not for me. They are growing on me though, especially as the product line matures. I think the turning point for me was the FriXion Biz, which is the only FriXion I use regularly, but the recently released Pilot FriXion Ball Slim may join the club.

The Slim has two things going for it: An ultra-fine 0.38 mm tip, and a slim but comfortable barrel design. I like these slim single cartridge barrels more than I ever thought I would, starting with the Uni-ball Style Fit. The FriXion Slim feels great in the hand and is very manuverable. The knock is placed subtly on the side of the barrel allowing for the eraser to be placed properly on the top of the pen.

I think the 0.38 mm tip is even finer than that. It writes more like a Uni-ball Signo DX 0.28 mm to me. That means there is some scratchiness when writing, which should be expected on a pen this fine.

Where the FriXion runs circles around other pens in this category is erasibility. No other company can hold a candle to Pilot in this area, so if an erasable gel ink pen is what you need, look no further than the FriXion.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 50 - Investigative Pen Journalism

In Episode 50 of The Pen Addict Podcast we could have hung it up right after Myke's hilarious intro but we pressed on with discussions around upgraded paper in the latest Field Notes edition and the re-emergence of DoanePaper.com (hopefully for good!)

We spent most of the episode covering my excellent adventure to the Atlanta Pen Show. I love making Myke jealous!

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2013 Atlanta Pen Show Recap - Part 2

(Read Part 1 right here)

One thing I have learned about fountain pens is that I don't want to buy without doing my homework. This sounds like common sense, but often times I get caught up in the moment, which is exactly why I went to the pen show with a plan. The Vacumatic was not part of that plan. Once I saw the amber glow of of this 3rd generation Silver Pearl model the plan changed quickly.

There were nearly as many Vacumatics available at the pen show as there were 51's, so I went into full research mode. The one I liked turned our to be a somewhat basic model, but the Silver Pearl seemed to be outnumbered by Emerald Pearl and Azure Blue models by about 10-to-1. The condition was great and I could not stop thinking about it. Welcome home my friend!

By now, it is almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon and it was finally my turn to sit with Mike Masuyama. I had a great talk with him and he was exceedingly helpful. He adjusted my Lamy 2000, my faceted Pilot Vanishing Point, and my just acquired Edison Pearl. I am thrilled with how all of them turned out. I learned a ton in my short time with Mike, so look for a full blog post on this topic alone in the near future.

This was a very successful show for me up to this point but there was a pen I had spotted earlier that I circled back on: the Pelikan M405. Pelikans were not even on my radar until a month or so ago when I received a couple to try out from Thomas. I used his M405 in all black and fell in love.

Richard and Barbara Binder had the full Pelikan line on display, so I was able to handle them to my hearts content. I did this on at least three different occasions, trying to make up my mind if I wanted one, and if so, which one it would be. Both the M405 models were available: All Black or Blue Striated. I was fairly certain I wanted the black (the green ink window is killer), but the more I came back, the better looking the Blue Striated model became. It was the winner and I am completely thrilled with it.

The Pelikan was by far my biggest purchase and just about tapped out my budget. That was good because it was almost 4pm at this time. I was tired, hungry, and ready to hit the road home.

The Atlanta Pen Show was a huge success not just for the pens I purchased but also the people I met and the knowledge I gained. I've said it before and I'll say it again - pen people are some of the nicest people on the planet.

Time to start the countdown - and the saving - for the 2014 Atlanta Pen Show!