The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 127 - My Idea Dock Is Sideways

Aaron Draplin painted his house to match his Field Notes. Discussing topics like this makes my world go round, and we have topics galore in this episode. Myke made a trip to Paris and found a new stationery shop, my new Nakaya arrived, I took a picture of my desk, and we even discovered that a carrot makes a good pen. Who knew?

Show Notes & Download Links

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Yoropen Z3 Review

The Yoropen is one of the most interesting pens I have ever had the chance to review. I’ve been aware of it for years, and it has been around much longer that that, but it’s only now that the Yoropen Z3 has hit the market that one has landed on my desk. My thanks to the Yoropen team for loaning me this pen to review.

The ergonomic design of the Z3 is obviously the selling point of this pen. It might look crazy, but in use it lowers the stress on your fingers, wrist, and hands. It also allows better visibility to the page so you can see what you are writing, as well as a smudge-free writing experience since the tip of the pen is further away from your hand.

So, does it work? In my limited testing I would have to say yes. I didn’t spend weeks and weeks with it as my lone writer, but when I did sit down and dedicate the time to use it I thought it was great. I was worried that despite the ergonomic benefits that my handwriting would suffer, but the opposite happened. I think the Yoropen actually improved my handwriting.

The key to gripping the pen is a straight index finger down the top of the pen, pointing straight down towards the tip. I have a traditional pen grip so this was easy for me to lock in to. Those with a non-traditional grip will have a bigger adjustment to make.

When writing, it feels like more of brush pen stroke than a traditional writing pen movement. It is freeing and flowing and yes, it does relieve some of the stress inherent with normal pens. It feels good, and as I mentioned earlier, I really liked how my lettering turned out on the page. Those who write in cursive may even find it better as they can keep their flow going.

Are there any downsides? Nothing major I can think of but there are things to consider. Primarily, the refills. They are proprietary, but that is a good thing in this case as they are made to fit the Yoropen perfectly. There are ways to use other refills with the pen but I would be most comfortable using the ones made specifically for it. At $50 it isn't cheap, but it is very fair considering the material, engineering, and quality of the pen.

Yoropen put together a successful Kickstarter project earlier this year to bring the Z3 to the North American market. The ballpoint pen is available for pre-order now with an estimated shipping date of December. Be sure to check out Yoropen.us to read more on the design, specs, and see videos of the pen in action. My thanks again to Yoropen for letting me borrow this pen for review.