(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
It's been well over a year now since I've been to any kind of pen show or gathering, so I was delightfully surprised to see the PenBBS 308 fountain pen show up because it's made of acrylic. The acrylic body reminds me so much of being at pen shows and touring all the unique and creative custom pens that local makers bring in. A lot of these custom pens are turned with colorful acrylic materials, and it's one of my favorite things about going to pen shows.
While the PenBBS 308 Pacific isn't as cool or well-made as the custom acrylic pens I enjoy at pen shows, it's still a solid pen with plenty to love. For me, the bright color and chunky material really sets it off and convinces me to pick it up over other pens 90% of the time.
Let's back up a little bit. Who is PenBBS? It's a Chinese pen company that takes feedback and design cues from its vibrant community, and produces real products to sell to the rest of the world. It's a fantastic concept, and I've really enjoyed the limited number of products I've used from them so far. Prior to this pen, I knew them solely as an ink brand, but I'm delighted to know they make some pretty awesome pens as well.
The PenBBS 308 model is a traditional shape and size that's similar to a Pilot 74, Platinum 3776, or Pilot Metropolitan. It's a great size that should fit most hands and grips without a problem. The materials are acrylic resin and silver hardware accents. The cap band features some script etched in to show the model number and brand. I'm not a fan of the way they styled the "Pen bbs" brand name on the band, but it doesn't bother unless I look closely. I wish they'd used capital "BBS" letters instead of lower case because it otherwise looks like a single word that you can't really pronounce.
The clip is strong and has a classic shape. It fits nicely with the rest of the pen's aesthetic.
The Pacific colorway that I have is light enough to show some of the inner workings of the pen. I love seeing the outline of thread cuts inside the pen body. The light green/blue/turquoise materials aren't smoothly melted together; instead, they look blocky and jagged under the smooth surface of the polished exterior. This isn't a new material style, but I really love the unique combination of colors and textures that it creates. Like I said earlier, it's nearly impossible to pass by without picking it up.
This fairly normal pen has a nice trick up its sleeve. As I was unscrewing the pen for the first time so I could ink it up, I felt the familiar resistance and soft friction of a rubber o-ring. Sure enough, there's a small o-ring on the bottom of the section so that you can easily turn this pen into an eyedropper. Just add a little silicone grease to the threads, and you're ready to go. The o-ring adds a little extra protection against leaks, and also makes it more secure from accidentally becoming unscrewed while in transit or when unscrewing the cap. According to the marketing materials, it holds nearly 3ml of ink! That's quite a lot to work with, but I haven't made the plunge of filling it yet, as I've been very happy with the size of the included converter.
I'm really happy that they include a converter with this pen. In this case, they're using a proprietary cartridge fitting that isn't compatible with the standard international short fitting. Your options here are using the included converter or eyedropping the pen. I'm sure you could also use Parker-branded refills if you already have some, but that's not something I'm interested in doing since it's a fairly uncommon refill type and I have so many more interesting inks to use.
I inked this pen with Diamine Marine, which I only have in international short cartridge form. I used a syringe to extract the ink from the cartridge and then injected it to the converter. I can tell you that this PenBBS converter holds exactly the same amount of ink as a standard international short cartridge.
Writing with this pen is a dream. The steel nib is smooth and dependable. I didn't have to do any adjustments of my own — it wrote beautifully right out of the box. The fine tip is exactly what I expect in terms of line width, and the ink flow is superb. I haven't had any issues with the nib drying up or skipping, and it's also super easy to clean out.
Overall, I've been really surprised by how well the PenBBS 308 writes and feels. It's a beautiful object and feels great in the hand. What really takes this over the top is the price point. At $38, this is a no-brainer. It's a fantastic pen on its own, and this price just doesn't make sense to my brain. If you're interested in this pen and like any of the 8 available colors nab one for yourself and/or a friend. You only get one nib choice — fine — but it's a great performer and fits this pen perfectly. Along with the pen and converter, it also includes a really nice single pen kimono in a coordinated color. Excellent touch! I'm really looking forward to what else the PenBBS community have in store.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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