The Pilot Evolt is a Japanese import pen with a metal body and industrial looks. It’s a 2+1, which means it combines two pens and a mechanical pencil. In this case the Evolt has a 0.7 mm ballpoint pen in black and red, and a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil. The pens are oil-based ballpoint refills. It uses Pilot’s RF-8 refills.
The “Bottle to Pen” or B2P is a recycling focused pen from Pilot’s gel line. It’s a similar pen to the Pilot G2, but uses recycled plastic from water bottles in order to deliver a green, Earth-friendly product. Every B2P pen is made from 860percent post-consumer recycled plastic from water bottles.
The Pilot Custom 74 is a popular “upgrade” pen. If you are looking for your first gold nib fountain pen or a super-reliable, no-nonsense pen under $150 (or under $100 if you import it from Japan) then the Custom 74 is one of the top options.
Continue reading “Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen”
The Pilot S20 is a Japanese executive pen. It’s the counterpart to the more popular S20 mechanical pencil, but it’s an excellent pen in its own right. The S20 has a contoured wood body and premium metal components. The design has a low center of gravity that aids in comfort and control.
The S20 is sometimes called the Escienti pen. Its retail price is 2000 JPY.
The Acroball is a hybrid pen from Pilot meant for everyday use. It’s a modern-day ballpoint with an advanced lubricated ink. Because the ink is oil-based Pilot considers it a ballpoint — hence you will sometime seen it called the Pilot Acroball Ballpoint Pen — it’s a hybrid pen as per Unsharpen’s definition. The ink is very smooth, purportedly with a viscosity that is just 20% of that of a standard ballpoint ink.
The Acroball has a retail price of 150 JPY and they use the BRFV-10 line of refills, for example the BRFV-10M for the 1.0 mm size.
The Custom 823 is a high-end vacuum-filling fountain pen from Pilot. It’s one of the brands premium pens, and one of the most expensive pens that doesn’t use exotic materials, limited editions, or hand-painting techniques (or anything else that would increase the price without fundamentally changing the writing experience).
The Pilot Custom Heritage 912 (aka CH912) is a black, cartridge converter fountain pen that is known for its huge nib selection. It has a 14k gold nib that is available in the normal sizes — like fine and medium — but also “soft fine medium” and “waverly” up-swept nib.
If you are in the market for a new rollerball pen or refill, you are probably looking to highlight the single most desirable feature of rollerballs: their smoothness.
If you want smoothness approaching that of a fountain, with the practicality of a ballpoint, then a rollerball is for you. Might as well choose the right one!
Continue reading “Choosing a Rollerball: Which is the Smoothest?”
The Pilot Kakuno is a entry-level fountain pen that is basically Pilot’s version of a student pen.