Everyman’s flagship model is the Grafton Pen. It’s an anodized, 6061 aluminum pen with a deep grooved grip, machine screw attached clip, and an anodized aluminum knock.
Everyman is a company established in Los Angeles, California in 2016 that specializes in “everyday carry” (or EDC for short) products. Most of their products have been launched via Kickstarter campaigns. Their most popular line of products is the Grafton EDC pen.
Everyman Grafton EDC Pen Review
The design of the Grafton is sparse yet sleek and the pen has a single “E” logo on the clip. The body separates by unscrewing at the grip and the seam is nicely hidden in the top-most groove. The pen is offered in four colors: black, gold, silver, and gunmetal. The price is about $35.
The Grafton looks nice and feels well made. The aluminum body, while light, has a good feel and balances well in the hand. The weight is also ideal for extended note taking, neither being too heavy nor too light.
The clip is strong, and the two machine screws used for attachment are a nice touch. It has yet to be seen whether they might loosen up over time and use.
While the machined grooves in the grip really add to its sleek, industrial design, they don’t help with grip (especially if you have sweaty hands). The click however is quite satisfying. It’s on the stronger side, has an excellent feel, and has a nice sound.
Honestly, it’s just a good-looking pen. The only problem I’ve seen with this pen, mechanically speaking, is that the knock mechanism is plastic. You can unscrew the knock and beneath it is a spring and a threaded plastic top piece. This isn’t necessarily bad, but the threaded part can sometimes get bent and cause the knock button to not sit straight, which can be bothersome.
Everyman has said that they are aware of the issue. The company tells buyers to unscrew the button and tighten it back down, but this only works if it has been cross-threaded instead of the plastic piece being bent. It would have been a better choice to use metal in that part of the mechanism.
The biggest selling point is that Everyman claims the pen can use several different refills. These include:
- Grafton gel refills
- Fisher Space Pen refills
- Monteverde ballpoint refils
- Parker-style G2 refills
- Bic Gel refills
- Uni-ball Jetstream (SXR-5, 7, or 10) refills
- Pilot G2 rollerball refills
Grafton’s own refills are a plastic-bodied Parker-style G2 cartridges so there’s no surprise it would accept other Parker G2 refills, like the Parker Quinkflow, Schmidt EasyFlow 9000, or Monteverde Capless gel. These, along with the Fisher PR4 and Monteverde ballpoint refills, require an aluminum spacer that is preinstalled with the Grafton refill the pen ships with as well as the stock return spring.
For longer refills, like the Pilot G2 or Uni-ball Jetstream, the pen ships with a separate spring and you remove the spacer to accommodate them. It a pretty ingenious system if you keep up with the spacer and springs (and don’t lose them). Thankfully, if you order pack of Grafton refills, the also give you a replacement spacer and spring.
A pen is only as good as its refill and Everyman has given you good choices to work with, so writing quality overall is excellent. However, I do not recommend the Grafton refills. $9 will get you a pack of three — in either black or blue ink — but they tend to frequently skip and are very frustrating to use.
My suggestion would be to choose your favorite Parker-style or rollerball refill and go from there. Personally, I prefer the Parker-style G2 Monteverde capless gel refill. Jetstream refills would also be a top recommendation in either the standard ballpoint style or the SXR-600. If you prefer a bolder line, go for the SXR-10 since the Parker-style refills are only available in 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm.
Everyman Grafton Alternatives
While I really like this pen and enjoy using it, I can’t say it’s the best pen at its price point.
For about $8 dollars you can get a Pentel Energel Alloy or a Zebra Sarasa Grand which both have all-metal bodies and you can use Energel, Sarasa, or even Pilot-style refills.
For about $15, you can get an all-stainless Parker Jotter “Flighter” model and use whatever Parker-style refill you want.
If you’re a rollerball fan you can get a Retro 51 Tornado for about $25 and use the Schmidt “P812x” refills.
For about $30 you can get a Rotring 600 which uses Parker-style cartridges and is an excellent all-metal pen.
The only thing that makes the Everyman Grafto worth its $35 price tag is the ability to use a large number of refills, so if you really like having several options for one pen body then I would say this is a solid pick-up and a decent, more affordable alternative to the BigiDesign Ti Arto EDC titanium pen. If you already have a refill that you favor and like to use the majority of the time, then I’d say skip this one though.
Everyman Grafton Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Everyman |
| Pen Type | Rollerball / Gel, Ballpoint |
| Rating | |
| Barrel Color | Black, Gold, Silver, Gunmetal |
| Barrel Material | Aluminum |
| Body Diameter (mm) | 11 |
| Grip Color | Black, Gold, Silver, Gunmetal |
| Grip Material | Aluminum |
| Grip Diameter (mm) | 11 |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| MSRP | $35 |
| Still Sold | Yes |
| Release Year | 2017 |
| Similar To | |
| Refills | |
| Capped? Retractable? | Retractable - Top Button |
| Clip? | Metal |
| Length Capped / Retracted (cm) | 14.5 |
| Weight (g) | 28.3 |