New Finds: Pilot V5, Pilot DR & Uni Pin Fine Line

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Here we have a couple of very interesting new finds discovered recently while shopping.

First up is a new range of Pilot V pens, the 5mm and 7mm variants, but these are new refillable pens, fantastic! I have always wondered why Pilot, didn't already do cartridge refill pens in the V series, now here they are. I'm still to try these out, but I'm sure they will probably write very much like the disposable version, price point look with little research to be about twice the standard price of disposable versions, which is OK i guess for a refill pen. Personally I think Pilot are missing out here, why not instead or as well, make a slightly more premium version of the V series pens that are refillable, I think more people would invest the extra money in something that will more likely last, a steel version or something similar. After all, the refill pen looks to be exactly the same as standard disposable, while the standard pen does last well till ink runs out, I wonder if the refill version will last 4 times as long. But all in all a nice development, this may well push me over to Pilot V series pens for every day use, shame the full range of colours doesn't seem to have been released, a small critique but may well be the decider for some.

Next are a couple of pens from Pilot and Uni. For those regular readers you probably already know that I am a fan of drawing pens, any and all sorts, pencils too, and pastels as well, basically any art implements. But my favorite are definitely drawing pens, technical pens some call them, usually these are form the classic manufactures of art consumables, as well as some Asian makers, Zig etc. and usually are hard to come by, if not nigh on impossible, unless you frequent art supplies shops, which usually charge a premium for stocking these.
Well here we have two new pens from Pilot and Uni, found at Asda (WalMart for our American friends), both of which are marketed as drawing pens, the difference between these and the normal variants being they come filled with pigment ink, which is naturally water and light resistant, meaning the line last longer when on display, an obvious importance when we are creating artworks, they are both sold for technical drawing/drafting purposes, but I'm sure they are perfectly acceptable for drawing in the artistic sense of the word.
The Pilot pen comes as a single pen per pack, I've already done a review post of the non-drawing version of the pen in an earlier post, have a look back as there is also some artwork created by me using the V5 Hi-Tec point pen. No doubt there will be varying nib widths of the pen, but on display was only the 03.
Second up is the Uni Pin fine line set of 5 pens, again filled with pigment ink, with a nice selection of nib widths in the pack, from 0.1 to 0.8, a really useful starter set for budding artists like me, these are also available in other colours, blue, dark blue, red, green, black, yellow/orange and purple. These seem very interesting pens to me, suiting my art and drawing style and I'm sure to be getting some of these soon, probably in all colours available. Watch out for a review as soon as I do.
One last note, the Uni pen pack of 5 was less than twice the price of the single Pilot pen, why I'm not sure, both brands are on a par in terms of quality and respectability, so I can only assume that the Uni pack is very reasonable.

Lamy Safari White Medium nib

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Here we have my newest addition to the pen addiction/collection/habit, a Lamy Safari fountain pen.

I'm sure many people know these pens, probably many owners reading this blog too, but this is my first Safari, I have owned Lamy pens before (now sadly lost over the years) but never a Safari, guess I've been a late arrival to the fan club. This is my daily user at present, as is usual with any new pen I get.

I tend to use my newest pen for a while, at least till the cartridge/refill runs out then move on to the newest pen or go out on a mission and buy a new pen, but with the Safari I have actually bought refill ink cartridges to keep it as a daily user, I guess that must say something for this pen, what though I will not commit to.

Obviously it's a white model with a medium nib, I've never actually seen a new Safari supplied with anything other a medium nib, anyone else? I know fine, broad and I believe italic replacement nibs are also available, but for now I'll stick with what it comes, whilst I like fine writers I'm not very good (read delicate/careful) with them so I find it best to avoid them, although lately I am finding myself becoming more and more drawn to a fine nib, especially for pocket notebooks, i like the idea of filling a page with fine, neat and small writing, this usually only last a few lines or days until i become lazy and slipshod.

The pen has a reassuringly firm feel to the pocket clip and capping responds with a discernible, if not audible, click. They are a very popular pen so I have high expectations of its robustness and life expectancy. 

Test time! So we can see that even though this test paper (the same one I use for all my pen tests) is very fibrous, not as smooth as normal writing or copier paper, the line put down by the pen does not bleed at all, surprised me! The nib does not pick up any fibers and exhibit dragged feathering like some do, I can only put this down to the nib split being very fine and tight, a good sign in any fountain pen.

Here is the nib in question, you can see the M to denote the nib width, medium in this case, notice also the slight raised collar around the base of the nib/barrel connection, this is the "clicky" mechanism that secures the pen top to pen barrel. At first i was dubious whether the smooth finger indentations would actually produce enough grip to be secure, but after continued use and various writing situations they do they job surprisingly well. The ink deposits you see have been there since the very first ink was run through the pen, in this case Lamy original purple, at first I was concerned that this would be one of those pens that deposited a lot of ink in the cap when they have traveled, in a bag, pocket, side of a book walking around, but on reflection its obvious that even with all the movement and bag carrying this pen has been through that it is actually a very good performer in that respect. If anyone has any other thoughts on that subject please do let me know, use the comments section down below.

As you can see, the cap interior does show ink traces, some of which must have come from the nib splashing while being transported, but hardly enough to cause concern or to class the pen as leaky. All in all I'm very pleased with its performance as a travelling pen, I may well give it a thorough test when we go on holiday in a couple of months, from which I will also being doing another Spanish stationery shop haul, so keep checking back for updates on some (hopefully) interesting finds.

The Lamy cartridge, inserted and in operation, is one of the larger/longer variety, not yhe Euro cartridge, this tends to be more common in European made pens and those that are classed as school/learner fountain pens. I have a slight preference for the Euro cartridge, purely because they are more widely available in non-stationery shops, having said that the fact hey use Lamy specific cartridges is not a problem, after all most pen makers do use some sort or variation of their own specific cartridge form. Notice also the aperture in the barrel of the pen.

Here is a close up of the aperture; apologies for the blur, my camera is not macro equipped, a useful feature enabling viewing of the cartridge in use to judge who close to empty the cartridge is, it means you will not have to carry a spare around with you all the time, or be for ever undoing the barrel to check levels, handy for an everyday pen, and at just the right level to give you a fair amount of ink left, yet still be close enough to empty and need to have new cartridge around.
In conclusion, my first Lamy Safari has been a very positive experience, is it my favourite pen and can I see where the big following comes from? I'm not sure yo be honest, I'm sure for some people its the perfect pen and no other will do, for me, I'm undecided as yet, I can see the plus points and the good points, only time and further use will tell if I find it as perfect a notebook pen as others do.

Cross ATX Pure Chrome ballpoint

Here we have the Cross ATX ball pen, as far as i am aware, they only do this model ballpen, there are of course pencil versions available in the ATX range as is usual with Cross model lines. This model is the standard Chrome finish, again they only did this finish in this model

And here is the test, as you would expect form a ballpoint the line is very precise and even, of course with all Cross pens it does not exhibit any skipping as can present with some ballpoints. The ink is, typically for a Cross, rather light from my personal preference, but having said that it is perfectly legible and dark enough for most people and their needs.
The pen has a very definite weight in the hand and could be tiresome for extended periods of writing for those with smaller hands, I have also found that extended writing activates the twist action, over time while writing (just a few minutes I find) the writing nib retracts into the pen barrel, meaning every few lines I have to stop and re-twist the barrel to extend the nib, my wife doesn't have this problem at all when she uses it, so it must just be me, but perhaps something to look out for if you have larger hands.
The pen itself seems to be a favorite for the corporate gift and present market as it has a large surface are for engraving, taking deep and defined engraving very well.

Of course there is no smudging, it's a ballpoint after all, although I am aware some ballpoints form the cheaper end of the market can & do smudge very badly, these tend to be very "wet" writing pens and are to be avoided, unless you like a "wet" pen, and you are a neater writer than me of course.

I am using the standard Cross ballpoint refill, to be hones the refills for Cross pens are so reasonable there is not much benefit trying to find an aftermarket/3rd party refill for most cross pens, the fountain pen refills are also very reasonable. This is the standard size refill that fits many pens throughout the Cross range, some pens need the removal of the plastic knurl at the top of the refill you can see in the photo, a very simple job to do, it just pulls off.
The plastic knurl is needed for all pens that have a twist to extend action, the super fine pen that Cross makes takes this refill too, it's a very popular pen that is often marketed as a ladies pen, which is a bit unfair as I think it makes the perfect suit pen, very light and easy to carry without making too much bulge or drag on a suit jacket.

As you can see the refill screws into the lower part of the barrel the twist action actually working the black collar ring you can see in the photo, that's where the thread son the black knurl come in to action.

Here we can see the nib extended, as you can see the extension is not huge, meaning the pen writes very much like you see it, and manages to stand up to a lot of abuse for those who are very hard pressing writers, some ballpoints have a very long extension which can lead to trouble for the heavier writer, it also means that it can write very quickly and feels very assured and robust in the hand.
All in all it's a very nice pen, let down (for me and my use) by the annoying retraction habit it exhibits while writing, but other than that, give it a try, as an everyday pen it's hard to beat, or even as a nice gift for yourself or someone else.

Erich Krause Liquid Line 0.5mm

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So here we have a new make to me, Erich Krause from Germany.

They seem to have a diverse range of products and types of pen that I can find in my local stores.

This pen is a liquid ink 0.5 mm nib fineliner, that writes very fine indeed for this size nib, but surprisingly not in a scratchy way, a big surprise considering the cost, just 0.99 pence.

The ink in the barrel is very dry with great fastness very soon after writing, unusual in my opinion for a liquid ink pen, they tend to be much wetter with a tendency to smudge for a while and have a wetness about them I usually find difficult to work with, whether writing or sketching.

The size of the pen is very nice, for me, not too long or short and has a nice weigh to it, the barrel and pen holding area is comfortable size. The barrel itself is finished in a slightly rubberized covering, only time will tell if it stands up to use or deteriorates quickly, I have a feeling it will, more on this later.

Here we have the cap and nib, the cap is unusually long, the recent trend seems to be for very short caps, personally I like a long cap, just feels more premium, the nib as you can see is short and very fine, I sometimes find with these needle type nib fine liners that that actual nib is too long meaning it can flex under pressure or rapid writing.
The pocket clips seems very strong on first impressions and is firmly attached to the cap barrel, lets hope it delivers what it promises.

Standard method ink delivery to the nib, the usual veined spiral system, the slight gap between nib casing and grip area is a slight puzzle, never come across this before, could this be a design flaw? I suspect it may start leaking from here at some point in the future.

And here we encounter the "issues" with the pen, the barrel unscrews, as I first assumed for refill insertion, but on closer inspection it became clear that the ink reservoir was actually molded into the nib carrier and ink veins, so while it may look refillable, it certainly is not.
Secondly, this pen was used only to write the test card, straight out of the packet, and as you can see the ink level is considerably below half way, in fact I would say there was only a quarter level in ink in the barrel. No doubt another cost saver and indicator of overall build quality and likely length of life. 
What started out as a promising looking pen, whilst it writes nicely and has some promise, ultimately disappointed, perhaps the maker is just starting out and waiting for some uptake before improving their pens, who knows, one to watch for now but I could not recommend a purchase or to but for regular users, the build quality slightly disappoints and the ink supplied would render the pen useless as a daily writer or every day pen.

Plus Office Star 4 Colour Mini

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On recent visit to Spain resulted in a decent haul of stationery, Spaniards love a stationery shop, but with recent global economy changes the prevalence and size of the shops has been decreasing, the fairly recent stocking by supermarkets of stationery for school/office use has also contributed to their decline.
Part of this haul was a Plus Office made 4 Colour mini, in the vein of the Bic colour multi pens, but a pocket sized version.

Comprising of red, blue, light green and black ink pens the pen is a very tactile and comfortable fit in the hand, the important purchase point here is the ink colour choice,the ubiquitous colours are all there, but the light green inclusion was the clincher for me. 

That and the design innovation of ascribing the black to the pocket clip, in other incarnations of this model from the major international manufacturers the retraction of a chosen colour is engineered by half pressing one of the other colours, the same is true here but the form factor has been intelligently designed to provide a more useful and roust pocket clip as well as a more considered and compact design.

Here we have the light green ink, to be fair the selector and in all tests, both initial and sustained, the ink does reflect the selector colour closely, if actually just a little darker, but not as dark as the standard Paper Mate 4 colour pen green and not as light as the Bic 4 colour pen special edition mint green, which is actually described as a turquoise, as well as the other included colours also being light version of the standard colours available.

And here we have the proof of the pudding as it were, as can be seen the colours are all pretty standard intensities and depths, the green is slighter than the normal greens available  but not too light to be unreadable or so dark to be overbearing, which I find BIC green pens to be, especially if using to write more than just comments, I do sometimes use green to write whole paragraphs, especially when reviewing notes and previous writing, red I reserve for changes and mark-up onmtext, green is a gentle addition, re-work etc.

One observation would be that the red does look pink, not as intense as BIC red or indeed other reds, some may see this as a failing but actually rather like it's hue and gentle tint.

And here is the black colour selector and model naming on the pocket clip, I presume the 0.7 refers to the nib width/line width, which i find a bit superflous on Biro pens, anyoen ever come across a bold Biro?

Here is the business end, the 4 colour refills, it can be hard to tell that these refill are of course mini size to fit the mini branding of the pen. Below the red is selected, as you can see extended selected colours do not protrude overly, all making for a compact and very hand friendly 4 colour pen.Generally I'm very pleased with this pen and the other models and variations from Plus Office, keep checking back for more, they seem so far very good value for money with lots of attention paid to design and function all, importantly, for a very reasonable price.

Guest Post: Notebook Love

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1986. A “Wuzzles” notebook and pencil. My first session at The Brownies. I took notes. 
1987. A blue, A5 hardback lined notebook. Torquay, Devon on a family holiday. I wrote poetry. 
1989. My cousin’s pale green typewriter from the late sixties and handmade paper fashioned into a book with punched holes and string. I wrote a horror story.
1993. A petite flower print, cushion covered journal with cream lined paper, each page edged with gold. I wrote secrets.

Just a few of the pivotal writing books I encountered on my journey from childhood to adolescence. They set in stone a path I continue to follow to this day. You might call it an addiction; Or perhaps an obsession? If Paperchase were a person I’d be a stalker. Sometimes, when I know I don’t have the money to buy, I’ll avoid going in, but walk past it several times and gaze longingly at the sale section near the front. If Waterstones were also a person,  I’d probably be in jail, on account of the times I simply go there to wander the bookcases, trailing my fingers over the many covered stories and breathing in the heady smell of paper filled with words.
My obsession ensures I now have a pile of notebooks; all different sizes, shapes and types of paper within. Some are lined, some are not. There’s a selection of A5 and A6 ones that are perfect for handbags. 

You never know when you might get the urge to let the pen take over. The hardback maroon and gold one is good for tales of adventure, because it looks like it may have been designed in some far off ancient land. The A6 one with the dolls on and the plastic cover, that one’s good for writing introspectively. Probably because the dolls are all identical; Many versions of one girl but although they look the same, they could be very different underneath.  The purple one has glitter crushed under the plastic cover. I like a bit of sparkle. That one’s for the stories that have a bit of sparkle too. 

Every Christmas and every birthday I ask for more. They are probably the one thing I know will never go to waste, because I will always write. Part of the writing process that I enjoy the most, is opening a book and staring at a blank page. The possibility; the promise. The feel of the paper, and how it might feel to someone else one day, when they find my notes and stories and poems and say “this is an original D A Pegg piece!”, because yes, one day I intend to be a fully-fledged writer whose work attracts attention. 

I will walk into Waterstones and see my name on the shelves and I will watch as others come in and buy my stories. And I’ll still go to Paperchase, maybe in disguise, to buy more notebooks. More pads and pens. 
I’m the one who in a service station or newsagents, will always check out the notepads and envelopes. I’ll hold the queue up picking out 1 black Bic, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green and a 15cm ruler; Things to go with my nice new, clean notebook. 
Nowadays we have laptops. Tablets. Desktops. Even phones to record our thoughts, and yes, I do use them, but I still find the best writing always begins on paper.

2013. The poet’s notebook, soft, thin black card cover. Cream watermarked pages with quotes decorating headers and footers. Quotes from poems. I wrote the opening of a masterpiece. If it doesn't turn out quite as I hope, there’s always the next new notebook to fill.

Thanks to Danielle Pegg, a published writer who also loves sparkly things, poetry and lots of lovely things, why not check her out www.apeggortwo.webs.com

Pens in the wild - Tratto 1

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A new theme of posts, possibly, lost/discarded/abandoned pens.
This inaugural post is of a Tratto 1 twist action Biro, very much like a standard Bic Biro we all know and use, but with a twist action to extend the nib. 

A nice little design touch I thought,  rather like the look of this pen, no idea what it writes like, so please leave a comment if you have used these or any of their extended range, all of which can be found here www.fila.it (english page link).
They seem to have a very nice range of disposable and refillable pens, as well as a large range of arts and crafts materials and also make up, bit out of leftfield there.

NATIONAL STATIONERY WEEK!

Yes, that's right, it's National Stationery Week here in Britain, ran in conjunction with Royal Mail and The National Literacy Trust, supported by Sheaffer, Uni-Ball, Faber-Castell, Letts and Filofax.
There is a great competition to enter and a list of participating retailers who will be running special promotions and other activities as part of the campaign.
Why not have a look and join in, I certainly am.

@NatStatWeek

W.H.Smith Euro Cartridge Mini Rollerball

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W.H.Smith is a UK retailer of books, stationery, magazines and much more besides.
A great national chain of shops for fetishists like us, admittedly their prices are higher than online shops but I do believe it's good to patronise them for some things and to check out new stuff before buying.
These pens I bought a long time ago, having only recently got round to using them properly, I was so very excited and intrigued by them but ultimately disappointed, let me explain.

 They are unusual in that they are rollerballs that are;

1. Refillable and,
2. Accept a Euro cartridge, just like a fountain pen.

They are/were sold in a twin pack with the standard 2 cartridges free, one each of blue and black for a nice change, instead of the usual blue only. Each having a colour corresponding ring on the barrel/nib end connection.

They are a "mini" variety of pen, more of which later, as you can tell from the size of the lid in relation to the unposted pen length in the above picture, comprising a cartridge accepting barrel and standard style rollerball veined delivery system.

The clip is suitably strong enough to work with any pocket, a nice clear design appeals to me and gives a nice look in general to the pen, as well as aiding viewing of ink levels of course.

The writing nib is very fine, something I like, but of course that is all up to personal taste, the written line is very fine and precise, consistent and great for those who like a very small letter size, ideal for pocket notebooks, or so I first thought.

Although the written line is very fine, it is very easy to control and still lays down an even and useable thickness, a very strong fine line, some fine line pens are too fine to be usable and result in skipping and faintness of letter. (apologies for the cropped scan).

Here we can see the disassembled pen, clearly illustrating the comparable size of lid, barrel and nib/ink delivery section, further highlighting the "mini" size of the pen, another reason why I initially thought the pen would be ideal as a daily "pocketer".
I find them very difficult to write with for one main reason, when the cap is posted to the end of the barrel the length is very comfortable and perfectly acceptable for extended writing or quick notes, what isn't is the behaviour of the cap when posted. it simply will not stay on teh barrel, it doesn't fit far enough down the barrel to retain a secure fitting, the slightest movement will dislodge the cap, sometimes even popping of itself without any encouragement, meaning that it's almost impossible to use (for me) as the barrel without a posted cap means the pen is too short and "falls" into the hand, wobbling about without the bracing against the hand option.

And here is the Euro cartridge accepting nibe section at the business end as it were, pushing onto the cartridge accepting post is very easy and retains cartridges snugly and securely without any danger of leaking or coming loose in normal use and transportation, but there is still a let down coming...

The pen in normal, everyday use and transport is very wet, in that it leaks a lot, not from the actual writing nib, but from the junction of ink delivery veins and surrounding barrel, so much so that after every use the pen leaks ink all over the fingers gripping it, more than is acceptable and tolerable, both pens exhibited this behaviour. This got to such a point that I had to dispose of both pens, sadly, I was very optimistic and excited with these pens.
One last point, W.H.Smith no longer sell these pens and for a long while I didn't see them or anything similar for a long time, until I came across these...

These form Paper-Mate are virtually identical to my eyes, bar the odd design difference and packaging variation, hopefully from an international maker the leaking will not present in these as much as in the test models above, full test and review coming soon.

WINNER!

Won £50 voucher with Artifolk to spend on their site.
I am ridiculously pleased, why not check out www.artifolk.co.uk for great products at great prices.
In weeks to come there will be posts on results of all the lovely stuff I have bought from them with this voucher, keep checking back.

Wilkinson Gel Roller Ball

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Wilkinson is a UK department store (click for more info) that usually has a very good range of stationery at the budget end of the market branded as their own make as well as branded makes, here.
This particular pen is sold as a pack of 5 for a very reasonable £1.15 ($1.76/C$1.79) in a plastic wallet in the standard blue and black, all of which are a fine nib.

As you can see it is a very basic looking pen without frills or ornamentation, what else can you expect or want for the price? It is in fairness a nicely balanced pen and a very robust construction, it is not refillable.

As I have found with most Gel Rollers the inked line is very wet and susceptible to smudging and wiping, but this could be down to my writing style as much as the ink wetness. The line laid down is a very pleasing solid black wiht little or no skipping, writes from first use consistently and evenly.

Posted or capped the pen is nicely balanced and not overly long or short, the crip part of the barrel is covered in a soft knurled rubber cover which stands up to use for the writing life of the pen, more on this later, the cap has a pocket clip denoting ink colour but it does nto hodl the pen in pocket very firmly on thin pockets or material, the clip also comes away form the lid easily, perhaps due to the breathing hole designed into the lid.

The lid does cap with a reassuring click and stay on the pen barrel well in transport.

Other than the comments above there is not much more to say about the pen, but there is one final point to make which I believe is vital, and that is the writing life span.

When using this pen solidly for note making on an A5 writing pad the pen only lasted for 4 or 5 pages, I've used two now over 10 pages, admittedly the full page was covered in writing, but I feel that a pen of this size should last longer, does anyone else have any thoughts or comments on the writing life if ink in pens of this sort? But in fairness what can you expect for the price, some pens of the same style and ink cost 2 or 3 times more for just one. In closing I can't really fault or criticise the pen any more than above, I think they write very nicely, have a reassuringly black line and are very reasonably priced.

*UPDATE*

Just finished another pen, this one lasted a bit longer, 6 and a half pages, but not much more. The pen and ink do write consistently until the very last letters, no skipping or reluctance to write evenly, so you do get to use every last drop of ink. I'm still undecided f these are a bargain or a waste of money, if only the refill was larger/lasted longer, I would gladly pay more as the pen itself and nib are very nice for the current price.

Paper Mate Flair Nylon

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So here we have the ubiquitous Paper Mate Fibre Tip writing pen, again I have issues with manufacturers stipulating what pens should be used for, surely it's up to the user, but I guess they have to discern their intended use for design, ink properties etc.
Personally I like these pens a lot, for writing they are effortless to use, for quick notes on the 
post-it notes etc (how I usually use these for) they are ideal, as well as for marking up labels and discs etc where permanence is not needed or wanted, the ink I have found can easily be washed away from smooth surfaces easily, although i agree not everyone may have such a specific need or use in mind.
They do bleed through heavily on many papers, even heavy ones, they are in my opinion quite a "wet" pen all be it a fibre tip, the nib I have found over time does wear on the writing side and find it advisable to rotate the pen over long writing or marking sessions to avoid heavy wear on one side, if not the nib becomes very flexible and approaches a level of wear such that it is rendered unusable.

As you can see the pen itself is a very basic affair, a solid colour plastic barrel with the maker's mark only appearing on the metal pocket clip, a sticker is usually placed on the barrel with barcode when bought singularly, though these can be bought in multipacks, of single colours of various colours, I have seen the black, red & blue versions everywhere but other colours are available, such as purple & turquoise which I have only ever spotted in Staples.

As you  can see the line is very black and wide, even though the tip can be rather fine when new the line from first writing is a Bold thickness, over time the line widens with use to the point of almost writing like a brush pen. Although the ink lays down wet and can show through on most paper types feathering is not too much of a concern, the paper used for test is standard 5" x 3" index cards and very absorbent, the line draws rapidly despite these characteristics. Paper Mate assure the ink will not bleed through, so maybe I should clarify that it "shows" through more than bleeds through, it is after all a very black, thick line so draw your own conclusions on where and when you should or shouldn't use it, I personally would not use it in a pocket notebook or on any papers less than 100gsm if you intend to use both sides. Be aware also that over time, considerable time admittedly, the ink does yellow and exhibit a rainbow corona, especially if ever exposed to dampness.

Here's the nib in it's new state, and the ever present bar code, as you can see the point presents a nice writing size for those who prefer a more Bold line than a fineliner, the cap i sery long in retrospect which does make for a long posted pen to write with, some prefer this some don't, which ever way you like it I find it very easy to write with posted or not as it is a very light pen and does not exhibit and back heavy ness when posted or feel to short when not.

The pocket clip does stand up well to use and carries the pen firmly when used on shirt/thin pockets, but it does fatigue quickly when it has to stand up to any sort of abuse or exuberant fiddling, I actually de-clip these pens when I intend to use them for any length of time, I just find it a more aesthetically pleasing look without the clip.

Available almost everywhere.