Pilot's Dr. Grip Full Black Retractable Ballpoint Pen

A Big Box Store Bargain: Pilot Dr. Grip Full Black

August 30, 2016

Do you ever have those moments where you discover something great that you had completely forgotten about? A year or so ago I threw a couple of inexpensive retractable ballpoint pens into my shopping cart during an Office Depot run, intending to keep them around as utility pens and, eventually, to review them on the blog. I discovered them again in my wife's car this past weekend while moving some furniture. One of them was this Dr. Grip Full Black, and I've been using it off-and-on since.

A close-up of the Dr. Grip section, featuring rubber/gel padding that makes for a very comfortable writing experience over long sessions.

The Dr. Grip Full Black is the "stealth" entry in Pilot's long running, and very popular, Dr. Grip series. Loved for their comfort more than their looks, Pilot advertises Dr. Grip pens as intended for "students, office workers, or anyone who writes a lot and requires a comfortable pen in their hand." The Dr. Grip series has also received an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation, because it's "easier to use for people with arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other hand problems." The central feature of the Dr. Grip series is the wide, comfortable rubber grip.

The Dr. Grip Full Black uses Pilot's Dr. Grip "Center of Gravity" ballpoint refill, which from what I can tell comes only in a medium point. Though a touch wide for my taste, it's one of the smoothest standard ballpoint refills out there on the market, and it writes a consistent dark black line. The "Center of Gravity" line of Dr. Grip pens claims to be better balanced than the standard Dr. Grip, and I suppose it is. Taking into account the cushioned grip, overall balance, and light weight, this is a very comfortable pen to write with.

A size comparison between the Dr. Grip Full Black against the Fisher Space Pen (far right), the Kaweco Supra (second from left) and the Kaweco Brass Sport (far left)

The Dr. Grip Full Black falls into the category of pens that I think of as "cheap refillables": non-disposable pens that are inexpensive ($10 or less) and readily available. Previously, I reviewed the Pentel Energel Alloy, and the Pilot G2 Limited, both of which are excellent options if you need a sturdy pen body, enjoy a specific refill, and don't have a lot of cash to burn. These pens are all readily available at big box office supply stores, and most are Prime-eligible on Amazon. The Dr. Grip Full Black and its sibling, the Dr. Grip Pure White, are available via Amazon as both stand-alone items and lower-priced add-ons. There's even a Dr. Grip Full Black "Shaky Pencil," which I've not tried.

I've always believed that you can get an excellent writing experience in an non-disposable pen for around $10, even at the big box stores. I'd highly recommend you give the Dr. Grip Full Black (or any of the Center of Gravity Pens) a try, especially if you value comfort and ergonomics.

(Note: A few years ago there was a rumor that Pilot was discontinuing the Dr. Grip series. I don't think that's the case, since they are still widely available and Pilot has been introducing new models.)

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen featured in this review with my own funds for my own use.

The Pilot Custom 823 Vacuum-Fill Fountain Pen

Pen Review: Pilot Custom 823

August 27, 2016

The Pilot Custom 823 is one of those pens that sat on my “to purchase” list for a very long time before I actually pulled the trigger at the 2016 Atlanta Pen Show. Once I inked this pen up, I silently kicked myself for waiting so long. I could have saved myself a lot of wasted time and money by paying a little extra for the pen I knew I would like, rather than embarking on a futile quest to find a lower-priced substitute. (Yes, I’m talking to YOU, circa 2015 TWSBI Vac-700.)

Design and Build

While I’m not sure Pilot has a “flagship” pen, the Custom 823 sits atop the mainstream Pilot lineup, both in terms of size and price point. At $288 from almost all retailers, it’s definitely one of the most expensive pens sold under the Pilot mark that is readily available in the US. Only the Pilot Justus, which sports a nib that adjusts from firm to semi-flex, costs more.

The Pilot Custom 823 with gold trim and transparent amber acrylic. The pen holds a massive amount of ink, and it's fun to watch it slosh around inside the barrel.

First impressions: I’m typically not a gold-trim guy, but I find the gold trim very nice-looking here, as it complements the amber acrylic. You don’t see transparent demonstrators in this color very often at all (I struggle to even think of another example). In keeping with the light brown color scheme, the section, blind cap, and cap finial are solid brown.

The Pilot Custom 823 is a big pen. Given the length, I’d imagine that most people would want to use this pen unposted, and certainly those with smaller hands. That said, the pen is lightweight (the amber material is acrylic, after all) and the cap posts deeply, so I often post this pen when I’m on the go and don’t have a safe place to rest the cap. I’ve never had an issue with the weight.

Pilot ships this pen in a standard presentation box with a large bottle of Pilot/Namiki standard blue ink. I’ve not used the ink yet, but it gets excellent reviews, and I’m already a fan of Pilot Blue Black.

And now we get to the filling system, which probably serves as both an incentive and disincentive for people to purchase this pen. The Pilot Custom 823 is a vacuum-fill pen, not a cartridge/converter or piston filler. The pen fills when you retract and depress a metal plunger, creating in a vacuum that sucks ink into the pen on the downstroke. The pen holds an absolutely massive volume of ink, making it the perfect pen for someone who writes a lot for long stretches without an opportunity to refill. I haven’t measured, but my understanding is that completely full, the pen holds 2.2ml of ink. Writers or compulsive notetakers need to seriously consider this pen. Along with the Conid Bulkfiller, it’s my weapon of choice when I’m headed out on the road and only want to take 1-2 pens with me. Between the two of them, they hold at least a week’s worth of ink. Note: A vacuum-filler is different from the vintage “vacumatic” filling system, which is a pump filler. (See my previous review/explanation of the vacumatic filling system here.)

The filling system also makes the Pilot Custom 823 an excellent traveling companion because it's essentially leak-proof. When the blind cap is closed, it seals the ink in the reservoir, preventing leaks caused by pressure changes on an airplane, in a hot car, etc. If you are going to use the pen for longer writing sessions, however, you will need to loosen the blind cap slightly to open the seal and allow ink to flow freely. With the blind cap closed, the feed holds enough ink to get 1-3 pages of writing, depending on the size of the nib and your handwriting.

The Nib and Overall Writing Experience

I rarely have a bad experience with Pilot nibs. On the high end pens that I’ve tried such as the Custom 74, the Custom Heritage 92, and now the Custom 823, the nibs need little-to-no-tuning. Unless you order directly from Japan, the Custom 823 is available only in Pilot's stock fine, medium, and broad 14k nib. It’s a large, stiff nib, labeled “No. 15” size, which is roughly the equivalent of a German No. 6.

Pilot’s stock nibs run slightly wider than Japanese nibs made by Sailor and Platinum. Had I purchased a stock nib with the intention of writing with it unmodified, I probably would have gone with a fine. However, since I acquired this pen at a pen show, I purchased the medium so that I could have Mark Bacas add an architect’s grind.

For those of you unfamiliar with specialty nib grinds, an architect’s grind is best described as a “reverse stub” or “reverse cursive italic.” These two grinds have wide downstrokes and narrow cross-strokes, whereas the architect’s nib features a wide cross-stroke and a narrow downstroke. (See the writing sample below, and I’ve written more on this here.)

Writing sample of a medium architect's grind

So what do I think? Every time I write with this pen, it fills me with joy. It’s a true “writer’s pen”, and has made my list of pens that I always have inked and at the ready. I can’t stomach the thought of this pen wasting away time sitting in storage, and when you’re as big of a pen-hoarding crazy person as I am, that says a lot.

This Pen is NOT a Good Fit For…

Serial ink changers or neat freaks. 2.2ml of ink will last you a loooong time. You’re not going to be “writing through a fill” in an afternoon, unless a sudden attack of hypergraphia sets in. Furthermore, vacuum filling systems are somewhat difficult to clean. Sure, you can flush most of the ink out fairly easily, but you’ll always have just a touch of residue around the seal and caught in the silicone grease that seals the threads. Unless you’re extremely sophisticated with pen repair and assembly, I’d recommend learning to live with this and NOT taking the pen apart, which voids your Pilot warranty.

Where to Buy

The Custom 823 currently retails for $336 (as of 2023). While it’s a not-inexpensive pen, the combination of the filling system and larger 14k gold nib still makes this pen a relative bargain, especially once you consider how easily most gold-nib fountain pens jump above the $400 mark. Until recently, one of the drawbacks to living in the United States (or, really, “outside of Japan”) was that you didn’t have access to the Custom 823 in any color other than Amber. While that’s changed somewhat as of the date this review has been updated (2023), in that Pilot now sells the “Smoke” black demonstrator in the U.S., U.S.-based retailers still don’t have access to the clear demonstrator version, or the special colors released through Japanese retailers such as Bungubox.

Pen Review: Pelikan Classic M205 Transparent Blue Demonstrator

August 20, 2016

Apparently 2016 is the year of bringing back old pens out of the Pelikan archive. In addition to reissuing their classic M120 fountain pen (a school pen popular in the 1950s and 1960s), Pelikan, to my delight, also decided to reach back not quite so far and resurrect the M205 Transparent Blue Demonstrator, an extremely popular special edition pen that ended its run five years ago before I could pick one up. Once I found out that this pen was coming back, there was no chance I was going to miss it again.

Build and Writing Experience

The Pelikan M205 on its white faux-leather envelope-style packaging.  (A "penvelope?") — The Pelikan M205 on its white faux-leather envelope-style packaging. (A "penvelope?")

The "new" M205 transparent blue demonstrator is basically the same pen as the original, with one change. Per the Pelikan website, the ring at the top of the cap is now chromium-plated, as opposed to black on the original model. Like the original, it's a piston filler and sports a stainless steel nib. I purchased a fine.

I opted for a fine nib on my Pelikan M205, which has been ground to a cursive italic by Dan Smith (The Nibsmith).

The nib on my Pelikan M205 was excellent, both out of the box and after being tuned and ground by Dan Smith at the 2016 D.C. Pen Show. Pelikan steel nibs are some of the highest quality steel fountain pen nibs out there, and Pelikan's steel nibs write relatively true to size, as opposed to their gold nibs, which in my experience run extremely wide. I'd characterize the fine nib on my pen as a true western fine, but it definitely had enough tipping material to grind into a smooth cursive italic.

The line variation on this fine cursive italic is excellent. The ink used in this writing sample is Iroshizuku Asa-gao. The paper is Clairefontaine French (Seyes) ruled.

Otherwise, the M205 is your typical well-constructed Pelikan. The piston mechanism is smooth and reliable. The only potential issue I can spot with this pen's construction is the size: the M205 is relatively small, and the grip section is relatively short. If you tend to hold your pens high up on the section, the threading on this pen may cause you problems. I don't write with a death grip, and I tend to hold my pens fairly close to the nib, so it hasn't been an issue for me. The pen posts nicely, and given its compact size, I need to post to use it comfortably for more than short notes.

Overall Impressions

The Pelikan M205 is a sturdy, versatile little pen that fills a niche in my collection. Part of my love for this pen is nostalgia, since the blue demonstrator version is a reissuance of one of my early "grail" pens that I missed out on the first time around. My main criticism is price: I do think that this pen is a little high at $140, but I don't think it's a bad deal. Pelikan's steel nibs tend to write very well out of the box, and I you get a step up in quality and reliability from something like a TWSBI 580. The real competitor at this price point would be a pen like the Lamy 2000 or the Pilot Custom Heritage 92, both of which you can find with a gold nib for less money. However, the Pelikan M205 has the option of interchangeable nibs, and features Pelikan's distinctive design. I also love the color of this blue demonstrator, and I wasn't going to miss it a second time.

Where to Buy

PenChalet currently has the M205 transparent blue in stock in all nib sizes (EF-B), priced at $140 before any applicable discount. Pelikan categorizes the M205 Transparent Blue as a "Special Edition", which I understand means that there won't be a fixed quantity (like a "Limited Edition"), but the pen will only be manufactured for a limited amount of time - probably a year. If the design and the color of the pen appeal to you, don't hesitate like I did five years ago. For a limited time, there is also an Amethyst Demonstrator (to match last year's Pelikan Edelstein Ink of the Year), and the upcoming Aquamarine Demonstrator. I might be adding both to my collection soon!

Disclaimer: PenChalet provided me with this pen at a discount for review purposes. This post also contains affiliate links.

Part of the Legendary "Wall of Ink" that Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens brings to pen shows. Believe it or not, most of this was gone by the end of the day on Sunday.

2016 DC Pen Show Recap: Sunday and Overall Impressions

August 10, 2016

Now that I've had a few days to think on it, this year's D.C. Pen Show probably went down as one of the best I've experienced, at least in terms of the people who were there. This was the first year I've attended all four days, and in the future I plan to make a point of attending at least a portion of the Sunday show. Sundays are MUCH less crowded than Fridays and Saturdays, and they give you an opportunity to interact with the vendors and other attendees when they're not slammed with customers.

Sunday Recap

Ok, so I ended up buying more pens and ink on Sunday. I thought I had finished with my buying on Friday, but as always happens, that's never the case. I had been eyeing two newer models that Franklin-Christoph had out on their table - in prototype color acrylics - and when they were still available at 2:00pm on Sunday... well, I was weak. I picked up a Pocket 20 in red urushi acrylic and a Model 45 in transparent orange acrylic.

My Franklin-Christoph Model 45. This orange acrylic is a prototype. The color is slightly brighter than the "Amber" color in the standard line.  Franklin-Christoph sometimes sells their prototypes online in the "Stock Room" section of their web… — My Franklin-Christoph Model 45. This orange acrylic is a prototype. The color is slightly brighter than the "Amber" color in the standard line. Franklin-Christoph sometimes sells their prototypes online in the "Stock Room" section of their website.

At the urging of Leigh Reyes and Thomas Hall, we tried to fit a 1950's Eversharp Skyline nib into the housing from a JoWo #5 nib, which would make the vintage nib compatible with the Model 45. Despite the best efforts of Franklin-Christoph's incomparable Jim Rouse, we couldn't make it work. I had to "settle" for a Masuyama-ground needlepoint that writes like a dream. The pocket carry pen that I've been looking for, in clear orange!

Jim Rouse tunes a newly purchased pen at the Franklin-Christoph table.

I finally got a chance to visit the Vanness Pens table and thankfully they had plenty of Akkerman Ink left. I grabbed this bottle of Akkerman #28 (Hofkwartier Groen), which went directly into my Franklin-Christoph Model 45. Also, Vanness purchased whatever Kobe Nagasawa did not sell at the show, so if you're interested in these inks head on over to Vanness and get them while you can. Certain colors are already sold out so they won't last long.

Overall Show Impressions

This year's D.C. Pen Show had a lot of buzz and energy, especially on Saturday. I'm happy to see that every year I've attended, there have been more and more attendees from all age groups, which gives me a lot of hope for the future of the pen show scene. That said, most of the "new group's" attention seemed to be focused on modern pens, with steady crowds mobbing Vanness Pens, Anderson Pens, and Franklin-Christoph. Brian and Rachel Goulet also made an appearance and made the rounds throughout the weekend. On the vintage side, things didn't seem as busy for some reason, though there were plenty of vintage dealers there.

Pleasant Surprises

The Kanilea Pen Company launched this weekend. I had not heard anything about this new company prior to the show, but several people went home with multiple pens. Hugh and Karol Scher did a beautiful job building out this brand, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with in the future. I didn't get to spend as much time at their table as I would've liked.
Stylo Art Karuizawa. Japanese pen-makers and urushi artists Stylo Art were in D.C. for the first time this year, after a strong showing at the Los Angeles Pen Show. Lots of people were purchasing Stylo Art's wood and urushi pens, and one of these is on my list for my next big purchase at a show next year.
Omas and Conway Stewart Re-launch. The word on the street is that distributor Kenro Industries is relaunching the Conway Stewart brand. On a similar note, the group that reintroduced Wahl-Eversharp is in the process of inking some sort of a deal to bring back Omas, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Stay tuned for more developments. It's unclear from the post whether they have actually purchased the name, or rather just the pens and materials, but something is in the works.
Montblanc Ultra Black Special Edition Ink. Though I find the ink a bit wet, it has gorgeous undertones and shades very nicely. I currently have it inked in several pens and I'm liking it so far.
Better Ink Testing Station. The ink testing tables at the D.C. Pen Show are notorious for having dozens of bottles of really old ink (as in, more than 5 years old) that no longer resemble their original colors due to mixing, mold, dilution, etc. A couple years back, organizers of the San Francisco Pen Show came up with a new idea for an ink testing station, which uses inexpensive piston filler fountain pens to avoid having people dip dirty pens in multiple bottles of ink. They built one for Vanness Pens, and it was ready to go in D.C.
Lots of people stayed through the weekend. We still had a fairly large group of people Sunday night, and we all got together and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. You get to know people better over the entire three days, especially when we all finally had a chance to kick back in the hotel restaurant over dinner and drinks after the show closed on Sunday.

Brad of the Pen Addict and Cary from Fountain Pen Day, in the hotel bar Sunday night as the show closed down. Yes, Cary is that tall.

Biggest Disappointments

Montblanc Ultra Black 146. Prior to the show, I had one of these on order, but after having the opportunity to hold the pen in person I decided to cancel. The pen just didn't "click", and at that price point it has to be a perfect fit. Also, the matte black finish on Montblanc's resin looks as though it might be prone to scratching very easily. Since I post my pens, that makes me nervous.
No Bung Box! One of the highlights of last year's D.C. Pen Show was Japanese retailer Bung Box, who showed up with not only their entire line of ink but their special edition pens. Kobe Nagasawa made up for that this year, and Vanness Pens carries all the Bung Box inks, but I was really looking forward to picking up one of their special edition Sailor Pro Gears.
Very Few Vintage Japanese Pens! Ok, I'm reaching here, since I know that this is more the scene in L.A. and San Francisco, but I'm really on the hunt for a Pilot M90 and/or a Pilot Myu.

It makes me sad that I can only do two or three shows a year, but my wallet can't take any more than that. As good as this year's DC Pen Show was, I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit and taking a year off in 2017, perhaps attending the Los Angeles or San Francisco show? We'll see!

A repeat picture, I know, but this new and improved ink testing station is awesome.  The one at the San Francisco Pen Show has over 500 different inks! — A repeat picture, I know, but this new and improved ink testing station is awesome. The one at the San Francisco Pen Show has over 500 different inks!

Pen Review: The Aurora Optima Nero Perla

July 30, 2016

Aurora is one of the three remaining major Italian pen companies, now that Omas is out of business. It's also a company with which I have relatively little experience, at least with respect to their fountain pens. I'm a huge fan of Aurora's inks: they make two colors, black and blue, and both are among my go-tos for safe, standard colors. I've owned an Aurora Ipsilon Quadra in Sterling Silver, and while the pen was nice, it didn't stick in my collection.

Recently, my friend Thomas decided to unload a few pens in his collection, and asked whether or not I would be interested in reviewing one of Aurora's flagship pens, the Aurora Optima, before he sold it. I've always wanted to test drive one of these pens, so I jumped at the chance.

"Auroloide" material and Build

The Aurora Optima Nero Perla is a visually stunning pen. The material (which the company refers to as "Auroloide") is cellulose acetate: an acrylic variant intended to reproduce the depths of color and warmth found in vintage celluloid, but without the long curing period and manufacturing difficulties. Indeed, the Optima feels like a celluloid pen in hand. The material is slightly translucent, allowing you to see the ink level once the pen is filled. This particular color scheme is called "Nero Perla" ("Black Pearl"). Trim appears to be a combination of sterling silver and Rhodium plating, and the piston-filling system gives the pen heft.

This pen feels solid, like it will stand up to heavy use. The one critique I have on the build, however, is how difficult the pen is to clean. Aurora's piston fillers have a "hidden reservoir" of ink behind the piston, which they pitch as a feature that allows you to write for a full page after the main ink chamber is empty. I can see this feature being useful if you carry one pen, and take a lot of notes in meetings, etc. where you wouldn't want to run out, but it also means that it takes a LOT of flushing to get rid of all the ink. If I had kept this pen, it would've ended up as a "one-ink pen" just to avoid having to deal with the cleaning.

Writing Experience

The Aurora Optima features a 18k nib. This one started life as a medium but has been ground to a cursive italic.

The nib on this Optima was tuned and ground to a smooth .4mm cursive italic by either Mike Masuyama or Shawn Newton - Thomas couldn't remember. (Hey, that happens when you have so many pens!) It's an excellent writer, though I can't speak to how the pen wrote straight out of the box. Other Aurora pens I have tried have been nice writers, though the nibs tend to have feedback. They're not scratchy, but they're not glassy smooth either, which isn't an issue for me but can drive some people crazy.

This .4mm cursive italic (formerly a medium nib) writes perfectly for me.  Ink is Aurora blue. — This .4mm cursive italic (formerly a medium nib) writes perfectly for me. Ink is Aurora blue.

The Optima's 18k nib is a better writer than the nib on my old Aurora Ipsilon Quadra. The nib is stiff, without much give or flex. If you like firm nibs, you'll like this pen.

Takeaways

A close-up of the Optima in its box.  You can get a sense of the translucency of the material if you look just below the cap, where you can tell the pen has been filled with blue ink. — A close-up of the Optima in its box. You can get a sense of the translucency of the material if you look just below the cap, where you can tell the pen has been filled with blue ink.

The Aurora Optima Nero Perla is a gorgeous Italian fountain pen. As a fan of celluloid (and celluloid-like material), I appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into making a pen look this good. At the same time, the price point is very high, even taking into account the recent price drop That's not to say I think the pen is unreasonably priced - it's not, given the quality of the craftsmanship and the materials used - but Sailor's Professional Gear series has a similar shape and fits my hand better at $200 or so less. I do know, however, that there are people out there who find the Pro Gear too small and light, especially when writing with the pen unposted.

Where to Buy

Fortunately, if you're interested in the Optima, Aurora recently dropped the price. Both Pen Chalet and Anderson Pens carry Aurora, and both currently have the Optima listed at $445. Aurora issues annual "special edition" versions of the Optima, so if you're a fan of gold trim, you'll want to check out the "Abissi" Optima 365 Limited Edition.

If you're a fan of cursive italic nibs, and you'd like to purchase a barely-used Aurora, Thomas is offering the pen featured in this review for sale. As of the time of writing, the pen is up on my "For Sale" page and priced to move (especially once you take into account the custom nib, which otherwise would add $40-50 to the price, not to mention the wait time for nib work).

DISCLAIMER: The pen featured in this review was loaned to me at no cost for review purposes. This post contains affiliate links, through which I may be compensated a small amount if you purchase an item from any of the sites linked to in this article. While I'd greatly appreciate it if you use these links to purchase something you are interested in, you are, of course, under no obligation to do so. Many thanks!

Design and Build

The Nib and Overall Writing Experience

This Pen is NOT a Good Fit For…

Where to Buy

Further Reading

Build and Writing Experience

Overall Impressions

Where to Buy

Sunday Recap

Overall Show Impressions

Pleasant Surprises

Biggest Disappointments

Further Reading

"Auroloide" material and Build

Writing Experience

Takeaways

Where to Buy

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