Posts filed under Pilot

Pilot S3 Drafting Pencil 0.4 mm Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

One of the most fun stationery categories to explore the super affordable drafting pencils. I first fell into the pen addiction due to these accessible tools, and that endearment still grabs me today. A drafting pencil is a fairly utilitarian and simple tool, but I like exploring what the different brands offer in the way of their aesthetic take of these classic tools.

The Pilot S3 Drafting Pencil is a $5 mechanical pencil that comes in a variety of colors and lead sizes. To make it easier to identify each pencil's lead size, each lead size is assigned a unique color. If you have several pencils scattered across your workspace, this color coding makes it easy to grab the right pencil instead of being forced to look at the small label on the side of the pencil to determine the lead size. To lay out all the colors and sizes, here they are:

The main thing I love about the aesthetic of this pencil is the clear nature of the barrel material. There's plenty of saturated color, but the see-through quality makes it look like a piece of delicious candy. Aside from the black/gray 0.5mm version, I'm really tempted to collect all the other sizes so I can just enjoy the barrel colors in person. They're just a lot of fun!

Aside from the color of the barrel, the next most important detail is the grip and how it feels when using the pencil. In this case, the grip texture is amazing. It's a soft texture — meaning I can't feel any sharp edges — but it's still really solid between my fingers. I've had zero issues with the grip slipping while using the pencil. It's been quite a while since I've been this happy with how a pen or pencil feels in my hand. Combine the great grip feeling with the light weight of this pencil, and you've got a winning combo. I can't recommend it enough as an entry level drafting pencil for these reasons alone.

Moving around to the back of the pencil, there's a small Pilot logo along with the branding for the S-Series pencil and the lead size. There's a chrome clip that does a great job at doing clip-y things, but it's also easy to remove if you don't want it. If you do choose to remove the clip, there's a small bump on the barrel (at the very top of the grip area, toward the middle of the pen) that prevents it from rolling off when you set it down. This is a great detail for Pilot to include on such an inexpensive pencil.

The cap comes off to reveal the universally useless eraser that comes with nearly every mechanical pencil ever made. If you remove the eraser, the lead reservoir is exposed and you'll also notice that the underside of the eraser also has a lead pipe tool for clearing out debris and lead jams.

The TLDR; of this pencil is simple. If the colors/aesthetic grab you, buy it! I'm really impressed by the build quality of this pencil and the way it feels in my hand. It feels much more expensive than $5, and I've found myself reaching for it more often than my Rotring in the last few days. While it can't replace a premium drafting pencil, it's exceptional for the price and definitely worth checking out if you need to fill out a collection of utilitarian drafting pencils of various lead sizes.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on February 19, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pilot, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Pilot Vanishing Point 2019 Limited Edition Tropical Turquoise: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Every year Pilot comes out with a limited edition Vanishing Point fountain pen. I’ve never forgiven myself for missing out on the 2015 Twilight limited edition (Hey, yo, if anyone has one of those they’d like to sell, I’m your girl!). Even though I wasn’t as excited about the Tropical Turquoise, I liked it enough to buy it.

The photographs that were initially released made the Tropical Turquoise look rather bland--a flat turquoise color with black swirls. But, the design is much more appealing in person. The turquoise sparkles like water in sunlight and the black swirls give the color depth and interest. The pen looks very much like beautiful tropical waters. It is complemented with rhodium trim.

The Tropical Turquoise comes in a special limited edition box. It’s white with turquoise lettering. The top lifts up to reveal the pen. There’s a built-in drawer that contains one ink cartridge and a Vanishing Point pamphlet.

The Vanishing Point is a medium-sized pen in length at 5.4 inches/138 mm with the nib exposed. However, it is both heavy at 32 grams and rather wide in diameter at 11.5mm (where your fingers grip the pen).

Like all Vanishing Points, the clip is part of the grip portion of the pen. This forces you to hold your fingers in a particular position as you write. Some people can’t stand this design, whereas others find it quite comfortable (I’m obviously in the latter group). You can do a “clipectomy” and remove the clip entirely, but I have no desire to alter the pen.

Limited Edition Vanishing Points come standard with medium nibs, but some retailers, such as Casa della Stilographica where I bought my pen, offer it with any nib size. I chose a stub. It wrote perfectly right out of the box, and I’m quite pleased with my choice.

I love the Vanishing Point mechanism, because when I’m in class, I don’t write constantly. The click mechanism allows me to write quickly when I need to and to retract the nib when I don’t. The stub nib is wet and provides interesting line variation that suits my writing style.

My only complaint about Vanishing Points is the teeny, tiny converter system. It only holds about .5ml of ink. I realize they have to keep the converter small because the pen is already rather heavy. I just wish they could find some way to increase the capacity to 1ml or so. Filling the pen is simple, but if you run out while taking notes in the middle of a meeting, you can’t exactly stop, take out a bottle of ink, unscrew the pen, remove the converter, fill it, wipe it down, and reassemble the pen without creating a bit of a distraction. Obviously, having a back-up pen handy is a good idea.

Pilot created 2,019 pens for this limited edition run. Many retailers have already sold out, so if you’re interested in the Tropical Turquoise, act soon. The pen retails around $250 but I’ve seen prices as low as $206.

(I purchased this pen with my own funds.)

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Posted on November 8, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under Pilot, Vanishing Point, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Pilot Birdy Switch Multi Pen(cil) Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Over the past few months, I've been trying out a collection of extremely small mechanical pencils. Earlier this year, I started this experiment with the adorable Zebra Techo TS-3, and was mostly happy with it as long as I threw in a couple of (pretty large) caveats:

Ultimately, I still like the Zebra Techo TS-3 strictly as a backup utilitarian option. It's not the first thing you reach for, and possibly not the second. But when all other options have failed or aren't nearby, it gets the job done.

When I started using the Pilot Birdy Switch, my opinion was almost identical, but the added length of the Pilot, along with the additional hidden ballpoint pen, push it further down the line of utility. The Pilot Birdy is about the same diameter as the Zebra, which means it's not comfortable for long writing stints. This is certainly still in the "backup/last resort" category of writing instrument, but it's marginally more comfortable to use given the extra length.

But, the slim profile and relative short length still give it some major advantages in terms of where you can store it. Sliding this pen into between two pages of a notebook is easy and allows the notebook to still close without much of a bump or gap. And, the aluminum construction make it resilient enough to be stuffed and crammed into tight spaces that may exert a lot of pressure on the pencil. It handles these situations with ease. Like the Fisher Bullet, it just takes whatever you throw at it. Unlike the Fisher, the Pilot can definitely get a little stabby in your pocket if it is oriented the wrong way, so beware.

The main function of the Pilot Birdy Switch is a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. The pencil works great, and I haven't had any issues with it. I'm guessing it's the same mechanism that Pilot uses in their other multi pens, and I've always been happy with those. This one is just wrapped in a thin aluminum shell that makes it seem like you're writing with a long, bare multi pen refill instead of a real pen. But, that's what affords it the transport and utility points. To extend lead, click the cap. To retract it, hold down the cap and push the lead back into the tip. Unlike a lot of mechanical pencils, this one does not sport a tiny eraser or lead clog remover.

Instead, removing the cap reveals a tiny ballpoint pen. Honestly, I picked this pencil up in a JetPens order without fully reading the description. I just bought it because I was on a mini mechanical pencil kick, and all I needed to know was that it was a mechanical pencil. It wasn't until I got the pen, used it for a while, and then became curious how much lead was in the reservoir that I actually removed the cap. I was stunned to find the ballpoint tip! What a pleasant surprise. Of course, I tried writing with it and discovered that it's pretty smooth. I don't know for sure if it uses the same ink formula, but it feels a lot like the Pilot Acroball 0.7mm refill. This thing is tiny! Unfortunately, it only comes in black, but you can at least pick up refills.

Even more, I realized that the cap can post on top of the mechanical pencil component. When using the pen, the only thing that looks odd is the clip on the wrong end. This is such a simple and clever design. If you've ever written with a Vanishing Point, then you know whether or not you can comfortably use a pen with a clip next to your fingers, but the Birdy is obviously less comfortable given the size.

Still, having a pen of this size with both a pencil and a ballpoint pen is a great tool to have when you're in a pinch. The size makes it great for squeezing into a checkbook, wallet, purse, bag, notebook, and other small spaces. Like I said in the Zebra Techo TS-3 review, it's definitely not a workhorse writing instrument, but it's a great backup option. And at just $8.25, the Pilot Birdy Switch won't break the bank either.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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