The Orange Bolt by Karas Kustoms - Pen Review

I'm generally a pretty conservative guy.  Maybe too conservative for my own good, and this usually bleeds over into my pen buying decisions.  Not that there is anything wrong with mainly sticking to black or silver pens most of the time... (although I did branch out and buy an orange Lamy Noto recently).  I generally like things that are simple, yet refined and functional.  Minimalist even?

And then, there is the blazing orange Bolt pen that you see before you... 

If you've been following the blog for awhile you know that I really enjoy Karas Kustoms pens.  I live close to those guys and get the opportunity to stop in and hang out with them pretty often.  Good guys.  

If you are new to the Karas Kustoms scene, you should definitely give them a look.  They actually provided me a promo code that can be used at checkout, CLICKYPOST, to save 10% off your purchase.  Sweet!   

If you need a little help deciding which pen to pick up from those guys, I wrote a recent post titled Which Karas Kustoms Pen May Be Right For You? that goes into a lot of detail about materials, refills, function that I hope might be helpful. 

The Bolt is/was the second pen offering from Karas Kustoms and they did a fantastic job.  It is called The Bolt due to the bolt action mechanism that holds the pen tip extracted for writing.  Not a traditional "click" mechanism, but similar as you push and twist the knock to move the bolt action into place to secure the refill in the writing position.   

Now, there are other bolt action pens around, but the difference with The Bolt by Karas Kustoms is that the action is flush with the barrel instead of having a protrusion sticking out the side to activate the mechanism.  This was a very intentional design feature that Bill Karas and Dan Bishop worked out because they wanted the barrel of The Bolt to be sleek and smooth.  Success. 

The refill I generally use in my Bolt is the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 (in blue) as it is my favorite "Parker style" due to it's ballpoint/rollerball hybrid action.  This refill is actually compatible with all of Karas Kustom's current pen models.  

The clip that The Bolt comes with has been the standard edition for Karas' pens over the last three models, and this thing is a stainless steel tank.  I've had a couple of Karas pens for almost two years with pretty heavy use and the clip hasn't lost even a touch of spring. 

Back to the color; this bad boy throws conservative out the window, but is fantastic.  The orange anodized aluminum is bright and striking and looks great.  It is definitely an attention getter, and is a pen that people are likely to notice when you use it.  I'm not sure in getting this pen that I've completely changed my ways (yet), but I'm so glad I picked this particular color up to add to the arsenal.  

(Picture below next to it's more conservative raw aluminum cousin)  

Offer from rOtring - Free Tikky Ballpoint with 30€ Purchase

After writing the recent review of the rOtring 600 rollerball, I received a nice note from Alice at the rOtring office letting me know of an offer they are doing right now on their site.   As I've recently become obsessed with rOtring products, I thought I'd pass the word along.

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Through September 15th, orders of 30€ or more placed through rOtring.com will receive a free Tikky Ballpoint pen.  If you were planning on trying out a current product from the rOtring catalog like a Rapid Pro ballpoint or the awesome 600 series mechanical pencil, this would put you over the mark and get you something a little extra for free.  

At checkout, use the code TKKPRM to get your free Tikky Ballpoint with purchase. 

I haven't used the Tikky, so I can't personally vouch for it as an everyday plastic pen, but if you were planning on making a purchase this is a way to get one for yourself to try.

The Main Attraction by poppin. - Pen Review

My first introduction to the poppin brand was from reading the post by Ana from The Well-Appointed Desk which I found intriguing.  In a nutshell, poppin sells office supplies, pens, and other desk accessories in a lot of really bright colors that coordinate extensively.  Extensively might be an understatement as it's actually kind of a trip.  Check out their site and have a look at how much color coordinating action is going on there (and could be at your desk!).  

I mostly jest about the bright colors as I think that they have branded themselves really well and that there is absolutely a market for this type of thing.  While visiting their site I decided to place an order for some pens to try: their retractable gel and ballpoint pens in white, and I "splurged" a little and decided to try their pen called The Main Attraction.

This pen is a very big pen at 13mm in diameter.  I have pretty big hands, so to say a pen is a bit bulky, I mean it.  It is a rather large pen and I wouldn't put it in the comfortable category as there aren't any ergonomic considerations to it.  Not that an all cylindrical barrel is necessarily bad, but with the diameter, it just makes it a bit awkward.  It has a chrome plated brass (pardon the fingerprints) barrel which, although metal, is not overly heavy in the hand but has a good weight to it.

Magnet drawing is with poppin gel refill...

The special feature to this pen is the cap that pops onto the top or bottom by the power of a magnet.  It is pretty strong while attached and takes a good tug to get it off.  Even with that said, I'm not really sure how comfortable I'd be clipping the pen to a jeans or shirt pocket.   I don't really know how I feel about magnets and pens; seems a little gimmicky to me.  Are there any magnetic capped pens that anyone likes?  I believe Monteverde makes one.   

Where you grip the pen is a bit funny.  There is a really distinct ledge at the end near the tip that is sharp and right in the middle of where a lot of people hold their pens (myself included) that started to dig into the side of my middle finger a bit.  Granted, with the design choice, the outer rim of the cap had to go somewhere, right?   

The pen comes standard with their Parker style ballpoint refill in black ink, which I can admit I'm not overly impressed with.  It is a pretty smooth refill, but doesn't really lay down a nice dark line like the Schmidt EasyFlow.  "Schmidt Style".  It could be the really bulky barrel is throwing off my writing too, but I didn't really enjoy it. 

As I had mentioned, I also ordered a pack of their gel pens that are a Parker style refill as well which are really quite good.  Review on those forthcoming sometime in the future. ..

One thing I think they designed aesthetically well is the clip.  The loop type design I feel may pay a little homage to the Lamy Safari a bit, even if only slightly?  Perhaps I'm crazy in that thought., but nevertheless it looks pretty cool.  It is thin and sleek and hugs the barrel of the pen so not to be overly obtrusive.

As I'm sure you've gathered, not my favorite pen purchase.  Although I haven't been thoroughly impressed by The Main Attraction pen, that doesn't mean others won't love it.  It has a nice weight, a cool magnetic cap feature, is shiny, and would only set you back about $16 if you wanted to give it a go.  

Seriously though, check out poppin.com to bask in the color coordinated glory (if that is your thing) you could be living in at your desk.