2nd Kickstarter Pen - Render K

Good day people, sorry for the long hiatus between the updates but lets put that aside and get to business.

Today I am going to introduce another pen that uses the legendary G Tech C -4 refill that was mentioned in the last post.

Render K manufactured by Karas Kustoms ! I purchased the black and silver anodized version :)

Karas Kustoms is actually a company in Mesa,Arizona USA that " have backgrounds in everything from machining, tool and die work, fabrication, automotive repair and restoration, to product design and development." (Quoted from Karas Kustoms website @ http://karaskustoms.com/about)

Actually I think the subprime mortgage crisis affected many American Companies over the past few years and there is a huge surplus of companies that does small to medium scale machining. Thus Karas Kustom is one of these companies and actually turned to manufacturing products that have a larger target audience such as iPhone cases, hot rod parts, toy tops and most importantly MACHINED PENS.

Render K was a project on Kickstarter and can be classified as a success as production was continued longgg after the kickstarter project has ended.

Without further ado, lets get to the review of the pen.

Pros

1. Build quality - This thing is build like a tank. 

A little back ground story, the pen is made of aluminium, a popular choice for machining. I was buying pens from a famous pen shop in Singapore and was showing off my collection of Kickstarter pens to the owner ( who of course is a pen fanatic like me). He actually thought that the pen is made of stainless steel ! It is that well constructed. Actually when you lift it up, it just felt like a solid block of metal. I personally this pen can take a lot of abuse and still keep going.

2.  Right length

Some pens are too long, too short, the barrel is too broad or narrow. It is a personal preference but honestly Karas Kustoms did an awesome job of finding the right length of the pen. It is tapered towards the end and feel very comfortable holding it.

3. Clip

The clip of this pen is stainless steel and heavy duty.

Cons

Groove and Grip of the Render K. I just cant help but admire the beauty of the pen

1. Slippery material 

 As you can see from the above picture, the barrel where you grip the pen is very smooth and sometimes with sweaty hands, you kind feel the pen to be very slippery. But I am not saying that it is banana skin slippery but it is just normal smooth surface of a metal.

2. The groove of the cap

As the cap is pretty large and long, the groove of the cap sits pretty high and my thumb actually touches it when I write using this pen. At the breaking in stage, it is rather painful as a the groove is pretty sharp and actually makes me feel painful to write with. ( To be honest, I hold my pen very tight, thus this might not be a problem to other users of the pen)

3. Weight

I cant blame the good folks over at Karas Kustoms but to manufacture such an awesome and well constructed pen, even the aluminium version is a little on the heavy side for me. But I have to again state that i write a lot everyday( at least 10-15 pages of scribbling in small hand writing) and the hand gets tired after a while. I heard there is a Render K unicorn which is made of plastic :o . Personally I think that would be perfect for my current needs.

But if you are using this pen in the office or for everyday work and you love the G Tech refill.

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Do not wait any further, this might be the pen for you. It looks awesome and is something that you should not be shy to pull out in a meeting and use it.

One more thing - the customer service at Karas Kustoms is top notch, they do not praise you up the sky like some sycophant for you to buy their products. (Their quality products is the best testament of their company btw.) They are like Roy Halladay, Tim Duncan, you request and if they can do it, they will reply a simple okay and it gets done :). I can stand up and vouch for them.

 
Btw folks, Render K also comes in a G2 version. So if the extra fine G Tec C 4 is not your cup of tea, that is another option. The G Tec version comes in various anodized colors which is awesome, I have seen an orange version at another pen review website and it is really nice.

Alright if you are interested in grabbing one of their pens, head over to their website at http://karaskustoms.com/ . They have some other pretty exciting machined pens coming up as well. 

Kickstarter Pens - Ti 2 Pen

Recently my collections of pens has transcended beyond normal run of the mill pens that are available in stationery shops.

The discovery of kickstarter has opened a whole new world of pens waiting for me to try out.

For those not familiar with kickstarter it is just a website whereby you pay for a product proposed by a person ( the creator must achieve a certain amount of money backed in a specific period) and actually join the creator on the journey of producing the item.

The above laconic explanation might not do justice to the kickstarter concept thus for those interested please head over to http://www.kickstarter.com/hello?ref=nav to read it up.

I have purchased probably 4-5 pens from kickstarter and currently backing 3 pen projects.

The sense of anticipation as you wait for a pen being delivered to you knowing that it can not be purchased at any shop is indded a very novel feeling.

However, there is also a flip side to purchasing pens off kickstarter is that you do not know if the product you have purchased is suitable for your own personal use.

I always firmly believe that each person have a different preference for their pen. Some people like the barrel to be thicker, some like it to be thinner. Some like the pen to be heavier while others lighter. Certain people prefer their pens to be balanced while others bottom heavy. Well... You guys get the idea.

However, there are certain popular models of the pens that have received cult status ( meaning extremely popular ).

And one of them is...

 Pilot's G Tech C4 or Hi Tech C Gel Ink Pen

The most popular nib size of the two models mentioned above is 0.4

I believe the difference between 2 models is that Hi Tec C comes in more colors and supposed to be "NOT water soluble".

(Picture courtesy of Gourmet Pens)

But personal experience is that both pens contain inks that are not water resistant. 

You get really talented artists using this pen to draw really awesome drawings.

Check out more of the drawings at http://www.geminica.com/2010/03/i-love-art-supplies-1-pilot-hi-tec-c-and-g-tec-c-pens/

Over here in Singapore where I am staying, G Tech C 4 and its refill 0.4 ( major colors such as Blue, Black , Red and Green) can be purchased 

Overall... This pen is very good.  

I personally have been using this pen since primary school and it just writes very well. There is a reason why it is a top seller since its launch in 1994.

Using this pen will improve your hand writing because the line laid down by the pen is very thin. (Thus make your handwriting appear less of a mess). 

However there are some down sides to this pen

1.  The tip is mental and extremely fragile, once dropped tip down, it will bend and you have to get a new refill ( of course there are methods to salvage the situation :p) 
2. It is relatively expensive compared to other pens ( cost around 3 dollars per pen whereas a G2 only cost $2)
3. This is not  pen for scribbling, if you are a person who likes to write with a font size then this pen at 0.4 might feel scratchy as compared to a Pentel EnerGel or a G2 0.5 or 0.7.

But this thing just freaking writes, if there is no ink coming out, just scribble it on a piece of paper and after a while the ink will start flowing again. 

Of course such a pen that has such a fine nib and yet writes so smoothly requires some very special technology. 

1. Three point Support System

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The ball at the tip of a refill is actually held in place by three depressions "punched" into the side of the pen tip. This reduces the rotation friction of the ball and thus allows the pen to write smoother as compared to a ball point pen as the area that comes into contact with the ball is much smaller.

2. Bi- Polymer Ink

The ink inside a G Tech Pen changes viscosity when you are writing (less viscous) and the moment it touches paper(more viscous). This has two main benefits. One it allows the writing to be very smooth and secondly it enables the ink not to be smudged badly ( like in certain fountain pens on certain papers). This is achieved by using a resin made by microorganisms such as yest. 

Thus, the Pilot Hi Tec C or G Tech C 4 refill has been the target of manyyyyyy kickstarter projects. As you can see that the body or barrel of the pen that you purchase is transparent plastic and probably intend it to be disposable after a refilling a few times.

Pilot has not manufactured a pen made of metal or high quality polymer that takes in G Tech refills 

Ps: I know there is the Hi-Tec-C Cavalier but its refill is a pain in the arse to find in Singapore.

The FIRST kickstarter project that came up with a non disposable pen that takes the G Tech C 4 refill would beeee

 The Pen Type A

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cwandt/pen-type-a-a-minimal-pen

http://shop.cwandt.com/

Unfortunately I do not own a Pen Type A as i missed the kickstarter period and its price has gone on a triple jump ( $50 to $150 USD ) after the kickstarter period. I am pretty hesitant to drop 150 quids on a pen to TRY.

For those who owns one, probably you can share how good or bad the pen is using the comment function below.

Of course as kickstarter took off, there are other pen projects that creates pen barrels that uses the G Tech C 4 refill.

Today I am going to share with everybody one of the pen i have purchased from Kickstarter - the Ti 2 Pen

Here are some photos of the pen.

I actually bought the pen after the kickstarter project from the Ti2 pen website.(2nd link listed below)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mikebond/ti2-pen?ref=live

http://www.ti2pen.com/

The version I have purchased is the Ti2 Original -- Bead Blasted Finish with clip for $75 USD dollars

Honestly judging from the amount raised ($77k), it is no where as popular as the Pen Type A ( $281 K).

And I was personally very skeptical of the pen cap being held together by slip rings ( I mean a 75 bucks pen held together by a 1 buck component ?) 

But..........

It has become one of my EDC pens.

1. It is close to the original G TEC C 4 pen in terms of barrel size. Some of the kickstarter pens or expensive pens have a barrel that is too thick making it hard to control when you are writing words that are small in size. 
2. The titanium material has kind of a matte finish to it, thus the pen wouldnt start slipping if your hands become sweaty or forces you to grip the pen extra hard ( problem faced by some other kickstarter pens made of aluminium)
3. It is light... Do not be fooled by the Titanium construct of the pen, its weight is comfortable ( might be due to its thin barrel ).
4. The slip ring holds the cap pretty well ( for now at least, will continue monitoring the situation). It even gives off a satisfying pop sound when pulling out the cap.

It is one of my more pleased purchases from kickstarter projects and am currently pondering if I should purchase another one. (Maybe the PVD coated one this time ?)

However it is not without its problems

1. The refill does not fit perfectly in the pen, it actually can move a tiny whinny amount front and back ( I do not know if it is only that one pen that I purchases or something wrong with the pen's design, as it is a CNC pen there are certain drifts in the machine that results in barrels being too long or short etc). But it does not hinder my writing or anything so I am kinda cool with it.
2. The pen has a weird balance when the cap is posted at the back of the making the pen top heavy. As all pen users should know, a top heavy pen is NOT good to use. But a lot of pens have the same problem, so no points taken away.
3. When you grip the slip ring section of the pen, it feels uneven. Oh well that is ironic i know, the cap is held in place by the slip ring. But once again it doesnt bothers me as i would just hold the pen higher or lower when i write.

Conclusion

Type:  Definitely an everyday carry pen

Score: 18/20 

Taking all the above into consideration and also the fact that you need to add 15 bucks for just adding a clip and a rather steep total price of 75 bucks for a pen, but you are definitely buying quality here and it is one of the better made pens on kickstarter.

Thats all folks ! Till next time :)

First Post

Hey guys ! I am a huge stationery fanatic and have been buying(of course pens or pencils within my budget) and using them since I was in primary school. 

I would feel excited every time I see a new pen or pencil in a shop and would be raring to try it out. 

As a student, I am blessed with the opportunity to use stationery very frequently. Through this blog I hope to share my views about certain products with others.

I hope that all the readers of this blog can join me in my journey of discovering new stationery and also share with me interesting products.