I purchased this pen on clearance from Swisher Pens because I had read some positive reviews online. Overall I'm very pleased with this pen, but I do have a few minor complaints. So let's break it down.
Design:
I tend to like modern pens with clean styling and this one fits the bill. I also tend to go for steel or black pens so with this one I decided to go a little crazy and add a little color to my pen case. In this case I went for the Chili Red which is a maroon-ish color with a bit of a sparkly finish with matte metal on the clip and grip sections. When I first got the pen the cap was so tight that it really took a lot of effort to remove, but it has loosened a bit with wear so now it's not a problem. Overall a nicely designed pen.
Nib:
The ATX comes with a steel nib that ranges from XF to B. I went with XF, and here in lies my first complaint: it ain't no XF. It's really more like a fat Fine nib. Apart from size (which I'm getting used to), I really have no issue. It's a super smooth and wet writer that glides across the paper. I really enjoy sketching with this pen so it might end up being used more for that than for writing. As a matter of fact, the robots below were done with this pen.
Fill:
This pen is a cartridge/convertor filler and a convertor is included in the box so do not order an extra one like I did. And this is my other complaint, and one I've made before: PROPRIETARY CARTRIDGES (yargh!). This is very annoying. But I won't get into that again.
So overall I'm pleased with this pen, but I guess if I'm looking for a true XF nib I will have to restrict myself to the Asian pen companies, at least they know what XF should mean. However if your handwriting is bigger that mine than I would definitely recommend this pen. It's a pleasure to write with.
Labels: fountain_pens, reviews
