Freak369's Full Review: Pilot Pen ,Fntn,Varsity,Purple
Most people will hate the Varsity Fountain Pen from Pilot. Why? It doesn't have the same type of feel as a stick, ball point or roller ball pen and it can take a little getting used to if you have never written with one of these. So why do I love them and continue to buy them? I love the way that it writes and how the ink looks magnificent on any type of paper. The exception to the rule is anything with a texture to it; the ink will feather and spread in the grain and you will end up with something that looks like garbage. Even for doodling when on the phone, the Varsity Fountain Pen is an awesome product. If you do any type of calligraphy or art work then you know that you can do a lot of different things with a fountain pen; things that you wouldn't be able to do with a regular roller ball or ball point.
How does the Varsity Fountain Pen differ from other pens? First it has a nib instead of a tip so the coverage area is greater. It is a great pen if you have mastered the basics of calligraphy and can be a lot more accurate than felt tip calligraphy markers that tend to dull out over time. Since the tip is metal the only thing you have to worry about is it splaying from too much pressure. The barrel is rather boring and there is no rubber comfort grip to it but even so, it is a pleasure to write with. This works best on a thicker paper; the metal tip can rip thinner sheets like vellum or air mail paper. The ink doesn’t bleed through to other sheets but if you dwell when writing you will notice some ink pooling and that could lead to smudges. If possible work with your hand elevated off the paper to reduce the chance of this happening.
The Varsity Fountain Pen has some incredible perks to it; one of the biggest selling points is the visible ink chamber. Like every other pen that has one of these, they are not 100% accurate but it will give you a ballpark reading of how much in there is left inside it. To get the best reading put the pen inside a cup or pen holder with the tip facing down. Allow the ink to settle for a few minutes then look at the ink window. I get about two months of solid use from these before they start to skip; that's the first sign that the ink supply is dwindling. These are not refillable so when the ink is gone they need to be trashed or recycled. Several online sites that sell office supplies have these listed as being refillable, they are not. They are a disposable product and if you try to refill them you are going to have a holy mess on your hands.
Until about a year ago the only colors that you could get the Varsity in was black, blue and red. Pilot listened to what consumers wanted and added trendy hues like pink, purple, aqua and teal. So far they have no released a set that contains all the available colors but if they do, I will be one of the first to happily buy a set. All of the colors that I have tried so far look incredible and the purple version is no exception. It is more of a grape color than a true purple but it makes for a great companion pen to the pink color. It is not a fade resistant ink so over time you will notice a little bit of dulling but if you keep written or artistic items out of direct sunlight you shouldn't have any problem. The ink is not classified as archival or acid free so if you do scrapbooking and are worried about how it is going to look in ten years, its best to skip this and invest in something that is acid free.
You can find the Pilot Varsity series of metal tipped pens at most office supply stores that carry calligraphy supplies. This is not classified as a calligraphy pen but that is what most people use it for. The individual pens cost about $1.25 to $1.50 and the double packs are $2.00 to $2.50. I would suggest this for anyone that loves a little variety when they are writing. Even though it has a metal tip to it, it isn’t something that should be used with multi layered sheets or carbon paper because it will rip through it if you apply too much pressure. The purple Varsity was a great pick and it is something that I really enjoy writing with. For the price you would be hard pressed to find a disposable fountain pen that works as well as this does and lasts as long. Pen junkies would love to receive something like this so if you are looking for something to brighten up their day, grab a couple of these in various colors.
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