OHTO Minimo Ballpoint Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

The wee OHTO Minimo Ballpoint Pen takes the cake as the miniest of minimal travel. The 3.7 mm diameter and 3.5 inch length makes this pen about the size of a Q-tip, minus the fluff. It slides into a clear plastic sleeve that is attached to a plastic card that fits easily in a wallet pocket.

Typically, even when I'm traveling light, I have a decent pen on me. At the very least, my Spoke Roady is always in my wallet, and then there's usually at least one other pen within arm's reach. So why do I need the world's tiniest pen? Because it's cute, that's why.

I figured this would be a last-resort pen--the emergency, better-than-nothing pen, but it's actually a decent writer. Not terribly comfortable, but a perfectly decent choice for making quick notes.

The pen's body is plastic, and while it's sturdy, there's just not enough of it to be really strong. It does feel delicate in the hand, and I wouldn't want to be too rough with it. It has a thin, flexible metal clip, silver metal accents, and the teeniest click mechanism ever. The click deploys the ballpoint tip, and you're ready to write very small notes. To retract the tip, press on the little bump of wire exposed on the side of the pen.

You probably won't want to write for a long time with this pen, but if you should manage to write out the ink supply, this pen is actually refillable. It takes a standard D1 refill, which are available from many brands in a bunch of fun colors. The pen itself is available in several colors. I picked black, but there's also orange, green, and pink.

There's not a whole lot to this pen. Its whole deal is just being the most simple version of a simple tool that you might need while on the go. And while it will totally fit in your wallet, it won't drain it. This wee treasure is only $7.50 at JetPens, which is fair, I think. It could be less--there are bigger pens for a third of that cost--but the specialty parts that have to exist just for this one pen likely explain that difference. Pretty much every millimeter (few as there are) of this beauty is proprietary, I'd imagine.

What am I going to do with this strange wee thing? It's going in my work badge. It will be the perfect tool for when I need to make a quick note when I'm running around my library, four floors away from my desk and pen cup. And I think it's perfect for the hardcore minimalist travelers who want to lighten the load at all costs and may only need a pen for customs forms and singing up for adventures. Hooray for tiny pens!

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

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Tactile Turn Vice Side Click Pen Review

Nearly four years into their quarterly Limited Edition release cycle, Tactile Turn is showing no signs of letting up. In fact, with their latest release “Vice,” they are showing that they are having more fun than ever creating these fantastic pens.

As you could imagine with the name Vice, these pens take on the bright and colorful synth wave vibes from South Florida in the 1980’s, aka the Miami Vice era. And notice I say “pens,” because there is more than one with this release. “Night” gives off a nightclub vibe with neon popping across the dance floor, and “Day” gives off that blinding beach look when exiting the club at 7:00 a.m. - you know who you are.

Deciding which pen to choose is always the challenge with Tactile Turn, even with single pen releases. With two exterior designs, and three barrel length (and refill compatibility,) options, you are sure to find a model to your liking.

Design was easy for me this go-round. I considered Day for a minute because I don’t think there are enough great light color pen barrels on the market. That said, the bright Pinks and Blues of Night - set off perfectly with the splattered black barrel - is one of my all-time favorite color combinations.

With color out of the way, what barrel would I choose? For Vice, I think Standard might be the right choice for most people. You want a fun, bright, gel ink refill for this pen, and its Pilot G2 compatibility gives you the most options. That said, I had ulterior motives with my choice.

I ordered a few Schmidt Standard P900 refills last year when I saw they released fun colors such as Magenta, Purple, and Turquoise. These refills had been sitting in my review bin just waiting for their opportunity to be used, and I’m happy to say that now is their time. The Short model of the Vice Side Click is compatible with Parker-style, or International G2, ink cartridges, and I was stoked to ink it up with Magenta as soon as it arrived.

In comparison to the Standard (5.8 in., 1.2 oz.) barrel, I prefer the Short (5.3 in., 1.1 oz.) simply from a weight and length perspective. I have to be in the mood to use Tactile Turn’s Standard model, and when I do, it’s usually sitting at my desk. The Short works well at the desk, and better as carry pen for my needs. You could drop all the way down to the Mini model (4.6 in., 0.9 oz.) for size purposes, but refill compatibility is the most restricted with the Pilot G2 Mini refill. I have one each of the Standard and Mini pens that I use sparingly, but my choice is primarily the Short.

The Tactile Turn Vice Side Click pen runs $149 in any barrel size and color combination. Maybe you need one of each so you have a daytime pen, and a nighttime pen. You know, to go along with your daytime phone, and nighttime phone. Y’all do that too, right? 🤣

Regardless of which pen design or size you choose, you will be happy with the quality that Tactile Turn provides in each of their products. And even is the Vice isn’t for you, you are sure to find something else interesting in their full lineup of products.

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

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Pilot Custom 743 - Ranking the Nibs

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I jumped at the opportunity to test 14 of Pilot’s #15-sized 14K gold fountain pen nibs on the Pilot Custom 743, and wanted to see which ones would be my favorites. Note that the S (Signature) and MS (Music) nibs are not available in the Custom 743, but the S nib is available on the Custom 823. The main difference between the 743 and 823 is that the former takes cartridge/converter while the latter is a vacuum filler. Both utilize the same size 15 nib and feed.

Side note: August sees the two of the largest US pen shows (DC and San Francisco), so you should try the nibs for yourself at the Pilot USA tables and let me know which ones are your favorites! But if you can’t, read on!

The Custom 743 (as well as 823) has a size 15 nib, while the 912 (and 742) have size 10 nibs. I have several pens with size 10 and 15 nibs, but I don’t have them all (nor do I want to, for now ;-) ) so I was curious to see if my favorites from the size 10 would translate to size 15. I had limited time with these pens (as they needed to be taken to different shows), which is a good thing because this would end up being a 10 page article, lol. I decided to follow a similar approach as the Bossman did in his writeup of 15 of Pilot’s nibs in the Custom Heritage 912.

A few things to keep in mind:

• I am right-handed but have a “stupid steep” writing angle - 75 degrees isn’t uncommon for me, while most people have a 45-50 degree angle.
• I tend to write primarily in cursive, and occasionally in print (but not like the Bossman’s block print), typewriter font and calligraphy-esque styles like Copperplate and Italic. My go-to nib size from any maker/country/region is Medium. I also prefer broader nibs as well as stubs/italics. I rarely reach for Extra Fine.
• Pilot asked that I dip these pens instead of inking them up, which I don’t think is the best way to test the flow in the nibs. I dipped, then dragged the tip across the ink bottle so there wouldn’t be blobs of ink on the page.
• All of the writing samples were done in the Maruman Bodoni A5 Notebook I was given a bottle of Iroshizuku Sui-gyoku, which had been dipped into with a variety of other Iroshizuku inks (it’s pretty common for tester pens to get dipped into different bottles during shows), so the ink color might not be 100% accurate.
• My Chinese teachers from high school would be shuddering, but hey, it’s accurate, just not beautiful. The character means “always” or “forever”.
• Thank you Pilot USA for sending these 743s so I could do a nib showdown!
• Last but not least, I mostly followed Brad’s formatting but I did not read his ranking so I wouldn’t be biased.

Hey, Bossman! I have a new title! Can I get a raise now?

My aging eyes were so happy to be on #teamsticker even if the stickers didn’t all align with the front of the nib.

Based on writing samples of all of these nibs, do you think you can tell which ones I will like more than others? Also, sorry, I can’t seem to get my columns straight, shrug, lol.

14. Posting

Given that I tend to dislike extra fine nibs and I have a very steep writing angle, this nib was my least favorite to use. It felt like I was writing on the top of the nib, with it almost curving backwards on the paper. The original idea behind the nib was to write on postcards, which had limited space and therefore the extra fine line allowed you to fit more words. The angle of the nib also made it very stiff, unlike their regular and soft nibs, so you could also write on multiple sheets, like with carbon paper (does anyone remember what that is?) or forms in duplicate/triplicate.

That’s one heck of a fine line from the Posting nib.

You can see the downturn of the Posting nib, which gives it a firmer writing experience as well as a drier line.

13. Extra Fine

Admit it, you knew this was coming. I don’t hate EF nibs, I just really don’t prefer them most of the time from any brand. That said, I definitely liked it more than the PO nib because I can still write with the nib at my high angle.

Extra Fine.

12. Fine

This may seem to be the next logical choice but it was a little harder than I expected it to be because of the next two in the list. The Fine is a great smooth nib if you need to make fine lines - I just don’t like fine lines as much.

Fine.

11. Coarse

Goodness gracious, this is practically a Sharpie! It wrote like butter but I didn’t love it because I don’t have big handwriting. With my usual writing, the lines would end up running into each other. That said, this would be a great platform for a nib grind which is why I ranked this higher than the F.

Of COARSE this is a fun nib if you need a thicc line.

10. Soft Fine

I liked this more than the Fine because the slight bounce from the softer nib gives it an almost imperceptibly wider line and ever so slight line variation (more from the release of pressure than from adding pressure). That said, it’s still a bit too fine for me.

Soft Fine, you were almost number nine!

9. Waverly

Unlike the Posting nib, the Waverly was designed with a slight upturn on the tip of the nib, which makes it much more pleasant for folks who “push” their nibs, like lefties. As a rightie, I didn’t really notice the difference as it still wrote with a smooth, slightly broader than Fine Medium line. I’m sure I’d rank this much higher if I was a leftie, but since I’m not, I’d pick any of the remaining nibs instead of trying to hunt this one down.

The Waverly’s upturn is more noticeable from the side.

8. BB / Double Broad

Am I giving everyone whiplash going back and forth between the extreme nib sizes? I liked the not-quite-as-insane width of this nib compared to the Coarse but it is still too broad for my everyday use. As with the Coarse nib, this would also be a great canvas for a nib grind.

This BB has one too many Bs for me.

The bottom seven were fairly easy to pick but the top seven were much harder to choose from, so I used two criteria to help me decide: (1) what would be a better everyday writer for me and (2) what nib would I pick to buy next.

7. Fine Medium

This one was REALLY hard for me to put in this spot, but having owned this nib in both the size 10 and 15 sizes, I have come to accept that while it is a great writer, it is, say it with me, just a bit too fine. It is a very practical size for every day but this inkophile wants to lay down more ink, and go through fills quickly and this FM is too fine to do that.

FM, I loved you so much, I got Masuyama to make my 823 M into an FM, but alas, you’re too fine for everyday now.

6. Medium

Yep, my go-to nib size, Medium, barely made the top half of this list! It is such a nice and smooth writer that I wish I had more size 15 M nibs (I have had one ground to an FM and another ground to a Cursive Italic).

Medium is 6th because I’d rather get one of the other remaining nibs first, it’s not cuz I don’t love you.

5. Broad

I am shocked that I don’t have any Broad nibs in either the 10 or 15 size, though I do have it in a VP nib and it’s glorious. This would be a great ink layer-downer nib without having an overly broad line and as such would be a great addition.

Broad. It me.

4. FA or Falcon nib

Not to be confused with the Falcon pen (aka Elabo), the FA nib has cutouts on the side of the nib that gives it the ability to flex a bit. It is not like vintage flex, more like semi-flex. The size 15 FA is actually stiffer/firmer than the size 10 FA, and gives slightly less line variation than the 10. I have both and prefer the 10 FA because I do like to slow way down and write in a Copperplate-like style when using it. Even though I already have one, I wouldn’t turn down another FA if it were to cross my path.

You can see the cutouts from the top of the FA nib.

A better view from the side.

3. Soft Medium

I don’t have this nib and I want it. I love the slight bounce that this gives over the Medium, but it also makes the line a touch wider too. I could have easily swapped the M and SM spots but this one ranked higher because I don’t have one. Yet.

Soft Medium, I need this so much.

2. Stub

As someone who occasionally likes to do italic calligraphy, as well as write cursive with stub nibs, I was really curious to see how Pilot’s stub nib would feel. I absolutely loved writing with it! It is a fairly smooth stub, unlike Pilot’s sharper steel nibs like the ==CM== (Calligraphy Medium) which are more like italics. The only reason this is ranked second is because this wouldn’t be as practical for me as an everyday writer.

Stub, where have you been all my life?

1. Soft Fine Medium

I have the SFM in size 10 and absolutely love the nib so I wondered if the size 15 would elicit a similar response and omg, yes, it does! The slight softness of the nib makes the line a bit broader than the regular FM, which means it is the perfect width. I really enjoyed writing with this nib and am waiting for the right pen to show up with this nib in it!

Soft Fine Medium, I knew I loved you in size 10 and now I know I love you in size 15.

And there you have it, my ranking of the size 15 nibs from the Pilot Custom 743 collection! I can’t wait to see what the Bossman thinks when he gets his hands on the set. Size 15 nib throw down, coming to a TPA near you!

It’s the circle of life, I mean, nibs!

Oh, one more thing, this article also marks my 3 year anniversary of writing for The Pen Addict! Thank you so much to Brad “The Bossman” Dowdy for giving me this opportunity and not giving me the boot (yet)! And a heartfelt thank you to all of you for reading, commenting and encouraging me - it really means a lot! Onwards to more wordy articles, hahaha!