(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
The new collection of Frosted colors from Kaweco this year has been a fantastic edition that probably has many people scrambling to collect them all. The semi-translucent pastel body colors are perfect for spring and summer, and I doubt they'll be around long.
The particular model I have is the Soft Mandarine ballpoint, which is also available in five other colors. The Kaweco Sport ballpoint has been around for quite a while in all the regular colors and materials that you expect, but the soft pastel colors are refreshing. If you haven't used or seen one of these before, they're about the same size as a closed Kaweco Sport fountain pen, and feature a soft click mechanism at the top of the pen. The overall diameter is the same as the cap of a Sport fountain pen, but it's the same diameter for nearly the entire length of the pen, save the click button and cone. As you can imagine, writing with a chunky pen like this can take some getting used to. For the most part, it's a really comfortable writing experience, but I did find it to be slightly uncomfortable after a little while due to the short length. I like a bit more material on the pen to rest on my hand while I write, but this will vary from hand to hand.
The pen is very light, which makes it comfortable for short writing sprints, and I found it fairly easy to control even with the short body. Even though this pen is comparable in size to its fountain pen cousin, you have to factor in the cap on the fountain pen variant. Posting the cap gives you a good amount of extra length that makes it more comfortable to use and easier to control when writing. That's not to say that the ballpoint is difficult or uncomfortable, but they are much different writing experiences.
The included refill with this pen is a decent 1.0mm ballpoint with blue ink. It does skip a little and the lines aren't as crisp as I like, but it flows smoothly and always starts writing quickly after being unused for a while. As far as traditional ballpoints go, it's great. But, let's say you aren't a fan of ballpoints. That's okay, because I'm not either. Luckily, the Kaweco Sport ballpoint line uses a common refill format: the D1. This opens up your refill options by a lot, with over 60 choices on JetPens as of this writing. With that amount of variety, you can find a good combination of tip size and color to fit your writing needs.
Replacing the refill is an easy process, and I really enjoyed discovering the unique refill mount system on this pen. Instead of the traditional method of a spring in the tip of the pen that works directly against the refill to provide resistance, the spring is built into the nock mechanism. This means that there isn't a spring in the nose of the pen that is either stuck to the refill or can fall out when you remove the refill. I've never had good luck finding a lost spring on a carpet floor. The D1 refill is friction-fit into the nock mechanism, and requires a good amount of force to remove and replace. This is good because it means the refill won't fall out by accident in your pocket or bag.
Overall, I've really enjoyed using the Kaweco Ballpoint. It's a solid little pen that fits in a lot of small spaces, but is just big enough to be comfortable and usable. It's not something I'd use for long writing sessions, but it's a fun pen to use every now and then. On top of the that, the Frosted color options are so much fun. The translucent pastels are pretty and the price is very fair. And, the addition of using the popular D1 system means you have lots of color and size options!
The Kaweco Frosted Sport Ballpoint is available in Blush Pitaya, Light Blueberry, Natural Coconut, Soft Mandarine, Sweet Banana, and Fine Lime, and each one costs about $22. These make great gifts and personal treats, but once you have one, you'll want all six colors!
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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