(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
I've always had an affinity for multi pens, which has led me to quite the collection of both low cost and more premium multi pens from various manufacturers. From what I've seen, there are two main ways for selecting the different refills inside multi pens: individual slide buttons and rotation systems. With the former, simply press down the slide with the color/component you want to use. To retract, just half-press a different slide. With the latter, you rotate the grip section to cycle through the different refill components. But, one of my favorite and most magical types of multi pens is the kind that rely on gravity to make a refill selection.
These are much more rare, but I think they're the coolest. The Ohto Blooom is one of these, and it's available at a really good price. If you're unfamiliar with this type of multi pen, the basic premise is that you hold the pen parallel to the floor (or horizontally) and make sure the refill you want is positioned at the lowest part of the pen. To help you with this, the manufacturers print the color/component names on the opposite side of the pen barrel. So, if I'm looking at the pen and the "RED" label is on top, the red refill will come out when I press the nock.
The other cool thing about this style of multi pen is that they almost always use a separate button to retract the refill. In the case of the Blooom, there's a small black button on the top of the clip that makes a satisfying click/clunk when the refill springs back into the pen body.
It takes a little getting used to, but once you understand how to select the different refills inside the pen, it's such a fun and magical experience every time. I have no idea what's actually inside the pen that allows this all to work, but I imagine it's some kind of round gate that only allows one refill to pass through when the nock is pressed — the one closer to the earth's core!
Once the novelty of the selector mechanism has worn off (that's an over-statement, as it never completely wears off), you notice how sleek and slim this pen is. It's similar to size and diameter as a normal single refill gel pen, which is quite a feat. Most multi pens have a fairly large diameter in order to accommodate all the refill choices. The body is made entirely of metal, and the color options are vibrant and unique. I went with the Denim Blue option, and I'm really happy with the color. I'm not a huge fan of super-dark interpretations of navy, and this color features a lot of cobalt and dark green tones that add a lot of visual interest to the pen. Given the complexity of the color, it also shifts and changes a bit in different light.
There's minimal branding on the pen — only the name is printed on the middle of the body section, and there aren't any other markings or symbols on the pen besides the refill color/component indicators. The clip is very stiff and strong. It can be quite a challenge to fit it over anything thicker than a nylon pocket sleeve, shirt sleeve, or thin jacket pocket. Fitting it over a jeans pocket is quite snug, but it can be done.
The grip section has a subtle but effective milled texture. The grooves are shallow but provide just enough feedback to give great control of the pen when writing.
What really surprised me about this pen is the refills. It ships with 0.7mm black and red ballpoint ink refills and a 0.5mm mechanical pencil component. I was expecting tepid results from the ballpoint refills, but it didn't stop me from purchasing the pen because the D1 refill size means you can customize this pen from a large assortment of D1 gel refills. But, I was shocked when I started writing with the included ink refills. I was convinced I was writing with a gel refill and double-checked the JetPens product page at least twice to make sure there weren't different varieties of the pen that shipped with gel refills instead. These ballpoint refills are smooth and crisp. They're on the same level as Jetstream or Acroball ink. I've been really impressed by these. They're also really well-priced compared to other D1 refills. At just $2, they're a great deal. You can imagine (and will probably experience the same) my dismay when I realized that Ohto only offers the two refills that are shipped in this pen: 0.7mm black and red. Why, Ohto?! These are great refills that deserve more variety, and I don't understand why they haven't expanded this excellent little product. Maybe it's part of their plan — I certainly hope so.
The 0.5mm mechanical pencil component works exactly as you'd expect. There's also a tiny little eraser hidden under the nock cap.
Now, let's get to maybe my favorite part of this pen: the price. Gravity-operated multi pens are generally on the more premium end of the price spectrum, but the Ohto Blooom is only $28, and that includes the refills. This is an exceptional deal, and makes this pen a great treat or gift. It serves dual purposes as a writing instrument and a fidget toy!
You can pick up your own Ohto Blooom in Denim Blue as seen here, or you can choose from Ice White, Fade Red, and Iron Gray.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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