A Ballpoint I Love
The Pilot Acroball PureWhite is the only ballpoint I have used since being introduced to gel pens, such as the Signo DX and the Pilot G-2. I absolutely love how dark the pen writes. I was looking for an inexpensive pen that I could take hiking. It had to meet several criteria:
- I wanted a ballpoint because it is less affected by the weather.
- It had to be light weight, I’m a minimalist hiker.
- It had to be visible if I dropped it.
- It had to put a dark line on the page.
I was surprised to find how well the pen wrote. It is very similar to writing with a gel but, it’s a ballpoint. Doing a little research I found out the ink is water-based not oil based ink like most ballpoints. Make sense why it behaves the way it does, which is amazing. It is extremely smooth and I have no “skipping” problems. It works right out the pack every time.
The white plastic is easily visible and stands apart from my normal group of pens, making it unique among my collection. It is light weight and the rubber grip is textured to not allow slippage. Because of these attributes I’ve been able to write for a few hours without much hand fatigue. This is very import attribute for me, I tore a tendon in my hand a while back and have yet to get it repaired. It makes gripping a challenge especially if I’m doing it for hours.
The Acroball, even though it is a plastic pen it seems at home with my Midori Traveler’s Notebook. The stark whiteness of it is a great contrast to the dork brown leather of the Midori. I went with the non-expressive silver accented version but, Pilot makes them in an assortment of colors: blue, lime, turquoise, pink, purple, orange and silver. Pilot also offers the pen in three different models: Acroball Pro, Acroball Color & the Acroball PureWhite with the PureWhite being the only to come in a fine point. All other Acroballs are medium point pens.
Now if you go to JetPens, they offer a different Acroball than what the US Pilot website markets. Perhaps because of JetPens getting a non-US supplier? I also notice they offer the pens in three point sizes: 1.0 mm, 0.7 mm & 0.5 mm.
Some of the quirky things I look for in a pen is the “click” of a retractable pen. The Acroball PureWhite has a firm retraction mechanism and feels solid and the clip, though plastic, is shaped to hold on and go for a ride.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with these pens and enjoy writing with them. I would like to see them in a really dark purple/black ink....not sure what the appeal is to that color but, love it on paper.
Shipping Weight
|
0.33 oz
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Body Color
|
Black
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Body Material
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Plastic
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Cartridge-Compatible
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Yes
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Clip Material
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Plastic
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Clippable
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Yes
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Color Set
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No
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Diameter - Grip
|
11.4 mm
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Diameter - Max
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11.4 mm
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Grip Color
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Silver
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Grip Material
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Rubber
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Length - Extended
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14 cm
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Length - Retracted
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14.2 cm
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Mechanism
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Retractable
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Tip Length
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4.2 mm
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Tip Material
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Metal
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Tip Size
|
0.5 mm
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Tip Type
|
Conical
|
I am a big fan of Pilot pens and every aspect of the Acroball ticks my list except one. When I put pen to paper, the Acroball starts off like the dreaded ballpoint pen. The pen starts rolling without any ink until a good distance later and when you hit the first curve the ball goes dry again. I will admit that it does get better when the pen is in motion for a while but that first impression is a bad one. The pen that blew me away was the Uniball Jetstream. The ink formulation in the Jetstream is outstanding. I suggest that Pilot steal the ink recipe from Uniball.
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