[Pen/Pencil Review] Faber-Castell Grip Plus Ball Pen
NOTE: This is a day late because I’ve been hitting the blog pretty hard lately…
A few weeks ago a good friend (Hi, Tim!) texted me about his plan to start bullet journaling and asking me for a pen recommendation. Whoa. That took a minute to sink in – and was hugely flattering.
Then we had the breakdown – fountain, gel, fiber tip, or ball point? He specified ballpoint that would work well on good journal paper. Though there are many great ballpoint pens out there, my recommendation was the Faber-Castell Grip Plus Ball. It’s one of my newest acquisitions from Christmas and a good pen.
The Faber-Castell Grip Plus Ball point pen comes with a 1.0 mm (M) blue ink. The barrel is refillable. The pen is about 5.25†long (retracted and extended) with a plastic barrel with a strong plastic clip and metal accents on the push plunger and conical tip. The black rubber grip has a triangular “feel†with ribbed sections that fit comfortably at the typical grip pressure points for an ergonomic, non-slip grip.
The ink is rich and smooth. There’s no skipping, glopping or smearing on either plain paper or journal paper. I would put it up again the Pilot Dr. Grip any day – though the grip is slightly less “squishyâ€. The prices are comparable as well.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – It works well. The ink flows well with minimal smearing. The retraction mechanism is solid.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – This is a pen designed for ergonomics. The grip is designed to prevent fatigue and delivers with the ribbed areas hitting pressure points. The barrel is long enough for comfort and balanced well.
3. Material – 1.0 – For a plastic barrel pen, it’s pretty well-made. It doesn’t feel cheap. The ink is rich, fluid and has minimal smearing. The metal accents
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – It’s a good design. I’m not going to knock it for having a bright metal clip on an otherwise black pen. But it does what it says – it’s comfortable, it has good ink, and it is suitable for long-term writing5.
Price Point – 0.5 – Considering this is Faber-Castell, the price is still pretty good. The Faber-Castell Grip Plus Ball is $9 but has metal accents. It’s comparable to Pilot’s Dr. Grip which runs about $10.
