Rejection and a TWSBI Fountain Pen Review

Productivity blogs are on to something: Don’t check your e-mail first thing in the morning.

I do this out of habit because the blue light forces my eyes to actually open, but this leaves you in an open minefield because I literally woke up to a rejection today. I’ll probably keep doing the morning e-mail check, though, because deleting Walgreens coupons after stabbing my alarm into submission gives me something to do that doesn’t demand too much of my brain.

The cheetah post was fun to write, so in honor of another rejection, here’s a random post about something: a review of the TWSBI VAC700R Iris fountain pen with a medium nib.

First, it’s fucking pretty. Look at that purple iridescence. Most of the purple finishes are glossy, but the cap clip is matte, which is a quirky little detail I like because I enjoy random inconsistencies.

This agent wasn’t a fan of the opening to my book, but I’m a big fan of the 700R’s opening. It’s got a twist cap, which has two advantages:

• Makes me feel fancy.
• Doesn’t require as much force as a pull-cap, so the risk of a cracked cap is lower.

Here’s a video of me opening and closing the cap:

 

Nice and smooth with a satisfying click when you re-cap it. However, if you like to post your pen, this is not the one for you. Like the Cross Bailey, that shit will not stay on. Having said that, the pen has a nice heft to it on its own, so I don’t miss having a cap on the end.

I was worried the medium nib would be too wide for me, but unlike this agent, it’s a perfect fit. I have an ECO with a fine nib, which gives you a pretty line but feels scratchy. The medium nib on the 700R has the teensiest bit of feedback against the page but is overall nice and smooth. Predictably, it bleeds to hell on crappy paper, so this isn’t the best for grocery lists scrawled on the back of credit card offer envelopes.

Here are some shots of the writing in action on an Apica page versus a sheet of printer paper:

As for ink, I used TWSBI brand ink, which is new to me and a great fit for the pen. The color is a true black. Now I’ll make another writing craft mistake and start yet another phrase with It. It flows easily but isn’t too wet. No need to toss sand on this motherfucker.

The vacuum mechanism is pretty clutch. Inking the ECO is a bit like sorcery to me, but with the 700R, you unscrew the end and pull out the metal pole thingy as far back as it will go. Then, stick the nib inside the inkpot so the feed is covered with ink. Push down on the back and boom, it sucks up a ton of ink.

One important thing about any vac pen to note is writing time. Specifically, the pen is OK to jot down quick notes without any issue. However, if you need to write long screeds about the price of salad dressing, you might notice the feed starts to dry up. In IKEA-like fashion, the TWSBI instruction manual explains how to unscrew the back cap slightly to fix the flow.

This is totally normal for a vac pen, and the delightful Goulet man explains the phenomenon in this video:

So, is it worth $80? Depends on how you define the value of $80. If the idea of unscrewing the back of your pen enrages you, then maybe don’t buy it. I think it’s worth the cash because it works well and is so very pretty. Unfortunately, it’s sold out almost everywhere because that particular color is a limited edition, but at the time of writing this blog post, you can still find the Iris on the TWSBI site here.

If you do try to buy it, I applaud you for following your dream of owning a TWSBI VAC700R Iris just like that agent applauded me for following my dreams. (Yes, they really said that.) Cynicism aside, I hope you have a good morning. Here’s a parting shot of that gorgeous nib:

(P.S. This isn’t sponsored content. I’m not that connected. The featured photo at the top of the page is from their website. The Goulet video belongs to Goulet Pens. All other photos/videos are mine.)