[Pen/Pencil Review] The Stabilo Bionic Worker – Medium Point – Blue Ink

This week’s pen is the Stabilo Bionic Worker in the Medium Point. This was on my JetPens wish list and given to me for my birthday. This was a pen I wanted to check out but had to wait until they became available on JetPens. I haven’t found them in any US stores yet-they’re still mostly only available in the UK and other countries.

The Stabilo Bionic Worker pen is rapidly becoming one of my “go to” pens for a couple of simple reasons. It’s comfortable to write with, and the MEDIUM point is a 0.5mm. I need to put some of the fine points (0.3mm) on my wish list if JetPens ever gets them in stock. I see them on the Stablio UK website, but not on JetPens yet.

This pen is the yellow (okay, Stabilo calls it orange) body wish is striking in itself. It reminds me of all the “Waterproof” indicators of the past. The body of the pen is shaped in an elongated wave pattern designed for long-use comfort. The Stabilo Bionic Worker is 6.625″ long with the cap posted and nearly 5.75″ capped. This gives it a comfortable length in the hand. It’s well-balanced. The body is rubber rather than hard plastic giving the whole pen a “grippy” feel-or in more “technical’ terms “non-slip”. And yes, it does feel secure in the hand. The cap posts firmly.

This is a rollerball pen with a nickel silver tip. I haven’t encountered skipping with the ink. The ink flows well onto even generic notebook paper-as seen with the writing sample here. This is the blue ink, but it also comes in black, green, and red. Though the tip is enclosed in a plastic housing, the pen feels solid. There’s no sense of breakability or fragility to this pen. I feel like I could use it anywhere at any time. It’s a good, reliable pen – and with the bright yellow body, it is easily identifiable if anyone tries to steal it.

With the entire barrel being rubber, even the lip where the pen caps to the body is softer than expected. Even choked all the way down on the plastic housing of the pen point, that lip does not dig into the fingers. There is a little give to the pen to keep it from being uncomfortable.

NOW TO FIND THE 0.3mm to see if Stabilo can oust Pilot as my new favorite rollerball of all time… I would love to try out not only the 0.3mm but some of their other pens NOT easily available in the US because I truly like what I see so far.

Now to the numbers:

1. How does it work? – 1 this pen works as advertised. It’s a solid ink with a solid delivery system. The ink flows smoothly on the paper. It has a good pigment. Darned solid pen.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – I like the fact that it DOESN’T have a specific gripping surface, that they extend the rubber throughout the ergonomically designed barrel. I tend to shift my grip up and down the barrel and this doesn’t have a tiresome surface on it. It’s borderline too thick, but manages to skirt that edge.
3. Material – 1 I find the softer rubber of the entire pen to be a fairly unique design for the Stabilo. It’s hard to make a “new and different” rollerball pen, but this gives it a niftiness that I haven’t encountered in a while.
4. Overall Design – 1 – This has been one of my new favorite rollerball pens – just for its comfort factor. Good ink. Good point. Good design.This is why I need to find a way to import the 0.3mm. Because that’s the ONLY DRAW BACK.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – This is the only knock. BECAUSE it’s not easily available in the US, and it’s NOT refillable. This pen tends to be a bit pricey for a disposable rollerball. On JetPens it’s $3.85. BUT, it’s a workhorse pen that will last a goodly while, but because of import costs and such, it’s a bit on the expensive side – but WORTH IT. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils.

Tags: Blue Ink, pen, rollerball, Stabilo, writing instrument