[Pen/Pencil Review] Going to Extremes – The OHTO Pieni Needle-point 0.3mm Ballpoint Pen
Last week I wrote about the largest pen I now own – the Lehr Arts .50 caliber handmade bullet pen. This week I’ll begin a short series on the smallest pens I now own. Jimmy and I did a run on JetPens.com last week. I wanted to do an experiment to see if there really is such a thing as “too fine” a point on a pen.
I’m starting with the OHTO Pieni Border Needle-point i 0.3mm ballpoint. I, of course, got the green one. I did buy one pen with a “finer” point, but this one fits the rest of the criteria as well. The OHTO Pieni retractable needle-point is only 4.875″ long retracted, and 5.0625″ long point out and 0.29″ in diameter. This is a very DAINTY pen.
I know there are shorter and smaller pens on the market, but this is as little as I can go without losing function. This pen is barely long enough and thick enough in the barrel for me to work with. I also tend to shy away from needle-point pens because I am so heavy-handed with my writing that I’ve broken needle-points before.
However, as with the OHTO fountain pen I’ve reviewed, this pen is a pleasant surprise. The pen point is solidly constructed of stainless steel (rather than plastic into metal) which gives the writing tip more stability and strength. I don’t feel like I’m about to bend the tip out of shape. The ink flow is smooth. With this pen being both extremely fine point and ballpoint, I knew the ink wouldn’t be as dark and rich as other inks, but I was surprised there as well. Though, true, it’s not as dark (and you can’t expect it to be) as the Hi-Tec-C roller ball black ink, it’s still easily readable and dark for all the narrowness.
The OHTO Pieni comes at a moderate price point for a refillable, keep for a while, retractable ball point pen. On JetPens, it runs just under $6. However, because of it’s compact size, it won’t be a “go to” everyday pen for me. It’ll be a fun, grab on the go pen. It might end up in some travel gear because it is petite and light and takes up little space. It’s sturdy construction will also make it a good “purse pen”. It’ll take some abuse.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5 Bronze pencils.
