TWSBI Vac700
In Orange
In Orange
Specs
Nib: Medium x2 (More on this later)
Nib Material: Steel (Both)
Filling Mechanism: Piston Vacuum Filler
Weight (Capped): 32g
Weight (No Cap): 19g
Length (Cap on) 147mm
Length (Uncapped)134mm
Price Packaging and Availability
The pen comes in a sturdy little plastic box which nicely holds the pen in place and keeps the little knick nacks (More on this later) tucked away underneath its body. Its not a high end pen so nothing truly amazing with packaging, but I think you will not find yourself just pitching it in the bin either. At (A recently reduced) Price of now $65.00 this is the cheapest pen of this style filler you will probably find new on the market today, its price point puts it at a great second pen purchase price, to even a high entry level one. On the spec side it seems to be a lot of pen for the price, which is always a nice thing. TWSBIs are available from more then a few suppliers out there, as well as from the TWSBI website where they ship world wide, so getting your hands on one of these should be super easy.
Shape, Size, Fit and Finish
The body of the pen is on the large side, it is bigger then I had thought it would be, but I have had no issues writing with it, when you place it in a front shirt pocket you certainly know it has been placed there, but its not cumbersome or anything that bothers me through a work day. the pen is comfortable in hand and easy to write with, no hand fatigue was experienced across two full working days out with the pen. the body of the pen, its trims and clips all have a nice look to them, the diamond shaping to the round body of the cap, as well as the blind cap is indeed a nice touch and offers more then just a round barrel. but a pen like this at this price point has to give up a little bit somewhere and there are a few issues with it. The first thing I noticed is more of a design issue then a cost one,
the pocket clip on the cap looks great, but its very out of place with the shiny trim on the rest of the pen, it has a brushed metal look to it that is very contrast to the rest of the metal parts,... and not in a good way... to me its like wearing red shorts with a green top, just doesn't work, but everything is snug and premium feeling here so its just a look thing
the other issue I have are with the filler cap, and the grip section. The looks of these two areas are of cheap plastic, at least to my eyes. they are not the clear plastic of the body and don't feel (In the caps case) as solid.. It seems as though more attention could have been put into these two areas to give it a better look, the cap itself has a plastic marking you find on cheap punched out plastic parts, I wonder if it could be polished off
Nib Performance
TWSBI pens usually come with two nibs, they originally had issues with the first manufacturer and when switching (From boch to JoWo I Believe) they had so many left over originals they just send you both to play with.
Nib one (The one it came with installed which I believe is the Bock)
The Nib went to work with me yesterday. Its smooth enough, but feels like it has some draw to it (Those that strop straights will understand this) think of it this way,... a knife going into water gives no feed back, a knife pressing into peanut butter is still smooth but has some resistance. Its not a bad thing many including myself in some instances like some amount of this as it can help with control. I do find the first nib has a bit to much resistance and feedback for my liking, but it isn't a big deal. The nib writes a bit dry, which is fine as you can get minor line variation with slow and fast writing with a dry nib, some may like this.
Nib Two (I think the JoWo)
Came to work with me today. Very smooth, and a lot less draw this is what you will call the smoother of the two nibs by far, but really its because it offers little feedback or resistance for you. the Nib writes wetter then the first offering almost no variation at all as a result, it is a good solid consistent performer.
Ill come back and post writing samples for a side by side comparison when I have more time (Preferably tonight) to write and switch the nibs.
Function and Design
The Vac has in my playing worked on every occasion, I don't think many will find any issues here. When writing without releasing the blind cap (On vac pens when the cap is fully tightened in place it seals the big body of ink from the feed) with the first nib you would get slow starts and skipping from time to time, but it was still okay for quick notes, a quick turn of the cap and the pen takes only 3-5 seconds to gain full function, with the cap unscrewed I had only a few instances of delayed starts and they were usually after I had been using the pen with the cap down the previous time out of pocket.
With the second nib, I had no slow starts or skipping with the cap secured or released, the only issue you will run into here is running the feed out of ink eventually with the cap secured down,... but it doesn't take long to re fill the feed and get going again.
The pen also comes with a little wrench that allows you to full tear down the pen for cleaning and adding silicon grease when needed, which it also comes with. Its a nice touch I wish more pens makers would risk doing (Pilot and Pelikan im looking at you,.. you sometimes get water in odd places)
Conclusion.
The pen works,... it works well for that matter, dint let me down at work one bit through two days and there has been no accidents (I know im a little upset as well) its big and may be to big for some people but I like the feeling in hand. the cheap looking cap and grip section I wish could be made out of a better looking material but its not enough for me to say I would never buy this pen... Just something I think would give it a much cleaner and premium look. After two days of full day use, Im happy I pulled the trigger, and made up my own dang mind on the matter as I like this pen. you can buy nibs in several sizes, the pen can be completely disassembled for cleaning and maintenance which is always a plus, in fact other then the cap and grip there inst much to not like here. Im my opinion, if the pen holds up over time, it seems to be a lot of pen for the money and given more time of great writing I would certainly offer this up as a recommendation to anyone asking for a pen in this price range
Im even told they have great customer service, but as of yet I have not had to find out myself, time will be the big factor here
I dont have room to put in pictures or package, and the accessories ill toss those up in a minute below so you can see,... but here it is hope you catch it before Brian gets his hands on it
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