Blast from the past - Pilot Razor Point

[essayfaire]

I went to play a game this evening in my parents' house; it was one that required score pads.  Inside the box, I found this Pilot Razor Point, a felt tip pen probably similar to the Sakura Micron pens but for writing, and probably a bit finer.  When I was in school these were my go to pens - apparently even then I had a dislike for ballpoints- and I remember buying them by the box.

 

Apparently, this pen thing, including its Japanese iteration, had been brewing since childhood! Alas, I was quite excited to use the pen, but it appears to have dried out.    Still good memories, though!

[Misfit]

This is a cool story. Pity it dried out. 

[ajcoleman]

They were nice pens, though I seemed to be pretty hard on them. I seemed to where down and mush up the point long before the ink ran out.

[PAKMAN]

4 hours ago, ajcoleman said:

They were nice pens, though I seemed to be pretty hard on them. I seemed to where down and mush up the point long before the ink ran out.

Ditto!

 

[Ron Z]

With my intense dislike for ballpoints and the blobs left all over a page, I used Pilot razor points in college along with my No Nonsense (which I still have).  I never mushed the point on one though.  I just ran them dry.  I eventually went for Nikko pens.

 

They're still made.  There are listings for them on Amazon and Ebay.

[essayfaire]

5 hours ago, Ron Z said:

With my intense dislike for ballpoints and the blobs left all over a page, I used Pilot razor points in college along with my No Nonsense (which I still have).  I never mushed the point on one though.  I just ran them dry.  I eventually went for Nikko pens.

 

They're still made.  There are listings for them on Amazon and Ebay.

But now I don't need them, as I have discovered the joys of fountain pens!  My tips would get a bit mushy, but not to where they were ever unusable... maybe if I try capillary action I can get the pen going again...

[essayfaire]

I looked online; saw the description was oddly reminiscent of many of my fountain pens: super fine line, no pressure needed to write, etc.  

 

I couldn't resist.  Bought a four-pack.  We'll see what I think of them now. Pilot has some with a newer design, but I opted for the old style I remember from my youth.

[Ron Z]

I understand.  I rarely use them, but I picked up some of the Precise V rollerballs at the flea market last year.

[Catpaws]

I have some of those and loved them at school, too.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Years ago, when they were new, I discovered Pilot Razor Points and really enjoyed them. They flowed a lot better than ballpoints did and put down a solid, black line of ink. I'm sure that I have a couple of them around the house in the same condition as the one you found at your parents' place. IIRC the ink was not so permanent though. The ballpoints had it beat on that score. Of course with truly permanent fountain pen inks I've got it made: flowing ink that will resist all attempts to remove it from the paper up to the point that the paper itself is destroyed .

[essayfaire]

They have arrived!  I opted for the old style packaging even though there is an updated version of the pen.  They call it extra fine, but the packaging says it writes with a .5mm, which isn't what I consider extra fine, especially from a Japanese company.  Yet the lines are consistently fine.

 

I then wrote with them.  I can see what I liked about them, but these days I guess I'm pickier, but they make good pens for throwing near memo paper, etc.  Here are my tests, contrasted with what I get from a medium Pilot Kakuno, which in theory is also a .5.