A nice option for an everyday carry ink pen.
We live in a world that is shaped by a pandemic. This year has had one constant – inconsistency. We have come to expect the unexpected in our daily lives and as we all try to keep loved ones safe we find ourselves trying new methods of completing daily activities. I have always been concerned with keeping my hands clean and some people may consider me a germaphobe. Fortunately for me, my behaviors and different ways of seeing the world have prepared me well for living through a pandemic. One thing I’ve always tried to do is carry an ink pen with me. That way, I don’t have to worry about using a pen that dozens of other people have used before me. Not just any pen will work though. Some are too bulky to carry around. This is where the Titanium Pocket Keychain Pen from Arrow & Eaves comes in handy.
The Titanium Pocket Keychain Pen was designed out of a desire to find an everyday carry ink pen. After several starts and stops, the Pocket Keychain Pen was born with some very specific design requirements.
- No plastic parts
- No glue or adhesives
- No tiny springs
- No pocket clips
- No protruding ‘hooks’
- No seamless edges
- No magnets
- Tight, secure, and well-fitted components
- Compactness
- Extendability and writing comfort
- Decently weighted
- Well-balanced
- Durability & longevity
- Comes with a keychain attachment point
- Utilizes the standard D1 multi-pen ink refill cartridge
- Self-containing
- Waterproof
- Minimized part count
With these things in mind, a convertible ink pen that you can carry with you was created. It comes in a simple cardboard gift box with “Arrow & Eaves” stamped on the top. One of the value statements that Arrow & Eaves touts on its website is “reusability”. To go along with that, the box has a message on it that reads: Did you know? This box is designed to be reused as a card holder. I found this refreshing considering that a lot of companies don’t pay enough attention to their packaging and how their items aren’t shipped to consumers. It was a nice message about not being wasteful.
One of the first things I noticed about the pen was its weight. As far as pens go, it is heavy. It weighs in around 31 grams, which is considerably more than my Pilot G-2 ink pen. That said, the Arrow & Eaves pen is nearly indestructible because the cap and barrel are machined out of Grade 5 Titanium. Even though the pen may feel a bit weighted, it is very well balanced as a writing utensil. Once I installed the ink cartridge and connected the cap to the barrel, it felt like a standard ink pen. The carabiner does jostle around a bit when you are writing with the pen, but you can remove it from the pen if you are using it for an extended period of time. The carabiner and keychain loop came pre-attached to the pen’s cap and the pen was empty. It did ship with two ink refills and two replacement O-rings.
One of the things that Arrow & Eaves warns consumers about is not over-tightening the parts. The barrel screws into the cap when it’s not in use and then there is a screw fitting (machined out of Phosphor Bronze) that screws into the barrel to enclose the ink compartment. Both of these areas should be hand tightened. The cap of the pen can be used as a screwdriver for the screw fitting on the barrel, but there is a warning included not to over-tighten. I did notice when I was putting the pen together for the first time that everything came pretty tight and the first time you unscrew everything, it is more difficult than subsequent times.
The pen actually writes exceptionally well. As I mentioned, it feels good in the hands and is well-balanced. The ink cartridges that Arrow & Eaves chose to send with the pen work really well and the ink comes out smooth and even. I would actually put this pen up against one of my gel pens that I’ve used for years. For an everyday carry, I think this is a great option. It’s built to be super tough and looks great. I would recommend this to others looking for an EDC pen.
For more information, visit arrowandeaves.com.
