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Pen Pit Stop : TiScribe Brass/Copper Welcome to the Pen Pit Stop. Here you will find reviews of pens that already have some mileage on them. More specifically, these reviews are of pens that are in my personal collection, and that have been in use for at least a year. I thought it would be fun to do it this way – no new & shiny pens here, but battered vehicles that have been put to work for at least a year. Let’s find out how they have withstood the ravages of time. The fountain pen arriving at the pit stop today is actually a pair : the TiScribe Brass and Copper. These are machine-tooled pens created as a KickStarter project by Kelvin Verrett of Urban Survival Gear. It was purely by accident that I came across this project, and I immediately took a liking to the minimalistic and industrial looks of the pen. So I subscribed to the project in the summer of 2015, and got me these beauties. I received the pens by early 2016, and they have been in regular use since that time. Let’s take a closer look at them. Pen Look & FeelThe TiScribe is a machine-tooled pen, with an industrial look & feel. Throughout the campaign, Kelvin showed videos illustrating the actual production process – quite interesting! The TiScribe is meant to be a sturdy EDC pen, pocket sized (4.5 inches long) and with a solid construction. Being a metal pen, it can take a beating, and is meant to show scratches and patina after some use. The pen has a threaded cap, and cannot be posted. It’s a cartridge converter pen, that takes small standard international cartridges. The nibs used are Bock Triple 060 models. I ordered my pens with an M-nib. The pictures above illustrate the size of the TiScribe pen in comparison with a standard Lamy AL-star. As you can see, the TiScribe is a small pen. It’s still comfortable to write with, but only for quick notes. The pen is too small to be comfortable for long writing sessions. Pen CharacteristicsBuild Quality : the pen is very well-built, and will easily last a lifetime. As an EDC pen, it’s meant to show a “weathered look”, acquiring scratches and developing a nice patina after some use. I quite like the rugged look & feel. Weight & Dimensions : for such a small pen, it still has some heft to it – to be expected since the pen is completely constructed from metal. The weight is distributed evenly along the barrel. When writing, the TiScribe feels well balanced, and fits comfortably in my hand.Filling System : this is a cartridge convertor pen, that uses small standard international cartridges. Nib & Performance : Kelvin used standard Bock nibs for his pen. I ordered my copper & brass pair with an M-nib. The nibs wrote perfectly out-of-the-box without needing tuning, and are relatively wet writers.Price : I paid 130 USD for the Brass & Copper duo of pens. This included shipping & handling. That’s quite a reasonable price for these rugged metal-based writers. ConclusionThe TiScribe from Urban Survival Gear is a great EDC pen, that can take a beating. I like the industrial looks of this pen, and the fact that it is meant to show “the life it has lived”. My pens have acquired numerous scratches and developed a nice patina, and this simply enhances their ruggedized look. The big question is: would I buy this pen again? To this, my answer is: YES. Buying this pen was a leap of faith that really paid off. The TiScribe totally fits my taste, and I really like the battered look it develops as it ages. A worthy EDC pen!

In June of 2015 (I think it was) I first became aware of a new pen project being launched on Kickstarter. Kelvin Verrett, the guy who designed the pen, describes himself as a “Mechanical Engineer working in Aviation” who uses his spare time to “create innovative products in my small CNC Machine Shop”. This was his second Kickstarter project - but it looks pretty certain it won’t be the last. As anyone who was watching the project will know, the original design was for a short (4.45in) pen, machined on his CNC lathe, that would be suitable for everyday carry. Backers could choose from titanium, copper or brass bodies (with a titanium clip), and decide whether they wanted a fountain pen, or a pen that would accept Space Pen / G2 gel pen / Parker pen refills in the barrel. Various other options became available as stretch goals - including a lanyard cap option, the capacity to buy extra tips, and the option of buying a longer bodied pen (5.45in length). One of the things I really enjoyed about the Kickstarter was the ongoing communication - all the way through, Kelvin was providing entertaining updates on his Instagram channel, that kept us up-to-date with design changes and improvements, stretch goals, and (during construction) the various delays and challenges that he had to overcome. By the time the campaign had ended, I’d changed my order several times - settling on a titanium and a brass pen, both the original (shorter) size, plus a lanyard cap, plus an extra brass tip to accommodate a Space Pen refill. I don’t want to write a lengthy review - just a few details, a few comments, and some pictures - but let me say up front I was really pleased to receive these pens a couple of weeks ago. The titanium pen is still in my possession, while my teenaged son is putting the brass version through its paces. Without further ado, a picture first of all: http://i.imgur.com/hgi6n8b.jpg The pen is beautifully machined from solid titanium rods. The cap and barrel have slightly different diameters (10mm vs 9.5mm), making this a farly slender pen. Capped, the pen is 114 mm long; uncapped it’s only 107mm - which means the end of the barrel only just extends beyond the webbing of my hand: http://i.imgur.com/6nATmpH.jpg I purchased the pen to be a portable pocket pen, and it fits the bill for that purpose admirably - I worried the extra inch might make it too long to sit comfortably in my pocket, but that would be an option for anyone wanting to order a slightly longer pen. It’s perfectly comfortable for me to write with - but better suited to shorter note-taking sessions, rather than writing a multi-thousand-word essay! By way of comparison, here’s a picture of how the titanium and brass TiScribes (capped) line up against a few other pocket pens - a Kaweco AL Sport, a Stipula Passaporto, and a TWSBI Diamond Mini. http://i.imgur.com/kGXYrPT.jpg These pens all post, of course, so are longer when deployed for writing - but again, the TiScribe is just long enough (for my medium-sized hands) to write comfortably. As I mentioned earlier, I ordered my pens with an optional extra lanyard cap (no clip) that would allow me to carry it around my neck, plus a brass “pen tip” to convert to a ballpoint / gel pen: http://i.imgur.com/vyiOaVt.jpg The threads that hold the cap onto the barrel are nicely machined, and ensure a tight seal. The threading between the grip section and barrel is reversed, so that the barrel doesn't accidentally unscrew when you're trying to uncap the pen - the unintended consequence of this is that if you try to overtighten when recapping the pen, the barrel begins to unscrew... but that's better, I think, than exposing the cartridge / converter when you're wanting to write! Looking inside, the 'standard' size pen takes short standard international cartridges, or the Monteverde mini-converter - the larger ("full-size") version will also take a full-length cartridge converter. http://i.imgur.com/czID92z.jpg The threads that hold the cap onto the barrel are nicely machined, and ensure a tight seal. The threading between the grip section and barrel is reversed, so that the barrel doesn't accidentally unscrew when you're trying to uncap the pen - the unintended consequence of this is that if you try to overtighten when recapping the pen, the barrel begins to unscrew... but that's better, I think, than exposing the cartridge / converter when you're wanting to write! When Kelvin first conceived of the project, his intention was to supply the fountain pen version of the pen with Kaweco nibs - given the volumes eventually involved, he was able to source his nib units directly from Bock (060 size), with standard Bock branding: http://i.imgur.com/HDORqow.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/x1bCeX5.jpg You could easily swap in a Kaweco nib unit, though - and I'm pretty sure the smaller nib units Goulet Pens sell for the Karas Kustoms Fountain K will fit too! I'm not sure much else to say about the pen - other than to say I'm really pleased with the purchase! I understand Kelvin is making a few minor adjustments to the design, and planning to release version 2.0 sometime soon - you can keep up with developments on his Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/one2tencnc/) or on his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/CNC2Live). If you have any questions, I'm happy to try and answer them - feel free to leave comments below!