Karas Pen Co. have been in the machined-pen game for nearly 15 years. It all started with their first Kickstarter project, the Render K, back in 2011 and they have been producing quality machined writing instruments ever since. The success of their initial product line kicked off a series of unique and stylish pens under the Karas banner, and may have directly or indirectly inspired the current generation of machined pen brands that can be found across the stationery and EDC markets. Today, or within a few weeks of this post’s publication, they have launched a new brand: Everyday Karas. They were also kind enough to offer me a review unit of their first product: the Basik.001. Let’s take a look.
The Basik is a machined aluminum bolt-action pen which uses the Pilot G2 gel ink refill. It has a raw unfinished barrel with 5 grip grooves up front and a Karas-style metal clip bolted onto the rear. The pen is actuated by a round aluminum knock on a j-hook slot connected to the plastic cylindrical bolt. When the time comes to replace the refill, you simply unscrew the knock, drop out the bolt, and swap in a new Pilot refill. There is exactly one (1) moving part in this pen, a trait that is quite unique in the retractable pen space. Karas pens have always had a very understated design, erring on the sides of function and reliability over flashy accoutrements. The Basik is incredibly faithful to that philosophy.
Using the pen
The Basik ships with a 0.5mm Pilot G2 black gel ink refill, and lays down an inky black line as expected. The G2 is a very accessible platform with distribution at just about every level of the stationary ecosystem. Whether your neighborhood only has a Target or other such big-box store, or you’re lucky enough to have a specialty stationer carrying the latest and greatest in international finery, you’ll have no trouble finding refills for this pen. If, like me, your tastes are a bit more particular, other refills can be made to fit the Basik. Refills from the EnerGel family will need a few millimeters shaved off the backend, and Parker-style “international G2” cartridges can be boosted up by adding a bit of plastic tubing. Some of Karas’ other pens even ship with a small plastic tube with that exact purpose in mind.
The pen’s grip is a bit on the chunky side, measuring 10.5mm and 11.6mm at the narrowest and widest points respectively. (The other bolt-action offerings from Karas, the Modal and original Bolt, come in at 11mm on the dot.) The Basik’s grip section is contoured with smooth-curved dips which plateau at roughly 3mm flat sections in between. The grip sits just on the inside of my personal comfort tolerance for pens, but provides a solid bit of control when writing.
This is a rugged pen, great for tossing into a bag on your way out the door or clipping into a pocket for your day’s adventures. The rough, almost tumbled finish may pick up dings and scratches over the product’s long life. Like all Karas Pen Co. pens, the Basik is built to take a beating. I have no doubt that this one will be in service for a very long time.
A Brief Aside
I picked up my first Karas pen a little over 8 years ago. It was a brass Render K with a smooth aluminum grip housing a black Pilot G2 refill. A short while later I attended my first pen show in Los Angeles and came home with a second Karas pen: a green Fountain K with a brass grip and an extra fine Bock nib. These pens signified the true kicking-off of my pen collection. The first ankle-deep steps into a sea of higher-priced writing instruments. The stream that precedes the opening of a floodgate. Since then I have acquired (among many other things) a dozen Karas pens including multiple K-series pieces, some bolt-action variations, two (discontinued) Starliners, a Decograph, and a Vertex. I have reviewed most of them, and loved all of them.
The Bottom Line
In case it wasn’t obvious, I really like this pen. It’s well-made, thoughtfully designed, and true to the brand’s style. But I’ve buried the lede. The driving idea behind the Basik is efficiency in both construction and cost. To that end, Karas Pen Co., under their new secondary-brand Everyday Karas, have made this pen available for the staggering price of just $29. Twenty. Nine. Dollars. An absolute steal. At the time of publication of this post, Karas Pen Co. have ventured from their machine shop in Arizona to the Chicago Pen Show and are showing off some really cool-looking variations of the Basik.001. If you’re at that show, I hope you picked one up. If you’re reading this wishing you were, I hope you will consider visiting EverdayKaras.com and consider picking up your own Basik.001. For a pen of this quality at this price point, I am happy to give it my stamp of approval. If you’re in the market for a machined pen and enjoy shopping with small businesses, check out the Basik.001 from Everyday Karas.
A big thanks to the Karas crew for sending this one out. (And a special shoutout to Paul from their marketing department. Heck of a name on that guy.)
This pen was provided free-of-charge for the purpose of review. They were given no advanced preview of this post, nor did they have any input on its contents. All opinions stated are my own.
The Poor Penman 