Seeking What's Worth It
The Viper is the latest in a long line of boldly-designed fountain pens from Diplomat, a brand with over 100-years of experience under their belt. In addition to manufacturing fountain pens, they are credited with being one of the first ballpoint pen manufacturers in Germany. They also introduced their region to ink cartridges, which were far easier to use than the filling mechanisms of the era.
I must have done some good deeds in a past life because the retractable fountain pen market is on the rise. This week we have the Ensso BOLT Retractable Fountain Pen: a Kickstarter project that launched back in January 2024 that secured full funding and completed fulfillment by the end of July. Not a bad turnaround for a Kickstarter. And sure, it was successful on paper, but how is the pen on paper? Well I've been using the pen for a couple months at this point, and I've got opinions. Let's take a look at the Ensso BOLT.
Well, I asked for this. Lets take a look at the Endless Creator Retractable Fountain Pen.
The Pelikan P10 Twist was introduced in 1986 as a basic, accessible fountain pen for students and "youngsters" of the time. They had a relatively short production life which ended within the decade, but offered a surprising assortment of visual styles in that period. At the time of writing, these pens are available as "New-Old Stock" from EndlessPens for the extremely pocket-friendly price of $6 USD. I've been using mine for several months now and, I must say, I am blown away by the quality and comfort of this classic pen. Time for a quick look.
The Poor Penman 