Review: Pilot e-Gel Erasable 0.7mm

It seems that erasable gel pens are the new flavor of the month. Like the Pilot FriXion, the Pilot e-Gel is an erasable gel ink pen, and also like the FriXion, I'm just not crazy about it. I think most of the problem lies in the pale shade of ink that is required of these type of pens. The needle tip performs ok, and the pen is lightweight and balanced, but I just know I will lose the small screw off cap where the eraser is. At least the eraser is in the right location, unlike the FriXion, and it is a normal pencil eraser at that, not a friction based rubber knob.

The performance of the eraser is rather poor, and the FriXion is probably better in that regard. Between these two pens and an upcoming review of a Uni-Ball Signo erasable that I ordered, I will do a side by side comparison and eraser test of all three to see which is the best.

Hooray For JetPens!

My latest purchase from JetPens.com is on the way.....

1 x Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen - Blue
1 x Pilot Pockel Mini Gel Ink Pen - 0.5 mm - Black
1 x Pilot e-Gel Erasable Gel Ink Pen - 0.7 mm - Blue
1 x Pilot G-3 Gel Pen - 0.38 mm - Blue
1 x Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel Pen - 0.5 mm - Blue
1 x Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen - 0.4 mm - Soda Blue
1 x Pilot Pockel Mini Gel Ink Pen - 0.5 mm - Light Green
1 x Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen - Blue Black Ink
1 x Sakura Pigma Micron 05 Pen - 0.45 mm - Orange
1 x Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen - 0.4 mm - Yawaragi Colors - Utsuzumi Grey

Review: Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Ink Pen

I was very anxious to try out the Pilot FriXion, not because I thought it was going to be an awesome pen, but that I haven't used an erasable pen of any kind since I was in high school. (and there will be no mention of how long ago that was!) This pen is interesting to say the least - let's look at the pros and cons:

Pros:
- Great feel and design. This pen is very cool looking, and one of the better balanced pens in my hand. It is the right size, right diameter, and has a nice rubber grip.
- Good ink flow. I hate a pen that I have to stop and start writing with, or that leaves inconsistent width lines. No trouble from from this pen.

Cons:
- Ink color. Right out of the gate I didn't like it. The blue is too pale, almost as if it was a watercolor type ink. I only bought the blue pen, so I can't speak to the other colors.
- Eraser location. Completely annoying. I shouldn't have to remove the cap from the pen to get to the eraser. The cap looks like it could fit the eraser perfectly, so I'm not sure why it wasn't put there.
- The eraser itself. The main gimmick of this pen is barely passable. Maybe useful as a novelty, but not good enough for any length of time. It took to much effort to not erase completely, even causing me to dent the paper, which you can see in the image above.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this pen. I'll get some use out of it for fun, but that is about it.

I noticed over the weekend that the Super Limited Edition Blog had almost the exact same experience.