The Pentel Slicci .7mm writing sample and a quote from my favorite pen blogger, dowdyism from Penaddict.com
Recently dowdyism from The Pen Addict offered to send me a Pentel Slicci pen because I had never tried one and it is one of his favorite pens. Of course I took him up on his incredibly generous offer, but unfortunately the US Postal service had different ideas and things didnt work out so well, so no Slicci for me. I quickly set out to JetPens.com so I could pick up some of my own Slicci pens to test out since the Pen guru himself was such a big fan…how could I not try out one of these pens? When I got there I saw that there were multiple sizes and colors to pick from so I figured I might as well try to get one of each, although I do think I missed out on getting one of the .25mm version.
Anyway, this Slicci that Im reviewing today is the .7mm version. When I first started writing with my new .7mm Pentel Slicci, I was really impressed by the super smooth flow of ink and the bright solid color that it was laying down in my Rhodia note book. Although I’m not usually a huge fan of the .7mm point size, I do make exceptions, and I was pretty sure that this would be one of those exceptions. If you look at the writing sample above you can see how the various colors are really vibrant and put down solid unbroken lines…whats not to like? At this point I was already starting to think, I dont know how in the world dowdyism could not like (his review is here) the .7mm version of this pen…I mean I get it, I found his “its like writing with a sawed off log” comment about the blunt point pretty damn funny, but then I said to myself, sure its probably thick, but for a pen of that size I’m sure it writes as good if not better than others of the same size.
Obviously when it comes to the perfect pen, different people will have different preferences, so the whole .7mm vs .5mm or .4mm is completely variable depending on the user, so one has to respect the preferences of someone else. To me the .7mm Slicci was a tolerable width, and the more rounded stubby point was not an issue either. The thing that WAS an issue for me though was the incredibly thin and almost slippery barrel. The more I wrote with and even just handled a few of these pens, the more frustrated I became with them. The really thin barrel just does not make for a comfortable writing experience for me, I think I have average size hands for a guy, so its not like Im Shaquille O’neal and I need something the size a sawed off log to make a normal sized pen for my hands.
Now I’ve found myself going from an attitude of “ehh, Im sure that the .7mm version might be a little clunky to write with” to “wow, I dont even like holding these pens for more than a minute let alone writing with them regardless of the point size” so now I’m left with the thought of possibly just seeing if I cant take the ink cartridges themselves to see if I can fit them into any of my other pens like my Waterman Expert. So yeah, I know the Pentel Slicci has lots of fans, but for me the style of the body just totally ruins everything else that is good about the pens.
I know that @dowdyism mentioned in his review that he forgot to take a close up picture of the different point sizes and shapes, so since he has been such a great friend to my blog, I thought Id take a fw pictures for him while I had these pens and my camera out. You can really see the different shape and size of the points in these pictures if you click on them and view the larger size.
Close up comparison of the Pentel Slicci point size and widths.
A close up of 3 different Pentel Slicci point sizes, the .3mm, the .4mm, and the .7mm.
One last thing on the Pentel Slicci Gel Ink Pen 0.7mm and dowdyism’s review, although I found this review pretty funny, lets just remember that sometimes writing with a sawed off log might be the only option that some pen models have, since they are literally made of sawed off logs. 🙂
Woody with the Pentel Slicci models mentioned in this review.
Thanks for the review. I want to try one of the 0.7mm cause I like the 0.25 and 0.3 a lot, but wanted some thicker pen widths. After reading the Pen Addict review, it made me wonder if it writes similarly to the 08 Sakura Micron Pen which has a kind of “stubby” point.
I read on the jbox website,that Sliccis are some of the most popular pens with middle and high school students in Japan. So maybe the demographic had some influence on the design being as thin as it is.
I saw a few hacks of the Slicci, I remember this one on the Pen Addict site using the Pentel Hybrid Technica:
http://penaddiction.blogspot.com/2008/02/perfect-slicci-hack.html
I hope you find a pen body that works with it!
You are too funny – excellent review! The diameter of the barrel is definitely the issue I hear about the most, but it writes so well I am willing to deal with that flaw. I did find that the Pentel Hybrid Technica takes the Slicci refills perfectly: http://www.penaddict.com/2008/02/perfect-pentel.html
Thanks for doing those close-ups too – they pretty clearly show the difference.
lol – Gentian beat me to the link – sorry about that!
Gentian – Glad you found the review helpful, and I appreciate the link to the old school version of the pen addict on the modification for a larger pen body…Ill have to try that out. I bet you are probably correct on the reason for the thinner barrel too, that totally makes sense.
dowdyism – Thanks for the kind feedback, always flattering coming from an expert such as yourself, and that link to your older post on modifying the body looks very encouraging!
I really like your review and comparison pictures. I need to try a .7 as I like the Slicci pens but I hold pens sort of awkward so that may be why the barrel size works for me…who knows. I am loving the purple color it is so vibrant and pretty! I like your reference to the “sawed off log” that made me smile when I originally saw it on the Pen Addict site :D.
Nosferatuia – Thanks! Im glad you liked it. I also found the “sawed off log” comment from The Pen Addict to be very funny…I couldnt let it go. 🙂
I’ll probably add a few of the Pentel Slicci’s to my next give away that I hope to do soon, so keep an eye out for that and thanks for always coming here to check things out.
Wow, after looking at the pictures, I really get the comments about the blunt tip. Very illustrative!
Now we just need someone to make the ultimate MAN version of this pen 😉
Like this… now that’s a hack! http://finebushpeople.co.za/farmstore/catalog/love_from_africa.html
I love the Slicci 0.4, but 0.7 is just too big a point for me. If they ever make a 0.5 I’ll give it a try. I have small hands and like the thin body of the Slicci. One big advantage of their size: I can fit more of them into a little pencil pouch to carry with me. Also I tend to write just a paragraph or two at a time so hand fatigue isn’t a big issue; if I had to write many pages at one sitting, I’d probably choose a pen with a bigger grip.
By the way, I don’t think I’ve commented on any of your posts before, so I just want to say how much I enjoy your blog. Thank you.
SF Susan – I do prefer the .4, they are really nice. I have not done a review on those yet though. I never thought about the size aspect in terms of being able to carry more of them around, so you are correct, that is another positive for the smaller size.
Thanks for commenting, its always nice to hear from people reading my blog, I appreciate you taking the time to write. 🙂
I enjoyed the review. The photos were spectacular in full size. What sort of camera are you using, if you don’t mind me asking? Also, thanks to the commentors above for the hack! Very handy to know these things.
bardharlock – Very happy to hear that you enjoyed the review and the photos. The camera I use is a Cannon Power Shot SD870 IS, which is an 8MP camera. Im not exactly a professional photographer, so I appreciate the compliments.
Also, I completely agree with you and have said before that quite often the comments left on blog posts by readers can be even more informative than the actual post itself, so I am very thankful for all of the great comments and feedback left by my readers.
Very interesting take on the Slicci pens. I have read some where that these are great pens for bible marking because of the finer tips. I didnt realize you do giveaways too. Thats exciting as I love free stuff and especially pens! lol. Great solid review and the pictures make it even better.
I have very small hands, so I LOVE these pens – they are so much more comfortable for me to hold than average-sized pens are!