Gravitas - Pocket Raw Copper | Uncoated

This is a pocket pen you can carry in your pants pocket. There is no clip, so you can’t clip it to your shirt pocket (with or without pocket protector). It’s kinda heavy, so you want to make sure it doesn’t fall out of whatever you carry it in. And finally, its outer shell is made from solid copper, a relatively soft metal that’s not particularly scratch, impact, or corrosion resistant. The copper will discolor quickly from humidity, as well as moisture and other chemicals your fingers have on them when you touch the pen. Your fingers will rub off some of the darker oxidized copper, leaving brighter shinier spots wherever your fingers habitually touch the pen. And let’s not forget about the oligodynamic effect that compounds and amalgams containing copper have on microbes! Not quite as effective as vaccines, but close.
In addition to the darkened and spotted appearance, my pen has also accumulated some scratches from posting the cap. I can’t write with the pen without posting the cap on the back of the barrel, because it’s a pocket pen, designed to be short enough to fit a pants pocket. I accept the scratches and spots as “comes with the territory”, just like having room for only one standard international cartridge, or the supplied mini-converter.
And here’s where I found an unexpected shortcoming: ink flow, specifically the lack thereof. I’ve used several of my nearly 100 different colors and brands of ink in the mini-converter. Almost all of them started to cause ink starvation sooner or later. I was able to replicate this phenomenon by using the mini-converter in one of my Sentry pens, where I also saw ink starvation. Similarly, ink cartridges cause ink starvation. With the mini-converter, you can at least “push” more ink into the nib unit to continue writing, but squeezing the cartridge may cause the cartridge to split, which allows air to get in through the crack, which causes flooding of the nib…
Surprisingly, Pelikan 4001 Königsblau has provided the most consistently positive results, regardless of the size of the cartridge or converter. Surprising, because that ink is generally not known for superior performance or outstanding characteristics, but I’ve had no ink flow problems with it in any of my pens.
Writing with the Pocket Pen is a very “forgettable” experience, and I mean that in the best way possible. Provided you fix or don’t have any ink flow problems, the Pocket Pen is very smooth and consistent, allowing you to concentrate on what you’re writing rather than constantly fidgeting with your writing instrument to get it to write. After finding the perfect ink for your needs, this pen will most likely outlast you 🙂, even with daily use.