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High-quality pencil lead ensures a smooth and consistent flow, making your writing clear and precise. With a size of 1.15 mm, you can easily switch between writing, drawing, or sketching without missing a beat. The pack of 12 leads guarantees you always have a refill on hand that lasts for a long time.
Specifications:
- brand: Retro 51
- type: Tornado pencil proprietary lead refill
- color: Black
- thickness: 1.15 mm
- hardness: HB
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First off, the service from Pen Venture was amazing. This is the second pen I have purchased and was completely satisfied with both experiences. I very much appreciated the handwritten note from the man himself...that really meant a lot to me. Now to the pen: It has a very satisfying weight and overall feel. It is a very comfortable writer and the nib just attacks the paper. Very responsive with nice feedback and consistent flow. I've paired it with Birmingham Pen Company's Iron Ore ink and it is a wicked combo. This pen is unbeatable at its price point. Couple that with the aforementioned outstanding customer service and you will have treated yourself to a way cool writing experience.
I find this pen to be an excellent follow-up to the original Titan. In my experience with this pen, the filling system feels improved, the section has deeper grooves for better control, the section has a smaller diameter, and the slight angle to the cap makes it easier to identify by touch. The ink capacity is very good, around 3ml, without doing anything special. The nib and feed are very nice! I have enjoyed writing a couple of pages so far and am very pleased with this pen. This is certainly a pen I can easily recommend to any fountain pen user, from a beginner to an advanced user. I will say the cap feels slick to my fingers. This means I have to use a slightly larger pen sleeve so it is easy to pull from the sleeve. But that is the largest demerit I can put against this pen. What I consider a must for pens today is cleanability. The section is easy to remove, allowing complete cleaning of the body. A blunt needle on a syringe is a great tool for cleaning the body. I have no qualms recommending this pen to anyone. Please don't add a version with a carbon fiber cap and plunger knob. That would be terrible for my wallet. :)
I was very lucky to find a Zoom 727 with Pen Venture. It’s similar to the iconic 707 but it’s slightly larger form makes it more usable for daily use. It’s none the worse for that and scooped an if Design award in 2004. Bizarrely, it’s discontinued now! Get it while you can from Pen Venture. My thanks to them for their great service.
Skipped so much I had to replace the nib unit with parts from my storage. Quite disappointing. The cap now screws on, I preferred the slip cap. It's faster. It's working now but I won't be spending any more money on gravitas.
The Vac 2 is a refinement of both the Monster and the previous Gravitas vac fillers. This is a very robust, beautifully balanced writer that will bring pleasure to even the most particular purchaser. The filling system holds just the right quantity of ink. Long writing sessions are a breeze without the risk of having ink sit in the pen for extended periods. I have used this pen extensively since it arrived and have found it to be consistent and reliable. The nib is smooth and flows evenly with the lightest of touches. I prefer this pen over the monster because of its size and balance. The Vac 2 becomes an extension of my hand, allowing me to forget its presence and locus entirely, focusing on what I am writing.
On its own, this pen feels very durable and premium, and the bead-blasted, matte black coated treatment gives it a very “professional” vibe. The Fine nib is bouncy and smooth, very usable on the underside as well (with added feedback, but not scratchy), the ribbed steel grip is very comfortable, the feed holds a lot of ink on its own, and the reservoirs behind it will keep it in writing condition for dozens upon dozens of pages after a fill.
The cap screws open and closed smoothly, with a very satisfying click at the end when closed; it posts deeply, and it also posts securely after being pressed down slightly on the barrel. It is light enough that it does not back-weight the pen significantly when posted.
The barrel construction, along with the newly-implemented Kraken filling system, ensure a significant amount of ink is pulled in from the first try. Much like the main cap, the blind-cap screws open and closed smoothly for refills or ink transfers between reservoirs.
Compared to its predecessor:
Fewer transparent areas overall, but the Vac 2.0’s structure feels more solid than the Ultemate Vac.
The body thickness and thread profiles are different on the Vac 2.0 than on the Ultemate Vac, no mix-and-match potential here.
The matte black coating gives the pen a more refined, premium feel on the metallic parts.
The inner lining of the cap doesn’t get stuck in the barrel thread as often, and when it does, it either slips back into correct position, or it is easier to unscrew and reposition, without the metal thread eating into the cap material.
The coated, no-breather-hole design of the new Gravitas steel nib may not be to everyone’s taste, but I like it a lot, and functionally, this nib feels more bouncy and polished, with smoother writing than its predecessor.
The feed seems to pick up a lot more ink on its own from just a 5-second dip, and the small reservoir behind it looks to have more capacity to back it up before needing to unscrew the blind cap and refill it from the large reservoir.
The Kraken filling system seems to suck up significantly more ink per pump than the mechanism from the Ultemate Vac.
Overall, a very well made fountain pen, and a thorough refinement to an already excellent design. Very satisfied with this purchase!
