RIIND 'THE PEN' REVIEW

RIIND. The Pen. 'The Pen that rewrites them all'... Pretentious? Maybe, but it has to be said that 'the Pen' has seen a LOT of use in the past months that I had it in hands. It's a rollerball pen(or gel ink, or ballpoint, depending on the refill you choose), yes. But it did kind of win me over the more I wrote with it. In fact, I wrote most of my recent exams with it. Why? Like it or not, but fountain pens aren't always the most practical solution, especially if you have to write non-stop for 4 hours on the worst possible copy paper. 

So the Riind pen, why do I like it? 

Well first off is the design. The Pen (I'll just type it with a capital letter because it's the name of the pen, right? Or doesn't it have a name at all??? Really confusing.) is a beefy, long pen with a rather simple general shape that's easy on the eyes. Just a straight cylinder with nicely rounded ends. 

I guess you could call it a 'minimal' design, but I'd choose to use terms like futuristic, and industrial. The knurled grip and twist knob give the pen some visual interest (and add functionality of course), and it makes the pen look rugged at the same time. The knurling is noticeable in the hand, but doesn't feel abrasive or sharp. Apart from the knurled sections, the anodised aluminium has a lightly brushed finish to it, which adds to the raw and industrial appearance of the pen.

Your eye will immediately be drawn towards the unique steel wire clip, so let's talk about that: This asymmetrical folded steel wire clip is somewhat remniscent of the Lamy Safari, but has quite a strange shape. When you see it for the first time, you'd most likely think it's broken. But the shape -with one end of the clip attached to the barrel slightly higher than the other- actually gives it its spring-loaded action. 

The design of the clip is quite clever, although not the most functional in the real world. For starters, it's quite stiff and sits snugly against the barrel; clipping it onto something requires two hands. Secondly, the fact that one side is attached to the barrel almost a centimeter lower, means that it doesn't clip very deeply. Oh, and they call it 'virtually indestructible', well I'm glad they said virtually because... well, I broke it. Admitted, I'm a bit of an asshole, and upon reading their statement I may have pushed it a little too far, but I can now say that it CANNOT bend indefinitely. However, credit where credit is due: it  just popped out of the socket at one side. An easy fix, and it still works just fine after putting it back in.

Not the biggest fan of the laser-engraved logo on the back of the barrel, but it's relatively unobtrusive.

The Pen is entirely made out of anodized aluminium, and is available in three subtle colors: clear (natural aluminium), grey and black anodised. Both the clear and grey versions come with a chrome-colored steel clip, the black one can come with either a black or chrome clip. Which makes for a total of four different available colorways. I received both the grey/chrome and black/black versions. Both have a very different look to them. The grey one looks refined, whereas the all-black version is sleek and stealthy.

L to R: Karas Pen Co EDK, Retrakt, Riind The Pen, Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot, Lamy Safari.

The Pen is a rather sizeable writing instrument. It measures in at 14.2 cm (5.6") long with the refill retracted, and has a diameter of 1.14cm (0.45") across the entire length of the pen. It's a surprisingly beefy pen, and has a solid weight of 29 grams. For me, it hits the sweet spot in terms of size and weight, and the knurled section makes it sit comfortably in my hand. Everything about this pen feels solid and well-made. If you unscrew the nose cone to change the refill, you can see how thick the barrel is, so I dare to say it's well-suited for EDC.

Then there's probably the coolest thing about the entire Pen: the twist knob! The 'Continuous Cam' mechanism makes it able to turn it BOTH WAYS, AND IT KEEPS ON TURNING!! You probably think I'm going insane (after all, I DO spend my days reviewing pens...), but this really is super cool. It's such a silly detail, but it's very handy (you don't have to remember which way to turn, making it easy and fast to deploy), and it's fun to fidget with. The twist action is solid and robust, and especially in the beginning it can be quite stiff. But the knurling helps to twist it with one hand with a firm snap. I've literally been playing with it for months now, and the mechanism still feels solid and has virtually zero play... The people behind Riind didn't go to MIT for nothing! 

But enough about the twist knob. After all, what's a pen if it doesn't write properly? That's why the Riind is -supposedly- compatible with over 35 different refills, so you'll always find one that fits your fancy. There's a pretty long list of compatible refills on their website (that you can find here). I didn't bother changing out the refill it came with, which is a Pilot G2 gel ink refill (0.5mm). I'm not a gel ink fan necessarily, but the Pilot G2 puts a smile on my face every time I use it. It leaves a dark and consistent line, doesn't smudge easily, and doesn't bleed through (something my #1 favourite rollerball refill, the Schmidt P8126, does.). The Pilot G2 is also generally quite affordable and easy to get, and comes in a variety of colors to choose from.

All in all, Riind did a fantastic job on their debut product, 'The Pen'. It won't win any prizes for most creative name, but it does score high marks in all other areas. To answer the question that I asked myself at the beginning of this review: Why do I like it? Well, the Riind Pen succeeds at combining an interesting, industrial design with a comfortable form factor. It has some original features (some more useful than others) that set it apart from other pens out there, and most importantly: it very pleasant to write with! 

But all that does come at a cost. It was one of the biggest gripes during their Kickstarter campaign in 2016, and it certainly is now, when you have to pay the full retail of 100 USD. That's not cheap. Especially considering there are other comparable offerings on the market that sell for considerably less (Think about Karas Pen Co. Retrakt, Tactile Turn Shaker,...). Considering the quality and design you get, 100$ is not outrageously expensive, but it's not exactly an impulse buy either. If they could reduce the price by maybe 10 or 20 dollars, it would be a no-brainer for me. 

This product was sent to me on loan by Riind so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.