KARASKUSTOMS FOUNTAIN K BARSTOCK 'MONSOON' FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW

One of the benefits of being part of a pretty small community like ours, is that it's still very much driven by passionate people. That's something you notice in new brands, collectors and enthousiasts that connect and help each other out when needed, but it also shows in the feedback that brands (both small and large) get from their end users, us pen addicts.

Karas Kustoms is one of those brands, and recently they called out for help from the community. They wanted a group of people to try out one of their new design prototypes and give feedback on it. I couldn't help but enter, because I realised that I don't spend nearly enough time on brands like Karas here on the blog. The prototype that I was sent to try out is the new Fountain K Barstock, in a special colorway called the 'Monsoon'.

The 'K' collection is where it all started for Karas Kustoms, back in 2011 when they launched the Render K rollerball. Their business took off since then, and a bunch of new pen designs followed soon after the original kickstarter. But nowadays, the guys at Karas Kustoms are going back to their roots, working hard on expanding that original K product line with fountain pens, a new pocket model, and a bunch of new material/finish combos. 

The Monsoon is part of the new 'barstock' series of pens, which means that, contrary to the normal Fountain and render K's, the barrel of the pen is not machined. That's to say, obviously they machine threads and hollow it out to make room for the refill. But on the outside, the material is left in its raw form the way it enters their workshop in long rods.

While that may sound like a lazy solution, it actually makes sense if you know that the guys at Karas aim at creating durable, rugged EDC products. The lack of taper makes for a slightly more robust looking pen, despite not being overly large. The simple, bulky shape, along with  the pre-worn appearance (the surface of the barrel has some marks on it, although not as much as I anticipated) perfectly fits the industrial theme that Karaskustoms aims at.


Also new is the material they use for the barrel: Delrin. This is a special polymer plastic, which feels soft and warm in the hand (more so than regular resins and acrylics). In the past, if you were really lucky, you could score one of their delrin prototype pens. But now they made it part of their regular collection. The rest of the pen is still machined aluminium. And in this case the grip is left in its natural alu-color, while the cap received a grey annodized finish. The colorway is striking and bright, but despite the fact that they used a different finish and color on each piece of the pen, it still looks like a coherent end product.

While the delrin barrel may make the monsoon look and feel a bit less rugged and tough compared to the all-aluminium finishes, I do find it a very good choice in terms of comfort. The aluminium components aren't heavy, but the delrin barrel is still noticeably lighter. The cap also won't post since the entire pen is one uniform diameter from top to bottom. So what you're left with is a lightweight pen (25g capped, 14g uncapped) that is really well-balanced through the combination of delrin and aluminium.

Capped, it measures in at just 13cm (5 in), and without the cap it comes down to 12.2cm (4.8In). I'm personally more into slightly larger pens, but from my own experience I'd call this just under average. Most non-oversized pens are on average about 12.5cm long uncapped, so the fountain K isn't noticeably smaller in the hand. You should keep in mind that the barstock model can't be posted though, so if you want to get that extra bit of weight and length, you should look into the regular K pens that have a tapered body which does allow posting the cap.

Talking about comfort, I think they did a really good job on 'hiding' the step from section to barrel. It's at a slight angle instead of the straight drop down found on most pens. In the hand that actually makes it much more comfy than I expected. The section is tapered, and on the smaller side. The threads right behind were a bit sharp in the beginning, but I have the feeling that they have since 'broken in' and become a bit less obtrusive.

One downside that I could find here is that the combination of aluminium on delrin threads might not be ideal. It crossthreads from time to time, which hasn't caused any damage 'till now -so far so good- but if something breaks, it'll most likely be these threads.

The business end is a smaller #5 nib by bock. It's a stock nib so it doesn't have a karaskustom logo engraved, but instead has the usual flourish and bock logo on the nib face. Of all stock nibs you can get, I think Bock's have the nicest design on them (other brands often leave their stock nibs empty which looks boring), so in that regard you won't hear me complain that it isn't customised specifically for Karas.

What you will hear me complain about though, is the performance of said nib. It's a bit of a mixed bag, and up to a certain point it actually performs quite well. Flow is good, on the wet side even, and it's a fairly smooth, but at a given point it'll start running dry. The nib size I received is a medium, so it's not the most demanding in terms of ink flow, yet for some reason it just doesn't always keep up.

I modified the feed ever so slightly to make the channels a bit wider, which fixed the problem for the most part, but eventually it'll still start running dry and skipping. I honestly don't understand why it keeps doing what it does, which is a shame because other than this annoying issue it performs just fine and it's actually a really nice pen to write with.

Despite the writing issues, Karas Kustoms provides yet another solid product. It would be nice to see the nib's performance improve in the future, but other than that I can't think of anything to complain about. The Barstock version of the fountain K is already available as we speak. This specific 'monsoon' color scheme is not confirmed for regular production yet, but if you ask me they should definitely add it to the product lineup! Prices for the Fountain K Barstock begin at 85 USD, and go up depending on the materials and nib you choose.

Note: this pen was sent to me by Karas kustoms, free of charge, 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.

KARASKUSTOMS RETRAKT TU-TONE REVIEW

Before I started this blog, I never used rollerballs, I despised them, and I cursed at them for not working the way I wanted. 

But since then, some things have changed, and my hate for rollerballs lessened. There's still a bit of a love-hate thing going on, but at least we're finally getting somewhere...

Now to be honest, I heard a lot of good stuff about the guys over at karaskustoms, but I never dealt with them before. A few months back I reviewed the pre-release of the Karaskustoms Cube, which was the very first time I used one of their products!  Apart from the cube they sent me, I also got a retrakt, in the new 'Tu-tone' grey color, but I never got around to reviewing it. I did however, use it an awful lot (which is definitely a good sign!)

The Retrakt is a solid aluminium pen, completely made in-house (apart from the click-mechanism). The all-aluminium build makes it both strong and relatively light. The click mechanism is what they call a 'silent' knock. It's not dead-silent of course, but it's definitely quieter than your average clicky pen. Back when I got it, my only concern with the mechanism was durability, as it consists of some very small metal parts. However, after a few months of pretty frequent use, I haven't had any issues, so I'll assume it's sturdier than I expected at first. The retrakt is a little over 14 cm (5 3/5") long, and 1.1cm (a litte under 1/2") wide at the widest point. Which makes it a decently sized pen that should fit most hands.

I'm quite digging the industrial, simple design. Especially the thick metal clip is really cool, however not the most practical to attach over thicker fabric (it's rather stiff) The small knurled section above the clip adds to the industrial design, and almost has something vintage to it. The design is pretty typical for Karaskustoms, like Bauhaus looks are typical for Lamy, you could say.

New to the 'Tu-tone' version of the retrakt, is the annodised aluminum barrel, available in a variety of colors. I got the grey one, and I really like the color. My pictures don't really do the color any justice. In real life, it's not nearly as dark, and it has a slight blue-ish tint to it. The annodised finish has also proven itself to be quite tough, as it looks exactly the same as it did six months ago!

Writing experience has actually been quite good. Given the fact that I'm not a huge rollerball fan, that does say quite a lot. It came with a Shmidt Safety ceramic roller refill in black (fine). Schmidt refills are generally quite good, so no real complaints there. I definitely won't pick it over a fountain pen, but sometimes, having a decent rollerball can be quite good as well. In those occasions, I'll most likely grab the Retrakt. 

A cool feature I haven't mentioned yet, is the fact that they include an extra spring and a piece of rubber tube, with which you can 'hack' the Retrakt to fit a wide array of different ballpoint and rollerball refills!

At 45 USD, the retrakt is actually quite affordable. This durable EDC pen is definitely good value for money!

Note: this pen was sent to me by KarasKustoms, so I could write this review.  I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, nor was I monetarily compensated. The opinions shared in this review are completely my own!

Exciting News!

Ok this deserves some attention! Most of you are probably familiar with Karas Kustoms and their awesome products. And I too have been following them for quite a while, amazed by the great products they release....