04 Apr Pilot’s B2P Pen and Frixion Pens and Highlighter

When it comes to my love of office supplies, I’m not a brand loyalist by any means (although I do have my favorites). But I am a stickler for presentation, especially when it comes to pens. I love it when companies venture outside the box, whether it be with color, design, marketing, or all of the above. Being different is a really big selling point for me, and I’d dare to say most office supply junkies.

A company can develop the best pen in the world, but if it blends in amongst the countless other pens on display at the store, or with the hundreds that are already in my collection, chances are I’m probably going to look over it. Needless to say, the B2P (Bottle to Pen) from Pilot certainly doesn’t fall into this category.

I first noticed these environmentally-friendly gel ink pens on a recent trip to Staples, right at the check-out counter. Of course, the first thing that caught my eye was the plastic barrel. How ingenious is that? A pen made from a water bottle! With another quick glance, I saw the gel ink inside and I was immediately taken. I only purchased one that day, but soon came back and purchased another one later that week.

As part of Pilot’s BegreeN line, these pens are not only innovative by design but by construction also, being made from 89% recycled parts.

These eye-catchers have become a routine conversation piece for me when I use them in public.

Other notable members of the Pilot family that I have recently been introduced to are the FrXion Ball Erasable Gel Pen and Highlighter. Now let me start by saying that  I am SO not a fan of erasable pens (and the idea of an erasable highlighter had never even entered my mind).  I’ve just never found an erasable pen that lived up to its hype or its promises. Either they write unevenly, too light,  or the eraser doesn’t remove all of the ink, and you end up with a faded out mess on your hands. So, needless to say,  I’m a skeptic of any writing instrument that combines the words “erasable” and “ink”.  And I haven’t purchased an erasable pen since high school.

So imagine my surprise a few days ago when I realized that the FriXion pen that I’d been using for the last couple of days was an erasable pen!

Since I was given the pen I had no idea it was erasable, although I did wonder what that little clear nub on the end was for. After conducting a little online research, I soon discovered that the little nub at the end of my pen was an eraser! And after giving it a try, I discovered it was darn good eraser too! Not only did it erase smoothly and completely, but I didn’t have any of those annoying shavings to wipe away when I was done.

Now although I’m used to writing with pens with a darker ink, I must admit, I am very impressed with the FriXion line. And while I won’t be replacing my permanent ink pens with erasable ones anytime soon, I must say that the FriXion pen and highlighter (I have one of these too) have single-handedly changed my long-standing, not so favorable, impression of the erasable ink market. Pilot has proven that erasable ink can work.

Have you tried the B2P pen or any pen in FriXion collection? If so, what are your impressions? And if you haven’t would you like to? Let me know.