Karas Kustoms INK Review

I know things have been very quiet here the past few weeks and that has been due to me getting a new job. There was a lot of pre-employment stuff I had to get done and didn’t have a chance to focus on a review. I’m going to try get another post out before things get real hectic at my new job but I can’t promise anything. 

When I fist saw some teaser pictures of the INK, I thought it looked really nice but didn’t see myself getting one. The reason? Because all the pictures I was seeing were of a fountain pen and at the time I wasn’t a fan or user of fountain pens. However, I did visit the Kickstarter page when it launched and discovered that it was available as a rollerball and that it took my favorite rollerball refill. SOLD!!!!! On a side note, if you haven’t watched the Kickstarter video, do yourself a favor and watch it. It’s the bee’s knees. Here’s a link to the Kickstarter page because I couldn’t find the the video by itself.

The body and cap of the INK are machined out of aluminum, and unlike Karas Kustoms’ other pens, the body and cap are not available in brass and copper. Given the size of the INK, I think a brass or copper INK would be way too heavy, especially for a fountain pen. Fear not though, because both the rollerball and fountain grip sections are available in brass and copper, as well as aluminum. By swapping the sections you can change the balance and weight of the pen, but not enough to make it unwieldy to use. Combined with the anodized bodies, some beautiful combinations can be made. Like the Iron Man combo below. And yes, I can see Tony Stark using this combo. 

The clip on the INK is different than the one on Karas Kustoms’ other pens. I want to say the clip is machined from steel but don’t quote me on that. Instead of attaching to the front of the pen, the clip sits in a groove machined into the top of the cap and is help in place with two hex head screws. There are some slight variations in how closely the clip is to the cap on my INKs, so some of mine clip better than others because of the difference in gap size. The INK still has the industrial yet classy look that the other Karas Kustoms pens have, though the INK is more classy than industrial. (I used the industrial yet classy phrase in my Render K review but I  think somebody used it before I did but it fits Karas Kustoms’ pens so well I borrowed it.)

The INK is a wide pen but is very comfortable to write with. The fountain pen uses standard international cartridges and converters and ships with a Schmidt #5 nib and feed with F, M, and B nib sizes available. The stock F nib is smooth to write with and I have really been enjoying it. The rollerball version is designed around the Schmidt P8126/8127 refill and also accepts Parker ballpoint style refills. (If you happen to lose the white spacer that comes with the rollerball section, simply use the plastic cap that comes on the P8126/8127 refill.) One of the nicest things about the INK is that converting from a fountain pen to a rollerball or from a  rollerball to a fountain pen is as simple as swapping the grip sections. This helps sets the INK apart from other pens that are available as a fountain pen and a rollerball because the INK is the only one that has the different grip sections available separately. 

If you are looking for a new fountain pen or rollerball pen, or even one of each, I can’t recommend the Karas Kustoms INK enough. You are getting a well designed and made pen that can satisfy different preferences in types of pens.