pen 69: pentel energel nv liquid gel pen

today i am taking a look at the pentel energel nv liquid gel pen which i will be referring to as the energel for the duration of this review. i have bought two of these pens now, the first one, disappeared and i went to staples to buy another. these pens are, as of the time i'm writing this post, set up next to the checkout counter in a display, and sold for a dollar a pen... all good, right? surely the other pen would show up sooner or later... so on the drive home i was stuck in traffic and the a/c in my car makes going up hills difficult so i sweated two diet dr.peppers and three red bulls worth of moisture in my body and everything was soaked pretty bad by the time i got home. so i showered changed and threw my clothes in the washing machine. i had to run a few errands to run so i left them happily washing in the laundry room. when i returned i discovered that my sister had taken my clothes and threw them in the dryer. this would would been a nice and normal thing to do but there's a lot backstory and context that i don't want to bore you with. she threw my clothes into the dryer and ran the cycle... i got home and found my clothes in the dryer and... and an empty energel pen. now i probably would havenoticed the pen when making the transfer from washer to dryer, i have in the past, anyway it wasn't caught and when i took them out of the washer -bam- riuned. the stupid part is that it was in the same pair of shorts that i had been wearing when bought the replacement... cargo shorts, right big side pockets that i dont really use ecept this one time... what i can tell you that i learned from this is to make sure you triple check your pockets, don't let someone you don't trust near your laundry and that time spent in the dryer completely drains this gel/liquid pen, creating an annoying pseudo-tie-dye load of clothes, see above. website: www.pentel.com Product Details: High performance ink technology combines the best qualities of liquid and gel ink for a super-smooth writing experience Liquid gel ink dries so fast even left-handed writers love it - no smears, no smudges, no globs Maximum comfort and control with the latex-free grip Sleek and slim barrel design makes it easy to hold 0.7mm metal tip writes BOLD lines Available Ink Colors: Black, Red andBlue Refill: N/A so lets talk about the product details, as far as the ink being advanced technology, meh, it doesn't seem all that different than any other pen, it does dry fast, however, and that makes for fewer smudge marks which is always a good thing. the energel's glide is smooth, very smooth, but it still maintains some bite, the ink doesn't seep to skip or stutter, the ink does not build up around the tip so unwanted ink deposits are not an issue with this pen, oh - and the ink has very little bleed, it doesn't soak through the paper and that is nice.  the lines made by this pen are bold, crisp, and clear. the ink has very little value range and i would classify it as an äll or nothing"pen. it does have a comfort grip, that is latex free, so i guess if you have an allergy to latex this might be a good match for you, the grip itself isn't really all that comfortable, or uncomfortable, and while they call this pen sleek, it doesn't seem to be any thinner than an average pen. this pen is make of mostly recycled plastic, but does not have refill capacity, they say that the tips come in different sizes, although i've only seen them in .07 and 1.0mm and from what i have managed to see, are available in black blue and red. so, the energel is a pen that i would say is better suited to writing, it does work as a drawing pen, but there are different pens out there that would work a bit better. if you see one, and it's a dollar go ahead and get one, it is good for inking and filling in moderate black space. just remember to check your pockets careful before you wash them... you will more likely than not have to replace or add those clothes to painting wear.