I haven’t gotten a new TWSBI since I got my Eco in Rose Gold, so I decided to check out the new TWSBI Swipe in Smoke ($26.99).
I’ll be honest and say that the last TWSBI release, the GO, just didn’t appeal to me aesthetically speaking. For some reason, the Swipe did.
The TWSBI Swipe is a somewhat traditional cartridge and converter fountain pen. The two new things with the Swipe (at least for me) are the options available and the funky looking spring (that was actually in the GO as well).
The Swipe comes in two just two colors right now: Smoke and Prussian Blue. The nibs are TWSBI steel #4 nibs (same as the GO) and are available in EF, F, M, B and 1.1 stub. I chose an EF and it was the right choice – to me it’s not that fine, but I guess I’m used to my Japanese pens! The body is made of resin. The cap is postable, and it’s a snap cap.
The fun part about the TWSBI Swipe is the ink. My pen came loaded with a spring converter which was super fun to use – I even shot a little video!
But I also got a standard converter and a cartridge that I could have used instead. Though the cartridge looks slightly wider at one end than standard international cartridge, the top end, through which the ink feeds through is definitely standard. Yay for non-proprietary systems!
So how does the Swipe stack up? Compared to the very slightly more expensive ECO (26.99 vs. 32.99) it’s just a smidge lighter (16g vs. 22g) and every so slightly shorter (5 3/8″/13.5cm vs 5 1/2″/14cm). I also put it against some other introductory pens, the Platinum Prefounte and the Pilot Kakuno for comparison, even though it’s not quite apples to apples.
So how did it write? I think it writes fine and it’s another great introductory fountain pen. I think I prefer the style and feel of the Eco slightly better, but that’s definitely a preference, not anything wrong with the Swipe in the least. And I do love that the Swipe gives you so many options for ink delivery.
- Paper: Write Notepads Dot Grid Steno ($14)
- Pen: TWSBI Swipe in Smoke ($26.99)
- Inks:Kala Nostalgia Gemstone series, Star Garnet (30mL for $11.50)
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I’ve tried the converter the pen came with and also the new cartridges . The latter I think work best and you can get boxes of 10. A very portable, mess free set up.
I like the spring converter, but the pen itself looks like a cheap Schneider or Online pen.
Hi! im kinda new on this thing, can i use, for example, Taccia ink on this kind of fountain pen? or there´s is some difficulties
As a general rule you can use pretty much any fountain pen in any pen. If you’re working with a vintage pen, you might want to stick to the classic inks (Pelikan, Sheaffer, etc.), but for the TWSBI Swipe any fountain pen ink works! I don’t know if Taccia does cartridges, but you can certainly use bottled ink in the converters. Have fun!