I love my silly, punk rock Benu Skull & Roses Fountain Pen that I was thrilled to grab one of the Benu Viper Fountain Pens in “Bamboo Viper” ($180) , especially in this Spooky Season. It’s a black pen with an embossed, snake wrapped around the barrel with a beautiful shimmery green iridescent color in the scales of the snake. There are also versions called the Mangrove Viper (green-blue pen body with purple iridescent snake) and Bush Viper (purple barrel with green iridescent snake).
The pen is quite lightweight, weighing just 22gms capped and 15gms uncapped. The cap, unfortunately, due to its unique shape, does not post.
The Viper pen design is based on the same size (5.25″ capped and approx. 5″ uncapped) and shape as the Skull & Roses design which also makes me wonder what other gothy designs Benu might create on this form factor in the future? I’d love an actual crow or raven design! Or maybe a spider and webs?
Seeing the iridescent color on the Viper, I now wish the Skull & Roses had a little splash of iridescent color to really get the leaves, skulls and flowers to pop.
The color on the snake is a lovely iridescent green and the texture of the pen barrel is the same faux leather embossing that is on the Skull & Roses barrel.
The Viper includes a small #5 Schmidt nib which some find tiny but on this design, the way it tapers, seems like the right size for the pen. I got the F nib which is surprisingly smooth. So much so that it felt a little “ice skating” to me as I normally use grittier Sailor nibs that tend to feel like graphite on paper rather than like a rollerball. The F nib on the Viper is rollerball smooth.
A lot of Benu’s pen designs are quite blingy and sparkly so the Viper adds a nice dark, moody vibe to their line-up while also being somewhat unique in the overall pen world. Teh only other snake-y pens that I know of are from Montblanc as a much higher price point.
Overall, this pen definitely has a specific appeal but if you have a gothy, everyday-is-Halloween aesthetic, you may want to add this little treasure to your collection. Even with my pink hair and love of Hello Kitty, the Viper makes me feel a little more punk rock.
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Ana,
You always rock, no matter what pen you're using.I like #5 nibs, but I think I'm in the minority. I like the look of these Benu Vipers. I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Benus I have. The first one I received as a gift; I expected it to feel cheap and for the nib to be unpleasant. I don't know why. But I was wrong and wrong.
Does the snake make holding the pen difficult or uncomfortable? I looks as if it might rub on one's hand.
And YES to crows, ravens, and spiders!