Cool: The Pilot Ageless Present Ballpoint

Sincere thanks to Ron at Pen Chalet for sending along this Pilot Ageless Present Ballpoint pen for review. There are no affiliate links in this post, and I was not otherwise compensated. This review reflects my experiences and observations with the pen.

When my sister and I were kids, we used to hop onto our Stingray bikes, pedal to the top of our street, then coast all the way down to the bottom, NO HANDED, while snapping our fingers and chanting, “Cool, man, cool. Cool, man, cool.” (Bike helmets weren’t even a consideration. So THAT was safe!) This WAS the 60’s after all. We said “COOL!” all the time.

Thing is, I STILL say it. And it’s the first word that popped into my head when I opened the Pilot Ageless Present Ballpoint packaging. Cool, man, cool.

The Pilot Ageless Present Ballpoint is housed in a sturdy plastic tube that’s great for protecting the pen, and also for showing it off. With the top cover removed, the pen stands at attention, looking sharp and ready for work. I’ve been using the pen at my job and I like keeping it at the ready in its pen stand. This is “keeper” packaging, for sure.

This plastic-body pen is available in eight colors. I have the white version which is a classy looking pearl white rather than plain vanilla white. As I mentioned in my review of the Palomino Pearl pencil, I love a pearl finish, and I think it looks great on this pen. The grip section is a translucent smoky grey— clear enough for you to catch a glimpse of the inner workings of the pen.

What sets this pen apart from other ballpoints— what makes it extra cool— is the two-step deploy and retract mechanism. Twist the grip section once to deploy the pen’s “nosecone,” then once more to extend the writing tip. The pen measures 4.75″ when fully retracted and 5.37″ when fully deployed.

Stage 1 deployment

Stage 2 deployment

Fully retracted, the pen is great for pocket carry as the “business end” of the pen is protected inside the pen’s grip. (It reminds me of a turtle poking its head out of its shell, then withdrawing it for safety.) The action is very smooth and, yes, very cool.

A mirror finish on the clip end of the pen

The included refill (Pilot BRFN-10M, Blue, 1.0mm) is as smooth as that deployment mechanism. I tend to prefer black ballpoint ink (an artifact of all my years recording documentation into lab notebooks— black ink required), but this is a rich and smooth blue that could win me over. The lines are solid and the refill is not “draggy” at all. It’s a good looking and good feeling writing experience— one that rivals the Jetstream blue 1.0mm refill.

The package insert included with the pen indicates that the following refills are also compatible with the Pilot Ageless Present model:

• Dr. Grip Center Of Gravity Medium refills (#77271 and #77272)
• G2 Fine short refills (#77291 and #77292)

Ready for work!

At $42.40, this isn’t a no-brainer purchase. But for your money you get unique and useful packaging, a sturdy, great-looking pen with a quality refill, outfitted with a fun and innovative deployment mechanism. This isn’t the same old, same old. Though the pen is plastic, it has a solid weighty feel. The pearl white color is classy and the ink is dark and smooth.

And that mechanism. It IS cool, man, cool.

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To see the Pilot Ageless Present Ballpoint pen in action, check out THIS VIDEO, presented by Pen Chalet.