Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen, 0.7 mm, White Body, Black Ink (BA55W)

I bought this pen to replace a Zebra F-301 Compact that I've been using for several years. Mine is black, but other body colors (white, light blue, navy, pink, mint green, grey, and silver) are available. It weighs just 11 grams, but has a heavy-for-its-size feel that makes me think "fine writing instrument". The fit and finish is nice, appearing to be well machined and put together. It has a smooth flow when writing, producing a solid black line, and the ink is smudge free for you lefties out there. I've used it on notebook paper, glossy paper (the nemesis of cheap pens), waterproof paper, tyvek CD sleeves, wood, and fabric. All show dark lines with no pebbling, smearing, or discontinuities. The ink survives laundering without smearing or running, The SL-F1 Mini starts out short, at 3-5/16" long, but then smoothly telescopes almost an inch to 4-1/4". That's long enough to fit comfortably in the hand. As it reaches the end of the slide, a protective sleeve around the nib of the pen retracts, revealing the point - no caps to remove and lose! The lower part of the barrel is 1/8" in diameter, while the upper part is 3/16", so if you don't like a thin stylus, this isn't for you. A pocket clip holds the pen in your pocket or holster securely. Refills are available. Each is about 3/32" diameter and 2-5/8" long. The black 0.7 mm Zebra 4C refill is under $4 for two. There are also oil-based single color refills in red, blue, black, green, and sepia for about $4 each. I don't know what the difference is between oil-based and the regular ink, or why singles are twice as expensive as a pair. To replace the refill, unscrew the sleeve protecting the nib while the pen is shortened. Grasp the nib and pull straight away from the body. The refill inserts back into the hole in the body and the sleeve is screwed back over it. Everyone should carry a pen. Using a borrowed pen is like touching the toilet seat in a public restroom. The difference is that most of us wash our hands afterward. How many do that after using a borrowed pen? How many other people do you think borrowed that pen? What was their personal hygiene like? Get a Zebra SL-F1, and save yourself from guessing!

Let me give a little back story... I normally don't review items, but felt the need to review this recent purchase. I got this pen as part of a couple items I'm using to declutter my key ring and make my wallet thinner. I purchased a Big Skinny bifold (very happy with it, MUCH thinner than my old wallet), and normally kept a Zebra F301 in the fold of the wallet. You can see this in one of the pictures below. In an effort to make my wallet even skinnier, I purchased this Zebra SL-F1. Man, am i blown away by its compact frame. You can see how much less space it takes in my wallet. We are always looking for a pen and DON'T have one when we need it. This pen, makes not having a pen a non-issue and improves upon the Zebra F301's compact size. In a pinch, I can pull this pen from my wallet and quickly jot down a note or sign something... which is my intended purpose for it. Is it the most comfortable pen to use? No, as it's small and thin. But I don't think that extended use was what the Zebra SL-F1 was designed for. If you're looking to write a memoire using ink and paper, I'd suggest another more comfortable pen. But if you're looking for a compact pen to keep in a wallet or purse just in case, this pen is perfect. I've added a couple pictures comparing this pen to some "standard" pens, markers, and a lighter so you can get a sense of its size. Hope I helped someone decide if they want the pen. :-)

I bought this along with a pocket notebook from September Leather here on Amazon. I always ran into the problem of not having a pen when I really needed one, so getting a traveller's notebook that I carry around with me everywhere is a good excuse to get a small, pocket-able pen. This suits those needs very well. It's palm-sized when compacted and is a little over two-thirds the size of a regular pen when it's extended. The clip is sturdy and would need force to break off. I clip this inside my front pocket, but it could also be clipped into a bifold wallet without interfering with the size too much, lending to its portability. The ink flows smoothly and dries fast. It can get a bit awkward to hold after a long time mainly due to its size, but this doesn't take away from the pen itself in any way. Overall: I highly suggest this pen. While it's no Space Pen, it's still a really cute, durable, and portable pen that is useful to keep around with you whenever you need it.

This is a little pen that writes very neatly and collapses to a convenient size for carrying in a pants pocket. If you've ever stuck a pen in your front pocket, and felt it jabbing you every time you sat down--this is not that pen. This is the pen you'd more likely forget about. Just make sure you take it out prior to the wash. It is thinner than a standard pen, enough that I would prefer if it were just a little thicker. The main compromise though is the length. This pen extends so that it is *barely* long enough to write comfortably with. You will feel the balancing difference that missing couple cm make. So while I wouldn't put this in my art or writing kit, it exists exactly at the intersection of portability, usability, and presentation (it's a Zebra, after all). This is the pen that you can effortlessly carry for taking impromptu notes, endorsing a check, or handing to a potential business contact for whatever reason. It's a bit of a gentleman's pocket pen.

Are you going to want to write a novel with this pen? No. Are you going to want to use this for your daily driver? Unless you are a halfling, no. But if you need to use this pen, are you going to hate life while writing out a note or filling out a check? Absolutely not. I'd say you could even take a class worth of notes and be fine. Its a little small, but its supposed to be. Writing wise, its a solid pen. The refill the pen comes with writes great, no issues getting it to start or petering out. Mechanically sound and just fanscinating to watch the smoothness of the mechanism as you retract and extend it. Nice clasp, its got that nice lightweight metal feel to it, where its not heavy, but it doesn't feel too light, like cheap plastic. Get one of these, stick it in a bag, a purse, a glove compartment.

I have several of these pens as they are AWESOME! They are really small so you can fit it essentially anywhere but when you expand it, it fits perfectly in your hand and feels rock solid as it is. Zebra also happens to make some of the best ink cartridges which is important, especially if you write a lot....like me. To be honest, I've never been able to determine which ink cartridge is more superior; Zebra or Fisher Space Ink Cartridges which claim to be the best. Don't get me wrong, the Pressurized Cartridge Fisher uses is awesome, ESPECIALLY if you find yourself writing a book upside down, in space or while taking a shower. LoL..I don't find myself doing a lot of that. The other awesome factor is the price point. I thought it was an error with the pricing so I bought 10 of them before they caught on. Hehe....Turns out, $5.00 is the correct price which is amazing considering the quality, design, etc, is the best out there. I would happily pay $15-20 for these pens which is what I would have expected the price to be - So, Zebra and Amazon, thanks for having such great pens at such great prices!

This little pen is attractive and functional. The sleek metallic construction makes it look professional and gives it some weight in your hand. The mechanism of extending the pen by pulling it open like a telescope is clever, and makes it even smaller in your pocket than it would be with a push-button top. It writes well, with a fine, clear, and solid line, and has been reliable during the month I've been using it so far. I find it surprisingly comfortable to write with, as someone with medium-size man hands. My only quibble is that extending the pen takes two hands--for notes on the go, a quick click of the thumb, like other pens have, would be slightly more convenient.

This pen is great for several reasons. It's tiny enough to disappear in your pocket, and while it pulls open, it rarely opens unintentionally (unlike the larger ZEB24001 telescoping pen which pops open all the time and gets ink all over my fingers). The only down side is that the end with the clip uses a simple, short bolt to hold it in, and this bolt unscrews really easily, which means that 1-3 times a week I have to find the bolt at the bottom of my pocket and re-screw it into the pen. I ended up putting the clip aside because it was just another thing I had to deal with every time it came loose. It's a hassle dealing with this, but overall still better than having a larger pen or dealing with ink. One other thing is that it easily scratches. I have it in my pocket with a ton of keys, and the paint is getting shredded. Such is life. I had tried moving it to my wallet, where it clipped in nicely as it's so tiny, but since the clip comes loose, that was no good and I nearly lost part of it at an ATM. BTW Zebra also has a clever pocket pen that has a cap that doubles as the upper end of the pen, giving you a full-pen feel after you open it. The only problem with that pen is that over time the cap loosens when in pen mode, and so it just wants to fall off while writing. Not a problem when capped in your pocket though. Overall I still prefer this one though, for size-in-pocket and overall feel while writing.

小さければ何でもよいと思って買ったが、意外と書き味が良い。

Zebra has ton of this Retractable Pens with different sizes. Use proper photos or videos so consumers can choose and buy the right one we ones. This is way smaller than the one I wanted. Item arrived on time.

本体は小さく縮んで短かくなるので、携帯に便利です。細いので書きにくさはどうしてもありますが、書き味が良くて気に入っています。 最初に買った同じペンを無くしてしまったので、リピート買いです。

It's so beautiful and i love how it's small and enters my pockets.

A well made, compact sized pen that clips and fits into the fold of my wallet. The pen writes well and is very convenient for me because I do not like to use publicly shared pens. The pen arrived within the time estimate but still took 42 days from the time it shipped from Japan to when it arrived in Canada but definitely worth the wait.