Big i Solid Titanium Pen + Stylus Review

Big i Design Solid Titanium Pen Review

I got the Big i Design Solid Titanium Pen (or Big Idea Design) for Christmas. I like pens. At first I didn’t like this one so much, but that’s because it ships with a Pilot refill that’s scratchy and too fine for my taste. One of the great things about this titanium pen is it takes almost any refill. I swapped the original out for a broader tip and I’m warming up to it.

It comes in decent packaging with a little black felt sleeve for the pen.The pen is all titanium, even the clip, and it’s obvious from the heft that it’s not a cheap pen. The black finish is nice and smooth without being slippery. The clip is substantial.

It ships with the stylus attachment already installed, and the small screw-back stylus replacement in the package. I used the stylus for a little while and it didn’t suit me. I took it off and installed the screw cap after a day or two.

The two grooves near the writing tip don’t work for me at all. I hold my pens a little higher than that. But, like the rest of the pen, they’re well-done and look kind of cool.

Without the cap in place the Big i Design Titanium pen is about as long as other pens. Shown for comparison are a Pilot G2 and a Lamy 2000 fountain pen.

With the cap posted, the Big i Design becomes much longer than the others.

It’s a heavy pen. Without the cap it weighs 31 grams. It tends to feel like it’s about to fall out of my hand backwards when I write. I thought posting the cap was contributing to the problem, but the cap is actually very light.

The cap only weighs 10 grams, and while it makes the pen considerably longer when posted, it really doesn’t add much weight while writing.

Grip is about 8mm wide, although it tapers slightly. It’s a comfortable pen to hold.

The rest of the barrel is about 11mm wide along the whole length.

Exploded view. The cap takes about 1 full turn to remove from the pen and only a hair more than half a turn to post. The threads are easy to find and engage. Refreshingly easy for a screw-type cap.

Next to a Pilot G2 exploded.

Above, the refill that ships in the pen.

Writing samples.

More writing samples. It doesn’t really matter what it writes like from the factory though, because you can put whatever refill you want in it. Like I said, the refill it comes with is close to as scratchy or “toothy” as the Pilot G2 0.38, which is a very fine tipped pen. After having grown used to fountain pens, I found it to be too thin and difficult to write with. Lucky for me (and the main reason I wanted the pen) is the ability to swap out almost any refill. I replaced the original one with a Pilot G2 07 refill and it writes great.

If I have a complaint it’s that it’s a heavy pen. It’s substantial and very cool, but it’s not a pen to carry around every day in your pocket. At least I wouldn’t. I’ve seen “tactical” pens that are this heavy. This pen could probably serve that purpose well without looking ridiculous like other pens of that nature. Maybe it could be the undercover tactical pen. The upside to it being heavy is that it’s well-made and should last long enough that you’ll lose it before you need to buy another.

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