Dragon Bolt V: the Karas Pen Co. Bolt V2 with Dragonskin Grip
I love playing with different pen mechanisms, but - as I realized late this Summer - for some reason I have never added a bolt action pen to my collection. There was no good reason I could come up with for this, but there was “a” reason, nevertheless: looking over my collection of standard pens specifically, that is to say pens that are not fountain pens, there is a trend that the more expensive a pen it the more likely it is to have a cap. I like posting pens to gain additional length, which requires capped pens. That means that the majority of capless pens I have are on the less expensive end, things like the Jetstream Edge, or a rOtring 600 ballpoint. The few more “expensive” capless pens I have are collectible Retro 51 Tornados or Baronfig Squires. The recent Tactile Turn Nautilus severely tempted me, as an example, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on a side click pen at that price, despite what I’m willing to pay for a capped rollerball.
And unlike most capless retractable pens, even side click pens, there’s no cheap version of the bolt action mechanism hanging on the shelves of your local office supply store. There are less expensive options from brands you’ve never heard of that won’t disclose where their pens are made, and there are deals to be found on Kickstarter projects that will hopefully show up in the mail some day in a few years, but I wanted my first bolt action experience to be with a brand that I already trusted, with a product that was sitting in stock able to ship right away. That’s how I landed on Karas Pen Co. and the Bolt V2.
This pen is my sixth pen from Karas Pen Co., after a Galaxie Xl, a Galaxie, a copper Ink rollerball that I converted to a fountain pen, a purple Delrin Fountain K, and a Cinnabar Vertex. I don’t make a habit of counting my pens, but for a small business, and for pens that aren’t necessarily priced in the impulse range, that strikes me as a significant number. I may finally go ahead and join the Karas Pen Club next year that I keep putting off, because clearly I’m a bigger fan than even I realize. One of the reasons It took me this long to notice my Karas collection growing is that if you take a peek back at that list, you’ll see that half of my pens are special editions, rather than standard models, and in fact only one of the six is currently available to purchase from Karas in the same model and configuration. This is because, while Karas absolutely keeps a standard line-up of their various pens, they also cycle through a wide variety of special editions all throughout the year. While some other companies might have one special edition per month, or per quarter, or even just per year, it seems like there is something new at Karas every time you turn around. In the light of that kind of prolificacy, my meager six pens seem like very little.
But setting aside any self doubts over whether or not I am worthy of joining the Karas Pen Club, this particular Bolt V2 that I purchased just so happened to be a special edition that is no longer in stock as well. Still, I would like to share it with you because even though this specific color is out of stock, this pen features a new grip for Karas that they seem to be leaning in to lately. That being their new Dragonskin grip, which I will admit was my deciding factor in choosing this pen. There were some other colors and finishes that caught my eye, such as the Sedona Cerakote, but at the end of the day I decided that the Dragonskin grip was the most interesting grip profile, and this matte blue and meteor grey colorway was just as good as the Sedona red and black.
As soon as I picked up the pen and held the Dragonskin, I knew I had made the right call. The grip is made out of four rows of eight overlapping divots each, giving the user a lot of flexibility in terms of where their fingers end up resting, but all the while providing both depth and contour in any given spot you touch. The four rings are spread over a barrel length of an inch and a half, with each divot being about a quarter inch at its widest. Dragonskin aside, the Bolt V2 has a few other stand-out features that are universal among the line up, regardless of grip profile. For one, as a part of the V2 redesign, Karas have designed the barrel sections of the Bolt to hold together tightly. Between the way that they cut the threads, and the added o-ring, I have had no issues with the barrel coming loose in my pocket or while writing. This is a nice feature because the barrel unscrewing to swap refills is a very convenient trade off compared to some other bolt action pens which feature single solid piece barrels, but require their entire bolt mechanism to be disassembled when you run out of ink.
Speaking of the bolt mechanism, this is another area where the Karas Bolt stands out compared to the competition. Since the original version of the Bolt debuted on Kickstarter, Karas has designed the pen with a recessed bolt that is not intended to be directly manipulated by the user, and instead intends the user to depress the knob on the back of the pen and twist it slightly to engage and disengage the recessed bolt. The reason behind this is because protruding bolts on other pens get caught easily on pockets and other clothing and doorways and just any sort of tight space, potentially. for many people I’m sure that is zero issue, but I really appreciate Karas thinking ahead on this design, and creating a light of pens that utilize the bolt mechanism without featuring this one major flaw. I will say, as an individual with poor manual dexterity, I did find one handed operation of the pen to feel slightly uneasy. The pen never failed to work one-handed for me, but I never felt confident that it was going to work perfectly. For individuals such as myself, and others with limitations such as arthritis, I think that either knurling or perhaps some kind of microtexture would be a welcome addition to the sides and top of the pen knob. The smooth rounded look of the pen currently is quite striking, but it’s not worth being striking if the pen gets put away in a drawer because the user isn’t confident that it’s going to keep working for them. Additionally, with the knurling that is already present on the Render K, Retrakt, and EDK, the Bolt is actually missing this piece of Karas design language by lacking in any sort of knurling.
All of the above said, would I buy another Bolt, even if there was absolutely no change to the smooth knob?
Absolutely!
I love this pen, and I find myself checking the Karas website even more often these days, looking at new special editions, wondering what else I have been sleeping on that I might love. The price on these pens keeps them from quite being an impulse purchase, ranging from $75 for a completely stock model, up through various special edition prices, to $110 as the current most expensive special edition at the time of this writing. These prices are on par with other machined metal pens made in the US, however. Additionally, it seems like Karas is always having a sale or promotion of some kind, and there is often clearance and grab bag inventory. If you aren’t as picky as I am about which model you get, you could probably get two or three of them for the price I paid for this one. And considering how quickly I find myself wanting another after buying this one, that might be the smartest choice. Then again, there really is something to be said for being able to choose this particular color, and especially this Dragonskin grip.
The pen reviewed above was purchased at retail price from Karas Pen Co.
