As a former nurse, I adore and tend to collect (okay, I hoard) pens and I’ve always loved the Pilot brand pens. I’ve been using the Precise line religiously since high school. The Pilot company has come out with a new line of recycled pens called B2P.  B2P stands for “Bottle 2 Pen”. They are made with 89% post-consumer recycled bottles. The B2P pens come in two retractable varieties: Ballpoint and Gel. The Gel inks are the same used in Pilot’s ever popular G2 pens.   I was sent the ballpoint B2P pens in blue, and Gel B2P pens in blue and black inks to review, but they are available in Blue, Black, Red, Green and Purple ink colors.

B2P Pens by Pilot

First up, the B2P Ballpoint pen: It is similar to the gel pen, but some main differences are that it’s thinner, and has a rubber grip, latex-free! Now, I’m persnickety about ball points, but overall it’s a nice pen. The reason I tend to prefer gel over ballpoints is that they tend to not write as evenly as gel pens. I found the ball point B2P to be a bit light for my tastes. I didn’t change the amount of pressure I use, but the writing still goes onto the page lightly. Overall, it’s comfortable to use, with good definition, and it will definitely end up in rotation somewhere along the line.

Ballpoint

Next up is the B2P Gel Pens. I absolutely adore gel pens (have I mentioned that already?). The writing is superb!  Smooth and consistent. It hasn’t always been this way! Back in the day, when gel pens were first introduced to the market, gel pens were iffy at best. Some were great, but the next one exploded and you had gel all over your hands! The market has changed significantly over the years. Now, the Gel pens packaging differs just a bit from the Ballpoint versions. They are thicker and do not have a rubber grip, but I don’t find the grip to be slippery and it is quite comfortable to write with.

Gel

One of the things that interested me most about these pens is that as a left handed person, I’m always on the search for smudge-proof pens. I tend to look like an ink pot sneezed all over my hand when I’m done writing. You lefties know what I’m talking about–that horrendous ink splotch on your knuckles from dragging your hand across the writing. After using these pens constantly, I’m finding the ball points are living up to their promise of smear-proof ink! I haven’t once gotten ink on my hand. The gel version, while not advertised as “smear-proof”, leaves significantly LESS ink than other gel pens I’ve tried before. My husband is also a lefty, and I sent a gel pen with him to take to work to get his take on them.   He also has been impressed with how little ink is left on his hands and likes them,  too!

I’ve really been enjoying the B2P pens and will continue to use them! I’ll even be keeping an eye out for refills when the time comes!

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Jessica