Everyman Grafton Mini Twist Review
Everyman recently reached out to me and asked if I would review one of their pens. This was around the time that I published the Covid-19 impact article (which, for reasons I am unclear on, was controversial). Since Covid-19 and explicitly since that article I have tried to focus on more affordable gear (hence the upcoming reviews on the QSP Parrot and the Ferrum Forge Mini Archbishop). Hobbies take the first hit when money is tight and so cheaper gear is probably more important now than it has been in a while. Thus the request to review a cheaper EDC pen was a welcome one. Of course, as a company-provided piece, we should assume this is the best version of this particular item that they can possibly make.
Here is the product page for the Grafton Mini Twist. There is also a clicky Grafton, a mini clicky Grafton, and a large Grafton Twist. Each of those pens has three color options: black, gunmetal gray (dark gray), and silver. This is a review of the Grafton Mini Twist in silver. The pen retails for $35. Here is another review of the Grafton Mini Twist. The Grafton has done the rounds as there was both a Kickstarter and a Drop for the Grafton. Beware: the Grafton Click has some bad reviews, most especially this one. Here is my review sample (provided by Everyman, to be given away):
Twitter Summary: Better than the readily available benchmark for a very modest price.
Design: 2
There is not much to complain about because there is not much to talk about. This is as basic as a pen gets—tube, grooves, clip, and refill. No swirly unicorn barf resin or gold finials. This is an EDC pen reduced to his most elemental form. And the Grafton is all the better for that reductionism. Clean, simple, and durable—that is what you want in your house’s plumbing AND in an EDC pen.
Fit and Finish: 2
Nothing feels insanely rich or extravagantly finished, but nothing feels sloppy either. I have used the pen a lot and it has held up well. The twist mechanism is very smooth and consistent, much better than the Baron Fig Squire, which was a train wreck of an EDC pen.
Carry: 2
The Grafton carries like a dream. No risk of accidental tip exposure, no stabby pocket clip, no overly tight or overly loose clip. Everything is just right for a splendid ride in a pants pocket, a suit pocket, or in the pen pocket on a button down. It also helps that the pen is made of aluminum instead of steel. The weight, 1.0 ounces, is dreamy.
Appearance: 1
Okay, the design is clean, but the aluminum just looks and feels cheap. I’d love to see a blasted or stonewashed aluminum instead of the anodization here. It is just weird—more “sparkle anodization” than Mil Spec or even Maglight ano. If Everyman really wanted to come out swinging a nice brushed aluminum would be spectacular and it would help them stand up to their greatest rival in this space in the market—Retro 51. More on that later.
Durability: 2
Despite its feather weight and cheap appearance, the aluminum body has been plenty tough for my pen abusive lifestyle. No pen can withstand the crap I put it through forever, but the Grafton looks and feels brand new despite a month of daily use and carry, despite living in my Covid-carry backpack, and despite running around everyday getting blasted with sanitizer.
Writing Performance: 1
This comes with a Fisher Space Pen refill, which is the right format (Parker style refill) but the wrong choice. A Schmidt 9000 EasyFlow is the same price with vastly superior performance. The Space Pen refill is blotchy and it provides ZERO feedback on the page. As Aaron Shapiro once put it—the Space Pen refill feels like running a booger through grease. Gross, but accurate.
Balance/In-hand Feel: 1
The Grafton is distinctly rear weighted. Only the angle of the picture makes that less clear. I do prefer balanced pens or pens that are forward heavy as they tend to feel lighter when writing. This balance issue is noticeable but not a deal breaker.
Grip: 2
Grooves in the grip area aren’t complicated but the work (ahem MMC Bolt, I am looking at you). There, they are just grippy enough to give you purchase on the otherwise slick-to-the-touch and chintzy looking aluminum barrel.
Barrel: 2
Speaking of barrel, despite looking like it a cheap piece of metal that is found on a carnival toy or in a box of Cracker Jack, its actually pretty functional, just the right size, and very durable.
Deployment: 2
While Everyman brags about how smooth the Grafton is (and it is), the deployment is not markedly better than a Retro 51. Its the carry here that is the thing that will catch the conscience of the king, not the twist mechanism. That said, it is very smooth, a quick quarter turn, and there has never been a htich in its giddy up. All great things.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Moderate
Not much to play with here other than the smooth short stroke of the twist mechanism.
Fett Effect: Low
Surprisingly the ano has held up well as has the extra thick coat of paint on the clip.
Value: Very High
This is one of the better values in the EDC pen market where things, like everything else in the EDC world, have gone crazy. As the average for a good EDC pen nears $100, the Grafton looks mighty good at $35.
Overall Score: 17 out of 20
This is a very competent EDC pen. It is durable. It is smooth. It looked decent enough. And it carries fabulously well. I don’t have a burning passion to own more Graftons and I wish I would have grabbed a black one, but it does exactly what they advertise it doing and with a better refill it will do it well for a long long time. That, for $35, strikes me a good deal. And we are living oddly in a time where we need good deals more than ever and yet they are more scarce than ever. A value-oriented EDC that depends on the Grafton as its writing tool is a good EDC.
Competition
This pen is a third the price of something like the Tactile Turn Side Click and a fifth the Pilot Vanishing Point and it is immediately apparent that they are priced differently. I don’t think that is a fair comparison and so I am going to go down a price tier in pens. Here you find something like the very comparable Retro 51. You can also stretch down a bit more and include the Parker Jotter and the Zebra F-701. In that pool, the Grafton Twist comparisons seem more fair.
In my mind the Grafton is a step up from both the Jotter and the F-701. I have never liked the overly pokey clip on the Jotter and while I appreciate it is a classic, its one that never moved the needle for me. The Grafton wins this comparison for me. The F-701 is a closer call. Once modded to accept Parker refills the F-701 is my “readily available benchmark” in EDC pens. Its pretty darn good and very durable for $7. Sure you have to replace the stock pen refill and mod the tip cone, but once that’s done, the F-701 takes all comers in the EDC pen world. In terms of value, the Grafton loses to the F-701, but that’s because EVERYTHING loses to the F-701 in terms of value. I like the look of the Grafton better and it feels a bit more balanced and luxurious in the hand. Is it five times the pen (because it is five times the price)? Nope, but comparing non-commodities that way is always a recipe for disappointment. The Grafton beats the F-701 for me.
The real battle, and where things get awfully hard for the Grafton, is when it is stacked up to the Retro 51. These pens are and probably always will be the best “first real pen” ever. They feel like they cost $100 and they write well. You can deck them out with a lot of colors and themes. There is basically a Retro 51 for everyone. And here, the Grafton can’t quite compete. It doesn’t feel a luxe and it doesn’t write as well out of the box. The brushed finish on the metal barreled basic Retros is much more attractive than the sparkle and on this pen. But, and this is a big deal, Retro 51 is going out of business. Once gone, the pens will undoubtedly skyrocket in price as they are both collectible and beloved. I would imagine three or four years from now Retro 51s selling for $60 on the secondary market. In that environment I would choose the Grafton every day.
Amazon Links
Some of the gear mentioned in this article in available on Amazon. If you want to support the blog and are interested in the gear mentioned here, follow the links below and purchase items—the proceeds help buy new review samples to keep the blog running and 100% independent:
Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refills (remember, black ink is heretical)