“a hero on a quest for the Holy Grail isn’t looking for the Holy Grail. The hero is trying to find himself, and the only way he can find his true self is by going on a journey, being tried and tested until he knows if he is a hero in name only or a hero in truth.”
I read The Lost Story a couple years ago and it reminded me of a modern day, grown-up version of Peter Pan. But the quote above stuck with me. What is your Holy Grail Quest (no, not a pen!)?
If you have an inspiring quote you’d like to share, please leave it in the comments and maybe I’ll feature it in a future Quote of the Week post. Thanks!If you have an inspiring quote you’d like to share, please leave it in the comments and maybe I’ll feature it in a future Quote of the Week post. Thanks!
While talking with a pal last week, she pulled out a couple Pilot Precise V5 RT pens which she confessed being her favorites. I’ve always loved the Pilot Precise V5 pens and I often admit that, along with the Marvy Le Pen, were my gateway pens into the pen world when I was a kid. I was pretty excited to see this office supply classic getting a design refresh.
The RT (retractable) design is new to me and the model my friend had was the fancy “Precise Floral Collection” with printed leaves and daisies on the barrel. I was entranced and decided to buy a few Pilot Precise V5 RT pens and give them another try.
I wasn’t able to find the Floral Collection when I purchased mine but found out (after mine arrived) how to acquire the decorative ones — shop at Walmart. I purchased one set from Target (8-color set for $12.99) and the other from JetPens (7-Color Set A for $18.60). Never let it be said I do anything halfway. I went from not one Pilot Precise V5 in years to having 15. Of course, in my enthusiasm, I now have 2 pens in pink, 2 in turquoise, 2 in purple and 2 in black. Luckily, these are colors I really like so I will let the duplicates live in my backpack so I always have a spare pen.
The duplicate colors I have now.
The Colors:
The colors I have, between the two sets, are Black, Navy, Blue, Turquoise, Light Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Pink, Burgundy and Purple — a total of eleven different colors. If they had a 12-color set, I am hoping for a brown, grey or dark green to round out the offerings.
Close up to see the colors and performance on Tomoe River 68gsm. This close, there is a little feathering but its not noticeable at a normal distance.
I liked most of the colors except the Yellow which is too light to use in most situations. Maybe, it could be used to underline text but mostly I think it is a waste of a pen. the rest of the colors are bright and vivid and 100% rainbow fun. Being a goth at heart, my faves were the Burgundy, Black and Purple with a touch of the Light Green.
The most unusual color options are the Burgundy and Navy (blue black) in the 7-Color Set. If I hadn’t wanted the Light Green, I probably would recommend the 7-Color set over the 8-color.
The Pen Build Quality:
The only big change from the original Pilot Precise V5 is the retractable mechanism and a silicone grip section. While I always appreciated the simplicity of the original Precise V5 with the flat ends and capped design, for a carry-around, everyday pen, the retractable model is definitely a good option. The knock is easy to operate and not too noisy.
The RT models do include a clip which is adequate for clipping onto the cover of a book or shirt pocket though I’d be hesitant to put a retractable pen with liquid ink into a shirt pocket on the offhand chance that the tip remains out. We all have a story of Retro 51 rollerball left in a pocket, non? Same result, I suspect.
One of my favorite aspects of the Precise V5 pens is the needle tip. For essentially a rollerball pen, it is one of the finest options available in the American market at big box retailers. Sure, I can usually find G2s and Frixion and a couple other options but the 0.5mm tips usually write much broader or are only available in 0.7mm or wider. If you’re trying to write in 5mm grid paper or the smaller Hobonichi (and the like) grid papers, 0.7mm and wider are never gonna fit in the space available. But a Pilot Precise V5 might.
A close-up of the needletip point.
The Paper Tests:
Writing samples on Mark’s EDiT paper
I was hoping to use the Pilot Precise V5 RTs with some of my everyday pocket notebooks like my B7 Semi from Mark’s EDiT (restock due next week!) or my Field Notes EDC set-up. I’ve been trying to use up Field Notes and find pens that work in these notebooks (more on that later). The Pilot Precise V5 RTs look good on the Mark’s EDiT paper (called NEO AGENDA for EDiT) but there was some showthrough and an almost hint at bleedthrough on the back of the page. The NEO AGENDA paper is quite thin so I’m okay with the performance but was hoping for less showthrough.
Definitely a lot of show through and a tiny bit of bleed through on the reverse of the Mark’s EDiT paperPen Test on Tomoe River 68gsm paper. Dry time is a bit longer on this paper than the Mark’s EDiT
On Tomoe River 68 gsm paper, the overall writing quality was good but the dry time seemed excessive for this overwriting left-hander. There was average showthrough for TR68gsm and no bleedthrough (I forgot to photograph the reverse but it was fine) so right handers and under-writing lefites should be fine.
Tested on Iroful paper. The blue pen showed some sheen on Iroful but the overall line weight appears thicker than on the other papers.
I also wanted to see what would happen with Iroful and the liquid ink of the Precise V5 was similar to experiences I have with fountain pens — the line weights increase on Iroful. Its not feathering, just much wider strokes than on other paper. The Blue ink did sheen a little on Iroful so if you are a regular user and lover of Iroful paper, I think the Precise V5s would be great. Also, there was ZERO showthrough or bleedthrough.
No showthrough or bleedthrough on Iroful paper.
Finally, I tested the Precise V5s on Field Notes standard paper to see how it performed and I am said to say it was the worst of the lot though not really surprising.
Tested on Field Notes standard Lynx opaque 60# Text
The line weights didn’t change but there is a hint of feathering around the edge of each stroke and the reverse of the paper shows some showthrough and dots of bleedthrough. I mean, for Field Notes, its not terrible but its also not great.
On standard Field Notes paper, there was quite a bit of showthrough and a some dots of bleedthroughField Notes, Iroful and Mark’s EDiT paper side-by-side for comparison
When put altogether, I think I like the quality of the pens on the Mark’s EDiT the best and the Tomoe River 68 gsm the next best (not shown above because that big A5 hogged the photo!).
Conclusion:
Overall, I love the colors of the Pilot Precise V5s and I love the convenience of the retractable design but I definitely need to match the pens to specific papers. I already do that with my fountain pens so this just gives me the opportunity to find a notebook that loves these Precise V5s and pair them together.
Do you use Pilot Precise V5s? Love them or hate them? If you use them, what’s your favorite paper to pair with the pens? Let me know in the comments!
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
It’s only Wednesday and already this week has been an adventure. Monday was the Monday of all Mondays and deserves no more acknowledgement than that. Tuesday, however, I got to see one of my favorite authors speak. John Scalzi was in town to promote his new book Monsters of Ohio. He is very fun to hear speak and my pal Mai and I got to celebrate our second anniversary as friends — we met at the LAST Scalzi book event in town, if you can believe it. A big shoutout to Mai for inviting me into her found family. As a result of meeting her, I’ve met a bunch of other people who I now call friends too.
Then this morning, as Bob was leaving for work we found a Luna Moth caterpillar winding his way along our porch bannister. I lured him onto a twig and took him to our backyard which seemed like a better, safer place to call home. Maybe, in a few weeks or in the spring, I will get to witness out little caterpillar in his full glory.
Why yes! Our caterpillar looked just like Heimlich from A Bug’s Life.
Have you seen or done anything interesting this week? Let me know in the comments!
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One of the most popular posts on The Well-Appointed Desk is our ultimate guide to refills. Over the years we get lots of feedback and updates from folks on refills that may no longer be available. To that end I’ve gone back and updated where I can. If you spot anything amiss that needs a fresh look, please let us know
Otherwise, grab all your refills!
Special thanks to Cult Pens for tipping us off to the changes.
Happy Fountain Pen Day! Thanks for being a reader of The Well-Appointed Desk! We love this community and are so honored to be a part of it.
We are offering a special coupon for our shop for Fountain Pen Day 2026. Receive 15% off any order over $25 with the code FPD2026 all day Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 (through 11:59pm CDT).
Orders over $75 qualify for free shipping but I cannot coupon stack so you have to choose which discount is better. Domestic shipping only. Sorry!
Thanks so much for all your support over the years and Happy Fountain Pen Day!
I fell in love with the musical film The Greatest Showman when I watched it on a flight a couple years ago (so much so, I made a sticker sheet inspired by it). I sat in the center seat on the plane bawling my eyes out as Keala Settle belted out “This is Me” that I think speaks to anyone who has ever felt unseen, ridiculed, belittled or worse.
This quote is for everyone out there who needs to be seen, to brave and to be accepted just as they are.
It was hard to pick part of this song so please go listen to the whole thing. It is an anthem to stand proud.
If you have an inspiring quote you’d like to share, please leave it in the comments and maybe I’ll feature it in a future Quote of the Week post. Thanks!
Many of our friends mourned the passing of the Sir Patrick Stewart this week. He was a kind man (so says one of my pals who met him at PlanetCon in KC a few years ago), a talented actor and the embodiment of role he played as Cpt. Jean-Luc Picard. I am not usually affected by celebrity deaths but Sir Patrick Stewart’s roles have touched this Trekkie-nerd’s heart. So, I’ll be pouring a cup of Earl Grey, hot, in his honor.
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