As I removed the cap of the G Tec C4 the needle tip conjured up thoughts that I’d be in for a bumpy ride when putting this rollerball to the test. I was soon to be proved wrong however, as writing with this Pilot G-Tec C4 was a pleasant surprise.
The C4 contains gel ink, something which Pilot boast to have a large range of colours in. This particular pen offers a choice of 10 zesty shades and can be refilled, I am using a plain old black one but whatever the colour I can imagine it being useful for a whole raft of jobs, from form filling to proof reading.
I wouldn’t say this pen was at the front of the queue for looks, the transparent barrel has the appearance of bog standard plastic to my non techie eye but it’s contents, namely the ink, make up for any shortfalls there. Pilot claim that the G-Tec C is the only pen to have bio-polymer smear-proof ink, I have to say that I agree it was adverse to feathering and smearing.
The grip section consists of a ridged section just below the shiny metal nib housing & tip, in my experience it did the job for which it was intended, no more, no less. I have read some reviews whereby users have complained that putting too much pressure close to the tip led to the cap coming loose, I didn’t find this to be the case & I can be heavy handed. Neither did I have a problem with the flow of ink which pleased me, having been a little alarmed at some suggestions from disappointed users for dealing with shall we say initial warm up of the pen.
The answer to some peoples initial problems when for instance the pen just won’t write without scribbling a few circles, they allude to passing the tip through a flame! The advice does come with a warning to take care not to burn the plastic. I’d be more concerned about burning the house down, therefore not something I’d advocate.
The G-Tec C4 gel pen has a 0.4mm tip which writes a fine 0.2mm line, whilst I would usually opt for a medium nib I enjoyed using this rollerball & would certainly do so again.
