Olight Open Mini Brass Pen Review
While Olight is a flashlight maker, it’s no stranger to pens and has made the Open Mini, a pen available in brass. I love tiny pens, and this is tiny! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s the official Olight Open Mini Brass Pen product page.
Versions
In my reviewing, I have apparently missed a bunch of these pens. I have had bigger versions, but this is my first Mini. But there are a number of versions! There’s brass (seen here) as well as at least two aluminum colors (red and green).
Price
The brass version of the Olight Open Mini Pen sells for $19.99 and is available now through my referral link.
Short Review
I love short pens! That should be no surprise, because I built a modified Bic Clic Stic pen (which I still use and love, and recommend!). This Olight Open Mini brass pen scratches that same itch… It’s tiny! In fact, this pen is shorter than my modified Bic Clic Stic. I love that this pen is brass. The refill writes fine. If you like bolt action pens, you’ll like this bolt action pen. Refills for small pens like these are often hard to find or less variable. If waterproofness is a concern, the fluted design could give you problems, too. But for $20, it’s great!
Long Review
What’s Included
- Olight Open Mini brass pen
Package
There is no manual.
Build Quality and Disassembly
Again, (and again and again): I love small pens. This is a fantastic example, and fits in hand just enough for writing but nothing more. There’s no extra weight or swinging leverage like you get with some bigger pens.
The build quality is great, too. It’s a bit nebulous to describe exactly – it’s good, not much else to say!
I can’t say that the whole Olight Open Mini brass pen is made to look like a bullet, but one could certainly make the case! That it’s brass alone would be compelling enough, but when you consider that this little brass bit on the end looks just like a bullet’s primer, well…
I didn’t notice it until this very photo, but the brass outside seems to be covering an internal sleeve, at least on the tip area. This internal part is probably stainless and is sensible so that the stainless pen tip doesn’t wear down the softer brass body.
The body easily unscrews from the tail. I wasn’t able to remove the pocket clip or that black bit that holds it in. This also means I’m not sure how to do maintenance on the bolt action if it’s ever needed.
The brass here does feel (and smell) like raw brass. That’s great because it means the pen should age in a very appealing way. I’m particular about the brass/copper smell, and this doesn’t bother me. It’s not terribly strong.
Size
DIMENSIONS: Length: 3.66in/93.0mm (Tip Retracted); Body Diameter: 0.39in/9.8mm
WEIGHT: 0.44oz/12.5g (this is probably for the aluminum version; I don’t see weight for brass.)
Here’s the pen in hand.
Here’s the test Olight Open Mini brass pen with the venerable Convoy S2+. Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple. A very nice 18650 light.
Also above is the Open Mini beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats. I also reviewed that specific edition, the “Oveready BOSS FT Collector Vintage Brass” 35. I love it!
Below is just some random other items, but not necessarily standard-sized.
Retention
A pocket clip is included, attached, and non-removable on the Olight Open Mini brass pen. The clip is fairly stiff.
It’s also nice and short, which is great for such a short pen.
Lock
On the Olight Open Mini brass pen is a bolt-action style open/close. Now, I am not a huge fan of bolt action, but this one doesn’t really get in the way as most bolt actions do.
The action is very short and also incredibly smooth. It’s possible to actuate easily with one hand.
A non-bolt version of this pen would be great too, but I guess the pen would end up much longer.
Writing
From the factory, the tip is wax-sealed. In fact, I (unusually) had a bit of trouble getting this coating off, and ended up having to clean the tip with a napkin. No big deal, though.
The refill used here is one sort of specific to Olights. You might find one or two here and there that fit but generally you’ll need to get this refill from Olight.
However, there’s a 3D printer that designed a file that I think allows the use of D1 refills. They’re thin and narrow (tube-like) but with the adapter, you can use a whole world of refills including all types of ink and tip sizes, etc. Here’s that page. I can’t find the exact file just now, though!
Conclusion
What I like
- Very small size
- Made of brass
- Neat fluted design
- Appropriately-sized pocket clip
What I don’t like
- Limited refills
- Bolt action
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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