TWSBI GO Review: The Perfect Fountain Pen for Someone (Just Not Me)

It’s tricky reviewing the TWSBI GO, because it’s an excellent pen for some people. For some people, the pen writes beautifully, and it’s economically priced ($20). For some people, it’s a great way to get started with a pen that uses bottled ink. The frustrating thing is, I’m not one of those people (though you might be).

TWSBI has a reputation for making pens that offer exceptional bang for their buck, and the GO continues this tradition. Most pens in this price range use cartridges, or small vials pre-filled with ink that are loaded into the pen. Some might also accept converters, or things that fit into the space of a cartridge, that allow you to use bottled ink instead of pre-filled cartridges. More expensive pens might have a built-in ink reservoir that you fill from an ink bottle. Pens that offer built-in filling mechanisms usually have a much higher capacity than a cartridge or converter, so you can write for much longer without needing to refill, with the trade-off that you can’t use cartridges.

JetPens has a more in-depth write up the various filling systems here, but for the record, you probably don’t want to be using cartridges — they’re far more expensive than bottled ink, and you’re limited to what colors are available in your pen’s cartridge shape (some pens use standardized cartridges, others use proprietary ones). The only real benefit is that, if you’re refilling with the same color, it’s easy to shove in a new cartridge while at work or traveling — refilling from a bottle is generally a bit slower, but I’d argue the savings and flexibility of bottled ink more than make up for it. But I’m also someone who bought 10 samples of various turquoise inks trying to figure out which one I liked the most, so I might be placing a higher premium on ink flexibility than you would.

What makes the GO special is the ink storage and filling system — the GO offers a large reservoir (which is unusual for cheap pens), and uses spring-loaded piston system built into the pen that makes filling the pen a snap — when you want to fill it with ink, place the tip in an ink bottle, press down on the…