Hines Pen Company Taschen Stift Review: A Pocket Pen With a Story

Introduction

The Hines Pen Company Taschen Stift, which takes its name from the German word for pocket pen, is a small clipless fountain pen built around a genuinely interesting material. It is a retailer exclusive offering available through the Chicago based retailer Atlas Stationers, which currently carries five versions: Cool Breeze, Gold Rush, Insanity, Northern Lights, and Picasso. The pen reviewed here uses a slightly different material picked up directly from Jim Hines, the maker behind the brand, so it was not part of the five Atlas offerings, though the parts and features are the same.

At $250 it sits on the high end of the value proposition, but the combination of hand-made Micarta, a tuned steel nib, and a truly pocketable form makes it one of the more distinctive small pens we have come across recently. Here is how it holds up in daily use.

The Material: Crazy Fiber Micarta

The body is made from a Micarta material called Crazy Fiber, manufactured in Russia and more commonly used in knife making. Micarta is typically layers of fabric bonded by resin, folded and twisted to create unique one-of-a-kind patterns. With Crazy Fiber, all of the folding is done by hand, so no two blanks share the same pattern. The fabric and resin fuse together remarkably well, with very little hint of layering; the fabric almost looks painted on.

The swirled, multilayered look strongly evokes Fordite, the hardened paint buildup once collected from car factories where vehicles were spray painted by hand and repeatedly cured in ovens. That production technique is no longer used, which makes the original material rare. This pen only resembles Fordite, but a pen with a story like this is the kind that turns a simple object into a cherished possession.

One practical note for anyone curious about Micarta in general: artisans working with the material say threads are one of the hardest things to get right, since the fabric can lose consistency and break down over time. Crazy Fiber’s tighter fusion makes it a more solid, more workable version of the material, and the threads on this pen are well executed.

Design and Build Details

The Taschen Stift is deliberately clipless, and we think that was a wise decision. A clip would break up the clean aesthetics of such a small pocket pen. The cap is straight with a flat end, topped by an insert carrying the Hines Pen logo, and there is a very small step down from cap to barrel. The barrel is also straight, with posting threads at the rear and a flat end.

The cap twists off in one and three-quarter rotations. Inside sits a number six JoWo stainless steel nib engraved with the Hines logo, available in extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and a 1.1 stub. The example reviewed was fitted with a broad blue-coated steel nib that complements the colors of the barrel nicely. A plastic feed sits beneath, and the metal section begins with a squared ridge before angling up a few millimeters into the cap threads and a medium-sized step up to the barrel. Despite being metal, the section does not feel slick at all, and its length and width are comfortable for extended writing.

Size and Everyday Handling

This is a genuinely small pen unposted, in the same class as other pocket pens. It compares neatly with the Shibui North Pocket Fox, the Schon Design Pocket Six, and the Kaweco AL Sport, and it sits alongside other compact Hines and artisan offerings as a true pocket-sized writer.

Posted, however, it expands to a fairly normal size pen, even larger than some standard daily writers. The cap is not heavy, so posting does not back-weight the pen or throw off the balance, and the cap twists to post very easily. The barrel length is long enough to use unposted, which is how we most often used it, but the posted configuration is comfortable and looks good too. Small pens that grow into full-size writers like this are a practical sweet spot for people who want true pocket portability without cramped grip.

Nib and Writing Experience

The broad steel nib is very smooth, and Jim clearly does good work tuning his nibs. Do not expect flexibility from this nib, but the writing experience is pleasant and consistent. The blue nib against the black section looks sharp in correlation with the swirled body.

Ink flow is fairly generous, and the feed keeps up very well during fast writing. Reverse writing lays down an extra fine line, though it feels like an unsharpened pencil rather than something crisp. For most writers, the nib options across extra fine through broad plus the 1.1 stub mean there is a width to suit nearly any preference.

Filling, Inks, and Things to Consider

The Taschen Stift is a cartridge converter pen, but neither a cartridge nor converter was included with the review unit. A standard international short cartridge would work well here, but the barrel is too short for a standard converter; a Kaweco-style small converter is what we used successfully. Eyedropper conversion is possible in principle with the appropriate silicone grease on the threads, but caution is advised since it is uncertain whether the interior of the Micarta barrel could stain. Eyedropper at your own risk, though it would most likely be fine.

The pen was sampled with Diamine Pumpkin, a vibrant reddish-orange ink, from one of Diamine’s smaller 30ml bottles. Those bottles have a rather narrow neck, so larger pens will not fit for direct filling, but the ink itself is lovely and pairs beautifully with a broad nib.

Buying Advice

The Taschen Stift retails for $250 and is available exclusively through Atlas Stationers in five versions. The price is on the high end of the value proposition for a steel-nibbed pocket pen, so buy it for the material, the craftsmanship, and the one-of-a-kind factor rather than for writing performance per dollar. The interesting Micarta used on the Atlas versions is well worth a look as well. If you enjoy unique pens with a genuine backstory, this is one worth checking out, and reaching out to the maker directly is an option if a particular material speaks to you.

Conclusion

The Hines Pen Company Taschen Stift is a thoughtfully made pocket pen: clean clipless lines, comfortable unposted or posted, a well-tuned steel JoWo nib, and a hand-folded Micarta material that makes every pen one of a kind. The $250 price asks a lot, but for writers who value a pen with a story and a material you will not find anywhere else, it delivers something genuinely special in a truly pocketable size.