A Super-Cool Bic

From top: my custom Baux pen, a random surprise Baux pen, a hotel freebie Bic Stic

5/28/19 faux gargoyle spotted in the University District
sketched with my custom Baux containing black ink

Ever since last InkTober when I learned to appreciate sketching with a commonplace Bic ballpoint pen, it has become so essential that it even made my Top Products list for 2018. The Zebra F-301 has similar ink (and a better body), and the Bic Clic’s retractable design is a slight improvement over the capped Cristal or Stic. The featherweight Stic form factor is my least favorite – the plastic is so light that it’s like drawing with a drinking straw that could blow away in a breeze – but any of them will do. It’s the ink that counts.

I wasn’t actively looking for a better Bic, but somehow things like this seem to find me: The Baux Pen Co. makes “super cool machined pens” for Bic ink. Made of anodized aluminum with titanium or brass on the grip and available in a choice of several colors, Baux pens are Bic Stics dressed up for the Oscars. (The cap and tip collar retain the Bic logo, so they actually are Bic pens.) But the metallic finishes are not just for show. The titanium grip on mine adds 12.5 grams of heft, making the pen much easier to hold and use. Baux pens all take standard Bic refills that I can pull out of the freebies I’ve taken from hotel rooms.

5/28/19 sketched with the "be the good" Baux
containing blue ink

All of that is cool, but I’m not sure I would have sprung for a Baux if it weren’t for two super-cool options: custom text and the choice of printing the text in the left-handed direction! For five bucks more, I opted for a random surprise pen – and it’s printed in the lefty direction, too! Someone who packed my order was paying attention.

Who needs a Bic dressed up for the Oscars? Apparently, I do – and it’s super-cool.

Not only that – it’s National Ballpoint Pen Day!