REFYNE EP1 Copper

I recently acquired all 3 of the pen models from Refyne and all I can say is, I believe my EDC pen search is over. First off, the clip is just perfect. Deep carry, good tension, looks great, and is super sturdy. You won’t be unintentionally flexing these clips too far. A+ Second, the bolt action is great. Bolt is small and out of the way, but gives great purchase when you need to deploy the pen. I’ve handed the pen to many people, and everyone knew how to deploy it. EZPZ. Only gripe is, the little bolt came unthreaded after some excessive fidgeting. A little blue lock tite, now she’s rock solid. A The size, length, and weight is just about perfect for me. Doesn’t hog pocket space, I can get my hands on it with minimal overhang, and the weight makes writing comfy. A+ The fact that these use a standard “Parker style” refill means you can pop whatever you want inside these bad boys, and write till your heart is content. The Schmidt EZ flow 9000 is perfectly acceptable and I most likely won’t be switching them out any time soon. Overall, these pens are amazing and punch above their weight class as far as I’m concerned. I may have to pickup another Titanium one at some point to anodize and customize a bit. Thanks for making a great product Refyne.

Was on the search for a better edc pen than my Parker space pen. After looking at some of the options out there I stumbled at this pen on YouTube. Bought the ep1 the reviews were great and really was digging this pen. Upon arrival, it was scratched and ink was dried. After talking with Sarah from the company looking to resolve the problem she shipped me expressively a new pen and it arrived from California to Montréal the next day! Not only did they sent a new pen , they sent a free refill and left me the other pen without any questions. Now this is what I call unbelievable customer support.... they really show appreciation for their clients and take care of the products quality and satisfaction. This pen is so clutch; carry it every day. The size is perfect and really disappear in the 5th jeans pocket. Ink really flows nicely and doesn’t blotches . Fit and finished are great and durable. Even after a full month of heavy use, it even doesn’t have a scratch. The action is buttery smooth and so fidgety! All I can say is don’t look any further. This pen is awesome!😁😎 Conclusion, considering the price you pay , the pen would have been a dream if all of these details were fixed . This pen would be 150% recommendable from me as it is everything I wished in a edc pen . Just sad it didn’t met my expectations. I just wish that the company reads the comments and make a version 2 that is refined... Unfortunately I will have to continue my search... big idea design is so expensive but maybe the product is worth a try. If you can get around these problems; the pen is still superb and great!

When I first recieved this pen it had metal shavings and other grit in it that made the bolt action very grindy. After cleaning and a little oil it moved smoothly. Then the insert was too small for the hole at the tip of the pen so it clicked every time it was pressed onto paper. I contacted REFYNE about this and they replied in minutes saying my experience was not normal. They sent out a new pen immediately that arrived the next business day. No need to clean or modify the new pen, it worked perfectly right out of the box. I can recommend this pen purely on their great customer service. The build quality is solid and it looks really good. Solid metal construction should mean it'll last a very long time. The fidget factor is high as well, I find myself playing with it often. It doesn't come with a torx bit to tighten or loosen the screws so be mindful of that. I like finer point pens so I bought 2 Uni Jetstream (SXR-600) inserts, .5mm and .38mm, and compared them. They both fit fine in the EP1 and I ultimately chose the .38mm even though there's not much of a difference at that point. All in all, this is a great budget EDC pen with easily swappable inserts and fantastic customer service.

Addendum 11 August 2020: Refyne sent me a new pen. No questions asked and no pushback. They just took the initiative and sent me a pen. Customer service, for me, is paramount in building product trust. With the amount of integrity and attention to customer input and their responsiveness, I believe Refyne will do well. I still see a few of the drawbacks of this particular pen, but they are quality pieces at a reasonable price point and super cool. Thank you Refyne. You have certainly earned another customer. This pen is pretty cool. It’s very sturdy. I think it would be a better value at $20-$25 maybe. There are some neat and eye catching features and the included refill is tops. Pros: Looks super cool. Very sturdy. Thick barrel Included refill is sweet! High cool factor. Locking “bolt action” is pretty cool. Copper insert for bolt looks sweet! Rubber O ring on nose to keep crud out and to keep it from revolving during use. Cons: A bit of refinement needed. Pen action is pretty scratchy. I’ve cycled it about 100 times and it’s still scratchy. I don’t know if this is the copper bolt or the inside of the pen barrel or the edges of the v bolt slide. The little torx bolt is cool. Kinda harsh in the finger though if you’re cycling it a few times. The nose is a slightly different color than the barrel. Looks like they are coated separately then pieces together. It’s not bad but for $40... There should probably be a dab of locktight blue on the head that holds the pocket clip down. Mine was lose from cycling. I'm afraid it may be lost in the future. The tip of the "V" in the bolt either sticks out or is pointed in such a way that you can quite easily stab our finger or get it caught on clothing. This may need to be slightly milled down or rounded. It looks neat but it's going to get somebody. With it being 180 degrees opposite to the clip, it could tear up a shirt or pants pocket if you jam it in there and it catches a fold or your thumb if you run it up the side to operate the bolt. The biggest issue visually is the copper internal barrel is not long enough to completely cover the V channel when the pen is cycled. This looks cheap and crud is going to work it’s way in there. It appears that the construction of the pen does not allow the barrel to be any longer of the top end because the pen is so short that the internal bolt action barrel can’t be longer because there is no headroom. I’d fix this. It’s not a great trade off. Lastly. This is a personal thing I believe. The pen is just short enough that when you operate it in one hand, the tip of the refill actually bits your palm and leaves a little ink dot. I’d make this thing one inch longer and give 1/2 inch to the copper internal barrel to make sure you don’t see the end of it when cycling the bolt and 1/2 inch to the front so you don’t write on you palm every time you extend the refill. It’s a cool start, but needs some finishing and some thought. Hopefully in a future iteration.

EDITED Initially I had a few issues with my pen. The threading of the top cap that holds the clip on to the body of the pen would come loose without loctite and then the threads snapped. Shortly after my review the (presumably) owner Alan reached out to me. Alan explained how they were still working out a few kinks in the products and offered to replace my pen FREE OF CHARGE. Since they were out of the stainless steel version he sent over a titanium immediately. Alan then went above and beyond and sent me a replacement stainless steel one the issues were worked out and they had another production run. I cannot recommend this product enough. Poor customer service is a rampant issue in the EDC community and Refyne is bucking that trend. 1. writing is very smooth and ink flow is great due to the Schmidt easy flow 9000m cartridge. 2. bolt action is very addicting. I fidget with this alllllllllll day. 3. quality is great now that they have worked out their initial issues. 4. the customer service is outstanding. I have never been treated better by a company. If other companies read this, take note (with this pen). This is how you treat customers and get them to want to do business with you in the future. Refyne (Alan?), thank you very much for all your hard working in making your customers happy.

Updated 1/4/2021 - the seller contacted me within a day or two of my initial review and sent me a replacement pen. The issues I experienced were from from a defective ink reservoir. After receiving the replacement, I can confirm that this pen is as amazing as I was hoping. All my comments regarding the build quality still stand, and I have updated my review from 2 to 5 stars. Kudos to Refyne for the top-notch customer service. You have definitely made a loyal customer through this experience. -- I had high hopes for this pen. It was heavy, well built, and felt great. I had issues right out of the box, though. After the first one or two words, the ink stopped flowing. I then found myself scribbling circles trying to get it to write again. The ink worked again, and then one or two words later, back to nothing. There is nothing more annoying than a pen that does not work. I was disappointed to say the least. Returning it and am going to stick with my trusty F-701.

This review is mostly my opinion and my experience on this product. I'm also a really picky customer when it comes to tools of my everyday life. Also I have no care about the package it comes in, I only care about the actual product itself. I really love this pen. Been using it for a while now and it's been serving me really well. I had to replace my old bolt action pen that I used for four years. Someone stole it and I was sad to see it go. So I searched on Amazon and found this new EDC tool from REFYNE that caught my eye quickly. It was plain but yet different from most of the other bolt action pens you'll see on the search. In words it looks; "Non-fancy, but handsome looking". Pros: It's light weight. You can fit it in your back pocket or wherever you feel is most comfortable for you. Using the pen is simply easy with the flick of your thumb on the V-shaped bolt action. Just flicking your thumb on the bolt toward the other side of the V would do the trick. It uses Schmidt refills which I still have some for my old pen. Works perfectly with them. One of my strange gripes is seeing big lettered brand names and or huge symbols on products that doesn't make it look good. This pen had none of those. Only their signature REFYNE Triangle symbol on the removable clip of the pen is there. But it makes pen look even better, which is a plus. Whenever I use it in public / med school class / etc., I always get asked what is this pen cause of how sleek it looks. Which is a complement to me. The removable clip has good enough retention to pinch onto your pockets even when doing some running, jumping, and other aggressive activities. Cons: It's a small pen, so if you have big hands it would be uncomfortable for you. I got medium sized hands, so it's almost great for me. It's just the clip on the pen that makes it uncomfortable. The REFYNE pen clip pokes on my index finger and after using it for an hour or few you'll start to feel it. If you're a person who's life doesn't revolve around writing with a pen, but want one for convenient use this wouldn't be a problem. If you constantly are taking notes, or your job revolves around documenting or writing related with a pen it's gonna get uncomfortable with a big hand and even medium sized hands. I can't say about the people out there with smaller hands, but I think it would be even more perfect for them. Of course you can remove the clip, hence the name "Removable Clip". But I need it to stay in my pocket and to be easily accessible. It comes with a medium point pen. It's a little gripe of mine, but I prefer bold points. Overall: The REFYNE bolt-action pen is great. Small to fit in your pockets and light. Clip has enough strength that you can workout in a gym pinched onto your pocket. But I would suggest if you do things crazier than just everyday running, like for example; military infantry stuff where you might be dragging your own body in the dirt and mud. Or anything when a job requires you to do awkward things with your body, Keep your pen in a more secure place on your body than simply clipped onto your pocket where it's gonna fall out eventually. The clip can bother you if you got a hand big enough where your index finger literally rests on it. I wish it was a bit longer so I don't have this problem. I don't blame it though, since you can't really design it in a way so it's perfect for people of all sizes. Again, it's easy to deploy with a flick of your thumb. After constant use, it's gonna get small minuscule scratches on it despite it being scratch resistant (If you bought the stainless steel ones, excluding the titanium). But for me I think scratches makes your tools look better, showing people you have used it enough that you worn it down. Price-wise, I know these types of pen can be pricey. This one is no exception. But you always want quality over quantity. This pen is gonna last you a long time for sure.

I have the gun metal gray version. On day one I dropped it. It fell on the pen point on concrete, ruining the refill. My local stores didn't have a compatible refill, so I attacked it with some drill bits. Pilot G2 refills are my favorite. Not the best but they work for me and they are readily available. With a little care you can make this pen accept these refills. The pilot refill fits tightly in the lower opening in the piston, and shoving it in the opening pressurizes the refill, making it leak. Drilling through this piece with a small drill allows the piston to slide over the end of the pilot refill without pressurizing it. Next used a 5/16 bit to open up the pen tip from the inside to make clearance for the widest portion of the refill. I wrapped the tip with a napkin to protect it and carefully secured it in a vise. Spinning the bit fast and taking light pecks at the inside to slowly open up the hole to a depth of approx 1/4 in. Then I took a 1/8 inch bit to make clearance for the pen tip to reach far enough to protrude through the tip. DO NOT DRILL ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE TIP. Doing so will make the tip fit loosely and will not make for a nice writing experience. Slowly drill a short way in and test fit. I was very cautious and had to drill and test fit about 4 times to find the best fit. Then I shortened the pilot G2 refill with a razor blade. I didn't take measurements for this, but careful trial and error will find the correct length. After this mod, I now have the closest I have found to my perfect pocket pen. I would prefer the diameter were only 9mm instead of 10mm, and it 1/2 inch shorter, but that's really nitpicking.