Karas Kustoms - Mesa, AZ

 They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and some pens, are mightier than others.

Founded by Bill Karas in 2008, Karas Kustoms in Mesa, Arizona, focuses on producing high quality, hand-crafted writing instruments designed and manufactured in the United States. The company had previously made other machined items such as iPhone cases and toy cars.

“Since the beginning, our goal has been to use our collective experiences to bring unique, trendsetting products to market,” according to Karas Kustoms’ website (the company is often referred to as Karas Pen Company). “We have backgrounds in everything from machining, tool and die work, fabrication, automotive repair and restoration, to product design and development. These skill sets allow us to find a market need and to make a quality, well designed product to fill that need.”

At first, Karas thought there was not a need for high quality pens. His assistant, Dan Bishop, convinced him there was.  

Andrea Galyean of AZCentral.com reported that Bishop was inspired to pursue machined pen manufacturing after seeing other companies sell similar products on the crowdfunding site, Kickstarter.

Karas used raw bar material to create machined prototypes in aluminum and brass, both featuring a smooth body, screw-on cap, and a stainless-steel clip attached with screws because that was how they knew to make it, Galyean said. “The general effect was, in Bishop's words, ‘as if you'd opened your grandfather's toolbox and pulled out a pen that had been in there for 50 years,’” she continued.

Pictured is the Karas Kustoms "Retrakt" in aluminum. All of the pen's components are made of metal. The Retrakt was designed to primarily fit Pilot G2 refills, thought it also accommodates Parker, Schmidt, and many other refills. As with all their pens, the Retrakt's quality is remarkably "tangible", lending to a sense that this pen could very well be passed on as an heirloom, and a consistent writing instrument for the owner's lifetime, keeping countless Bic and other plastic counterparts out of your junk drawer, and eventually, landfills.  

The Karas team are upping their social media presence, and their YouTube channel features lighthearted, self-deprecating humor that takes the form of product announcements, promotions, and giveaways, among other content pieces and local events. The Karas brand embodies humble but integral craftsmanship that's hard not to admire; serious craft by craftsmen who don't take themselves too seriously, a much-needed balance in a burgeoning craft scene of hubris and self-aggrandizement.