Chartpak AD-marker

Some facts:

• Have only one nib.
• They have two different markers; one with a trinib and one with a so called fine nib (but the fine nib looks very different from other fine nibs)  
• The barrel have a wonderful quality feel to it, a bit old school
• 130 colors (for the trinib marker)
• Made in USA
• They have been around a long time and seem to have been one of the favorites for designers  
• They are xylene based 

Ad marker with fine nib and with a trinib. 
Both very different from other nibs. 

I do not own that many of these markers, and I use them very rarely and yet I actually think these markers are very good. But to me, the smell makes it impossible to use them. All markers I tried so far have a smell but this is beyond that, this is a headache smell.  

I have read somewhere someone saying that there are Ad-markers and there are other markers. I think that’s true. This marker work just so different that it’s not fair to compare them to other markers. The same person also said that the Ad marker is a bit difficult to control, it bleeds a lot, but when you learn to use them they are great. But I have not used this marker nearly enough to utter a complete opinion. What I can say is that it has the best nib that ever was created! The trinib, as it is called, are fantastic to use. It is extremely easy to change your hand position and suddenly you will have a small stroke or a large, there is no limitation how big drawings you want to do.  The nib goes very smooth over the paper. Prismacolor uses a similar nib, but it doesn´t work as well.   

Ad marker vs Prismacolor nib

The red nib is from AD-marker and the blue is Prismacolor. 

Since the smell makes me hesitate to use these markers I do not own so many, but I am a happy owner to some warm grey. This is of course an extremely subjective opinion but I think they have one of the most beautiful warm greys. All brands have their own interpretation on what a warm grey should be and it is interesting to compare. They seem to lack on good skin colors and lighter colors (but this is mostly guess work from color charts). I have tried the skin colors but find them to dark and to intense to my likening. They do however have a blender which can make the color lighter.

Some of the warm greys of AD marker