Black Cherry---also thematically holiday appropriate!

When I first saw this pen reviewed by the Office Supply Geek, I just about went out of my mind—I HAD TO HAVE THIS PEN. I literally scrabbled around on my iPod touch, sitting on the trunk of my car during a work break (the better to connect to free wifi), navigating frustrating little mobile menus to order this pen RIGHT AWAY. Maybe I could have contacted the manufacturer, asked for a sample to review? But no, no no no I had no patience for that long shot, and ordered the pen immediately. I was, and am not disappointed. And good news for you—the price has gone down since I bought mine!

Also comes in silver and bronze, apparently. Just saw the bronze for the first time online. I THINK I NEED THE BRONZE, TOO.

I don’t know much about anodized aluminum, but I do know that this pen has got it in spades. This is the kind of pen you could beat down a cardboard box with and not break a sweat. This is the kind of pen you clutch in dark alleyways and late night parking lots. Forget that mess about carrying your keys around to attack criminals with, this pen will probably be much more effective (unless your criminals are armed and dangerous; don’t bring a pen to a gunfight, kids).

The least weaponized part

The clip is bolted firmly on, and clipping it on, the clip has the sort of grip strength that falls just shy of rigor mortis levels. But the flare at the end makes it easier to slide onto notebooks, and, bonus, is kind of like a little handle.

The business end---if by "business" you mean the kind typically run by the Mafia.

Here’s where you’ll find all the tactically placed hurt-making parts, and where the cap threads on (for those who’ve always wanted to write with a marathoner’s baton). You’ve got a blunt point at the very end, and a bunch of sharp corners for ripping things like cardboard.

Pretend that this box just tried to rob you.

This is just a little bit of sample damage done to an empty box. Imagine what it might do to metal, glass, the criminal element.

Another stabby part!

Technically, the cap posts—quite sturdily so.

Really only practical for when you need to use the pen to joust

But then you’ve got a pen that’s over seven inches long. That’s a bit much for a pen that isn’t one of those giant novelty pens typically found at the cash registers of quirky stores that are tired of people accidentally walking off with their pens.

Stealthily smooth---and look how clean the nib stays! Seriously, that is also an amazing thing for me.

I am surprised every time I open this pen up to write. One, I’m usually surprised that it still writes at all, no problem, because it’s usually been days—if not weeks—since the last time I used it. Two, I was not expecting a pen so rugged to have such a smooth (probably medium point) nib. The ink flow is great, and it takes standard international short cartridges (comes with a black cartridge (or two? I don’t remember; I never used them)). And for you crazy people who like the body but hate fountain pens:

Why would you hate fountain pens? Why would you want to break my heart like that?

It also comes with a rollerball option! Included with the pen free of charge! Whether you want it or not, you’ve got two options! It’s easy to swap out, and the rollerball (a Schmidt brand fine point, in black ink) writes just fine.

Probably not going to be as tactically useful as all that pointed metal on the fountain pen nib.

Let’s review: this is a pretty awesome pen, by its own merits, and it’s currently at an unbelievable (considering all the metal) price (around $25 at time of writing). Maybe you live in some idyllic countryside bubble of safety descended straight from a single weekend in the 1940s, and the thought of such a dangerous-looking pen terrifies you. That’s fine. But for the rest of us, especially those who want to combine elegant writing with armored accouterments, our pen has come.

Schrade Tactical Fountain Pen in Black

Schrade Tactical Fountain Pen in Brown

Schrade Tactical Fountain Pen in Silver

Thematically appropriate, colorwise

Sorry, this is all you guys get for now. Gotta work and all. But it’s the right holiday colors, so at least there’s that going for it. Maybe if you’re all good, I’ll post something for the far more important Half-Priced Chocolates Day tomorrow.

Ballpoints are almost like pencils. They sketch almost like pencils. Minus the erasing part.

Threw this pen in originally to round out an order—I’d been eyeing it for a while, but wasn’t breaking down doors to get my hands on it. The design is intriguing, and as with most Zebra products, the price is great.

I don't interact with a lot of ice picks, so I can't attest to the resemblance of the Piirto to implements of wintry destruction

I’m glad I bought it! The design is right up my aesthetic alley. Also, reminiscent of IKEA, no? I know Finnish isn’t Swedish, but they’re right next to each other, right? Any craving of Swedish meatballs is therefore justified, right?

YOU GUYS, "ARBEZ" IS "ZEBRA" BACKWARDS. I ONLY NOTICED THIS YESTERDAY. I am probably the only one late to this party. Also, according to sources (Google), "Piirto" means "overhead" in Finnish? Significance of this: unknown.

The only thing I’m not sold on is the clip design. It looks cool—

So streamlined!

But functionally, at least for people who like to clip their pens on things, this pen leaves a bit to be desired—like the ability to lay flat against a book.

Lanyards---good. Hardcover books---bad. Softcover books---getting bent.

For me, it’s not a game killer. The number of times I clip a pen to a hardback book can pretty much be counted on one finger. But if you want to clip this to books, reconsider. It won’t end well for you. Get a different pen.

There's only so many exciting things you can say about ballpoint ink. Mostly things like "this is a Jetstream" and "this isn't a Jetstream," and "this is very nearly but not quite like a Jetstream"

You twist the tip to deploy (I’m ambivalent on this feature), and the pen you get is a nice, standard workhorse ballpoint. This is the kind of pen that should move in to replace typical, uninspired-looking stick ballpoints. If you want your business to look just a little more modern and with it? Toss your BIC sticks and get Piirto pens instead. My only warning is to watch where you keep these, as the plastic is potentially delicious to cats (my cat, anyway).

Zebra Arbez Piirto Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Black Body with Blue Accent – Black Ink at JetPens

I didn't realize until afterward that I've got the exact same pen color & ink scheme as Office Supply Geek. OOPS

In spite of my inability to manipulate flex nibs in a way that creates true beauty, I still keep buying Noodler’s flex nib pens. Can this one really be that different? Yes. It can.

A real pen's pen

Thicker body with tapered grip? Much more comfortable to hold, and for only, what, $6 more? Well worth it. And this time, I managed to keep up with the box:

It's a cool box. You'd keep up with it too.

AND the instructions, which include Moby Dick inspired Noodler’s artwork, an explanation of the nautical design elements, and how this new filling mechanism works.

Everything you need to know, even if you feel like you have no idea what you're doing (click if you actually want to be able to read it)

The clip is a whale. The resin is a majestic ocean of your choice. Speaks for itself, really.

And can't you just hear the whale's majestic song? oooooOOOOOOOOoooooeeeeeee WAAAAAAAAOooooooooooooooEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

Oh, by the way, this pen fills with a neat-o keen pump, which I find much easier to work with than the twisting piston on the smaller models.

And the pump rod at the end that also has ink in it? Works like a little reserve of ink. When you run out in the main chamber, push the rod down and the pen has access to that bit that's left.

Push down, pull up, push down, pull up one last time, and you’re done. Personally I think that’s easier to deal with, especially for a fountain pen beginner, than models with tedious twisting.

Biggest nib yet. Probably because of the whole whale thing.

Mine had no trouble writing right out of the box. I’ve read some mixed reviews online, some even going so far as to say that they would NOT recommend this fountain pen for beginners. I disagree. Unless you are rolling in wads of fat dough that you can drop on some high-end fine-tuned exquisitely crafted flex nib, then I think the Ahab is going to be the best flex nib you can get into without making the kind of price commitment normally reserved for business mergers or marriage proposals. If you’re looking to get into fountain pens (flex nibs especially) but don’t expect some fiddling to possibly be involved, then you’ve got to be fooling yourself. Some people may have to fiddle around to get exactly the flow they want from this pen; some people may be perfectly content with the pen as is. It’s easy enough to take apart on your own, without feeling the trepidation of taking apart something more expensive but equally serviceable, like the TWSBI (first time taking apart felt like I was breaking into a museum, or taking apart someone’s heirloom pocketwatch or something).

Family photo op!

It’s as customizable as you want it to be. You can decide never to mess with it, or you can go as far as to carve into the ebonite for more ink flow. Makes it more uniquely yours, don’t you think?

Almost forgot to add this gratuitous picture

I found the Ahab to be a delight to draw and write with (cursive writing in particular). Many thanks to Goldspot pens (full disclosure: I received a small blogger’s discount on the pen)! And HEY HEY YOU GUYS, at the time of writing this, Goldspot pens is having a Valentine’s Day sale, so you can get the Ahab for $19! Hop on it! Or harpoon it. Hyuk hyuk.

Noodler’s Ink Ahab Flex Nib at Goldspot Pens

Plus a couple awesome reviews, and some tips on adjusting the pen:

Noodler’s Ahab flex pen review by Peninkcillin

Noodler’s Ahab Flex Nib Fountain Pen by Office Supply Geek

Noodler’s Ahab Flex + Adjustment Tips by tanalasta at the Fountain Pen Network

WORDS ARE BORING; I LOVE SKETCHING

I did not know the original Palomino Blackwing pencil, but I could not miss the reverential and longing mentions of it around office supply circles, and I certainly couldn’t help noticing the adorational fanfare showered at its return, for the graphite savior of all that is wood-cased walks writes among us again. Not that I could afford to bask in its presence—$20 ($19.95, if you want to be nitpickingly precise) is a bit steep of an entry price in my books, and twelve pencils is a lot to commit to, considering I don’t even know if I’ll like the thing. Luckily, Brad at JetPens kindly offered to let me sample a brand-new spare Blackwing 602 he had lying around, thus saving me from an eternity of wandering, lonely, in a Blackwingless world.

The prodigal wood-case wonder

Fairly normal-looking pencil body on one end, bafflingly peculiar paintbrush-like eraser on the other end. We’ll break it down one piece at a time, starting with the body.

Branding CAN be beautiful!

One side is stamped with the brand name and model.

...than what, a regular pencil? This I can neither confirm nor deny.

And the other side is stamped with a slogan/promise. Notice on both that the gold lettering actually lines up with the stamping, unlike so many ten cent pencils of my youth. The extra money you’re paying is going toward making a higher quality product (rather than toward, say, Palomino’s champagne and cigar fund). And can we take a second to admire this paint job?

More class than an entire K-12 educational system

I didn’t know it was possible for something to be sparkly AND classy, but somehow they’ve managed it. This is some premium paint with a polished shine. And I believe that Office Supply Geek was right—it looks like there are two coats of paint on this pencil.

See the line of black underneath the silver? Two coats.

Now, I haven’t written with wooden pencils since probably about the time that Beanie Babies were popular and the Backstreet Boys were relevant. Pencils smudge, wooden pencils maliciously so—or so it always seemed to me. Having the side of your hand be totally silver after writing an essay is not as cool as you might think. So how does our Palomino Blackwing 602 stack up? Pretty well, I am surprised to admit, in spite of my pencil prejudice. In writing up this review by hand (with the Palomino Blackwing, of course), I’ve done almost 3 pages in a 6.5″ x 8.25″ Clairefontaine notebook, and though there is noticeable silvering on my hand, it’s not as much as I’d expect for lead this dark. And the lead itself is silky-smooth. None of the scratchiness you get from cheap leads (which, I presume, are riddled with little airholes which leave small sharp surfaces throughout the lead….but I could be making that up).

Not actually a paintbrush...unless you want to paint graphite OFF some paper

Saved the best for last—this absolutely odd eraser, which turns out to be an entire miniature block eraser. Just pull on those little curlicues, and out comes the eraser. You can extend it as it runs down, and replace it if it runs out.

This kind of extendability/replaceability is typically only seen on the uselessly tiny little crumbs they dare to call erasers and send standard on the end of most mechanical pencils, protected beneath an easy-to-lose little plastic cap

Performance of the eraser is not 100% what I’d like—you can still see the ghost of what was written, especially if I wrote with a sharp edge or pressure. The plasticky, polymer erasers I have do a better job of erasing. It’d be nice if Palomino offered a polymer refill, but I might just grab an X-Acto knife and make one of my own.

This is unwieldy. You'll probably break the eraser. I do not recommend using your eraser like this

As I mentioned in the written sample, even a pencil as nice as this one isn’t going to convince me to start back at being a pencil writer. And as sharp and snazzy as this number looks, it’s not invincible—I’ve already got some dings in the wood. But I like it for drawing; with lead this smooth, nice, and dark, it makes a great sketch pencil. Having to carry a sharpener around is a bit inconvenient, but not the end of the world.

If you like writing with pencils, you’ll probably love this pencil. If you like sketching, this is a good drawing pencil with a high capacity on-board eraser. If you’re not a pencil person, or just don’t care for wooden pencils, then save your $20. The cost is a little prohibitive, but the Palomino Blackwing 602 is a high quality pencil.

Thanks again to Brad for the sample!

Palomino Blackwing Wooden Pencil – 602 Model – Pack of 12 at JetPens

Say hello to my newest indispensable companion

Usually my spam folder is filled with oddly-capitalized tales of murder and intrigue, including sums of at least (US$7.5M) Seven Point Five Million U.S Dollars that need a Trust Worthy foreign individual such as myself to help escort out of any number of African countries for a percentage of said sum. But one rare day I spotted an email from Mr. Foreal Lee in reference to Daycraft Notebooks & Diaries. I carefully scooped this rare opportunity out of the spam folder, and am now three sample notebooks richer for having done so. The first notebook I want to review is the one I’ve put to the most use so far: the Daycraft 2012 Signature Diary.

It's true, they really do make your day

The cover is made of fine Italian polyurethane, which is an abbreviated way of saying “fantastically soft who-knows-what that I want to rub my face on even though people are giving me weird looks.” According to the papers I have here, this exact model seems to be the D631K 2012 A6 size Diary (Black Color) with 408 pages, 60gsm cream paper, 108mm x 149mm page-a-day model.

This is either a soft-cover notebook, or I possess superhuman strength. You decide.

Typically I am wary of soft cover notebooks, as I am dead certain that I will ruin them at the bottom of some bag, the covers will be all squished, and tragedy will ensue. But it has held up so far. We’ll see how it does over time as the year goes on.

There is a ribbon marker—not too short, not too long—but no elastic band and no back pocket typical of so many notebooks. Given how many empty pockets I have at the back of so many notebooks, I don’t much care about the pocket, but I do tend to like an elastic band. The notebooks I have without plastic bands have a tendency to sit around with one cover flopped up.

Like it's about to give a speech, or tell a joke or something

Content-wise, it’s jam packed. Well, not necessarily packed with jam, per se, more packed with information. I enjoy having daily planners with unobtrusive tomes of random knowledge, so this is perfect. My notebook has a list of international holidays for 2012, international guides for 28 different countries—tourist information, outgoing international code, what number to dial for emergency services, what type of currency is used & the denominations, what the value added tax is, what side of the road they drive on—etc., IDD codes, world time, size conversions, conversion tables, even nutrition and health:

Look at that. That is a little man climbing a food pyramid. And there's a list of the pros and cons of various nutrients. And the next page (not pictured) is a little lesson on how to understand food labels.

There’s also a table of food calories for common foods, how to calculate the calories you need, how to calculate BMI, gift ideas (traditional gifts for anniversaries, birthstones and flowers for each month, and the symbols and dates of each sign of the zodiac), special dates, year planner, and then, of course, the actual pages for each day.

Each month has a quote and an overview of the month before the daily pages start

I’ve used the month page to list out overall goals for each month, and highlight the days I’m scheduled to work.

Spoiler alert: one of the three days pictured here is my birthday

And then each day gets its own page, except for the weekend, which gets one page for both days. I’ve been using this diary especially for keeping up with my extensive list of goals and resolutions, so it’s nice to be able to plan out some goals for the next day on each page.

See those colors on the page? Each month has a different color. Don’t believe me?

That feeling you're feeling right now is the feeling of believing me

Now, very importantly, how does this paper hold up when it comes to the pen test? The thickness of each page is only slightly more than what’s typically reserved for facial tissues or voluminous holy books.

Maybe one day I'll order my writing tests according to color, so it looks more aesthetically pleasing and less like rainbow vomit

I was VERY surprised how well it handled a large number of pens, especially the broad nibbed fountain pens—there’s little to no fuzzing or feathering. Now, there’s bleedthrough like nobody’s business:

And yet now I'm making it everybody's business

But there are so many things I love about this notebook that I don’t mind sticking to gel pens and ballpoints. I’m currently way into using various Pilot FriXion models to plan things out, so I can erase if I need to without having to use a pencil. A notebook this colorful deserves exciting pens.

According to the Daycraft website, I can find no U.S. distributor for the Daycraft brand—but some of you international types may be in luck (here’s their list of distributors)—and there’s whole lists of shops for those fortunate enough to live in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand or Turkey. But I see from both Pens Paper Inks…Whatever! and Notebook Loves Pen that Daycraft products may perhaps be obtained through a U.S. distributor by the name of Mr. Andrew Oentojo at Star Imports: starimport[dot]andrew[at]gmail[dot]com …so I’d say give him a try! Mr. Foreal Lee says we’re back to not having a U.S. distributor! :( My fellow Americans, guess it’s back to holding our horses and bribing friends overseas to get notebooks for us.

But honestly, this seems like the kind of AMAZING PRODUCT the equally amazing JetPens should already be carrying. (hint hint please?)

At any rate, I hope that the convenience of obtaining such diaries and notebooks increases exponentially in the near future, and that you are able to get one for yourself. Thanks again to Mr. Foreal Lee for this sample!

Ok let's just watch this one more time. This is the first animated .gif I've made and it makes me happy

With Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel ink. Your job is now to imagine a creature that is one part cactus, and one part eel.

I found this pen in a dusty plastic bin, in a claustrophobic little stationery shop (probably on the Avenue of the Americas) that looked like it had given up on ever being clean or orderly sometime in the mid-nineties. Sorry, guy, but that’s what your store is like. Get it together.

The pen itself contained an emptied ink cartridge, and a nib absolutely lost in the mire of long-ago dried up ink, a thick crust I’d say probably dates to around the year 2000. But I was not deterred, and seven dollars and MUCH cleaning later, I present to you the Parker Reflex:

Rescued from life in a dusty plastic bin, this pen was found without any packaging to protect it

I didn’t even know what kind of pen it was beyond “Parker” and the fact that it was quite possibly made in the U.K. (both clues are printed on the cap) until I found this review by Jim Mamoulides.

Arrow fins, or alien eyes? You decide.

It’s a basic school pen, one of my favorite categories of fountain pen due to affordability and the fact that such pens are an attempt at renormalizing fountain pen use.  Love the plastic—it’s got that sparkle and marbling typically found only in the paint jobs of bumper cars at the county fair.

If you find the store I'm talking about and find this pen, check inside to make sure there's a cartridge. Pretty sure half of them didn't even have cartridges. SORRY GUY WHO OWNS THE STORE, JUST TELLIN' IT LIKE IT IS

The plastic is sturdy, and the cap stays on securely without being difficult to pull off. And check out that grip!

It's like a tire or a place mat, but for your fingers. On a pen.

How many other fountain pens do you know with a rubber grip? I haven’t been paying attention and am too tired to recall, but I’m going to wager not too dang many!

On to the main event

Writes wonderfully. I can easily imagine taking notes or writing up an essay with this pen. I think this might be a fine nib—can’t exactly be sure though; what I can see of the nib is completely unadorned.

Practical without being unappealing. Beauty through function and all that.

Technically, you can live without this pen. But it would be a shame not to pick one up, especially if you’ve got the opportunity. It’s a great, sturdy little workhorse pen that’s nicely made and well behaved.

Rescue your very own!

A very lazy search by yours truly seems to indicate Amazon as probably being the best place to pick one up online, but you can probably get a better deal if you dig one up in a store. Let me know if you know of any other good online retailers for the Parker Reflex and I’ll link them here!

All that glitters is not gold; all that is awesome in pendom need not cost arms and legs

It’s easy to gradually, incrementally get caught up in pen-envy until next thing you know, you’re dropping Grants and even Benjamins (or whatever colloquialisms are used for your currency) on fine writing utensils. Just wanted to pause and give a shout-out to the fact that there are still tons of fantastic products that don’t require budget-breaking behavior; all products pictured here cost me less than $5 per item (except the notebook they’re all resting on, which cost $5.99 plus tax).

Looks just like it was done with a normal pen

My fascination with peculiar instruments of Ergonomics continues unabated, the more visually alarming the better.

Alarming, confusing, baffling, what's the difference

I found this Yoropen during my never-ending quest to discover every pen hidden in my local pen shop, and I’ve not been disappointed with the find.

The body is all plastic (they make pricier metal models), and I LOVE the design. It’s weird. The colors are fantastic. I mean, just look at it.

This pen probably has more in common with some species of tropical, exotic bird than it does with other pens

The grip is very firm—more squishy than hard plastic, but not by much. It can be adjusted; there are three flat planes, with a kind of ridge between each one, and these can be adjusted somewhat so that the planes are angled more to your liking. The Yoropen website claims this feature is made to account for left- and right-handedness. Sure, why not.

Am I doing it right??

As to how the pen is meant to be held, if I understand the website diagrams correctly (I probably don’t), it seems like this pen is NOT designed for the “ideal” pliers grip…seems to me like it’s designed for a grip more like my own natural bizarro grip. I’m not complaining. But I’m not sure how normal grip people will take to this pen.

I'm also not sure if they considered what the cap would look like on the other end. Metaphors fail me. Other strange objects yet to come must be invented before any metaphors can be made

Yoropen also claims this design allows you to easily see what you’re writing. I can’t say that this was a problem I had that needed to be addressed, but sure, it is easy to see what I’m writing and what I’ve written when using the Yoropen.

I didn't think pens were capable of undulation; now I know better

It writes very nicely—smooth, fairly dark, no blobbing or skipping. It’s fun and it’s comfortable. I think I could write a while with this pen—it doesn’t take much pressure to write, it’s lightweight, moves easily, and is suited to my grip.

Yoropen writhing in the dulcet sea of a cheap turquoise scarf

My only complaint is that I wish the grip were a little softer. If this grip were made with Uni-ball’s alpha gel—man we would be in SERIOUS business. I’d be selling those pens like hotcakes on a street corner. … Does anyone besides McDonald’s even sell anything called ‘hotcakes’ anymore? I digress. Maybe ergonomic pens are gimmicky, but I really like the Yoropen.

It would not take a great stretch of the imagination to picture this pen crawling toward you like an inchworm

The bad news: I can’t find a good link online to buy this particular model of Yoropen. I’ve found a smattering of options among the very expensive and the very ugly (overbranded, all-pink barrels, anyone? Put your hand down), but no extant models being sold from this particular design line. The best I can tell you is to check the store locator on Yoropen’s website, and hope you might be able to find one in your local shop. Good luck!

Mad color editing skills right here

Let me elucidate briefly on a pet theory of mine: turquoise makes everything better.

Pictured: everything

Let’s not get caught up in niceties and preciseties—turquoise, sky blue, aquamarine, call it what you will—you know the color. And it makes everything wonderful. I will lay out the evidence.

Exhibit A: The A.G. Spalding & Bros. Mini Fountain Pen

I wasn’t that thrilled with this pen originally. Then I loaded it with a Rotring Turquoise cartridge. Like magic. MAGIC.

Exhibit B: The Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pen

Once again, was not into this pen in its original colors. Picked up the turquoise model—better by leaps, and perhaps even bounds.

Exhibit C: Moleskine Notebooks

A color that’s almost worth the excessive price.

Exhibit D: Blue-lead pencils (not actually drawn by a wizard)

Regular sketch: meh, whatever. Blue lead sketch? DRAWN BY A WIZARD.

And if the power of turquoise can do all that for a mediocre product, how much better it makes the already amazing, like the Lamy Safari, Pilot FriXion, Sharpie Pen, Pentel Slicci, Zebra Sarasa, and suchlike. The reasons for why turquoise is so marvelous remain unknown, but we know the result just the same: turquoise makes everything better.