Collections Pen and Paper

Title Pen-ding

October 12, 2014 - 4:49 pm

Part 3 of the pens, pencils, and notebooks collection.

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Pens and pencils, from left to right:

Rotring 800+ Mechanical Pencil + Stylus Hybrid 0.5mm - Like the 600, but with a tip that doubles as a tablet stylus.
Tombow Mono Zero Eraser 2.5mm x 5mm - Skinny when it needs to be, but can cover more area with the wider side.
Uni Jetstream Alpha Gel Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm - The best ballpoint with an alpha gel grip, what more could you ask for?
Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen 0.4mm - Great writing gel pen!
Pentel Graph Gear 1000 Drafting Pencil 0.4mm - Love the 0.4mm lead option, and the retractable tip is great.
Pilot FriXion Ball Slim Gel Ink Pen 0.38mm (Red) - Beth brought these back from Japan during her semester at sea trip. It's a pen that you can erase!
Pilot FriXion Ball Slim Gel Ink Pen 0.38mm (Black)
Zebra Expandz Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm (White) - Love this guy, usually what I carry on me; nice and compact.
Zebra Expandz Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm (Red)
Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm (Gray) - A little smaller than the Expandz, can take a Fisher universal refill.
Fisher Space Pen Bullet Ballpoint Pen - A classic.

 

Notebooks, from top to bottom, left to right:

Midori MD Notebook - A very nice notebook, another thing Beth brought back from Japan.
Field Notes (Night Sky Edition)
Field Notes (Red Blooded Edition)
Field Notes (Northerly Edition)
Field Notes (The Traveling Salesman Edition)
Field Notes (Expedition Edition)
Moleskine Volant Pocket Ruled (Payne's Gray)
Moleskine Volant Pocket Ruled (Slate Gray)
Moleskine Volant Extra Small Ruled (White)
On the top right is a Saki P-666 pen roll
and on the bottom right is a Boogie Board - a cool digital tablet that you can use a stylus to write on and push a button to erase.

 

All of the Field Notes varieties:

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Some notebook/pen combinations:

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Check out part 1 and part 2.


Collections Pen and Paper

Penterest

July 1, 2012 - 7:10 pm

Yes, that's right, another pen blog post. I may have a problem. Anyways, I have some new additions to the family and I didn't want them to feel left out, so here they are!

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Pens and pencils from left to right:

Pilot G2 Limited w/ Mont Blanc Refill - Probably my favorite pen at the moment. The metal body with the rubber grip is nice, and the Mont Blanc refill is as good as it gets.
Retro 51 Tornado - Another one given to me by my Uncle Paul, this is a great pen.
Pilot Multiball - A great-writing pen. It claims to write on any surface as well, including things like glass. But will it write on those glossy, ink-smearing, christmas gift tags? Time will tell.
Stabilo Bionic Worker - Cool-looking pen, and the all-rubberized body is nice, but the tip is way thick for a 0.5mm and the ink is very prone to smearing.
Zebra Regal NR5 - Very similar to the Pilot Precise V5.
Rotring Tikky Rollerpoint - Had high hopes for this one, but like the Stabilo, the tip is very thick for an "extra fine."
Morning Glory Mach II - Yet another one very similar to the V5.
Uni Mitsubishi Pin - Love this one. It is a felt tip like the Microns and Sharpie pens, and the 0.1mm tip is super fine.
PU Rollerball - Don't know a whole lot about this one, another given to me by my Uncle. Solid rollerball.
Uni-ball Power Tank - An air-pressurized ball point similar to the Fisher space pens. Writes upside down, which comes in handy whenever I'm hanging upside down.
Zebra Surari - A pretty good ballpoint which could maybe even rival the Jetstream.
Quasar Pen - This one, which I just rediscovered recently, was given to me by my grandma when I was a kid. Click the top and you're treated to a light show of a rainbow of pulsing colors!
Laser Pointer Pen - Another one from Uncle Paul. It has a laser on one end and the other end can be pulled out into an antenna-style pointer, perfect for those impromptu orchestra conducting sessions.
Zebra F-701 w/ Fisher Refill - Solid all aluminum ballpoint, and the Fisher refill makes it even better.
Boardwalk Pen - My dad bought this at the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition (that's a mouthful), which he annually competes in. A guy made this out of the scrap wood from the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland.
Zebra Tect 2Way Drafting Pencil - A shaker pencil and a clicker pencil all in one!
Skilcraft Drafting Pencil - Another old rediscovered item.
Rotring 600 Drafting Pencil - One of the best there is. By far, my favorite pencil.
2 Uni-Ball E-Knock Erasers - Use these all the time in school, these are the best. I prefer them over the Staedtler Mars Plastic sticks, as they are a little softer and much easier to deploy.
and last but not least and not pictured, is the Zebra Expandz Ballpoint Pen. This is the one that I carry around on me every day. I love this little guy.

 

Notebooks from left to right:

Moleskine Passions Music Journal - This isn't as good as I'd hoped it'd be, but it's still pretty cool. Has all different sections for the musical adventures in your life.
Behance Dot Grid Journal - I've mentioned this one here.
Moleskine Lego Limited Edition Notebook - So awesome.
Rhodia Stable Bound Classic Notebook - A lot like field notes but just a little smaller and lot oranger.
Rhodia Reinforced Stable Bound Notepad - Nice little notepad.

 

Check out the rest of the collection.


Collections Pen and Paper

Field Notes and Action Cahiers

February 15, 2012 - 3:24 pm

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I just got my first set of Field Notes and a pack of Action Cahier notebooks. The Field Notes are the "Notherly" edition, the 13th of the colors editions, which are quickly selling out in most places. These notebooks are made in the U.S.A. and have bright white covers with an embossed shiny silver logo and are beautiful in person. Its 48 pages are ruled with white graph lines over very light blue-gray paper. I love the use of the Futura typeface, and it reminds me of the notebook used in L.A. Noire. The inside of the back cover has the company's story, the specifications of the notebook, some humorous "practical applications," and even a nifty 5-inch ruler along the edge. Consider me a fan, and I'll be watching for the new colors editions as they come out!

The Action Cahiers by Behance are the same size as the Field Notes, besides having slightly less round corners and being a little thicker due to having 64 pages vs. 48. The saddle is stitched rather than stapled like the Field Notes. The Action Cahier front cover also has an embossed logo, with "Action Cahier" set in the Helvetica typeface. The covers have a slight texture to them unlike the smooth white covers on the Field Notes. Some unique things about the Action Cahiers are the check list pages with the dot matrix on the reverse sides. I also have a Dot Gird Journal, also by Behance, and I love the dot grid pages. The check lists are nice, and are perfect for making a simple to-do list or keeping track of project tasks. I've found myself drawing in my own in the Field Notes, so having them already there and neatly laid out is convenient. The notebook is filled with perforated "New Leaf Paper," which is made out of 100% post-consumer waste fiber. Compared to the Field Notes' finch paper, it is slightly textured and a little thicker. The notebook also has pocket inside the back cover which is nice.

Both of these notebooks are great, and are the perfect size for sticking in your coat or back pocket to have handy to write down your to-do list or sketch some notes. The Action Cahiers are a little more aimed at projects and to-do lists. Both are solid notebooks and either would be great for your daily note-taking needs.


Collections Pen and Paper

A Plethora of Pen(cil)s

March 23, 2011 - 12:27 am

I have always taken a liking towards pens and pencils. Lately I have accumulated somewhat of a collection and thought I'd share, along with some of my thoughts on a few of them. These aren't in depth reviews, but you can find plenty of good ones online; check out officesupplygeek.com, penaddict.com, or davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com. If you fancy a good writing utensil, you should also check out jetpens.com. They have all sorts of great pens and pencils, lots of which are imported from Japan (where the good stuff is). All of these pens and pencils you should be able to find on either jetpens.com, amazon, walmart, or your local office supply store. Enjoy!

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Pencils from left to right:

Staedtler 925-25 0.5mm - All aluminum body, feels great, writes super smooth.
Rotring 500 0.5mm
Uni Shift 0.5mm - Has a guide pipe that retracts into itself so it and the lead won't get damaged during transportation or if dropped. Super cool.
Alivin Draft/Matic 0.5mm
Uni Kuru Toga 0.5mm - Features a unique auto-lead-rotating mechanism that keeps the lead constantly sharp, and it works great.
Uni Kuru Toga High Roulette 0.5mm - Same as above, but has an aluminum lower body and knurled grip. Feels a lot more solid and the grip is nice.
Pentel P205 0.5mm
Pentel PG2-AD 0.2mm - Features the thinnest pencil lead made, only slightly thicker than human hair.
Zebra Drafix 0.3mm
Staedtler Mars Technico 780 C Lead Holder 2.0mm - Has a lead sharpener built into the cap, which is awesome.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil - As much as I love sharpie products, this is absolutely dreadful and should be avoided at all costs.
Tombow Mono Zero Eraser 2.3mm - The world's thinnest eraser. Have you ever tried to erase something and accidentally erased more than you intended to, making you re-write/draw certain lines? This eraser will let you get into even the tinniest of spaces.
Staedtler Mars Plastic Stick Eraser - Great eraser, super handy, I use it all the time.

 

Pens from left to right:

Uni-ball Signo Premier 207 Retractable Gel Ink Pen 0.7mm - Has a metal body and a super comfortable squishy "Alpha Gel" grip. Apparently it's so soft that it can keep an egg from breaking when dropped from 5 feet.
Pentel EngerGel Alloy Retractable Gel Ink Pen 0.7mm - This pen has an all metal body and super black ink, the blackest of all the pens I own, which looks really nice.
Uni-ball Signo Micro 207 Needle-Point Retractable Gel Ink Pen 0.5mm - Probably my favorite gel ink pen.
Pilot G-2 Gel Ink Pen 0.5mm
Zebra Sarasa Gel Ink Pen 0.3mm - Writes super thin, seems thinner than most 0.3mm.
Pentel EnerGel Gel Ink Pen 0.35mm - Just like the one above but in a super thin tip. Same super black ink.
Pilot Envelope Address Writing Gel Ink Pen Extra Fine - A cool pen from Japan that was designed for addressing envelopes. Oil based ink so it dries fast and won't smear. Ink is very black and shiny.
Uni-ball Vision Elite Liquid Ink Pen 0.5mm
Pilot Precise V5 Liquid Ink Pen 0.5mm
Pilot Precise Grip Liquid Ink Pen 0.5mm - Probably my favorite liquid ink pen. Just like the V5 but with a comfortable rubber grip.
Zebra Zeb-Roller 2000 Liquid Ink Pen 0.5mm
Sharpie Pen Grip - Possibly still my favorite of them all. I have fallen in love with it ever since it came out. Writes more like a thin marker than a pen, but won't bleed through paper.
Sharpie Pen Retractable - I have found that the tips on the retractable versions of the Sharpie Pen don't last as long. The grip is also too thick and bulky.
Sharpie Pen - Just like the beloved grip version, minus the grip. The regular version has a sharp edge near where it's held, which can be uncomfortable at times.
Zebra Brush Pen Fine
Sakura Pigma Micron 03 0.35mm - Writes a lot like the sharpie pen, and all sorts of widths are available, but the skinny barrel and lack of a grip makes it less comfortable to write with.
Pilot Penmanship Fountain Pen Extra Fine
Uni-Ball Jetstream Retractable Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm - Best writing ball point pen period. Doesn't even feel like a ballpoint pen. Smoother than a Barry White serenade.
Pilot Acroball Retractable Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm - Similar to the Jetstream, but just not up to par.
Pilot Dr. Grip Retractable Ballpoint Pen 1.0mm
Pilot Better Retractable Ballpoint Pen 0.5mm - My dad used these all the time when I was a little kid and they still look the exact same to this day.
Pentel R.S.V.P. Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm
Foray Tungsten Carbide Retractable Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm - Given to me by a fellow pen addict, my uncle.
Zebra F-301 Retractable Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm
Zebra F-301 Compact Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm
Zebra Telescopic Ballpoint Pen 1.0mm