Category Archives: Review

Review: Baron Fig LE Apprentice The Atomic Edition

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Baron Fig hasn’t put out an Apprentice in years. This is a great new edition that I love. My RSVP cohost, Lenore might hate the planetary atomic model but I love the look.

The pale baby blue textured cover feels great in my hand. The tactile feel of all the BF covers really draws me in, this is no exception. I find myself picking the notebook up without thinking about it. The spine is stitched, which I’ve blathered on about my favorite of all the pocket notebook bindings.  It’s sturdy and mine are all straight and well done.

Inside the covers live 48 pages of cream-colored dot grid paper. As usual, the grid is pale gray and fades behind any writing. The paper is great with pencil, ballpoint, gel, and rollerball, but I found that my fountain pens tended to have a great deal of show through and even a bit of bleed. It doesn’t feather so I use my EF and F nibbed pens on it and ignore the show through.

My big problem with the BF Apprentice isn’t the bleed or show through with fountain pens, it is the size. It is about ½ inch (1cm) too short and roughly ¼ inch (5mm) narrower than most other pocket notebooks. The size feels precious and small. The size feels great in hand but it doesn’t fit any over my covers and slides down deep into my Nock FodderstackXL. Of course, this means that if I want to slap this into a cover I’m stuck using the BF Guardian.  

Overall, this is a worthy addition to the scores of pocket notebooks on the market, but I think BF missed out by not making this the standard pocket notebooks size. The stitched binding could have made this a serious contender but instead, it falls a little short and narrow. Continue reading →

Review: Baron Fig Mysterium Squire

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I’ve previously reviewed the BF Squire pen, so it’ll be no surprise for me to say that I like this pen. Let me tell you more about the Mysterium. A friend of the blog, Harry Marks wrote a lovely short scifi story for the pen, you can head to the previous link to read it, everyone should, it’s lovely.

First off, it is a lovely shade of burnt orange. Orange may not be my favorite color but this shade is less brilliant and more toasty and warm than safety cone. It looks great with all of my stationery items. It goes well with the Stone.

Secondly, it’s got a d20 engraved in place of the Squire sword. Don’t know what a d20 is? It is a 20 sided die, and it is integral to playing certain roleplaying games. To get geeky on you, BF rolled a 20 on this pen.

Finally, it is filled with the Schmidt P8126 with black ink. Of the rollerball refills available, this is one of the best. It is smooth and free flowing and deep black. It works perfectly on all BF paper, plus anything else available.

The twisty mechanism is smooth and satisfying. The big problem that I have with the Squire is that if I toss it into a pocket the twist mechanism deployed in my pocket and the free flow of the refill destroys my pants. As a result, I have a Tofty clip on mine, it works but is ugly as hell. Continue reading →

Review: Jinhao 992 Fountain Pen

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I picked up 5 Jinhao 992 fountain pens for about $2 each on eBay. I purchased the clear model but they are also available in a variety of colors like grey, orange, and blue. Mine arrived with a converter and a fine nib. Each was sleeved in a clear plastic envelope. They were gathered in one big zipper bag and Shipped in a snug bubble mailer.

Mine has silver trim and clip. The clip works really well and can be clipped to a shirt if needed. The converter holds a tiny amount of ink but makes these great for sampling ink and testing out colors. For this purpose they are amazing. They write well and hold enough ink for a day. At $2 a pop, you can buy one for every color of ink available. The size is on the small side. They are perfectly sized for my small hands and feel balanced even when posted, which is something I don’t often feel.

I have only ever found them in a fine nib but I understand that you can find them with a medium as well. I purchased mine to fiddle around with nib grinding and smoothing. They don’t need much to write a wet buttery smooth line on even cheap paper. A swipe across the shine side of a nail stick is all it takes. I tried to grind mine down to a fine architect grind but I’m not even close. I think I need to start with a medium to make that happen. That said mine write well.

Another experiment that I wanted to try was turning them into an eye dropper. The body of the pen holds a whopping 3 ml of ink! Massive ink tank possibility here! Sadly only one of my 6 were sealed from the factory. To turn them into an eyedropper you’ll need to invest in some E6000 or other clear epoxy and practice dribbling it into the end of the pen. Mine all look like hell after I dribbled E6000 into the barrel. I now have 6 sealed pens I can eyedropper.

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Review: Baron Fig Squire Click

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Baron Fig announced the clicky version of the squire last week. When I received the reviewer announcement I was excited- a click mechanism is my preferred pen point deployment method. I immediately asked BF to YES PLEASE SEND ONE!

Mine is in the fig wine colorway. You can also get charcoal gray. The fig wine color is burgundy or maroon depending on your level of fancy. The anodized coating is really tough. I tested it by slipping it into my Nock Fodderstack XL pen pocket along with my MetalShop CT Twist Bullet Pencil. I carried it around like that for the week, sitting on the two as I was at work and around the house. Some aluminum transferred from the Twist bullet, but there were no scratches.

The most important difference between the Click and the standard Squire is that the Click is substantially smaller than the standard. It is narrower and lighter and weighted toward the click and slightly less balanced than the standard Squire. For smaller hands, the Click is a great pen. Inside it uses a standard Parker refill or the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000. If you are going to use a ballpoint refill this is a great refill. It’s smooth and dark. I do wish it used the regular Squire refill but if I’ve gotta use a ballpoint the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 is great.

My least favorite part of this pen is the nock. I prefer a nock with a satisfying and notable click, this nock doesn’t deliver that at all. If you like the Kara’s Kustom nock, it’s the same. It works really well and feels good, but doesn’t give me the sound I want in a nock. The Click would be made substantially better with the addition of a clip. The lack of clip means that I need to stash it into my Fodderstack XL or get one of the pen cases BF sells. (Or a Tofty printed clip.) If I don’t get one of these options and it is loose in my pocket the point is deployed and well, the ballpoint is less messy, but still marks up my pocket and wallet.

Overall, I like the Squire Click. Because it is smaller and lighter than the standard Squire I find that I can write with it for longer periods of time without hand fatigue. It did take a bit to become accustomed to the balance but now that I am, not an issue. The Click is a sturdy well made pen. It retails for $45.

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Review: Starrett 6’ Steel Measure Stix

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This post is written by Lenore from RSVP Stationery Podcast. This is a great post about a useful tool!

I actually ordered the regular (polyurethane) version of the Starrett Measure Stix, and what came in the package was this steel version. Until I was writing this review, I naturally assumed I had ordered the wrong item by accident, but looking back through my order history, it’s clear that the vendor sent me the wrong one (I actually can’t find a link on Amazon to what I received, but here are links to the 4’ and 12’ versions). My intent had been to throw a piece in the covers of my non-FN pocket notebooks, and the steel definitely wasn’t a great choice for that. At the price, though, it was definitely worth using rather than sending it back. The steel tape measures come in various combinations of length (at least 4’, 6’ and 12’ options), scale (English only or English + Metric), and direction (reading left to right or right to left), but not all combinations are available.

25 years ago, give or take, I had put some tape-measure tape on my cutting table for sewing projects, and it’s been peeling off. I was looking for a replacement for that, and when I saw that an option was available with both English and metric scales, I thought I’d expand it to use in my notebooks as well. So a word about that: if the scale is all you need, and you don’t necessarily need the markings to start at 0 at the edge of your surface, then the two-scale tape can be cut to any length, and into any number of pieces, and work fine (it just won’t start at 0). But since inches aren’t tidy multiples of centimeters, the scales only align at the beginning of the tape and every 50 inches (127 cm) thereafter. I’ve been looking for some adhesive tape marked just in cm but haven’t scored any yet.

I literally have no idea how one was supposed to get into this package gracefully. I had to go full hulk on it.

The steel tape is a little springy and pops into looser coils as soon as it’s taken out of the package. The print is sharp and clear. You can see that there’s a short (a centimeter or so) leader at each end, unmarked; I cut off the left end because I wanted to put the 0 mark right at the edge of my table. The package says to cut it with scissors, but I don’t have any scissors I was willing to abuse this way, so I used tin snips. (As you’ll see a little later, they didn’t make quite as tidy a cut as I would have liked, but this is a utilitarian, rather than a decorative, addition.)

It’s a 3M adhesive. The backer paper was easy to get a corner free to peel, and the adhesive was fresh and sticky. (VERY sticky. This is an aggressive adhesive.)

If I were putting this on a project table, I would certainly put it on the top of the working surface. This table, though, is in my office at school; I mostly use it for meeting with students during office hours and as a work table for shuffling papers and grading, so I didn’t want to give up the smooth top for a ruler I wouldn’t use often. The steel is thin; it’s thick enough that you could use it as an edge to bump a piece of paper or card stock against it, or thicker material (like carboard, mdf, wood, etc) if it had a very defined corner, but fabric, or any hard material with a blunt corner, would slide up right over the tape. (You can also see the yellow handles of my tin snips lying on the table in this picture.)

The application was easy. This is NOT intended to be repositionable, but I did have a couple false moves where I stuck a small area to the table and was able to pull it off again and get it straight. I peeled the backing off a few inches at a time as I worked across from the zero end, lining it up with the edge of the veneer as I went.

My table is only 5 feet long, so I cut the tape at the corner and then went ahead and wrapped it around onto the end. I didn’t try to make a sharp bend; it’s possible it could be done, with care or with the proper tools. This is where you can see that the tin snips made a little bit of a messy scratch on the surface.

 

It also turned out that because I was placing this so close to the top of the table, the sharp corner of the cut end was a little too noticeable and was catching on my clothes or my students’ sleeves if they brushed against it, so I trimmed it down a little, and then just threw a piece of scotch tape on it for now to protect myself. (Unfortunately, this corner of the table is the most prominent and the most likely to be bumped or brushed against.) This will also protect the surface of the ruler from wear. I may come up with a cleaner, more permanent solution later.

While this is labeled as a 6’ tape, it actually goes a little beyond 2 meters, as you can see here. The total marked length on the English scale is 81 inches, and there’s some space on both ends, so it’s almost 7’ long and will have to be trimmed in any application to a surface shorter than that, which means the sharp corners at the cuts will have to be dealt with.

Overall, this product was surprisingly inexpensive for what it is. It’s well-made and easy to apply, and it looks good. I’m going to follow up with the vendor and see if I can get the regular polyurethane version.

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Review: Show Tell Baron Fig X Dribble LE Confidant

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The Show and Tell (ST) is the latest limited edition Confidant from Baron Fig. It has all of the usual Baron fig goodness- sturdy stitched binding, nice tactile covers, a debossed logo on the front, and best of all it’s filled with that lovely Baron Fig paper. I love that warm cream colored paper with all my pens, inks and pencils. The ruling of this paper is different- the top half is blank and the bottom half is lined. The ruling is in a pale grey shade the perfectly accents the warm dusty purple of the cover. I quite like the combination. The ruling is pale enough that it retreats to the background of any writing- be it pale shades of blue, black or the silvery shades of graphite. The coloring of BF’s ruling always makes me happy. The half blank and lined pages are great for life and nature drawing. In my undergrad many many years ago, I had a class that required the use of a similar setup sketchbook. They were radically overpriced for a slim sketchbook with okay paper. The BFXDribble is around the same price as that sketchbook but with more pages and better paper. I can see myself working on some art journaling in this sketchbook. This would be a great journal for Speed Journaling or add a mandala or color swatches of the day. I see this as a great gift for the artist in your life.A great change which I feel is notable is that the page marker, which perfectly matches the cover, is long enough that I can grip it, and use it to open the journal. This is a vast improvement in the Confidant. I hope that BF makes this change in all of their upcoming Confidants. Continue reading →

Review: Brandless Gel Pen 0.7mm Black

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The Brandless brand is a simple set up- think Muji but American and with a focus on groceries. As a small upstart brand, they are interesting. Their schtick is that everything on their site is $3, and you qualify for free shipping at $30, or 10 items. They have frequent free shipping offers, so you can often get your goods at $3. The look of Brandless is minimalistic and simple. Labels are barebones and, I find them aesthetically pleasing. The pens are available in a 4-pack for $3. The package is a clear hard plastic box. The backside sports a white label with product info. Simple. The pens are semi-opaque white frosted plastic. The plastic is matte with a glossy white “Brandless” label printed in the middle of the pen. Simple. The cap is short and reminds me of many other inexpensive gel pens, specifically Poppin, but without the bright colors and carefully designed clip. The clip on the Brandless pen does its job, holding the pen to a notebook or the placket of a shirt. The cap is short. It offers a soft click as the pen is capped or posted. The pen posts easily and the cap stays in place.

The cap does not stay put if you clip the pen to your lapel or put it in your pocket. the cap will fall off. The good thing is that the gel ink doesn’t seem to bleed too badly into the fabric of your pockets but it is a danger. Don’t pocket carry if you like your pants.
The refill is held in place with a rear cap that screws into place. When my pens arrived this rear cap was loose on two of the four pens. It was easily screwed down with my fingers. Once tight the refill doesn’t move or wiggle. It is quite an efficient method of holding the refill in place. I found that several of the refills weren’t as full as others. In use I find the pens quite comfortable, they have a slightly thicker body than other gel pens. They fit my hand well. If you grip your pens close to the tip you might find that the drop between the tip and body is uncomfortable. The ink flows smoothly and darkly without soaking through most of the pocket notebooks I use, or the crappy paper at my DayJob. They respond quite well to crappy DayJob paper but also in my Baron Fig confidant I use as my book journal.

Overall I quite like these pens. If you need something to get you up to $30 for your free shipping, this is a good opportunity to get some decent black ink pens for cheap.(These are also available in blue ink. Though I have not tested them.) Continue reading →

Review: Baron Fig Lock and Key LE Confidant and Squire

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Let’s start this review off with a statement about the internals of the Confidant and the Squire- they are exactly the same as any standard edition. The Lock comes filled with BF’s dreamy creamy paper with enough tooth for all your penciling needs and enough coating to pair with almost any fountain pen. This paper is where it is at for both graphite and ink. The pale gray dot grid is a tad narrow but disappears into the background of your writing. Perfection. The Key is loaded with a Schmidt P8126 refill and the standard spring loaded twist mechanism, that works smoothly.

The Key (Squire) is machined out of solid brass and is uncoated which lends itself to forced patina as well as natural patina via use. The weight is more than double a standard Squire despite the extra weight the pen is still ridiculously comfortable to use. Because of the balance of the pen being toward the front end, I don’t find that it tires my hand at all in use. I’ve spent several days working on characters and an outline with the pen and filled many composition book pages with it. The pen is perfectly comfortable.

The Lock (Confidant) is covered in dark forest green fabric that reminds me of Maine Balsam Fir trees at dusk. The debossed maze on the front and back cover lends a layer of structured tactility that begs for the cover to be stroked. The end sheets are printed in gold foil that matches the bright brass of the Key. The subtle linen texture of the end sheets paired with the smooth foil is a lovely touch. Again, it’s tactile and I find myself absentmindedly stroking the pages. The ribbon bookmark is golden in color and typically about an inch too short for my taste.

The pairing of the Lock and Key in terms of look and color is perfect. The gold of the brass on the dusky forest green is a perfect combination. The brass shines against the deep green color and looks great. The combined tactile nature of the Lock and Key is fantastic. I want to pet my journal and fiddle with the pen. The weight of the pen is great and the whole package feels good in the hand. Continue reading →

Review: Doms X1 Pencil

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The first review I saw for the Doms X1 pencil was on Leadfast after which, Michael was kind enough to send me one in a trade package. I’ve been hooked from the moment I saw the Leadfast review- royal blue and silver paint with slick silver foil imprint? Yes, please. The X1 reminds me of a higher end Staedtler Rally- the paint is thick and glossy and on my package of 10, evenly applied. The blue is bright and on every other hex with silver paint between. The imprint is silver foil and white and applied on the blue sides. It’s clearly a pencil made for school kids as there is a spot to write your name. Fancy. The UPC is in the center but closer to the business end and printed in white. My package arrived with 10 pencils, a matching translucent blue sharpener, and point protector. The wood appears to be popular or bass. It is definitely not cedar. It’s straight grained and sharpens with ease. Inside the thick lacquer and wood is a thick core. Most of my 10-pack was well centered, though a few were off but not by enough to cause issues with sharpening. The core itself is described as black and it is, it lays down a dark line. It’s smooth and lacks even occasional bits of grit. The core is softer than most HB pencils and I’d describe it as close to a B than HB or 2B. It sits right in a happy spot for point retention and darkness. It is also quite suitable for sketching. The lead is capable of quite a range of tone and value- from a nice light grey to a deep dark. Because it is smooth the graphite lays down effortlessly. I have quite enjoyed it for sketching a few portraits here and there. Overall the X1 is a jaunty little pencil that can be used for many uses. Its blue and silver stripes are cheerful. The thickly applied lacquer makes the pencils appear more expensive than they are and the end dip is precisely done. The thick core sharpens well in a Pollux, Masterpiece or Classroom Friendly. You can sketch or write with its smooth dark graphite. These are well worth the wait when you order them from India.
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Review: Dee Charles Designs Pocket Notebook Cover

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I have the Rawhide Brown cover but these are also available in Black, Rawhide, and Gold with a variety of colored stitching- black, brown, gold, red and blue. The presentation is in a black box with Dee Charles Designs and logo printed on the top in silver ink. The cover barely fits inside and if I were giving this as a gift I’d probably put a round silver gift elastic around the top or round seals on 2 sides. Perhaps a paper belly band would work well too. Opening the box filled my office with the smell of quality leather. If you like leather, the smell was nice but not overwhelming.The rawhide color is a distressed brown color that is dark with spots and lighter in others. The front cover sports a small Dee Charles Designs logo in the lower right corner. In use scuffs and scratches make this leather look even better. If you don’t like a scuff or scratch then you can buff them out with a soft cloth. It gets some personality pretty quickly. The cover holds 2 notebooks at a time. Sliding a pocket notebook into the pockets was really snug the first few times, and easier over time. Thus far the pockets have only loosened up enough to allow the notebooks to slide in and out more easily. I do not see them getting too loose to hold a notebook snugly. I found that for the first few books notebooks with thinner covers had a tough time being slipped in so I stuck with No Brand Notebooks and Story Supply Co. The rough interior leather burnishes smooth with time and use, but its roughness helps to hold the notebooks inside the cover. The cover is perfectly sized to hold the 2 notebooks there is no excess and no bulge or pressure on the spines.The outer leather is thick and quite stiff, perfect for writing in hand without the need for folding your notebook over onto itself. It took awhile for the leather to break in and be a little more flexible around the spine but it didn’t take too long with constant daily use. One thing that I did find to be a nitpicky thing is that the interior pockets that hold your notebook in place are the same thickness as the exterior leather. A thinner stiff leather would work better. The pockets are also only half the width of the cover so that bulge runs directly down the middle of the page as you write. It is really only a problem when you get to the last few pages of a notebook, but it is a minor nuisance.

Overall if you are in the market for a really nice leather cover this is a pretty good choice. Thanks to the packaging it also makes a nice gift, for someone else or yourself. It retails for $59 but if you sign up for Pen Chalet’s mailing list you get a coupon you can use on your first order. Continue reading →