Review: USUS Pi ballpoint

A while ago, my good friends over at Cult Pens were kind enough to send me a USUS Pi ballpoint to review. The Pi is available on their site here.

Out of the box it certainly is a stylish looking pen, and I really like the bronze-brown barrel colour (tagged as 'Brasil' on the box).

The Pi is a comfortable hand fit and the supplied refill writes well enough for a ballpoint. I have noticed a little skipping here and there, but not enough to put me off using it.

Stylistically, I am impressed with this pen's clean lines, the chromed clip and I really do rather like the toggle switch arrangement for extending the tip. Occasionally I find the switch does retract the tip if I'm being a bit heavy-handed when dotting my i's, other than that it's a great pen.

At a Glance:

Model: Pi by USUS of Germany
Colour: Brasil (brown), Pacific (blue), Polar (grey)
Refill: standard Parker-style ballpoint refill, black supplied.
Available from: CultPens in the UK
Price: £33.62 CultPens price
Overall: 4 out of 5

The paper used for this review is a Whitelines sample. Whitelines notebooks are available in the UK from Papernation.

Review: USUS Pi ballpoint

Review: Moletape

A little while ago, after asking for reviewers, the folks at Molecover kindly sent me a sample of their Moletape strengthening tape for review. To be fair, I'm not a huge Moleskine user, though I did have a couple of notebooks lying around, neither with any damage to the spines, but I decided to fit one of them with the Moletape anyway.

Molecover also sells Moleskine notebooks and the Molecover, a protective leather cover for your Moleskine notebook. Currently available in black, white or tan leather, their website states they will include a strip of Moletape with every Molecover order.

Here's the Moletape as I received it, next to the pocket Moleskine it'll be going on:

My Moletape sample arrived on a Molecover-branded backing sheet and was already pre-sized for a small Moleskine. There was what turned out to be a little ink transfer from the Molecover branding on the backing sheet to the note it came wrapped in, but no dye transfer from the Moletape itself. So far so good.

Initial impressions were good, the Moletape is a strong, matte-finished adhesive cloth tape in rich black, one improvement I could suggest would be to pre-score the backing sheet along where the tape will attach to the spine of the Moleskine so this part of the backing may be removed separately, making it easier to line the Moletape up straight while applying it to the notebook's spine. I do however, like the pre-cut tabs to fit over the ends of the notebook's spine.

Now for the fitting. Here goes...

Separating the Moletape from its backing sheet proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated, and the amount of force required did deform the shape of my sample a little. Any more force and I was afraid the tape would tear where the spine end cutouts join the main piece of tape.

Applying the Moletape to the spine of my Moleskine was relatively simple, requiring only a little trial and error to line the two up by eye, then take the plunge and apply Moleskine to tape; this seemed the easiest way to do it - applying the spine of the notebook to the tape whilst the tape was lying flat on a firm surface.

Then it was simply a matter of smoothing the Moletape over the front and back of the notebook, and here's where I hit my first snag - whilst applying Moletape to the spine of the notebook was simple enough, ensuring a neat straight line down the cover of my Moleskine proved almost impossible; maybe I'm being a bit picky here, but the end result was, despite quite a bit of tweaking, not as sleek as I had hoped.

The extra length of the Moletape was great for folding over the edges of the cover, until that is, I began to tackle to rear cover where the pocket is. I found the only way to fit the Moletape was to trim the fold over flaps so they didn't obsure the pocket opening - trouble was, to do this successfully I had to leave them so short as to only just fold around the rear cover of the Moleskine.

Fitting the tabs down the inside of the Moleskine spine was easy, I opened the Moleskine so the covers were touching which bowed the spine enough to poke the tab down the opening with the help of the blunt end of a pair of tweezers.

So, there was have it, a Moletaped Moleskine.

So, what did I think?

Overall, I think Moletape is a great product, though fitting it is not as simple as I expected it would be, and whilst at least some of the end result is down to operator error, Moletape's adhesive backing makes it very difficult to separate the tape from its backing without deforming the overall shape. Had I possessed the skill to apply it to my notebook and retain a sharp edge to the front cover I would probably have been happier with the end result.

That said, I have no doubt that Moletape provides a wonderfully strong extra layer of protection for the spines of Moleskine notebooks, and I really like the look of the new colours choices in the Moletape range. I would be inclined to give them ago so I could colour-code my notebooks at the same time as protecting their spines.

At a Glance:

Model: Black Moletape (Pocket sized Moleskine size)
Colour: Black. Also available in Russet, Yellow, Pink, Sky Blue, Violet, Olive, Red, Orange, Grey and Brown.
Available from: Molecover in the USA
Price: $20 for 5 strips (Small or Large size)
Overall: 4 out of 5

Review: Moletape

Review: Noodler's Eel Lubricating Ink

I was struggling with a very dry-writing Parker 61, admittedly with an EF nib, when the chance of a trade with my good friend Jackie (@Jafferty on Twitter) from the blog Letters & Journals came up. Jackie's blog has some great posts about letter-writing, journaling, pens and stationery, as well as detailing progress of the magazine she is setting up, due for launch at the end of 2010, or the beginning of 2011. If you can help with Jackie's magazine surveys, please head on over here, it will only take you a few minutes.

Jackie asked if there was anything she could send me as the US part of the deal and I plumped for some Noodler's eel lubricating ink in the hope that might cure the 61, it was either that or the Parker would have to go off somewhere for a bit of a professional 'talking to.' Also, as far as I know, Noodler's eel inks are not available in the UK yet; at least nobody I asked stocks it.

Emails and packages duly exchanged, I am now the proud owner of not one, but two bottles of Noodler's eel ink in Cactus Fruit (pink/purple) and Gruene Cactus (green); Jackie, I thank you for your generosity, and for this awesome postcard which preceded your package.

Lily pads, Moose Lake State Park, Minnesota

The plan was to wait till I had plenty of time and to approach the whole rinsing, filling and testing procedure with some form of calm and precision - like that was going to happen! Having had mediocre to poor results teaming my Parker 61 with Private Reserve Sonic Blue, Parker Quink Black and J Herbin Eclat de Saphir, the latter of which was a surprise as I have found J Herbin inks to be quite free-flowing normally, I couldn't wait to try the Noodler's eel and so rushed off to change the ink almost as soon as I had Jackie's package open.


I decided to try the Cactus Fruit first, and can honestly say this stuff is nothing short of amazing! My Parker 61 is like a different pen, starting first time without protest and laying down smooth, wet, extra fine lines as I had always imagined it should.

Cactus Fruit is an interesting colour which I'll do my best to describe - it's kind of a deep cerise pink with a hint of purple, though under some lighting conditions there appears to be a slight blue cast to it, meaning that I would have to classify it as a 'cool' colour. Either way, it's certainly eye-catching and is a pleasure to write with. Gruene Cactus is more of a bright, mid green and I plan to try that one out when the current fill of Cactus Fruit runs out.


From what I've read, Noodler's eel lubricating inks were developed to counter the effects of detergents in some modern inks which can, over time, leach away the lubricants from fountain pen pistons and seals, leading to stiff filling mechanisms. A side-effect of the formulation is the super-smooth writing effect and improved ink flow I am now experiencing in my Parker.

At a Glance

Model: Noodler's Eel Lubricating Ink
Colours: Cactus Fruit, Gruene Cactus, Polar Black, Blue, Turquoise and Rattler Red.
Available from: Noodler's and Noodler's dealers
Price: msrp $12.50
Overall: 5 out of 5

Review: Noodler's Eel Lubricating Ink

Review: Linex 404 Safety Compass

And now, with apologies to Monty Python, for something completely different...

It usually takes quite a bit to get me enthusiastic about what I would term 'school supplies,' you know the kind of thing - maths sets, protractors, that sort of stuff, but Linex has managed it with this little gem.

Whilst out shopping for back-to-school supplies for my darling daughter the other day at Staples, I happened upon this Linex 404 Safety Compass:


It was one of those, "got to have that!" moments, just look at it! A compass that looks like a pen, great! So, what do I like about it? Where do I start...

For one thing there's the fact that is does look just like a pen, and so shouldn't take up much room in my, err...my darling daughter's pencil case. Then there's the cap, which protects the compass point and lead and should stop the sharp bits sticking in me, err...my darling daughter when it's in her school bag.

The compass is of all-metal construction, apart from the end caps, which are a matching shade of hard plastic, and I do mean matching. Both the top cap and lower sections of the compass arms feature green rubberised grip sections, making the 404 very comfortable in the hand. The metal barrel is pleasantly heavy in the hand, not too heavy, just enough so it feels like the quality product it is.

The top cap is threaded, and unscrewing it gives access to a lead compartment containing three replacement 2.0mm leads. These are not just thrown in mind you, oh no! Linex has thought about this and the lead holder is shaped into a sort of clover leaf design so as to hold each of the three spare leads securely so it doesn't rattle around; I only wish the replacement leads came pre-sharpened (and yes, I'm being picky!)


Dimensions are as follows:

Length: 160mm
Weight: 43.9g
Maximum radius: 155mm

Moving right along, there is a green rubberised disc at the top end of the 404 which is removable to reveal a tightening screw in case the compass becomes a bit loose through use; I have the feeling a lot of design time went into the 404 and nothing on this compass looks like it was included for purely aesthetic reasons - everything has a function, but it does look good too!


Next we move down to the business end, which as I've already mentioned is covered with a removable plastic cap, which even has a pocket clip. The clip is strong enough to hold the 404 securely in your pocket - I know, I've tried it! The end cap reminds me of the one on my old Rotring Skynn fountain pen, and if there had been a matching green insert in the rectangular depression on its very end I would consider the design on the 404 to be flawless; as there isn't, it's 9.9 out of 10, must try just a shade harder for Linex!

The compass end of the 404 features a fixed point and adjustable lead holder, the wheel of which fits into a cunningly designed recess when the compass is closed.


When the compass is open, also visible is the locating hole for the adjustment wheel's spindle, to allow the compass to keep its pen-like profile when closed; it's just another of the small design touches that make this such an excellent product.


In conclusion, the Linex 404 Safety Compass has got to be the most innovative take on a classic design that this pen-thusiast has seen in a very, very long time. Outstanding design, coupled with magnificent build-quality make the 404 by far the best compass I, err...my darling daughter has ever had the pleasure of using.

At a Glance:

Model: Linex 404 Safety Compass
Available from: Staples in the UK; Linex stockists abroad.
Price: £4.99 at Staples
Lead size: 2.0mm
Overall: 5 out of 5

Oh alright, I'll go and buy my darling daughter one too!

Review: Linex 404 Safety Compass

Review: Pentel Energel 0.7mm Needle Tip

As I wrote in this recent post, I won this pen a few weeks ago in the giveaway over at Pens And Pencils, so I think it's about time I put it through its paces.

The Pentel Energel is a liquid gel ink pen featuring Pentel's low-viscosity gel ink, and whilst much of the Energel line is available in the UK from Cult Pens, this is the first needle-tipped version I've seen.


I must say it's a very smooth writer, performing more like a liquid ink rollerball than a gel pen, and the low-viscosity ink is certainly very smooth compared to comparable gel writers. The ink dries in seconds, so in that respect it's more like a gel pen.

Either way, this Energel is a pleasure to write with, gliding effortlessly across the pages of my Asda Exec Notebook and producing a wonderfully opaque black line consistent with other 0.7mm pens I have used. I also noted the complete lack of feathering or bleeding on the test paper which is encouraging.


The Energel features a strong metal pocket clip which, whilst it is not of the expandable binder clip design, will I am sure secure the pen easily in the pocket. There is also a rubberised grip section, the pattern of which is reminiscent of a fingerprint. It feels remarkably cushioned in this pen-thusiast's hand and doesn't appear to be a lint-catcher; another good feature.

Dimensions are as follows:

Length (retracted): 142mm
Length: 151mm
Barrel Diameter: 10mm
Weight: 12.6g

Breaking open the pen gives access to a good-sized refill which looks like it contains enough ink for plenty of writing before requiring a replacement. I reckon the refill may be even larger than the ubiquitous G2 refill; it's a smoother writer too. When the time does come a Pentel LR7 refill can be used, though at the time of writing, the needle-tipped version (LRN7) is not available in the UK [edit: I stand corrected - yes they are, check out the comments on this post! Thanks pigpogm. ].


Whilst re-assembling the pen after its photo session, I noticed the grip section is removable, so even after the pen has given up the ghost, it should be possible to find alternative uses for the rubberised grip.

Overall I am really pleased with this, my first Pentel Energel. If I had to find fault with it, and this took some thinking about, I would have to say there is a minute amount of play around the tip when in the writing position which produces a soft clicking sound as I write. This is not however, at a level where I would find it irritating if writing for long periods; it's rather like having a mini percussion soundtrack to your writing!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Old Geezer for the Energel giveaway, had it not been for him I doubt this pleasant little pen would have made it onto my radar. Thanks Geezer! Don't forget to check out The Old Geezer's Pentel Energel review over at Pens And Pencils, you'll find it here.

At a Glance:

Model: Pentel Energel 0.7mm needle tip
Colour: black
Available from: non-needle tip Energels from Cult Pens in the UK
Refillable: Yes
Overall: 5 out of 5

Review: Pentel Energel 0.7mm Needle Tip

Review: Schneider Slider XB Ballpoint

My last order from the good folks at Cult Pens included a free sample pack of the new Schneider Slider XB Ballpoints from Germany in black, blue and pink. Once I'd got over the shock of such a lovely surprise I thought I really ought to put the Sliders to the test.


My sample pack arrived in the card slipcase pictured above, inside of which was another card insert holding the three pens and providing me with loads of information about the Slider product line; this also included a test area so I could try the pens out straight away - what a nice touch.


The Schneider website tells me that the Slider product line features their new revolutionary ViscoGlide® - Technology ink which, they say, makes the Slider like writing with liquid silk. I'm not sure I would go quite that far, though to be fair the Slider's performance is reminiscent of Uni-Ball's Jetstream line, and the sample's XB tip, whilst a little wide for my taste, did indeed lay down a smooth, skip-free line. My sample Sliders were very smooth to write with and slid effortlessly across the paper - it looks to me as though the Jetstream has some serious competition here.


Schneider puts the performance of the Slider down to a combination of their new ink, coupled with a 'special Direct2Point' tip which they say, guarantees instant ink flow; I can't argue with that as all three of my review pens started instantly.

Dimensions are as follows:

Length (capped): 152mm
Length (uncapped): 140mm
Length (posted): 163mm
Barrel diameter: 8mm
Weight: 10.2g

The pen itself feels a little too slim for my hand, though the rubberised grip is well positioned and of a decent size to provide a pleasant enough grip. The grip, based on my limited test, is also not a lint-catcher - always a bonus.


The biggest problem I have with this pen is Schneider's choice of ink colour/tip size combinations:

XB (1.4mm): Black, blue, pink, red, orange, purple, light blue and light green.
M (1.0mm): Black, blue, red and green.
F (0.7mm): Black, blue and red.

I would have preferred a wider choice of colours in the finer tip sizes as I'm not a fan of wide tips/nibs, though having said that I'd estimate the XB to be producing a line width of around 0.7mm (the tip sizes listed above are from the sample packaging). Cult Pens lists the M tip as producing a line approximately 0.5mm wide and the F approximately 0.3mm.


All in all I like the Slider - it's one of the better ballpoints I've tried recently, and I'm really quite impressed with the ViscoGlide® ink - it certainly seems to live up to the claims made on the packaging. Also worthy of note is that the black ink is listed as being waterproof.

I'd like to hope that Schneider will consider expanding the colour choices in the smaller tip sizes and may produce a retractable version of the Slider as the product line develops; there is a retractable ballpoint which uses ViscoGlide® ink, it's called the Xtension and is available from Cult Pens here.

At a Glance:

Model: Schneider Slider XB ballpoint
Colour choice: in text.
Available from: Cult Pens in the UK
Price: rrp £1.75; Cult Pens price £1.55
Overall: 4 out of 5*

* restricted colour choice in some tip sizes and narrow barrel.

Review: Schneider Slider XB Ballpoint

Review: Asda own-brand Fountain Pen

Today's offering from the desk of this pen-thusiast is the fountain pen featured in my previous post about the Asda Exec Notebook. I picked this up at the same time as the Exec notebook, largely because it was only 85p! Generally speaking, this side of the pond, a fountain pen plus six international standard size ink cartridges for such a paltry sum usually means you're in for patchy performance, inky fingers and an all round poor time. Hmm, how good can this possibly be?



Actually, it's really nice and I'm actually quite impressed with it. Straight out of the pack the pen started right away, producing nice, wet, medium width lines, and the supplied own-brand ink isn't bad either. The pen is supplied with six international standard size cartridges and the ink is rather good, a nice mid-blue, good and wet with a fair degree of opacity; and I don't usually like blue ink that much!

The pen features a plain steel nib, there are no markings to indicate either width or manufacture, though my sources tell me it was made in China. The nib and feed are housed in a black plastic grip section that has areas of raised lines to prevent finger slippage (is that a word?!). The grip section looks a bit cheap, but feels better than it looks and does the job well; and for 85p what did I expect?



The barrel section of the pen is made of a matte, mid-blue plastic which is smooth but not slippery, the same plastic being used for the substantial clip and end cap; the remainder of the cap being made of transparent plastic. There is (unfortunately) a ventilation hole in the end of the barrel, so there goes my cunning plan to turn one of these into an eyedropper fill. Rats!

Speaking of the pen barrel, at 72mm in length, it is long enough to accommodate a spare cartridge; always handy.

Now for some dimensions:

Length (capped): 145mm
Length (uncapped): 122mm
Length (posted): 157mm
Barrel diameter: 11mm
Weight: 11.2g (inc. 2 cartridges)

OK, so this fountain pen is never going to win a design award (I wouldn't have thought), nor is it able to compete with high-end fountain pens, but if what you're after is an inexpensive yet reliable pen to throw into the bottom of your travelling bag, you could do a lot worse than this.



I like it so much that I've bought another three - so that's four fountain pens plus 24 ink cartridges for less than the price of a portion of fish 'n' chips; can't be bad!

At a Glance:

Model: Asda plastic fountain pen
Colour: Mid-blue
Available from: Asda stores in the UK
Price: 85p* (inc. 6 blue ink cartridges)
Nib: Medium
Filler: Cartridge only (international standard size)
Overall: 5 out of 5

[*edit: somebody from Asda must be reading this as the price of these fountain pens has gone up from 85p to a whole £1! Still outstanding value IMHO.]

Review: Asda own-brand Fountain Pen

Review: Asda Executive Notebook

You know how the old story goes - if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it's a duck, right? In this case, it looks like a Moleskine, feels like a Moleskine, but it's not a Moleskine, it's better!

There I was, avoiding the grocery shopping and hiding in the stationery aisle at Asda (well, it's more fun than waiting in the car!) when I stumbled across part of their new stationery range. Initially I thought Asda had started selling Moleskines but no, this is an own-brand offering, and I think I'm in love...with a notebook!

Asda Exec Notebook seen here on top of standard large Moleskine.

Billed as an 'Executive Notebook,' this new addition is available with the familiar black cover, plain or squared paper, and in both Large-Moleskine and A4 sizes. I've had a fair amount of experience of Asda's paper over the years and IMHO quality has been lacking of late, so I wasn't expecting too much from my new purchase, considering it retails for £3 for the smaller size and £4 for the A4 version.

How wrong can this pen-thusiast be?!

It's excellent, truly excellent! Let's start with the paper - there is no indication on the packaging to suggest the weight but it's thick, comparing it to other similar notebooks in my collection I would estimate it to be 90gsm; it's certainly not 80gsm.

Open notebook showing the lovely cream paper and black ribbon bookmark.

Close up of perforated pages.

The paper itself is a lovely pale shade of cream and, on the squared notebook at any rate, the 5mm squares are printed in a contrasting pale grey. The markings go right to the edges of the page, which isn't an issue for me, though some may not like how this makes the book look when closed. A wonderfully smooth writing surface is provided by this paper obviously having had size applied - it passes this pen-thusiast's standard 'Mk1 Finger Quality Test*' with flying colours.

* I usually make an initial test of unknown papers by gently rubbing the pad of my index finger over a page to get an impression of the smoothness (highly scientific, eh?!). I have found the smoother the paper, the nicer it will be to write on and more recently, the more likely it is to be fountain pen friendly. I've been doing this for years so I'm usually pretty accurate, of course YMMV.

Whilst smooth and a pleasure to write on, the ink of my test fountain pen dries quickly, so smudging hasn't been an issue; thankfully. I tested the paper with a variety of fountain pens, a couple of gel pens and a Sharpie Twin-Tip marker (whatever I had to hand basically) - there was no evidence of feathering at all and only the thick tip of the Sharpie showed any bleeding, and that was minimal.

Ink test with a variety of fountain pens, gel pens and a Sharpie marker.

Reverse of ink test sheet showing lack of bleeding.

Close up of Sharpie bleed-through.

Each of the 80 pages, which are stitched rather than glued into the book, features perforations approximately 3mm in from the spine allowing pages to be detached neatly should that be required; a great improvement over the Moleskine for mistake-prone me. The perforations, along with the soft spine, also have the advantage of allowing the book to lie flat, a feature I really like.

Detail of the notebook's collapsing spine which allows it to lie flat for writing.

Now for some dimensions of the smaller sized Asda Exec notebook:

Height: 212mm inc. cover (209mm just the paper)
Width: 139mm inc. cover (135mm just the paper)
Thickness: 25mm inc. cover.
Weight: 450g

It's a bit of a 'brick' compared to a standard Moleskine!

The cover is finished in a similar fashion to the standard Moleskine with rounded corners, though the patterning of the faux black leather is finer, making for a slightly smoother overall texture. The cover itself is about twice the thickness of a Moleskine cover, and should lend itself well to embossing and other such arty customisations folks with much more talent than I possess often emark upon.

In keeping with the book its emulating, the Asda Exec has a pocket at the rear though, unlike the competition, this is a concertina affair with 3 separate sections to the Moleskine's one. The only downside is that the manufacture of the pockets could be improved and the dividers need to be made of heavier weight material - indeed on this review sample I managed to tear one of the dividers (bother!) whilst trying to loosen the excess glue sticking the dividers together.

Rear pocket detail - spot the tear (stunt finger courtesy of my darling daughter).

Also in keeping with the competition, the Exec features a black ribbon bookmark and an elastic strap closure. The latter is of what is usually termed here in the UK, 'knicker elastic' and on the Exec seems much stronger than that on my current Moleskine, pressure marking the Exec's cover at the top and bottom. This is no bad thing to my mind as the resulting grooves provide a secure anchorage for the elastic when the book is closed; nor does it come adrift in my bag like my Moleskine's elastic strap sometimes does.

Elastic closure markings to front cover of the notebook.

I am pleased that I have no hesitation in recommending the Asda Executive, not only as a fountain pen friendly notebook, but as a serious contender for the position of Moleskine replacement.

There are niggles of course (this is me after all!), the rear pocket dividers could do with strengthening and the pages occasionally don't seem to line up correctly when folded over to write on them (diagonally out by approximately 1.5mm), but for a mass-produced supermarket own-brand that retails for between £3 and £4, it's nothing short of a masterpiece!

At a Glance:

Model: Asda Executive Notebook
Fountain Pen friendly: Yes
Paper: 90gsm (estimated); perforated; stitched
Pages: 80 sheets
Colour: cover - black; paper - cream
Type: plain or squared; endpapers - plain
Closure: black elastic
Pockets: 3-part rear pocket
Bookmark: 1 ribbon bookmark (black)
Price: Small £3; A4 £4
Available from: Asda (Wal-Mart) in the UK (not available online)
Overall: 5 out of 5

Review: Asda Executive Notebook

Review: Dux 612 Fountain Pen

I bought this fountain pen some time ago during my search for a Hero 329 and it's languished in the dark recesses of my pen box ever since, until that is, a comment by my good friend Nrepose over at Unposted, who has been reviewing some Indian pens recently, made me think it was about time I dug the Dux out and threw my hat in the ring for 'India Week.'



My Dux was an internet buy from that auction site and was billed by the seller as being, "India's best selling fountain pen." As I know little or nothing about Dux as a brand (and I'm writing this in haste), I'll take his word for it (see 'edit' below). The Dux was supplied in a simple cellophane sleeve and looks for all the world like yet another Parker 61 clone but it's not, in fact it's really rather good.

Straight out of the packet the Dux is even smoother than my trusty Hero 329, delivering a nice wet line that I would estimate falls just to the medium side of fine, compared to a western-made pen. The barrel appears to be black plastic, but a good solid plastic, with the plain barrel being broken up by a thin silver-coloured metal clutch ring where the two halves screw together, and a gold-coloured jewel and tassie at the end of the barrel.



Dimensions are as follows:

Length (capped): 140mm
Length (uncapped): 121mm
Length (posted): 145mm
Weight (filled): 13.3g
Barrel diameter: 10mm

Unscrewing the barrel gives access to an aerometric squeeze filler which operates smoothly. I particularly like the transparent threaded section of the barrel which acts as an ink window when the pen is open, but is hidden when the barrel is screwed back together; nice touch, that.



The familiar hooded nib and cap are both gold-coloured metal (not real gold, brass possibly?), with the cap being inscribed 'DUX 612' and there is a matching 'DUX' inscription on the clip.

Never having owned a Dux fountain pen before I was not really sure what to expect, but having used it for less than 24 hours I'm sold! If all their pens write as well as this one does, Dux is certainly a brand I will be keeping a lookout for in the future.

At a Glance:

Model: Dux 612
Available from: eBay
Price: £7 if memory serves
Nib: Fine
Filler: Aerometric (squeeze)
Ink: Bottled ink only (no cartridges) as the filler is non-removable
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

[edit: thanks to some information from The Fountain Pen Network I stand corrected, Dux is a Pakastani pen manufacturer, not Indian as I stated initially. That'll teach me to post in haste!]

Review: Dux 612 Fountain Pen

The Pen Archives: Zebra Super Marble Review

My good friend Passion over at The Pen Archives has kindly reviewed the set of Zebra Super-Marble 0.8 gel pens I sent her. You can check out her great review here.

The Pen Archives: Zebra Super Marble Review

Review: Mead Five Star Stand ‘N Store™ Pencil Case.

Look what my darling daughter bought me! She arrived home from a shopping trip last weekend with this Mead Five Star Stand 'N Store pencil case:


I’ve ordered so much stuff from those wonderful people at JetPens that my pen/pencil collection is rapidly outgrowing the storage space I have for it, so the new Stand ‘N Store couldn’t have come at a better time.

Measuring approximately 8” tall x 4½” wide (203mm x 114mm), the Stand ‘N Store is available in a variety of colours: pink, grey or blue polka dot and plain green or black. The top half is of nylon fabric construction featuring a zip round three sides, the bottom half is nylon mesh allowing easy viewing of the contents.

The design makes the Stand ‘N Store a slim pencil pouch while on the road, and an open pen holder when in use. Simply open the zip and fold the top half of the pouch down to make a pen/pencil holder perfect for any desk. There is a small Velcro-closure interior pocket measuring 2” x 3” (45mm x 85mm) on the inside of the top half of the pouch, ideal for carrying mechanical pencil lead, fountain pen cartridges or other small items.

The pouch features two cord loops along one side, which allow the Stand ‘N Store to be easily carried in a binder.

Overall, I am impressed with the Stand ‘N Store – it is well constructed and large enough to comfortably carry 15 – 20 pens/pencils without becoming too bulky; it would also make an ideal carrying case for a mobile sketching/watercolour set. My only reservation is the mesh section, which seems a little fine compared to other similar pouches I have seen, but appears strong enough for its intended function; a long-term carry test is needed here. The thing I am most impressed about is the price, only 99p each (approx. 64 cents at today’s exchange rate)!

At a Glance:

Size: 8” x 4½” (203mm x 114mm).
Colour choice: Pink, grey or blue polka dot and plain green or black.
Price: 99p
Available from: Home Bargains stores in the UK, or online at www.meadfivestar.com
Overall rating: 4 out of 5.

Review: Mead Five Star Stand ‘N Store™ Pencil Case.