The Pen Addict

Rite in the Rain Outdoor Journal and Tactical Pen Review

 

I have been wanting to review a Rite in the Rain notebook ever since I reviewed the Apica Rain Guard a couple of years ago. I also wanted to be sure to give the Rite in the Rain a proper review since I just dripped some water on the Apica to test it out. Well, there was a big rainstorm at my house last week, so the review was on!

I donned my hooded rain jacket at marched outside with my Outdoor Journal and Tactical Pen that I ordered from Hickorees. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going to be able to write and take pictures, but I quickly realized that my grill was the perfect spot. It wasn’t a monsoon outside, but the rain was steady. I tried to take a few in progress photos show how wet the page was getting and how the pen was performing.

Here are my takeaways:

• The paper did great. It was soaked but it hung tough. The spot where my hand was resting on the journal soaked through more due to the pressure, but it held up fine.
• The pen has a Fisher Space pressurized refill, and it did a good job overall. The one issue that you can pick up in some of the photos is that if the ink blobbed at the tip (like a normal ballpoint would) it would spread out a bit in the water. That happened regularly as I lifted the pen off the page and put it back down to write.
• Once I went inside, I wiped down the journal with a paper towel. The ink didn’t smudge, and the paper dried quickly.

It was a very impressive performance by the Rite in the Rain Journal. The pen did well, but if I had planned more I would have tested a Uni-Ball Power Tank and Tombow Airpress for comparison. I think they would have done even better since they write cleaner to begin with. I was just too soaked to go back inside and get them.

I am not a hunter, fisherman, logger, construction worker, or any other vocation that this journal is targeted to, but I can’t imagine another paper product that would perform as well as this one.

Tombow AirPress Ballpoint Winners

Random Randoms:

Winner Winners:

Congrats Patty T and Arleigh!  Here is what I need from you:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Email me your mailing address using the "About" link on the sidebar.

You have one week to claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and as always, stay tuned for more!

Giveaway: Tombow AirPress Ballpoint 2010 New Body Color

_{Images courtesy of JetPens.com}

I'm a big fan of the Tombow Airpress, keeping mine in my car at all times due to its versatility as a write anywhere, anytime, on any surface pen.  For the uninitiated, this is what is known as a pressurized pen, similar to what the Fisher Space pen provides.  The difference with the AirPress is that it uses an air retraction method to create the air pressure required for writing.  I picked up two of the new-ish 2010 new body colors from JetPens, one in the clear body style shown above, and one in the full black (aka murdered out) style, as shown below.  Here is how you can win one of these really cool pens:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick two winners at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winners.

3. The contest winners will be posted on Friday, February 4th.  The winners will have one week to email me at the address posted in the "About" section on the right sidebar.

4. I will ship internationally.  I know there are many international readers and fans of The Pen Addict, and I will gladly ship to you at my expense.

Thanks, and good luck!

Review: Tombow AirPress Apro Ballpoint Pen

The Tombow Airpress Apro is the little brother to the original Tombow Airpress, which I reviewed back in March.  The original has become my car pen, with its ability to withstand the heat and write in all types of conditions.  I keep it in my console attached to a Doane Paper Utility Notebook, and that combo has worked out great for me.  The Airpress Apro came along a couple of months ago at JetPens, so I figured I would give it a spin as well.

While the original Airpress had a tough, rugged body style, the Apro is made for the indoor workforce.  As JetPens mentions in its product description, the apron/lab coat community such as doctors, nurses, cooks, waitresses, etc. would find this new design much more to their liking.  The barrel design has been slimmed down slightly, and has been smoothed down and shined up a bit.  It also comes in more friendly body colors like this brown (lilac, gray, green, and pink are your other options).

From a writing standpoint, it performs similarly to the original Airpress, which means that while it it not going to compete with the Uni-Ball JetStream for smoothness or depth of ink color, it can handle its own.  With the added bonus of the Airpress technology that is a pretty fair trade off in my book.  If I am allowed one small gripe on this pen it is that I have never gotten used to quiet click mechanism on this or any pen.  I like to hear that good, solid click when I press down, but that in no way impacts the functionality of the Apro.  In fact, it is considered a feature.

Maybe the best feature about this pen is the price.  The Original Airpress checks in at $9.00, while the Apro is on $5.70.  A pretty good deal for a pretty good pen.

Click here for the XL review.

See also:

Review: Tombow AirPress Ballpoint Pen

Review: Fisher Space Pen X-Mark Bullet

Review: Uni-Ball Power Tank Smart Series High Grade Ballpoint Pen

Products used:

Tombow AirPress Apro Ballpoint Pen - 0.7 mm - Brown from JetPens

Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Review: Tombow AirPress Ballpoint Pen

The Tombow AirPress falls into the increasingly popular write anywhere, anyhow, and on anything category of pens, made popular by the Fisher Space Pen (which I have yet to review), and followed up by the Uni-Ball Power Tank series.  These types of pens are made to work in the toughest of conditions, such as writing on wet paper, or upside down, so it is probably a disservice that I wrote this review in a coffee shop.  Maybe I should spill my coffee on my Doane Writing Pad next time?

The AirPress gets a good dose of cool points for it's design.  It looks and feels like a sturdy durable pen - which it is - but it is surprisingly lightweight.  The rubber barrel and raised ridges in the grip area make the pen easy to hold on to, and the clip hinges open very wide so that it can clamp on to a wide variety of items.  The only part of the barrel that I didn't care for was the loop on the backside, only because it hit my hand in the wrong spot when writing.  But with this type of pen, I understand why it is there.

Here is the full description of the pen from JetPens:

The Tombow AirPress leverages energy from each push of the cap to inject air pressure into the ink cartridge, allowing the pen to write on challenging surfaces. The pen is excellent for people involved in construction or outdoor work since it can write at extreme angles, upside down, on wet paper, and in cold weather. The rubber body is also easy to hold with wet hands or gloves. The AirPress is similar to the Uni-ball Power Tank Ballpoint Pen, except that this pen ingeniously uses the retraction method to pressurize the ink cartridge.

The AirPress has a strong, wire pocket clip and features a loop that allows you to attach it to lanyards and key chains. Multiple body colors as well as black, blue, green and red ink refills available.

The one item I have a hard time coming to grips with for this category of pen is writing performance.  It really isn't fair to compare them directly to other non-extreme condition pens.  The ink is made to withstand some tough stuff, so if you are looking for a Jetstream type performance, you aren't going to find it here.  What you will find is a nice, more traditional ballpoint pen performance, which is pretty good compared to all that this pen is capable of doing.

At $9.00, it is about three times the cost of the Uni-Ball Power Tank, but half that of a regular Fisher Space Pen, so you have a lot of choices if you need to write your way out of the Great Snowpocalypse of 2010.

Click here for the XL review.