Posts filed under Pen Case

Nomadic PW-11 Boat Shaped Pen Case Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

With the pens and pencils we choose to take with us on our adventures in the world, choosing the right case is half the battle. Just like choosing what clothes to wear, a lot of it depends on what we plan on doing while we're out. Because of the variety of circumstances and environments we find ourselves in every day, these decisions can make or break our day. While choosing the wrong pen case isn't as bad as forgetting an umbrella on a day with a heavy rain forecast, it certainly isn't ideal. No matter what kind of argument I try to construct on behalf of having a pen case (and pen!) for every occasion, it all comes down to the fact that there are so many cool cases available, and I'd like to try them all.

The Nomadic PW-11 Boat Shaped Pen Case might sound like something suited for monsoon season, but it's actually an incredibly versatile case that has plenty of space inside a lightweight but strong exterior. At its core, it's a zippered pen case with one large pocket inside, but it also has a couple of neat tricks.

From the outside, this case is a two-tone beauty made from lightweight ripstop nylon (150D to be exact) and features a small, quiet zipper on top. The bottom of the case has some padding, but the sides are all single-layer nylon. A feature I've really enjoyed is the two zip pulls that are provided on this case, meaning you can open/close it from either end. Along with the double pulls, each side of the zipper has a small magnet embedded in the nylon folds to keep them tucked neatly to the side of the case. This makes the case easy to spread open when you're trying to see what's inside, but it looks more streamlined when it's all snapped together. Along with the magnets to keep the zipper flaps tucked to the side, you can also fold the top of the case down on itself to make it look like a large pouch. This also makes everything inside just a little more accessible and visible. It's a really nice design touch!

Inside the case, there are two small slot pockets on one side. The pockets are wide and deep enough to fit a pencil sharpener, some tape, a small box of ink cartridges, some AirPods, or anything else that's fairly small. At a minimum, it keeps those small objects from getting lost in the open sea of pens and pencils in the main compartment.

One the other side of the case is a flap that has three elastic pen loops built in to the top. This flap opens out of the case to expose the larger compartment in the middle, but then lays back on top when you're ready to zip up the case. This provides quick access to three of your favorite or most-used pens, and also provides extra protection for those lucky three. There's no padding in the flap, but the double layers of nylon are plenty of protection in such close quarters. This flap also keeps the pens in the main compartment from moving around too much when everything is zipped up. Overall, it's an interesting design that works really well in practice.

I've really enjoyed using the Nomadic PW-11 over the past few weeks. My first reaction was, "Do I really need another pen/pencil pouch?" But it quickly won me over with the lightweight material and extra perks both inside and outside the case. At just under $20, it's also a great deal.

If you're not a fan of the yellow-green I chose, you can also pick from a range of other classy colors, like Navy, Light Blue, Pink, and Black.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on September 18, 2019 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Nomadic, Pen Case.

The King Jim Frio Stand Roll Pen Case: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

With Doomsday (i.e. school) drawing nigh, it’s time to think about supplies. Supplies are the best part of going back to school, so finding some new items for the year is always fun.

The King Jim Frio Stand Roll Pen Case is made in China. It has felted material on the top half and polyester on the bottom.

The case has three 30mm pockets (best for pens and pencils), two 45mm pockets (good for larger pens and rulers), and one 75mm pocket (for scissors or a small notebook). A felt flap protects your instruments when the case is rolled up.

Although I’ve seen many roll cases, I’ve not seen one quite like the Frio. Two magnets connect to the bottom portion when the case is folded backwards so that it functions as a stand.

Although it doesn’t look very elegant from the back, the case morphing into a stand is quite practical and looks nice on a desk.

Although the case rolled up adequately with all the things I put in it, the felt flap didn’t provide enough protection for my fountain pens. It’s much too short to cover them completely, and I was concerned that the scissors and ruler would scratch them.

I wouldn’t recommend using this case for special fountain pens due to the potential for scratches and dings, but it is terrific for EDC pens, art pens, pencils, and other instruments. It’s compact when rolled up, and it acts as a stand when unrolled. That makes this case rather unique.

You can purchase the King Jim Frio in several colors, including green, black, navy, and white for $19.00 from JetPens.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under King Jim, Pen Case.

Lihit Lab Smart Fit B6 Carrying Pouch Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Over the years of collecting new gear and trying new things for carrying my various possessions back and forth from home, I never thought I would come across a bag or pouch that I couldn't find a use for. While not entirely useless, I've been perplexed when trying to find a permanent spot for the Lihit Lab Smart Fit B6 carrying pouch.

The Smart Fit B6 pouch touts a familiar format. It's a folio or notebook cover with a zipper around the entire exterior, which allows you to secure everything that's inside. Along with a notebook, there are several pockets and pockets for items of various sizes. It even has a single pen loop. While there is an abundance of pockets and places to store things, it's the B6 that has caused me the most grief, but let's focus on what this carry pouch gets right.

The cordura nylon exterior is well-constructed with a trendy camouflage pattern. The interior color is a soft orange that contrasts perfectly with the camo exterior. The zippers aren't bulky YKK zippers, but they're quiet, smooth, and feel reliable. All of the stitching is good considering the price point, and the assortment of pockets seem fairly well thought-out.

Starting at the front of the pouch exterior, there's a single slash pocket with a zipper for storing larger items like a phone or Field Notes notebook. When I've used this pouch, this has been the pocket that I store a power brick or my Kindle.

Around the back, there's another large slash pocket that is secured with a single snap closure. The snap is strong and secure, but it does leave the rest of the pocket open. This isn't a pocket for storing small things, but storing notebooks and flat items that take up the majority of the space do well. Lining the slash pocket are two plastic D-rings that you can use with a shoulder strap, effectively turning this pouch into a small messenger bag.

Inside the front cover, there's a flap that lays over the interior storage. this flap has a stretchy mesh pocket that is accessed with a zipper. There's no dimension to this pocket, but the mesh does allow you to store plenty of smaller items like cables, headphones, pens, shorter pencils, erasers, etc.

When you fold this flap over, you can see the interior of the case. There's one large slot with a vertical opening that runs the height of the inside of the pouch. This is also useful for larger items like a phone, small tablet, or other notebooks. On top of the large pocket are two additional pockets that open vertically. The smaller pocket on top is good for flash drives, small cables, and other small items. The larger pocket on the bottom is just large enough to hold a standard 3.5x5.5 notebook. Since these pockets all open toward the left side of the interior of the case, things should stay secure in these pockets as long as you carry the pouch zipper side up. Otherwise, these little slash pockets don't hold things in place very well.

On the back interior cover, there's a strip of cordura material the provides the slot system for a B6 notebook cover. This keeps the notebook secure when in the case, and I haven't noticed any problems with the notebook wiggling out during transport. This strip also has a couple of small slash pockets that have horizontal openings. The top pocket is perfect size for business cards, while the bottom pocket is perfect for 3x5 index cards. Finally, there's a large pen loop on the upper-right side of the back interior. As long as your pen has a clip, this works fine. I find it odd, though, that this is the only real organization reserved for writing instruments. Since it's just a loop, it offers no real protection from other items in the pouch, and since other items do tend to come out of their storage areas, there's a very real possibility of different things jostling with your pens. As such, I have only used plastic gel pens with this case, or other pens that have clips and that I don't mind getting nicked a bit.

The case is functional enough, though the internal organization does leave plenty to be desired. Moving on from the actual case though, there's also a small notebook included with the pouch.

The notebook is a 30-page B6 spiral-bound book with decent lightweight paper and frosted clear covers. The paper handles fountain pen ink reasonably well, though the ink does show through to the back of the page quite clearly. Gel pens and ballpoints perform excellently, however. It's lined paper and it's great for writing notes and drawing quick sketches. Interestingly, the plastic spiral binding opens up with a little effort. The marketing for this notebook touts the ability to rearrange pages without tearing them out. This is a nice feature, but the spiral binding is a little tricky to work. I've found it more trouble than it's worth. This type of binding is a great idea in practice, and if you're interested in picking something like this up, try the various options from the Kokuyo Campus line. They work well and come in a few other color options and sizes.

Frustratingly, Lihit Lab does not sell a replacement notebook for this pouch. I guess that once it runs out, you need to find another B6 notebook to take its place if you want to continue using the pouch as intended. But that's where we hit the killer problem. B6 is not a common notebook size at all. On JetPens, there are less than a dozen compatible options for this pouch. Life seems to have the most variety as far as paper lines go, but it's still minimal. I don't understand why Lihit Labs chose to use this size over something more common like A5, A6, or even B5 Slim. Unfortunately, there just aren't many options for B6 notebooks.

Overall, this is such a cool concept for a carrying pouch or notebook case. If not for the odd size decision and the abundance of slim slash pockets over pen/pencil slots, this would be a great option for carrying your favorite notebooks. I can only recommend this if you primarily use B6 notebooks and already have a favorite notebook in mind for this case. 30 pages just don't go very far!

Aside from the Camouflage featured here, the Lihit Lab Smart Fit B6 Carrying Pouch is available in Houndstooth, Orange, and Navy.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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