Review: A Uniball Double-Sided Pocket Brush Pen meets a Special Moleskine

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at Geminica.com.

I was recently given this adorable little Limited Edition Pac Man Moleskine notebook as a gift.  Despite the book's obvious charm I didn't have much idea what to do with it.  The pages are very thin.  Most ink sinks right through, and watercolor is out of the question. 

Since the paper wasn't inspiring, I coated some pages with acrylic paint as an experiment, but this added a new challenge since some of the acrylic was glossy and wouldn't take ink.

Enter the Uniball Pocket Brush Pen.

This pen was recommended by Pen Addict commenter and pen/pencil blogger ThirdeYe in response to my Kuretake Hair Brush review.  I wasn't optimistic, but gave it a shot in the Moleskine and it quickly came out on top!  

The Uniball lays down a nice wet line that is fantastic for quick, loose sketching - similar to the Pilot brushes but with a faster dry time.  You can see from some smearing below (center image, lower right) that this was still an issue due to all that ink, but the Pilot brushes were unusable for me for this reason and the Uniball was a big improvement.

You can see that the brush is visible through the paper, but it's not bad - my other brush pens were much worse in this regard.  The large molded foam tip is very flexible with no weird springback issues such as I've had with some disposable Kuretakes and the Copic brushes. It is so fun to work with that these days I keep it in my hand while watching TV and am constantly freezing frames for quick sketches.

Additionally, the pen works great over acrylic, even glossy acrylic.

  
 

I don't switch to the small tip often (actually I kept forgetting it was there) but it works well - not sure I'd choose it above the Tombow Fudenosuke Soft for normal use but it's convenient to have it on the other end of the pen.  Both caps are postable.

Now we come to the bad news.

When I spoke with friend and urban sketcher Alanna Randall  about this pen, she reported that hers quickly became unwieldy due to a frayed tip on the larger brush.  Not two days later, mine had become identical to hers, and started giving a weaker, dryer line - here's a post-fray sketch.

Besides this tip issue, the major drawback of the pen is that it is not waterproof.  I love it for quick sketches, but wouldn't use it for longer drawings that might later want watercolors.

 In conclusion, I have to assume this pen's tip can only last through perhaps a week of moderately heavy use - if that.  I'd feel a little better about the short lifespan if the pen were made out of recycled materials, which it isn't.  However, it works better than any other pen I have as a quick, wet brush for use on regular Moleskine notebook paper and over acrylic paint.  I recommend this pen as a lot of fun, just be prepared for it to be short-lived.

Pilot RexGrip 0.7mm Purple Ballpoint Review

I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to review a basic ballpoint like the Pilot Rexgrip 0.7mm, even more so after my bad experience with the 1.0mm model. But I said in that review - over two years ago - that I would get one of the 0.7mm models, and I'm glad I did. Sometimes low expectations lead to the best discoveries. 

So my first question is: Where have you gone Der Bingle? The once prolific commenter mentioned in my original review that while I disliked the 1.0mm model, I needed to give the purple 0.7mm a shot. I finally took him up on that advice, and was happy to find a pen that was completely different than the original one I reviewed. I was very pleased at how clean the lines were, especially with my small, fast paced handwriting. I actually tried hard to find something I disliked about this pen, and I couldn't. Where the original was streaky and light colored. this one is solid and vibrant. A totally different experience.

The barrel is pretty basic, but what do you expect from a pen that only costs $1.50? It is very similar to the Pilot G-Knock - a barrel I like very much and is very comfortable. There aren't a lot of options out there for purple ballpoint pens, so this one is definitely worth a look.

Click here for the XL review.

Products used:

Pilot Rexgrip Ballpoint Pen - 0.7 mm - Purple Body - Purple Ink from JetPens.

Writing Pad from Doane Paper.

Top 5 Pens Update - New #1

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It has been a long time since my last Top 5 pens update (too long in fact), so there has been quite a shakeup within the list. If you have followed any of my lists before, you know that this doesn't repesent what I think are the best pens of all time, but rather a current snapshot of the pens I am enjoying and using the most. I always say I need to do a better job of keeping this list up to date because my tastes change so rapidly, so I will try to make this at least a quarterly update. Enjoy the list!

1) Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.3mm

A new number one, with a bullet at that. The 0.4mm Clip has long been one of my favorites, and the recent addition of the 0.3mm Clip at JetPens really sealed the deal for me. I compare this pen to the Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.28mm, but it writes more consistently, and is retractable to boot. I am getting heavy use out of the black ink at work, and have already ordered several other colors of this great pen, including the excellent Viridian Green.

2) Pentel EnerGel Euro Needle-Point Gel Ink Pen 0.35mm

Another new entry, and another pen in heavy rotation now that the black model has been released. For an 0.35mm tipped pen, it writes exceptionally smooth, just as you would expect from the Energel family. The needle tip is great, and the barrel is very comfortable to write with for long periods of time. This will probably now be the pen I recommend to first time buyers of sub-0.5mm pens.

3) Uni-Ball Signo 207 Micro Needle Tip Black

I didn't think this pen existed for the longest time, but a reader sent me a few, and then I saw that they were available on Amazon.com, and the rest is Pen Addict history! The review links to the blue ink version, but it is rather weak compared to the black. The black is a great everyday writer, and since I bought a dozen from Amazon, I have found myself leaving one laying in many of the places I find myself needing quick access to a pen. I have been really happy with it so far.

4) Zebra Sharbo X

I never get tired of this pen. The outstanding design never fails to get comments from co-workers, and the multi pen/pencil aspect keeps this pen in heavy rotation for me. Zebra does a great job with its micro tip pens, and these refills are no exception. Just know in advance that the refills aren't going to last forever, and aren't exactly cheap to replace. I think I am going to break down and add a third barrel to the collection this year.

5) Pilot Acroball

It may be blasphemous around these parts, but I have been using my Acroball pens more than my Jetstreams recently. You can't go wrong with either - they are both some of the best pens in their category - but the comfort, feel, and consistency of the Acroball has been winning out of late.