Stainless Steel Sharpie Pen Review

Well hello there!

That is what I said when walking down the pen aisle at Wal-Mart this morning. The Stainless Steel Sharpie Pen was on my radar, but I sure didn’t expect to run across it this morning while picking up cleaning supplies and Coke Zero.

Ever since Sharpie introduced the Sharpie Pen line, they have done a great job with regular updates to the design, function, or colors, and this Stainless Steel model is the latest - and possibly greatest - of the bunch.

Let me start with the obvious - the barrel. The simple, clean stainless steel design suits this pen perfectly. It is similar in design to the stainless steel barrel they use for the permanent marker, but in this case it is shaped like the Sharpie Pen Grip. The dimensions are identical as best as I can tell, with the only difference being the added weight of the barrel material. It is well balanced when writing, if ever so slightly top heavy with the cap posted. Nothing too noticeable though.

Ink wise, it is exactly like the Grip. Nice, clean, pitch black lines that don’t bleed through the page. Even my little mark out mess-ups in the writing sample don’t bleed, which is an impressive feat by Sharpie.

The best feature of all? This pen is refillable. I didn’t see any refills available on the shelf, but I’m sure they are coming soon. The entire grip section screws off and is replaceable, so I’m sure they won’t be cheap, but it is better than a $4.99 pen every time you run out.

Overall, this is a perfect addition to the product line, and I am very happy to see Sharpie continue to improve their offerings. What could possibly next?

Oh yeah - I bought all three they had on the shelf, so how about I give away the other two to two lucky commenters on this post. Hopefully you read this far down! Leave a comment by Saturday at midnight telling me what you would like to see next in the Sharpie Pen line. I will post the winner on Sunday. And sorry, US only please. Good luck!

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Hard Tip Review

On my never ending quest to forcibly turn artistic use brush pens into my own personal writing and note taking pen, the Tombow Fudenosuke is the latest put to the test.

If you haven’t been paying attention, I realized a few months back with the the Kuretake Fudegokochi that some brush pens make for pretty good writing pens. As one who uses felt and plastic tip drawing pens on a daily basis to write with, the brush pen provides a unique option. It takes a very particular brush pen to work well in this scenario, starting with a very hard tip.

For a brush pen, the Fudenosuke has a hard tip, but it is not hard enough for writing notes with. It is a wonderful pen for its intended use - I can get a wide range of line widths, and the ink is great - but for general writing it is not firm enough. Artists shouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up.

Are there any brush pens that you have used that I should try out for general writing use?

Zebra Eco Sarasa Clip Retractable Gel Review

I think most Pen Addict readers are aware that I work for JetPens.com, but I am not sure that everyone knows I handle most of the JetPens Facebook and Twitter duties as well. One of the recent questions I received on Facebook is what pen is most comparable to the Zebra Jiminie? Luckily I have used the Jiminie, and one of Zebra’s very own products matches up well.

The Zebra Eco Sarasa Clip is part of the hugely popular Sarasa Clip line, with the obvious difference being the recycled aspect of the pen. Made from 81% post-consumer recycled materials, the Eco is a great option for the environmentally conscious among us, and is refillable with the Zebra JF cartridge. As a bonus, all of the color cartridges from the Sarasa Clip line fit this barrel perfectly, so there is no issue adding in a Viridian Green cartridge in your eco friendly barrel.

The 0.7mm tip that I reviewed writes almost exactly like the Jiminie. Smooth, pitch black gel ink, and a very crisp line. As luck would have it, JetPens is sold out of this exact barrel, but we should have them back in very soon! This is a pen very much worth waiting for.