Uni-ball Propus Erasable Highlighter Pen Review

(This is a guest post by Brian Draghi. You can follow Brian on Twitter @Sketchscape)

Thanks to Brad and Jetpens for sending over this sample highlighter to review. I have used several different highlighters over the years but I have never used an erasable highlighter before. I was quite interested to see how well this type of highlighter erased its own highlighted areas. Unfortunately the Uni-ball Propus Blue Highlighter was a complete disappointment on several levels with an erasing ability that was less than ideal.

I really wanted to like this highlighter from Uni-ball but there are several brands of highlighters that aren't even erasable that are better than this particular one. The first strike against this highlighter is the horrible erasing ability where the highlighted area is still present after erasing. Using copy paper shows the best results but leaves a faded streak of highlight after erased. Marks on card stock can't even be erased without much difference to the original highlighted area. Trying to erase an area immediately after highlighting just smears the ink across the page. Anything written down is slightly faded in the process; highlighted ballpoint pens and pencils react the worst to erasing. Erasing any type of highlighted text in books is quite pointless since it nearly rubs out and destroys the words in the process.

The second issue is the very muted color that is produced from this highlighter. I prefer to have my highlighted areas to be bold and bright so that it stands out, instead a very dull line is produced. The final issue revolves around the rather slow drying time for any highlighted area. When it does dry, it seems to have a consistency of watercolor where you can see gaps of white space left over. It'€™s even worse when you press down the highlighter too hard because it can tend to really saturate the space. Forget using this highlighter on any type of glossy surface such as magazines and glossy card stock since there will just be a nice pool of ink on the surface that will never seem to dry.

Overall

There'€™s not many positive things I can say about the Propus. It has a nice compact style with a decent clip but there are too many issues with this highlighter to use on a regular basis. I could even set the lack of erasing aside if the highlighted color wasn'€™t so muted and distorted in consistency. I can'€™t say anything about the other colors available in this line but the blue is definitely the one that needs to be avoided. There are better highlighters available that outperform the Uni-ball Propus highlighter and choosing another erasable alternative would be ideal. For the non-erasable highlighter choice I would recommend the Sharpie Accent Liquid Highlighter.

Rating

1 out for 5

Cons

 - Horrible erasing ability

- Doesn't work on glossy or card stock materials

- Erases highlighted book text

- Very muted color

- Dries very slowly

Pros

-Compact style

-Works decent on pigment ink pens

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?