Zebra Clickart Knock Sign Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

These Zebra Clickart pens have all the joy of a felt-tip marker with the convenience of a clicky pen. The 6mm tip is fine enough to use for writing or sketching, while the side of the bullet-shaped tip also works for coloring and filling in. They're very versatile and perform better than I expected.

The pen body is in white plastic with a molded roll-stop, but no clip. I wish they had clips, but the lack of one does mean they fit more nicely into overstuffed pen pouches. Since this pen is available in 36 colors, your pen pouch is bound to need all the extra room possible. The tip of the pen is conical in plastic the color of the pen's ink, and the clicky knock is also in the ink color, so you can easily see what color you're selecting from either end. The clicky knock has a very satisfying click. An A+ on the fidget scale.

The felt tip is a fine bullet shape. The tip makes a nicely thin line, and holding it at an angle creates a bolder line. It has the feel of a marker, with that familiar feedback and scritchy sound.

I was skeptical about a click marker's ability to not dry out, and even more surprised to see these don't have any sort of trap door that closes off the tip when it is retracted. The tip just retracts, chilling there in the barrel, open to the air. The secret lies in the ink, according to the specs. It will apparently not dry out for a year, so long as it is kept retracted when not in use. This magical ink absorbs moisture from the air, so it may not work as well in arid climates.

The ink performs beautifully on paper, with rich colors and good coverage. It does feather and bleed a bit on cheap copy paper, though--like just about any marker will. I think these would be excellent for sketching and art, perfect for coloring books, and super fun for planner decorating. I have blue-green, peach-pink, and dark brown here. They cost $1.65 in open stock, or $41 for a set of all 36 colors. I think that's a very good value and I definitely want all the colors.

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

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Galen Leather Co. x Kaweco Sport Fountain Pen Review

I think it is common knowledge at this point that any mention of a Kaweco Sport Limited Edition is my “You had me at hello” moment. And who is the latest to take advantage of that? My good friends at Galen Leather, that's who.

They sent me a stack of items that have been, and will be, reviewed on The Pen Addict. Most were parceled out to the review crew, like Sarah's recent look at the Slip-N-Zip, but I pulled rank on one item. Specifically, the Galen Leather Kaweco Sport in Cognac.

Galen created their own custom packaging for this pen.

Look, I have soft spot for this pen. What can I say? I mean that literally. What can I say that haven't already said about this awesome pen. Over and over and over again. It's the best and most fun pocket fountain pen on the market.

The interesting thing about this pen is that it is my first translucent barrel Kaweco limited edition. There was a standard issue Ice Sport release a few years back, but I don't recall another see-through LE. I feel like I have to be overlooking something obvious so please let me know. (Update: I knew it!) Regardless, this is my first, and I'd wager that it won't be my last.

Galen Leather nailed the color on this collaboration. As a primarily leather goods company, a brown hue makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure a solid brown plastic would have delivered the richness in color that Cognac does. It is warm and bright, yet fits in perfectly with the many different shades of leather Galen offers.

And I even love the gold trim and accents!

The one question I had was which ink I was going to use with it. Specifically, which short international cartridge will I pull from the stash that would compliment this pen the most? I discounted any blue right out of the gate, and even oranges didn't make it past the first cut. Then I saw the winner for this initial journey: Graf von Faber-Castell Olive Green.

It's as good of a match as I was going to get with what I had on hand. The only competition in my mind would have been a purple ink, but alas, I had none around. Put some on the list! And I'll need them, too, as I see myself using this wonderful collaboration for quite some time.

Thank you Yusuf, and the entire Galen Leather team, for sending me this pen. You can get yours for $30 directly from Galen, but move quickly if interested - only Medium, Broad, and Double Broad nib sizes remain!

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

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The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set: 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.)

The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set comes in a silver metal tin.

Inside you'll find a pen with one nib installed, two other nib units, two plastic nib covers, and three boxes of ink cartridges in blue, black, and pink. No instructions are included with this set.

The pen is made of light silver-colored plastic with a metal clip and raised dots along the barrel (thus the "Grip" name).

The finial is concave with the Faber-Castell logo, and the cap sports the Faber-Castell name on the side. It is a snap-on cap.

The pen is medium-sized, measuring 5.4 inches/137mm capped, 5.1 inches/130mm uncapped, and 6.9 inches/175mm posted. It weighs only 15.19 grams capped/posted and 9.42 grams uncapped. It is comfortable in the hand, and the grip (made of textured black plastic) curves inward slightly, measuring 10.42mm.

Three interchangeable steel calligraphy nib units are included: 1.1mm, 1.4mm, and 1.8mm.

Three boxes of ink cartridges are also included. The ink is "erasable," but you have to purchase an ink eraser correction pen in order to correct mistakes. "Erasable" is bit misleading since the correction pen applies fluid over the ink rather than removing the ink.

I practiced my calligraphy alphabet with each of the nib units in my Endless Recorder Notebook. The 1.1mm nib (inked with black) wrote beautifully without any skips or hard starts.

I was impressed with the 1.4mm nib (inked with blue). It's wide enough to offer noticeable line variation, but not so wide to make writing awkward.

Unfortunately, the 1.8 nib (inked with pink) was horrible. I had to work hard to write two or three letters before the ink stopped flowing. It was scratchy, ink-stingy, and most unpleasant to use. A close up of the nib explains why: the tines are misaligned.

The writing samples below do not show the difficulties I had with the nib. To get one page of writing was an exercise in frustration.

Here's a comparison of the nibs writing normally:

The Faber-Castell pen is comfortable to write with, and the nib units are easy to switch. The nib caps insure that the nibs won't dry out. The three ink colors are vibrant and flow well, plus the cartridge system is simple to use. This set could make a good starter kit for a beginner.

However, the 1.8 nib in my set is unusable. In addition, there are no instructions--not even a basic alphabet exemplar. This makes the set less suitable for someone just starting out. The $40.00 price tag makes me question whether this set is a good choice for a beginner or anyone, for that matter. If it were around $20.00 I would be more comfortable recommending it. You can buy a Pilot Parallel set with four calligraphy pens for $25.00, for example.

The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set is available at Goldspot Pens for $40.00.

(Goldspot Pens provided the Faber-Castell set at no charge to Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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