Review: Zebra F-701

How I haven't discovered this pen prior to a couple of weeks ago is beyond me.  And actually, I only found it because of my recent trolling of the Every Day Carry Forums (edcforums.com), and every other post mentioned the F-701.  After reading about it, I literally hopped in the car and headed to Staples to see if they had it on the shelves (I know, I have a problem.  The first step is admission, right?)  Well of course they had it in stock.  It has probably been there every time I have even set foot in the store, but somehow I had overlooked it until now.

The barrel of the F-701 is the real star of this show.  The sleek, stainless steel barrel is a beauty, and the knurled metal grip is a welcome option for a pen that will likely be on the go.  I haven't stood out in the rain or rolled around in the mud with it, but if I'm a betting man, I bet this grip is about as good as it gets for imperfect writing conditions.  Pair it up with an Apica Rain Guard Waterproof Notebook and you could probably take down The Terminator, or at least throw your pen at it and run like a little girl.

For a pen geek like myself, the ballpoint performance leaves a little to be desired.  I was pleased with the sharpness of the line and overall smoothness, but it does leave behind the typical ballpoint residue from time to time.  There is a lot of talk on the EDCForums about ink cartridge replacements, so I will keep trolling through there to see if I can find a good option to swap it out for.  Other than that, I can't really complain for $5.99 off the shelf.  It is a good looking, good performing pen that will likely handle any situation you could put it in.

Click Here for the XL review.

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Ink Links

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Review: Sailor Ink Bar Disposable Fountain Pen Fine Nib Blue Black

I was first introduced to the goodness that is the Sailor disposable fountain pen by Pen Addict reader/supplier/enabler Bryan in Japan when he sent me the Sailor Ink Pen to try out.  He had been raving about it for months, and once I finally got it in my hands, I fell in love with it as well.  It was hard to come by in the states (a reader mentioned in the comments section that it could be found at Daiso), but JetPens has recently started to carry a similar pen in the Sailor Ink Bar.

Like the original Sailor Ink Pen, the Ink Bar is a no frills fountain pen.  While that may be a deterrent to some, the performance of the pen will outshine any qualms you may have about it.  The ink flowed easily the very first time the pen hit the page, and the fine nib gave an all-around smooth writing performance.  There honestly isn't too much to say about it because it is such a simple pen.  Compared to the Platinum Preppy fountain pens, the Ink Bar writes smoother while keeping the same line consistency that I like about the Preppy.  The main difference between the two is that the Ink Bar is truly disposable, meaning there is no readily available way to refill the pen, while you can do lots of things with the Preppy barrel.

Overall, I am anxious to see how others feel about this pen, so please let me know if you try one out.  By reading the description on JetPens, it sounds like there are many other colors available, so hopefully they will start to stock those as well.

Click Here for the XL review.