Guest Review: A Brand Called ED’s ‘Pencils’ Case

This is my first review of a pen case, and I chose to do one because I was stoked to find such a decent pen case for under 10 AUD. 

My name is Ben, I live in Australia, a wonderful country where it is almost impossible to find most of the pens reviewed on this site, and where good quality pen cases are virtually unheard of. When I can find good pens and accessories they are usually double, if not triple the ordinary retail price. 

Hence my surprise when I found this case in my local Officeworks store. The case is Tri-fold, and despite having the word “PENCILS” boldly displayed on the cover, I think this case would be better suited to carrying pens; It only has 3 elastic loops, 4 pouches, and one token zipper compartment, that could hold at max 10 pencils. 

Unlike other pencil cases made by this brand, this model has very good quality stitching, and is made of a strong, woven material ( I think it’s polyester), with light padding between the inner and outer layers. The lining is made of the same material, with the result that pen clips won’t potentially damage it (something that can’t be guaranteed with a few models of Nomadic cases). 

Now for the Negatives: The elastic loops are very loose, and there really should be 6, with three at both ends of the case, such that writing instruments are held in place at the top and bottom, to provide a more secure hold of pens/pencils. 

The zipper feels cheap, and probably wouldn’t like strenuous use. I guess the biggest downside is that the case can only hold 6 decent sized pens (as can be seen in the photo) and is a bit bulky when filled ‘to the brim’. However this suits me to a ‘t’ because I wanted it to hold a couple of fountain pens and ballpoints, without them rattling around in my ordinary pencil case. 

The case is available in Black, Blue, Pink, and Green, and retails for 7.99 AUD

http://www.abrandcalleded.com.au/

 

   

Thanks Ben for the excellent review!  If anyone else is interested in writing a guest review for The Pen Addict, please feel free to email me using the address on the sidebar.

Review: Pentel Hybrid Technica 0.5mm Fluorescent Orange

Color me very very surprised by this one - in a good way of course.  The Pentel Hybrid Technica is a pen I have used before with varying degrees of success, but this fluorescent orange model really impressed me.  The way the ink performs on the paper is great.  The gel ink is neat and clean, making for some impressive lines, and the ink color is FLUORESCENT ORANGE!

Now, there are plenty of other bright ink pens that may works as well as this pen (there is a Uni-Ball Signo DX in pink that comes to mind), but this Pentel is just downright fun to use.  I don't know that I would use it for strictly note taking, but as a highlighter alternative, it is just about perfect.  I am an underliner as opposed to a highlighter anyway, so this pen fits my needs.  In fact, this pen is part of the "Go Team" that I carry with me in my main pen case.

Fluorescent pink and yellow will be on their way from JetPens shortly.

Click here for the XL review.

Review: SKB SB-1000 0.5mm Ballpoint

The SKB SB-1000 0.5mm ballpoint pen was featured on Cool Tools last week, but I missed it when it was originally posted.  It wasn't long after that post that a reader asked me about the pen and if I had tried one.  I of course hadn't at the time, but I did email SKB and they were nice enough to send me some pens to review at no charge.  Thanks Mariah!

The SKB ballpoint does have a bit of a following in the art world, and is actually referred to as the "James Jean pen" by many (see samples of Jean's artwork right here).  My first impression of the pen was that it is a glorified Bic Stic, but that would be selling the SKB very short.  While the barrel is nothing special - standard clear plastic barrel with a bit of taper in the grip area - the performance of the tip and ink are very nice.

If there is such a thing as a needle tip ballpoint, this is about as close I have seen.  Does anyone remember the old extra fine PaperMate ballpoints?  I used them back in the 80's, but after some quick Googling, I don't see that they are manufactured anymore.  They were likely 0.5mm and came to a needle type tip, at least in comparison to a standard ballpoint.  The SKB does a much better job with tip design.  When the pen hits the page, this pen really stands out.  It lays down a smooth, skip-free line, with a nice, dark black ink, which isn't always easy to find in a ballpoint.  Be sure to see the large writing sample to see how cleanly it writes.

While this pen isn't going to replace the Uni-Ball Jetstream, Zerbra Surari or Pilot Acroball in my arsenal (mainly because of the nicer barrel options), I do find that it writes better than pens like the Zebra Technoline.  For the price ($11 per dozen), it provides a great bang for the buck, and is a very enjoyable pen to use.

Big thanks to SKB Pens for sending me these pens, and for throwing in plenty of extras for me to share with readers of The Pen Addict.  You can find SKB pens on the web at www.skbpens.com, and they also have a Twitter account @skbpens, although there isn't much action there yet.

Click here for the XL review.