Guest Review: Nomadic Virgo-Attrezzo Pen Case

The reason I have chosen to review the Nomadic Virgo-Attrezzo standing pen case is because I won it right here a few months ago! A great giveaway. Sorry if the pictures are a little blurry I am still deciding on a new camera and had to make do with my BlackBerry.

Starting off, this is what the pen case looks like empty:

It is around 20cm high at the very back, 5.5cm wide and its length is around 6.5cm. The material feels as though it could stand wear and tear pretty well.

Now, on to how many pens it can fit. The picture directly below is showing some the case with some pens. There are 26 in there along with a couple of refills although it could probably take 2 or 3 more before zipping it shut would not be as easy. To stand the pencil case up you can fold down the top part, but I don't tend to do that and the case still stands fine. As you can see in the second picture down, there are 2 pouches, one on each side (of equal size). Now, these are large enough to fit spare pencil leads or a box of paper clips etc but I use them to clip on pens that I need to find easily - although I could still use the pouch itself if I wanted to.

At the middle in the back, the same height as the pouches is an oversized loop. The small tag that came with the case showed how a ruler can be placed here which is what I use it for, but it can also keep refills snug or if you carry fountain pens with you they could be clipped on to this - although I have never done this as I am worried I would end up taking the pen cap off trying to remove it!

Towards the front of the case there is a small pouch which can be used to fit an eraser and sharpener and other small things such as page markers.

This is a great case especially for students as it can fit lots of pens and other things you need.

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Thanks so much for the review Shabana!  If anyone else is interested in doing a guest post on The Pen Addict feel free to send me an email using the link on the sidebar.

Giveaway: JetPens Back to School Pack

Last week it was the big Doane Paper giveaway, and this week JetPens enters the fray with a neat back to school package for one lucky winner.  One person will take home all of the following:

(1) Metaphys Rin Index Film Sticker - Black - Pack of 25 X 6 Sheets
(1) Kum PenPass Pen-Style Compass - Black + 2 Lead Refills
(1) Stad T'Gaal 5-Point-Adjustment Multi Wooden Pencil Sharpener - Pink
(1) Tombow New Ippo Kids-Friendly Pencil Set - Pack of 12 (color TBD)   

This should load down your pencil case quite nicely for the school year!  A couple of these items were used for the product photos you will find on their respective product pages so they may not be in their original packaging, but they are new nonetheless.

Like the Doane Paper giveaway from last week, this giveaway is limited to US residents only.  Don't worry my foreign friends - you know I'll take care of you.  Here are the rules:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Friday, August 13th.  The winner will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

4. This giveaway is limited to U.S. Residents only.

Be sure to check out all of the great items at JetPens.com, and you can follow the JetPens gang on Twitter and on Facebook.

Thanks again to JetPens for making this possible!

Review: Uni-Ball Signo MF2

Have I reviewed the Uni-Ball Signo MF2 before?  You would think I might have already, but you would be wrong.  I reviewed the Uni-Ball MF3 - the three cartridge version available in Japan via JetPens - well over a year ago, but it wasn't until a recent Target run that I grabbed the MF2 model - 0.5mm black gel ink and an 0.5mm pencil - despite the fact that the MF2 had been out for nearly as long.

You would think Uni-Ball would market a pen as cool as this a little better, but Target is the only store in my town that carries it.  Not Staples, not Office Depot, and not Wal-Mart.  Maybe it doesn't hit that core office products user in the sweet spot, but it sure is a nice pen, and especially great for students during this back to school time of year.  My favorite thing about this pen is its simplicity.  The barrel is no frills - it is a nice translucent smokey black plastic with a smooth rubber grip.  To eject either the pen or the pencil, you just flip the pen clip into the proper position, and that is really it.  Just a quick back and forth to change it up.

The gel ink Signo writes great.  The black gel ink is solid, and lays down a clean line.  It is comparable to the Signo 207 Micro in performance, which is a good thing.  The pencil does a great job as well, and the eraser is quick and easy to get to on the end of the barrel.

So why aren't these types of multi pen setups more prevalent in the States?  It is really hard to find a non-ballpoint multi pen on store shelves, and I for one would love it if they became more of an everyday option.

Click here for the XL review.