New Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen Review

Almost exactly three years ago, I reviewed the original Pilot Petit1 fountain pen. Needless to say, I was not a fan at that time, but I have learned a lot of things since then. First and foremost, Moleskine paper is not fountain pen friendly. I alluded to that fact in the original review, but never followed up on different paper - until now.

The new line of the popular Pilot Petit series just recently came out, and included the traditional Petit1 fountain pen, but also added the Petit2 marker pen, and Petit3 brush pen. I went with the Petit1 first because I wanted to give it another shot, and this time on some good paper!

Doane Paper has been my go to paper for years, and the Pilot Petit1 works like a champ on it. I chose blue black ink to test first (why is it that I think all fountain pens are supposed to have blue black ink?), and with its fine nib the Petit1 performed impressively, and I might even say flawlessly.

I got very clean and sharp lines on the Doane Paper. The ink dried into the page quickly, and while there was some show through on the back of the page, there was no bleeding through to the next page behind it. I also tested it on a Rhodia Dot Pad, and it performed superbly as well. The ink doesn't soak into the fibers of the Rhodia as much, so the line is finer, but doesn't dry as quickly.

Pilot has done a great job reintroducing the Petit line, making it fun and affordable for everyone to try out refillable fountain pens, marker pens, and brush pens. I can't wait to see more reviews on these.

Products used:

Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen - White Body - $3.00 from JetPens

Pilot Petit Pen Refill Cartridge Blue Black - $2.25 from JetPens

Doane Paper Writing Pad - $10.95/3-pack from Doane Paper

#OnePenOneDay TUL Gel Ink Pen

There was a conversation recently around what is the best store brand pen. My rankings look like this:

1. TUL Gel Ink Pen from Office Max

That's it. That is the extent of my list.

Even though I haven't been using it recently, the TUL stacks up with some of the best gel ink pens, and some would even argue that they are better than the Uni-Ball Signo 207 and Pilot G-2. You won't get much argument from me.

In the #OnePenOneDay challenge, this needle tip TUL performed flawlessly all day long, providing a smooth, clean writing experience, and pitch black ink.

Review: J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

When I first saw J. Herbin's Ambre de Birmanie fountain pen ink, I thought this would be perfect for taking on a vacation to the Mediterranean.  Can't you just see Italian villas and Spanish castles in this shade?

 

 Here I am in the wet, green, cloudy Pacific Northwest, but in the end I'm still finding this color very useful and really  a joy to work with.  It implies a sunny day even if it's not literal...

It's dark enough in a fountain pen to work well for line drawings...

You can use it in a brush pen to add mid-tone.

Brush it over some fountain pen inks and it will make mud... but over others it makes magic.

This ink is great in fountain pen or brush pen. I see the most potential for use in sketching, but if your pen lays down a nice dense line, it's beautiful for writing as well.