Ink Links

– Very Tiny Pencils (Pencil Talk)

– Ohto NBP - 507R Promecha Ballpoint Pen, Blue (Multi Pen Dimensions)

– Retro 51 Hex-O-Matic Ballpoint (Economy Pens)

– New Colors for 2012 (I Like Markers)

– Chronodex Integrated with GTD, A5 Pages on A4 Paper (Scription)

– Pilot G6 - Is Bigger Better? (Office Supply Geek)

– Kaweco Liliput Al Fountain Pen -€“ Fine Nib - Black Body (No Pen Intended)

– JetPens FTW! (Filofax Fixation)

– Pentel Fiesta 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil (A Penchant for Paper)

– Review: Uni-ball Vision Liquid Ink Roller Ball Pen - Fine, Black (Gourmet Pens)

– All My BICs (My Supply Room)

– Kaweco Sport, Chess Print (Leigh Reyes)

– Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen -€“ The Awesome Review (Fountain Pen Geeks)

– Family Portrait (Cronicas Estilograficas)

– Welcome to 2012 (Whatever)

– The Right Pen (Uppercase)

– Ohto Pieni Stripe Needle-Point Ballpoint Pen (From the Pen Cup)

– Carezza Triple Pen Sleeve from Levenger (Pocket Blonde)

– One Minute Reviews: Lego Star Wars Connect and Build Pens (Does This Pen Write?)

– Pilot FriXion Ball .5 Black (Economy Pens)

– White Ink Comparison (Keep on Truckin’)

– The Graf Von Faber-Castell 2011 Pen Of The Year (Tools & Toys)

– The Best Use For A Moleskine Notebook Yet! (Fountain Pen Geeks)

– Choose your weapons or "€œPutting the lead back into your pencil" (Diablo Texas)

– Pilot Parallel pens (Urban Sketchers Singapore)

– Update about a fountain pen (iHanna’s Blog)

– The Editing Pen Side-by-Side Comparison (Rhonda Eudaly)

– Black Barrel Post-it it Flag + Highlighter & Pen via AMAZON Locker (Pen and Paper Hoarder)

– Review: Levenger Bomber Jacket Unifier (Note Booker, Esq.)

– Tattoo Artistry (Tommy Kane)

– Starting Out The New Year With A Clean Sweep (Inkophile)

– Graffiti Pen Art Zen (Core77)

– Pencils - mechanical vs. wooden (Recording Thoughts)

– The Most Popular Reviews of 2011 (Office Supply Geek)

– Zebra F-701 Hack - Zebra Surari Refill (Pensandmore)

– Easily distracted (Owly Words)

– Drawing (Drawing with a Squirrel)

Pilot Explorer Extra Fine Black Review

Raise your hand if you remember this pen.

I certainly do, as it was one of my favorites growing up. The Pilot Explorer has a very unique design, especially for a pen whose heyday was back in the 80’s and 90’s. To a youngster like me, it looked like it was from outer space. The best part about the Exlplorer though was how it wrote. I remember fine, crisp black lines, unlike the majority of the pens on the market at that time. So how does it hold up today?

It hasn’t skipped a beat.

Seth from Good Pens was kind enough to send me one from a stash he found at a stationery store in Europe. He has been on a mission for a while to find a good source for the Explorer, but has run into dead end after dead end.

From all appearances, the Explorer has been discontinued. You can find some strays available from various online office supply stores, but more often than not they are out of stock. I have looked through every Pilot Pen foreign site to no avail. I have even emailed the store in Denmark where Seth found them and got no response.

So, Pilot Pen, if you are listening - where can we get these pens?

The Explorer is as good as many of the pens that Pilot has on the market today. They write similarly to the Pilot VBall RT Extra Fine, which is very popular. I loved using one again and I think on nostalgia alone this pen would sell very well.

Please bring back the Pilot Explorer!

Tombow Olno Body Knock Pencil Review

You have to hand it to Japanese designers. The Uni-ball Kuru Toga was a game changing pencil design with its auto lead rotation mechanism. Decades of uneven pencil leads were whisked away in one fell swoop! The Tomobow Olno Body Knock isn’t going to change the pencil game as much as the Kuru Toga did, but with novel pencil design a rarity these days this is an interesting option.

The word Olno is a play on the Japanese word “oru” which means to fold or bend. The Olno Body Knock has a unique design mechanism that allows you to extend the lead by simply bending the body of the pencil. Admittedly, just reading those words it doesn’t seem that great or interesting. In practice though it works flawlessly and will change the way you want to advance lead.

No matter which orientation you hold the pencil at you can advance the lead with a bump of your hand. You don’t even have to move your fingers from the writing position. The small bit of leverage you can create from your grip against the cusp of your hand is all you need.

For traditionalists, there is still a top knock button to push if you prefer. The eraser is found underneath the knock, and is the one weak point of the pencil. It has to be removed from the barrel to be used, but is so small it is difficult to handle. You will want a stand alone eraser handy if you are using the Olno regularly.

It is difficult for a pencil to leave a lasting impression on me, but the Tombow Olno Body Knock is a fun and functional choice. Be sure to check out Brian’s review at Office Supply Geek for another look at this great pencil.