Rhodia R Premium Notepad Review

It is well known that Rhodia is my favorite fountain pen friendly paper. I primarily use the Rhodia DotPad in the medium and large sizes, and they have proven to be very consistent and receptive to various inks as seen in my many fountain pen ink reviews.

The DotPad and other similar 80 g paper Rhodia products are the standard you find at stores and online, but they branched out into the premium paper market a couple of years ago with the Rhodia R Premium line. JetPens has started to stock this line and I got my hands on one to review.

Being as familiar with Rhodia's traditional offerings as I am, I noticed several differences immediately upon opening the package. First off, the cover has a different feel to it. Most Rhodia products have a glossy coated cover, while the R uses what they call a "Soft Touch" coated cover. It has a satin-like feel and the black cover attracts fingerprints like a mother. Not a big deal unless you are eating a cheeseburger and throwing your pad around like a frisbee at the same time, but I thought I would point it out since my fingerprints were the first mark on this pad, not ink from a pen.

Cover issues aside, the paper is obviously the star here. Despite being only 70 sheets, the 90 g ivory-toned paper was noticeable heavier and denser than its 80 g counterparts, as it should be. "Soft Touch" should be used to describe the paper instead of the cover because that was my reaction when first feeling it. Calling it smooth would be selling it short. I'm not sure I've felt anything like this before.

That smoothness carried over to every pen I tested, from the widest nib fountain pen to the finest ballpoint. All performed flawlessly. If there is one hangup it is the ink dry time. I thought my DotPads took a while - the R is extreme. Fountain pen ink glistens on the surface for quite some time, so lefties beware. Despite that, there was no feathering, bleed, or show through to the back of the page to speak of, which is an impressive feat.

So what would make the R by Rhodia my go-to fountain pen pad over the DotPad? White paper for starters. It used to not bother me so much with traditional pens but now that I am into fountain pen inks I find that it skews the colors too much for my liking. Secondly, add a grid or dot grid option. Lined and blank are my two least favorite and least used paper options. Rhodia makes great grid paper - why not mix one in?

Overall, this is fantastic paper. It is priced at a premium compared to the standard line, and the premium features are noticeable. Will it surpass the DotPad as my number one fountain pen paper? Not right now, but if any changes get implemented in the future I will be taking another look.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Pilot Fude-Makase Color Brush Pen - Extra Fine - Orange Review

Over the past few years, it has become clear to me that there is almost no firm brush pen I won’t buy, even though the flexibility of a brush doesn’t really suit my ham-fisted hard-pressing writing style. When JetPens got the Pilot Fude-Makase Extra-Fine Brush Pen back in stock (as of this writing, they might be out again - they sell out fast!) I snapped up one in orange and one in pink to test them out.

I’ve only picked up a few softer broader brushes in my day, as I know full well those won’t suit my style. If that’s what you’re after, this definitely isn’t your pen of choice. It is much thinner and firmer than, say, one of Pilot’s Pocket Brush pens. The size and flexibility are somewhat similar to the Kuratake CocoIro Super Fine refills, but I’ve had always had problems with those pens having only two settings: too firm or too mushy. So, I was hoping that the Pilot Extra Fine would make for a good every day writer.

I suspect if you have a much lighter writing touch, you’ll love this pen. The brush doesn’t yield much, but you can definitely control line width easy while writing. I think I just write both too fast and too firm, so it ends up either just looking like boring old bullet-point marker strokes or I press too hard and end up mushing the brush rather than letting it glide across the paper.

Honestly, at the price point (around $3 if you can find them in stock), it is a pen that is worth taking a chance on, even if your writing style isn’t really brush pen-friendly. It comes in a wide variety of colors and, even if it doesn’t make your handwriting look stellar, makes for a nice pop of brightness when writing.

Pentel Sharp Drafting Pencil - 0.5 mm - Carbon Black Review

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Pentel Sharp Drafting Pencil. It is the first quality mechanical pencil I remember using, and was ubiquitous in offices around the world for decades. Remember the time when you had access to decent quality office supplies at work? Me neither.

Pentel has done a nice job of keeping the brand alive, releasing a metallic plastic body last year and the Carbon Black plastic body this year. It actually took me several months to get this one from JetPens because it would keep selling out every time it restocked. Pentel Sharp fans love their pencils!

What has kept the Sharp so popular for all of these years is the simple but highly effective barrel design. Featuring a slight taper from around mid-barrel to the grip area, it fits the hand just right. The taper continues down through the tip section as well, giving users an unrestricted view of their work. No wonder it was so popular with architects and engineers in its heyday.

The Pentel Sharp's heyday is still here in my opinion. Sure, pencils like the Uni-ball Kuru Toga have surpassed it with technological advances, but as with other classic designs there will always be room on the desk for something this great.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)