Ink Links

-- On My Desk: Field Notes Drink Local Edition (The Newsprint)

-- Review: Conceptum Notebook (Notebook Stories)

-- Fabriano Cioccolato ink review and Giveaway (Palimpsest)

-- The Lyra Temagraph and the Eisen 480 (Bleistift)

-- Review: Pilot Plumix 1.1mm (The Well-Appointed Desk)

-- Diamine Grey ink review (Peninkcillin)

-- Erasable: The Pencil Podcast (Pencil Revolution)

-- Whats your workhorse? In praise of plodders… (A fool with a pen)

-- Review: The BaronFig Confidant Notebook - Dot Grid (Gourmet Pens)

-- Paperscreen Four/Five Pocket Notebook – Review (Ed Jelley)

-- Caran d'Ache Ballpoint with Rolex Branding (economy pens)

-- A Bad Reputation and Too Many Pens (Mere Blather)

-- Bullet Journal notebook changeover (Plannerisms)

-- Lamy Dialog 3 Fountain Pen – Fine Nib – Black Body (No Pen Intended)

-- The Bolt from Karas Kustoms - Copper Edition (The Clicky Post)

-- Looking for a few good pens (That One Pen)

-- Pilot Custom 845 Aourushi 青漆 (2014) (KMPN)

-- Hobonichi Techo is my new favorite notebook (Unclutterer)

-- Louis Vuitton Doc or Cuir Fountain Pen Review (Write to Me Often)

-- Trolling For Hate: Bad Justifications and Buying Cheap Stuff (Everyday Commentary)

-- Kaweco Sport Rollerball Review (OfficeSupplyGeek.)

-- Ink Review: Caran d’Ache Chromatics Vibrant Green (The Pen Habit)

-- Dudek Modern Goods Custom "Groove" Review (The Writing Arsenal)

-- Retro 51 Tornado Lincoln Copper Fountain Pen Review (THE UNROYAL WARRANT)

-- The Koh-I-Noor Triograph: The Sharpie of pencils (Woodclinched)

-- Entry Level Pencil: The rotring 300, 0.3 mm Drafting Pencil (Pens And Pencils)

Tombow Mono 100 Wooden Pencil Giveaway

I think this wooden pencil thing just might stick this time around. If it is sticking with me, I am going to stick it with you too. Time to be enabled!

The Tombow Mono 100 is considered by some to be the best wooden pencil on the market. I've tried them, and while I am too inexperienced to make that same claim I will say they are awesome. And I am going to share the awesomeness with three readers who will each take home a dozen of these pencils in their choice of one of the 17 different lead grades!

Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Saturday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and International readers.

2. For this contest, I will pick three winners 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 numbers of the winners.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Sunday, March 16th. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

Thanks and good luck!

Zebra R-301 Review

The Zebra R-301 is a metal (mostly) rollerball pen that didn't show up on my radar until I was idly browsing JetPens when I should have been working. I can't lie – this happens more than once a week. I haven't really been interested in rollerballs since I'm really happy with my Retro 51 Tornados, but I wouldn't refuse a new player with a nice design.

Now, the Zebra doesn't really compare to the Retro 51s in quality, but they're also around 15% of the price of a Retro 51. There's a lot to love about this pen, so let's jump in!

Look and feel

The Zebra R-301 doesn't look like a cheap pen in my opinion. The stainless steel give it a great shine and feel. Unfortunately, the stainless steel only covers parts the barrel and cap. The grip section is made of a textured plastic that I imagine creates a great divide in opinion.

Upon first looking at the pen, I was displeased by the grip because its diameter is smaller than the body and cap. It just looks odd. But then I started writing and let that little detail go. I enjoy the grip, and if you're a fan of other Zebra pens that have a similar plastic textured grip, you'll probably like this one just fine. It's the kind of design that fosters a "love it or hate it" response.

The pen is fairly light, so long sessions aren't a problem. The cap secures tightly when the pen is closed, but it tends to wobble a bit when posted. Not a huge issue for me, but this will annoy others. If it were just a fraction of a millimeter tight, it would be perfect.

The cartridge on this pen is a good size. It's much longer and wider than an international short cartridge. It pops in with no trouble, and I was able to start writing in seconds.

Writing performance

Now, on to the important part. This pen feels amazing when writing. It glides across all sorts of paper like smooth glass on silk. It's on par with the Retro 51 Schmidt refill. The ink is very dark and bold – something that I love in a black ink.

That said, it's a very wet writer. Zebra claims it's a 0.7mm tip, but the wet ink lays down a wider line. There are absolutely no feed problems with this pen. Ink is always plentiful.

For being such a wet writer, it dries extremely quickly. I did a couple of tests and found that the ink would no longer smudge after 2 or 3 seconds. That's impressive!

On the downside, the ink seems to feather on every paper I tried. Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Apica, or cheap notebook paper – they all suffered from noticeable feathering.

Things to note

There are a couple of things to note about the cartridges for this pen. For one, they're proprietary. I didn't look for very long, but I wasn't able to find any satisfactory replacements for this pen. I've thought about trying to refill the cartridge with a syringe, but I don't know if a fountain pen ink would work properly with this pen. Who knows? At this price, I wouldn't be upset if it ruined the pen.

Ah, the price. At JetPens, the Zebra R-301 is currently priced at $3.20. The pen comes with two cartridges. A set of two cartridges (no pen) is priced at $2.30. That's only a $0.90 difference. I guess the pen is worth a lot less than the cartridges. Personally, I wouldn't mind if they made the entire pen out of stainless steel and bumped the price up a bit. That would be an excellent EDC pen.

Overall

Despite the issues that I found with this pen, it's actually real joy to use. It's a great rollerball with great flow, bold ink, and durable body. And at this price, it's easy to try.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)