My thanks to Cult Pens for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week. Be sure to take advantage of their 10% off promotion for Pen Addict readers through October 27th!
Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen 0.1 mm Review
A few years ago I reviewed the Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen in the 0.4 mm tip size. I enjoyed the build quality of the pen but the 0.4 mm tip size spews ink. Not in a terrible mess kind of way, but it goes on heavy. Great for artists, not so good for my writing style.
With all the praise this pen gets and my love for drawing-style pens I knew I had to pick up a smaller size. I went as small as they make (0.1 mm) and my writing is much better off for it.
The Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen has three main features. One, the ink is archival, which most other pens in this category have. Two, it has a metal encased nib to help with tip durability, which a few of its competitors have. And three, Rotring's Free-ink technology makes the ink flow consistently down to the last drop, which no one has that I am aware of.
While feature one is great, and three is nice to have, I'm a fan of anything that makes fiber and plastic tips more durable, especially when dealing with 0.1mm tips. It usually doesn't take long for drawing pen tips to show some sort of breakdown but this one has help up well so far. More use will be needed to see if any real issues pop up but it is tracking nicely at this point.
Ink darkness is important to me too, and the Rotring fares well there. On its own, I thought for sure the Tikky would be the darkest ink I would test, but to my surprise the Sakura Pigma Micron took that title. I've always felt the Micron was lighter than others so this comes as a surprise. I did use the 03 Micron so the line was wider but I don't think it affected the darkness. My favorite Kuretake Zig Mangaka falls in the middle of the range.
Overall, I can see why this is a popular drawing pen. It is more expensive than many ($3.60 at JetPens) but it offers added features that make up for some of that cost. If you are in the market for a durable, dark drawing pen then the Rotring Tikky is worth a look.
(JetPens is a sponsor of The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)
Doane Paper Utility Notebook Small Color 6 Pack Giveaway
I love it when Chad Doane creates new products. Not only do I get to add them to my ever growing arsenal of DP goods, but he is quick to hook up the readers of The Pen Addict as well.
The Utility Notebook Small Color 6 Pack is the latest Doane Paper release, featuring one each of navy, sky blue, rover green, crimson, autumn and primer gray color covers. Each 3.5” x 5.5” memo book contains 48 pages of Doane’s famous Grid + Lines paper and are made in the USA.
Chad is offering up THREE 6-packs to readers. Here is how to enter:
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 limited to US residents only.
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.
The contest winners will be posted on Sunday, October 19th. The winners will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.
Thanks to Chad Doane and Doane Paper for offering up these notebooks. Good luck!
