Uni Mitsubishi 9000 Pencil 3H Review

I would hesitate to call 2015 the year of the pencil for me personally, but dang if I'm not finding myself using them more and more. I have received several sampler packs from the Erasable crew, and of course JetPens keeps bringing in some of the top brands from Japan like this Uni Mitsubishi 9000.

The 9000 is a standard issue wood case pencil with a range of ten different lead grades. I branched out a bit for this review, choosing the 3H instead of a normal middle grade. I hadn't used a lead this hard yet so I was interested to see what it is all about.

My tendencies lead me to firmer, finer pens so my tastes in pencils should be about the same, right? It seems to be that way because this 3H is fantastic. The worry with harder lead grades is that the lines are much lighter, but with the 9000 I found it to be completely acceptable. In fact, it's right on the money. My lines were sharp, consistent, and easily dark enough to read.

When used side by side with more mid-range lead grades like HB it is clearly lighter, but not as much as I thought it would be. And when you add in the slick green paint job and the phrase "Made By Elaborate Process" stamped into the barrel, there is a lot to like about this pencil. The only hangup for some may be the lack of eraser, but this is my preferred style.

At some point I will put together a Top 5 wood case pencil list, and the 9000 will get consideration for the back end of the list. The Tombow Mono and Blackwing 602 are my go to pencils still but I am keeping this Uni on the radar.

(JetPens provided this product to The Pen Addict at no charge for review purposes.)

Three Questions With Elizabeth From No Pen Intended

Elizabeth is an OG pen reviewer. She has been killing it for years at No Pen Intended where she reviews it all. Maybe by posting this today I can talk her into showing up at the Atlanta Pen Show next weekend? My thanks to Elizabeth for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

Pens and paper are an essential part of both my identity and my ability to function. I probably spend as much time deciding what pen(s) and notebook(s) to take with me as normal people spend deciding what outfit to wear. I write to think. I write to plan, and to remember. I even write to problem solve, from time management itineraries to budgets to the rare occasions that I have to attempt to do a little computer programming (it's nice being able to write out my thoughts and note my points of confusion without being constantly judged by little debugger pop-up boxes). I write for work, for my own mental health, and sometimes just because I want to look at some pretty ink on the page.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

For all-purpose note-taking, thinking-writing, and any other reasons I have to expend ink, I love my Leuchtturm 1917 medium ruled notebook. It has the best balance between drying time and ability to handle fountain pen ink. I'm really into my new Nock Lookout for pen carry, but it's a challenge choosing only 3 pens. Favorite pen(s) is a category always in flux. Right now, I'm using my new Lamy Wild Rubin with 14K F nib, and my Lamy 2000 with the broad stub nib I ground when I was feeling crazy for many, many consecutive and non-consecutive hours upon hours. I'm also perpetually in love with my 8-oz. KeepCup for my morning cappuccino, and my 16-oz. Tervis tumbler for drinking inordinate amounts of tea throughout the day.

3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?

This question was the most difficult to answer. All my posts are about equal in terms of the quality and effort I put into them. I went back through all my posts to see if any one in particular stood out, whether it be the pictures, the drawings, the tone of my writing, and I ended up with a short list of about 10 posts that I really enjoyed...which is still several too many to be an answer to this question. I'm not necessarily most proud of any particular one post, but my Uni-ball Jetstream 0.5mm ballpoint review is pretty good, for a really great and accessible pen. And I link back to it just about every chance I get, since I love the Jetstream so much.

Diamine Sargasso Sea Ink Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Diamine Sargasso Sea is a rich, blue ink named after a region in the Atlantic Ocean. Known as the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, the region is defined by the ocean currents that surround it rather than by land boundaries. The sea is covered with patches of seaweed called Sargassum. The seaweed is bright orange, but the sea itself is a deep, tropical blue. (Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

This ink is well named. It is a highly saturated blue, evocative of the deep sea at dusk. It flows well, and, as with most Diamine inks, exhibits no negative characteristics. It works well in both wide and fine nibs, though, as always, you will get more shading with wider nibs. I didn't get any bleed through in spite of the ink's rich color.

I've been using this ink in a Pelikan M600 with an italic nib, a Platinum 3776 with a fine nib, and a Conway Stewart with a medium flex nib. I like it in all three pens. It is such a striking color that it's enjoyable to use for journaling, grading, and correspondence.

Because the ink is so saturated, it is difficult to see much shading unless you look closely. My macro lens also revealed some sheen to the ink.

The ink takes some time to dry fully on the Rhodia paper I used for my handwritten review. I've not had any problems with it smudging or being too wet in my Tomoe River journal.

I really love this ink's rich, blue color. I'm usually a fan of blue-black inks, but there's something about Sargasso Sea that delights me. A comparison with other blue inks is below.

You can purchase Diamine Sargasso Sea in two sizes at JetPens: 30ml ($7.00) or 80ml ($14.50).