Baron Fig Squire Giveaway

When the Baron Fig Squire launched on Kickstarter I wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was no doubt I was backing it, but my expectations were metered until I had it in my hands. When that day arrived (on schedule even!) I was thrilled with the final result. The Squire is a wonderfully designed pen with a great feel and balance when writing.

They have been on pre-order up until this point, but as of this morning, they are in stock and available. To coincide with he launch, the Baron Fig team is giving away one Squire in the charcoal finish to a reader of The Pen Addict. Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Friday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and international residents.
2. For this contest, I will pick one winner 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 number of the winner.
3. The contest winner will be posted on Saturday, May 21st. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

My thanks to the team at Baron Fig for offering up this great pen for giveaway. Good luck!

Bung Box Ink And Platinum Pens At Vanness Pens (Sponsor)

Hard to find fountain pen inks are easy to buy from Vanness Pens. From P.W. Akkerman , to Bung Box , to KWZ Standard and Iron Gall inks they have you covered. Not only do they carry full bottles of each of these brands and more, they offer large 4 ml ink samples so you can try several fills of an ink before committing to a full bottle. This is especially helpful with some of the high end inks like Bung Box.

What does Vanness Pens do with all of those empty ink bottles they have around the shop? They sell them with a wonderful added bonus: Free engraving. These make for a great desk display or refill bottle for other inks.

Vanness Pens isn't just an ink shop, they carry all the big pen brands, including a recently expanded Platinum fountain pen lineup. With nibs ranging from the narrow Ultra Extra Fine to the wide Music, Platinum nibs perform as well or better than any on the market. And at Vanness, all Platinum Pens are listed at 20% off suggested retail.

Whether it is pens, inks, or even custom engraving, Vanness Pens has you covered. My thanks to them for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week.

Lihit Lab Teffa Bag In Bag Review

I’m on the road more than ever these days, and having my essential gear organized and ready to roll when I am is important. My go bag is the Doane Paper + Topo Designs Mountain Briefcase, and within it lives the A4 sized Lihit Lab Teffa Bag In Bag.

I’ve used the A5 sized Bag In Bag off and on for a couple of years, but it never stuck full time. It’s an odd size related to the things I regularly carry, so it has ended up being an accessories bag more often than not. The A4 Bag In Bag, on the other hand, is a perfect match for my needs.

I didn’t realize this until I saw more than one person using this setup at the Atlanta Pen Show. In one instance it was a standard stationery bag, containing various pens and paper to use and share. In another instance, it was specifically built as a portable letter writing kit, with loose paper, envelopes, postcards, stamps, washi tape, etc. Seeing both of these as stand-alone bags as well as slotting into other messenger bags and backpacks piqued my interest.

I bounce between A4 and A5 sized notebooks frequently, and of course I like having my smaller pocket notebooks handy as well. The beauty of the Bag In Bag is it can hold all three, plus I can toss in my 13” laptop, iPad, or Kindle to give myself everything I need to work remotely. It is perfect when I want to head to a coffee shop and write reviews for example.

If I am doing that, I’ll just grab the Bag In Bag and head out. When I drive to Nock during the week, it slides perfectly into my Mountain Briefcase where I keep a few more items that need to head to the shop with me.

I’ve beat around my A5 sized Bag In Bag a good bit and it has held up well. Both the A4 and A5 size have a zipper around three of the four sides of the bag, allowing it to open fully along one of the long sides. This is good when you want to lay everything out and close it up, but not so great when trying to keep smaller items organized. I think that is why I prefer the A4 because I am only putting large items in the middle. Small items fall out of my A5 frequently.

As much as I like and use mine, there are a couple of minor nitpicks. First, the pen slots are tight and short. I have a hard time getting anything in them other than a standard width pen. The Copic Multiliner SP maxed out the pocket, and you can see in the pictures where the pocket is too short for it to clip. It is a tight fit, so I don’t expect it go go anywhere, but a deeper pocket would be nice. Secondly, the zippers are rough. I get stops and starts around the corners, and rough sliding in other areas. I can get past them most of the time, but a smoother track would help.

Those are minor issues in the grand scheme of what is a functional product. It is priced fairly too, with the A5 model selling for $14.50 and the A4 model for $21.00.

If you are need more organization for your daily carry, the Lihit Lab Bag In Bag is worth a look. If you want to see one filled to maximum capacity, be sure to check out the review by artist Nick Folz. That’s how you do it!

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

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