The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 305 - I Believe in Standards

Sakura. Image via Write Notepads.

I’m not sure why it hit me as particularly funny in this episode, but when Myke introduced episode 305, it hit me. That’s a lot of podcasts about pens! I mean, we just recently celebrated episode 300 so it’s not like I don’t know where we are. But it cracked me up this time.

Once I settled down, we talked about all of the wonderful new notebooks on the market, and wondered out loud about a pen we don’t have in our hands yet.

Show Notes & Download Links

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Nakabayashi Hikigiri Slim Scissors Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

I'm used to being picky about my scissors for fiber crafts, and if JetPens has their way, I'll soon also be picky about my scissors for paper crafts. Of course, paper scissors are a whole different animal, and there's a lot to learn. I think I'm up for it.

These Nakabayashi scissors are a great place to start. My first impression was entirely superficial--dang these are pretty scissors. And they look like serious business. They are pretty serious, in a well-thought-out, engineered sort of way.

The scissor body is stainless steel coated in titanium, so they're super strong and easy to clean. They can cut sticky tape or stickers without accumulating much residue.

The handles are resin-lined to assist in comfort. I didn't find them to be very comfortable, though. The lining is pretty hard and not very molded or substantial. Even after a short cutting session, I had the classic finger divots from the pressure of the handles. The openings are also very small. I have tiny hands, but still had some issues. Larger hands would not be able to comfortably fit two fingers through the larger opening, I suspect. It doesn't appear that a whole lot of attention was paid to making these comfortable to use.

Their engineering is entirely focused on the blade, which makes sense, as they're made in a Japanese town that is known for their knife craftsmanship. There is a double-beveled edge for extra durability, so these are great tools for cutting thicker papers and cardstock, even cardboard. The double bevel does, in theory, sacrifice some precision, but I still found them to be super precise. I had no trouble turning 3 mm grid paper into homemade confetti of perfect little squares. The real feature here is the curved upper blade, where the scissors get their name--Hikigiri, which means "cutting while pulling". Because the curved edge is longer, it pulls the paper toward you as you cut, allowing for more continuous cutting. It also slices in addition to shearing.

These cut paper really well. There's that nice crunchy feedback, and the cut edges are extremely smooth and straight. They were great with cutting lines and curves and gave excellent control even with tiny shapes. If the handles were more comfortable, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these at all. But these won't suit everyone--not lefties, and probably not folks with bigger hands or fingers. And while the blades can certainly handle everything from fine cuts to stiff card boad, cutting thicker pieces can be downright painful.

I'll definitely use these for quick cuts of plain paper and tapes and labels--great everyday use stuff. But for full-on crafting scissors, I'd say the quest for the perfect tool continues.

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

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Pilot Mogulair Mechanical Pencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

There are some truly fascinating features available in modern mechanical pencils. The features are cool, but the fascinating part is how they manage to make them work in such a small package.

The Pilot Mogulair falls into this category because it manages to fit an "Active Suspension" feature into a slim pencil along with a shake mechanism to advance the lead. All I can say is that I would have loved to have this pencil in school. It would made math homework more tolerable.

At the end of the day, it's still a pencil. Luckily, it handles that aspect with ease. This pencil is comfortable to use for jotting notes or calculations, sketching, writing, and anything else you might need a pencil for. The grip is smooth, but it has plenty of traction for your fingers. Due to all the fancy metal gizmos in the grip section of the pen, there's a nice weight to the pen that's focused in the grip/point area. This gives you more control when making careful lines, but since the rest of the pen is plastic, the overall weight is still fairly low.

The Active Suspension feature of this pen, branding aside, is superb. Basically, if you press down on the lead hard enough, the lead will retract into the protecting pipe to prevent breakage. Several other pencils offer a similar feature (we've written about the Zebra DelGuard several times), but I think the Pilot Mogulair has the smoothest action of the ones I've used. Unless you're writing at an extreme angle to the page, it's unlikely you'll break the lead. It just works!

Advancing the lead also has a fancy method on this pencil. Sure, you can advance the lead by clicking on the eraser cap, but it's more fun to shake the pencil a couple times. There's a small weight in the body of the pencil that causes the lead to advance by one click when it hits the mechanism. Again, it's not a new feature, but the Pilot Mogulair works beautifully. Just be careful not to shake too hard or you'll end up with broken lead pieces in the tube.

If you like your mechanical pencils to have a tiny eraser under the click cap, Pilot has you covered here. There's a tiny eraser located under the cap that can be used for emergencies. It's always best to carry a real eraser, but this will do in a pinch.

The cap that covers the eraser has a delightfully crisp click when you put the cap in place. I've found myself fiddling with it because the noise and feel of capping the eraser is so enjoyable. Hope I don't lose the cap...

When it's time to refill the lead, you do so by removing the eraser cap and the eraser to expose the lead reservoir hole.

The Pilot Mogulair is available in several colors and lead sizes. Ice Blue is featured in this review, and there's also Pink, Violet, White, Black, and Blue. Each of these colors is also available in 0.3mm and 0.5mm lead sizes.

Overall, the Mogulair is a great pencil with some futuristic features. The lead protection works great and the shake feature is a fun gimmick that also works as intended. At under $10, this pencil is a great deal.

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

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!