Image via JetPens
There is no shortage of awesome carry goods on the market, and Mark’s Togakure Multi Organizers look like another great option for carrying SO MANY THINGS! Just look at all the pockets it has. I’m giving one of these away this week, so read the rules below and get to entering!
(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
The Rhodia Goalbook is a soft, leatherette-covered notebook designed primarily for bullet journaling. The book has two ribbon bookmarks and a built in envelope pocket on the back cover.
It has six table of contents pages, which is quite ample. I really love this feature whether you use the book for goal planning, journaling, or general writing.
A vertical calendar (perpetual) follows the table of contents pages with six months on two facing pages and the other six months on the next two facing pages.
Next are monthly pages divided horizontally into three months per page.
The remainder of the notebook is comprised of 224 dot-grid pages with page numbers printed in the bottom corner.
Since I don’t use the bullet journal method, I decided to use my Rhodia Goalbook as a Commonplace Book. A Commonplace Book is simply a notebook used to compile notes, quotations, and other information you want to keep. I’m primarily using mine to keep track of what I’m reading along with quotations and other snippets of information I find relevant or interesting.
I’m using the vertical calendar to keep track of when I start and finish reading a book.
In the monthly section, I list all the books (or short stories) I’ve read that month along with my rating for most of them.
I set aside the first few pages of the notebook to test different inks and nib sizes to see how well the paper holds up. There’s a bit of show through, but no bleed through.
In the remainder of the book, I’ve been writing out selections from the books I’ve been reading along with some quotations and other material, such as the theme song to one of my favorite television series, The Expanse. Cool fact: did you know that the title song is in Norwegian (apparently not grammatically correct Norwegian, but still)?
You can see that next to the book quotations I’ve identified major themes. I plan to index these at the end of my notebook.
I also wrote a summary paragraph describing what I thought of the book.
I think the Rhodia Goalbook works well as a Commonplace Book since it already has a table of contents and enumerated pages. Obviously, it would also be perfect for bullet journaling.
Rhodia’s cream-colored Premium "R" 90 g paper paper is smooth and very fountain pen friendly. The dot-grid pattern makes it easy to write either vertically or horizontally, and of course you can use the dots to make check boxes if you’re bullet journaling. The two ribbons are handy so that you can bookmark two sections of the journal for easy reference.
You can purchase the Rhodia Goalbook from JetPens for $24.95. The Goalbooks come in a wide array of colors: sapphire, iris, purple, black, chocolate, turquoise, yellow, anise, silver, tangerine, orange, taupe, beige, lilac, poppy, and raspberry. I think it’s another terrific offering from Rhodia.
(Exaclair provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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(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.)
Parker is undoubtedly one of the great legacy penmakers, so it makes sense that they should have their own entry-level fountain pen. The Vector has been around for a long time, and some fresh new colors have brought it back into the spotlight. It's fun and inexpensive and functional--but I don't think it stands up very well against its competitors. There are a lot of good quality affordable fountain pens, now. We're in a golden age of pens and it's easy to be spoiled for choice.
The Vector is a slim, lightweight fountain pen with a plastic body and metal accents. The grip section and bottom cap where the pen posts are a brushed gunmetal color, and the clip is chrome in the shape of the classic Parker arrow. The grip section is long and slim. The nib is plain stainless steel over a smooth feed.
My first thought, when I lifted the pen from its box, was, "Is this a disposable fountain pen?" That's not a good sign, probably, because, no--it's not. But the plastic it's made of feels like it is. Maybe it's the snap cap with a lack of cap band, but it reminds me a bit of a Crayola marker. It feels like it's not meant to last. For a $12 pen I'm not expecting an heirloom, of course, but it wasn't a good first impression.
The $12 price tag is a little misleading, as well, because the pen doesn't come with a converter. That's a separate $9.25. So, $21.25 is closer to the real cost. When compared with other beginner pens that come with converters, this feels like it's priced a bit high for this quality.
The writing experience hasn't been very impressive, either. It does write, and the Parker blue ink it comes with is beautiful and well behaved, but I'd want to buy a bottle and put it in a different pen. The nib isn't too scratchy, but I had some drying issues and the feed seemed to struggle to keep the flow going when writing for longer periods. The grip section is also uncomfortable. It isn't shaped at all and it's slick, so I was constantly having to readjust my grip. The plastic edge where the body meets the section is also quite sharp. There's no smoothing or band there, so it's just raw plastic.
All told, there isn't much about this pen that would move me to recommend it, even for a beginner. The Pilot Metropolitan is ultimately less expensive and much better quality. Parker makes some really fantastic fountain pens, but this one doesn't seem to fit the brand. Perhaps my expectations are playing a role in my disappointment here, but I don't see myself reaching for this pen.
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!
