PenBBS 309 Piston Filler in Mojito: A 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.)

A few weeks ago, I reviewed my first PenBBS: model 350 in silver with a rollerball adapter. I was so impressed with that pen that I decided to visit the PenBBS store on Etsy. I wound up buying two pens. The one I’m reviewing this week is model 309, which is a piston filler.

The pen comes in a nice magnetic closure black box. It’s really a rather nice presentation box for a pen priced under $25.00.

I chose the Mojito color because I don’t own many green pens and I liked the happy, spring-like color. I inked it with L’Artisan Pastellier Vert Moyen (Irish Green), which makes for an excellent match.

This pen is simple, but quite striking. The transparent green acrylic allows you to see the piston mechanism, the ink level, and the nib clearly.

The finials on the cap and barrel are cone-shaped, which gives the pen a more unique look--it’s neither a rounded cigar nor a flat top.

The cap has a stainless steel clip and a large cap ring engraved with “PenBBS” and the model number with the logo in between.

What makes this pen especially nice is the fact that it is a piston filler. It holds a good amount of ink (I’d say around 2-3ml), the piston operates very smoothly and fills the pen to capacity.

PenBBS pens come only in fine and sometimes medium widths. This pen has a fine steel nib with scrollwork that enhances the look of the nib. It writes smooth and wet, especially for a fine nib. I’ve encountered absolutely no issues with it--no hard starts, no skipping, no blobbing. As I mentioned in my other review, PenBBS nibs have an upturned point which makes them look a little bit like fude nibs.

The pen is small, but it’s not pocket sized. Capped it is 5.7 inches/145mm, uncapped 5.2inches/131mm, and 6.3 inches/160mm posted. It’s definitely post-able, but the cap is heavy enough to make it a bit unwieldy posted.

I’ve been using this pen for several weeks, and I remain impressed. The pen is very comfortable in the hand and is excellent for lengthy writing sessions. Even when it’s been unused for a few days, it starts right up. Although I usually like to write with broader nibs, this nib is so smooth and carefree, I plan to use it as one of my grading pens. Green is an excellent color for marking papers--it’s so much less threatening than red.

The only concern I have about this PenBBS model is its longevity. Will it keep working well for years to come? Or will the piston eventually get stuck or the acrylic crack? I’ve read that the pen is easy to take apart, so if the piston does get stuck, it should be easy to remedy. I am interested to see how well this pen holds up over time. For now, this pen is definitely a keeper.

You can purchase the PenBBS 309 directly from the Etsy store. When I checked today, only two Mojitos were left in stock, but there are plenty of other colors in this model from which to choose. At $22.99 (prices vary depending on the color of acrylic you choose) plus shipping, this is an absolute steal. And shipping from Japan is incredibly fast.

(I purchased this pen with my own funds.)

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Posted on June 21, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under PenBBS, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Quo Vadis Life Journal Infinite 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. And check out her first novel, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, now available where books are sold!)

Is there some secret system of planner that unlocks your productivity? I've heard enough people say 'yes' that I continue to have hope for myself. Certainly no one system works for everyone, so it stands to reason that we should probably try them all, just to be sure.

I used to obsessively bullet journal. Not just the basic system, but the whole kit--stencils, stickers, color-coded weather and habit trackers, counters... Basically, I had more planner than plans. I enjoyed it! It was a hobby. A very, very time-consuming hobby. As life has gotten busier, my system has devolved into a chaotic flurry of scratch paper and post-its that I'll scrape out of the bottom of my backpack, hopefully in time to do the thing written on said scrap. From one extreme to the other! And neither has really worked well.

I know I need structure, to keep the chaos at bay. But I know I need some freedom, because my life is far from routine. And, like anyone cracking open a brand new planner, I'm hoping this one will be the one.

The Quo Vadis Life Journal Infinite is a well-structured but undated journal-style planner. It borrows some of the Bullet Journal philosophy, with a dedicated index, numbered pages, an abundance of note-taking pages, and predetermined list space. It's just enough structure to serve as a guide and reminder about what's important to track, but all of the labels and headers are blank, so you can customize it in a way that works for you. The blank dates let you start any day of the year--perfect for those of us abandoning other planners in search of new solutions.

There are pages for a yearly overview, then a month spread, then each week is spread across two pages. The monthly pages have a grid for tracking and the weekly pages have a place for to-do lists or reminders. Each month also has note pages in a handy dot-grid.

I was intimidated at first. I don't like opening a planner and seeing instructions. But the instruction pages here are truly unnecessary (and I wish they had been on a removable insert instead of being bound into the book). It's not a complicated book. And the lack of labels helps open up some possibilities, too. Don't need a yearly spread? You could write goals on those, instead.

Regardless of whether or not the system works, the book is well made. It has Clairefontaine French-milled paper that can handle anything except alcohol markers. Even my gushiest fountain pen barely shows through at all. All of the interior design is done in a lovely, calming, unobtrusive grey. It has 224 pages, which is a lot for a weekly planner. Nearly half this book is open for note taking. I think that would make it a great candidate for a work planner, where meeting notes can be kept handy nearby the to-do lists such meetings tend to generate.

The cover is black faux leather. There's an elastic closure band, an expanding pocket in the back, and a ribbon bookmark. A planner like this really should have at least two ribbons, in my opinion, but that's why the stationery gods created a plethora of cute page markers. I don't usually like hardcover planners--I want something lightweight, if I'm going to carry it around everywhere. And the cover branding on this one isn't as subtle as I'd like. But all these are small trade-offs if the system itself works.

It is June, now, if you hadn't noticed. Almost the solstice. Which means almost July. It's possible you have already abandoned the idealist planner you optimistically selected last winter. If so, the chaos has probably already set in. But it's not too late to wrangle back some control over the latter half of the year. If this looks like it might help, you can get one for around $25, which is a very decent price for such a sturdy compilation of abundant great paper.

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

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Posted on June 20, 2019 by Sarah Read and filed under Quo Vadis, Planner Reviews.

Uni Kuru Toga Roulette 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.)

It's been a while since we gave the Kuru Toga some love around here, but that's going to change with the Roulette. This pencil has been around for quite some time, but it can be easy to overlook given the sheer number of mechanical pencil options that exist today. What sets the Roulette apart from the regular Kuru Toga, you ask? Knurling.

As opposed to the all-plastic construction of the regular Kuru Toga, the Roulette has a metal section with knurled grip. It's a nice feature, and definitely improves the writing experience of the pencil. At just a few bucks more than the regular Kuru Toga, it's a great upgrade. The knurled grip adds a lot of stability when holding the pencil, and the cool metal feels better in the hand compared to the plastic grip of the regular Kuru Toga.

Underneath the metal exterior is the namesake of this pencil — the lead rotation mechanism that made the Kuru Toga famous. As you write, the lead rotates a millimeter every time you lift the lead off the paper. This ingenious design means you are always writing with perfectly rounded lead instead of ending up with sharp angled edges. With most pencils, you're probably used to rotating the pencil a bit once one side of the lead gets too dull. That creates a sharp contrast to the small edge that the fresh lead creates. With the Kuru Toga mechanism, you can enjoy a consistent line width since it's constantly rotating as you write.

This feature isn't a gimmick, either. It works flawlessly. The only case in which this lead rotation action doesn't work well is if you're making long, continuous strokes with the pencil instead of writing. It's not a good drafting pencil, but it's great for writing notes, doing math homework, and keeping handy around the house.

Even though the knurled metal grip adds a touch of class to this pencil, there were some compromises made in order to keep the price low. Aside from the grip, the rest of the pencil is made of plastic and painted to mimic metal. They actually did a great job with this effect, as it can be difficult to pick out the plastic bits, but it's really obvious once you pick it up and start handling it. Even though this is a compromise, they've executed it very well, and it also keeps the cost down so the pencil is very accessible.

The clip on the pencil is removable and is very strong. Once you clip this pencil to something, it's not going to come loose on accident. As with most mechanical pencils, there's also a tiny eraser under the click cap, which is also where you can add more lead.

Speaking of lead, this pencil is only available in the 0.5mm variety, which is a bit disappointing. I'd love to see some 0.3mm and 0.7mm options as well. You can find those sizes in the regular model of Kuru Toga, so I'm a bit perplexed by the omission in this premium line. Aside from the silver featured here, you can also pick up a gun metallic variant.

As an added bonus, the grip section features a small round window that shows the internal lead rotation mechanism as it rotates round and round. If you hold the pencil just right, you can see the rotation as you write.

I've always been a big fan of the Kuru Toga because of how well it works. What sounds like a gimmick is actually a great feature that Uni executed perfectly. The addition of the metal knurled grip is fantastic, drawing comparisons to much more expensive pencils and improving the grip dramatically. At just under $12, these pencils are affordable and provide an excellent value. Definitely worth having one in your arsenal!

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

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