Caran d’Ache 849 + Line Friends BT21 Edition Giveaway

Swiss brand Caran d’Ache has been involved in some wonderful collaborations over the years, and this latest 849 Line Friends BT21 model is one of the most interesting yet.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know who the BT21 characters are - I didn’t when I first saw this pen. But it all made sense once it was explained to me. BTS) are a Korean Pop band, and one of the most popular bands in the world. So popular, in fact, that Line, the widely-used messaging app, created a cartoon group for their Line Friends brand specifically for the band, named BT21.

Make sense?

Regardless of if you have any idea of this, this is an awesome looking pen, and I have one to give away to readers of The Pen Addict. Read the rules below, and enter away!

Caran d’Ache 849 + Line Friends BT21 Edition Giveaway

Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Carmen Fountain Pen Ink Review

Let’s get one thing cleared up real quick: Choosing a demonstrator barrel fountain pen may not have been the choice for this review. As you will soon find out, Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Carmen is a pretty darn good ink, but I must admit that “Liquid Rust” or “Damp Tang” are suitable monikers for how it appears in this pen.

The odd color is actually there for a reason. Rohrer & Klingner sketchINKs are pigmented inks, and they tend to have a more cloudy appearance than their standard fountain pen ink friends. That’s a feature if you are looking for a waterproof, lightfast, and quick dry ink for general writing, journaling, and artwork.

I skipped over these when they first launched, thinking why do I need an ink with all of these additional features that I traditionally don’t care about? Well, I still don’t need to draw with ink pens over a layer of sketchINK, or wash over them with a watercolor brush, but others do, and maybe they would like to explore a little.

And, as it turns out, sketchINKs are pretty good general writing inks, too.

I chose a Pilot Prera with a CM (Calligraphy Medium) nib for this review, which is Pilot’s cursive/stub hybrid nib that checks in around 1.0 mm wide. While Carmen, and other sketchINKs are designed to work well with any nib width due to their ink flow, I wanted to see what character was in this shade.

The orange-yellow color is bright, and exhibits a decent amount of shading that I was surprised to get. The ink flow is fantastic, as advertised, and the dry time is average to above-average on Rhodia paper. I also did a quick test on Field Notes stock paper to see how it would perform, and it wasn’t good at all. Bleeding and feathering galore, which is the expectation from a pigment ink on this paper. Other lighter, thinner, absorbent papers will perform similarly.

The only downside to pigment inks are that you need to ramp up your pen cleaning program. JetPens recommends cleaning your pigment inked pens every four to six weeks, or if you don’t plan on using them for more than a week. They tend to clog up when not being used, but the actually cleaning part is easy and normal if you keep up with it.

Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK comes in 10 different shades, and I have picked up Frieda to test out as well, but with an extra fine nib. At $12 for a 50 ml bottle that decision was simple. For more on how sketchINKs work in more artistic situations, take a look at this great review from Parka Blogs.

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

---

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!

Misfill, Retractable Edition

The Pilot Capless LS - Coming in 2020

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

— Retractable 2020 (Crónicas Estilográficas)

— Namiki Nippon Art Mount Fuji and Ship (dapprman)

— IT’S TOGI TIME – The Battle of the Blades, Part 1 (Fountain PenArchy)

— uni LIMEX (Lexikaliker)

— 2019 In Review (Looped Square)

— Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) Fountain Pens 2019 (SBREBrown)

— Pelikan M405 Dark Blue, M405 14K Extra Fine, inked with Kyo No Oto No.05 aonibi (TooManyPelikans)

— 2019 contest and 2020 wishes (Bleistift)

— Ink Review #1011: Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi (Mountain of Ink)

— 4AD Designer Vaughan Oliver Dies at 62 (Hi-Fructose Magazine)

— Omas Dama Arco Bronze (Flex & Other Follies)

— Golden Glow & Shimmer Fountain Pen Ink Fun with Dip Nibs (Gourmet Pens)

— Why time management is ruining our lives (The Guardian)

— Curated colors in context. (Happy Hues)

— Pencil Review: Staedtler Noris (HB) (Polar Pencil Pusher)

— New Offerings from Musgrave: Tennessee Red and Harvest Professional (the weekly pencil)

— Five Themes for 2020 and a New Decade, and Introducing TGS Patreon (The Gentleman Stationer)

— The Recent Otherworldly Work of Hideyuki Katsumata (Hi-Fructose Magazine)

— The Endless Recorder Notebook Review (The Poor Penman)

— A Visual Introduction to Kintsugi, the Japanese Art of Repairing Broken Pottery and Finding Beauty in Imperfection (Open Culture)

— Notebook Hack (Attempt): Moleskine + Stillman & Birn (Notebook Stories)

Want to catch the rest, plus extra articles, reviews, commentary, discounts, and more? Try out a Pen Addict Membership for only $5 per month!