The Pen Addict Podcast, Episode 407: A Pen With an Instruction Set

I love talking about new products, especially when it involves prototypes, and fresh releases. I have the Retro 51 Celebration sample in hand, as well as the latest release from Kanilea Pen Co., the bright red Kona Cherry. Myke and I discuss those, and then revisit my very first podcast appearance ever!

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Pen Chalet: Click the ‘podcast’ link at the top of the website and enter the password ‘penaddict’ for this week’s special offer, and to get your code for 10% off.

Harry's: Quality shaving and grooming products, at a fair price.

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Podcast.

Dingbats A5 Wildlife Blue Whale Notebook 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 latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Earth day is this week! I feel that makes it an excellent time to feature a sustainable maker of stationery goods, and I'm totally falling for this Dingbats notebook.

The Dingbats company carries some impressive environmental credentials, including the Mark of the Forest Stewardship Council. They are entirely green and vegan and recyclable, and their website has several fancy environmental certificates. This makes my heart happy, as I often feel the weight of my notebook consumption weighing on my shoulders.

A lot of times, when I go for an eco-friendly notebook, I'm sacrificing some other preferred quality. Usually that is the paper. I don't find many fountain pen friendly notebooks that are also green. Well, now I have. In fact, this paper is more than just friendly--it's phenomenal. According to their site, they are the oldest established paper company in Lebanon. This paper is 100gsm silk cream, acid-free, and fsc-certified. I'm not even sure what all of that means, but I can tell you that the performance is excellent. I tried a whole cup full of pens, and it handles everything. There was some show-through with a sharpie, but it wasn't even a full bleed-through. There was no feathering, and it showed shading nicely. This is dreamy paper to have in any notebook.

Each of the 96 sheets is micro-perforated. They're sturdy enough as pages, but can be cleanly removed where needed. This notebook comes with either 7mm lines, 5mm dot grid, 5mm grid, or blank. The over is vegan leather, with a satisfying pebble texture to it. The book is called the Blue Whale, but it has what looks more like a dolphin debossed in the center of the cover. It has an elastic closure.

Inside, there is a name page with a decorated endpaper--this one with tiny adorable fishies. At the back is a generously expanding pocket. There is a single ribbon bookmark (other of their designs have a double). There is also an elastic pen holder. It's narrow, but expands enough to hold a big pen.

It does not have an index page or page numbers, but since the pages are removable, that makes sense. Overall, this is a well-made, and responsibly-made notebook. They have a number of cute designs, with elephants, tigers, deer, hippos, ducks, kangaroos...and an ecosystem series with some beautiful silhouettes. There are quite a few that catch my eye.

They are not inexpensive at $19.95, but I don't think they are at all overpriced. For the quality, build, number of pages, and features, I think that is a very fair price. And their commitment to the environment is priceless.

Happy Earth day!

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

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Posted on April 23, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Dingbats, Notebook Reviews.

Kaweco Skyline Sport Fox Fountain Pen Review

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

If you've been a stationery fan for very long, you've likely already tried your hand at a Kaweco or two. The Classic Sport is a fantastic beginners pen for carrying around or using at your desk thanks to the small closed length and normal open length. Kaweco also keeps the line fresh by introducing new colors every year. The latest Kaweco to cross my desk is the Skyline Sport Fountain Pen in the Fox color way.

The Skyline is an interesting vein of the Sport line because it includes more trendy colors paired with silver metal accents. On this Fox version, the silver finial and Kaweco branding on the cap pop nicely against the burnt orange plastic. The silver nib also pairs nicely with the orange in this model. And, just like any other Classic Sport, the size is just right. When capped, it's just over four inches. This makes it easy to store in a bag or even a pocket. With the cap posted on the back of the pen, it's over five inches long, which is perfectly comfortable to write with.

The nib also adds to the writing comfort when the cap is posted. The steel nib included with the pen is more than adequate for a pen of this size and price range, but you can easily swap it out for a different Kaweco nib unit. This makes it endlessly customizable so you can easily swap out a nib unit with your favorite pen body.

The EF nib in the model I received wasn't perfect out of the box. It required some tine straightening and suffered from baby's bottom. After straightening the tines and buffing the nib a few times, it writes like a dream. The EF nib produces a fine, crisp line with plenty of ink flow and a smooth feel. I've really enjoyed writing with it, and the adjustments didn't take long at all. I've long wished that Kaweco's quality control would improve, but at least the nib was usable and easy to correct in this case!

If you want to make the pen more secure in storage or transit, you can opt for a small pocket clip attachment. This makes the pen a lot more secure when stowed in your pocket or bag. And for the price, it's hard to pass it up.

The included Kaweco Royal Blue cartridge is passable, but you can also use any short international cartridge you want with this pen. Cartridge converters aren't really available (at least the type that work well), so I'd recommend only using cartridges.

At $25, the Kaweco Skyline is a great deal for a great pen. There are some fantastic colors available and a wide range of nib sizes, which are also easy to switch out. If you've never tried a Kaweco before, there isn't a better place to start that the Sport model!

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

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