The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 431 - May I Buy This From You?

With the click of a mouse, I landed on something unexpected: A Sailor rebrand. I wasn’t expecting to run across that this week, and I spent several minutes staring at it and taking it in. Myke and I give our thoughts on the update, break down my Sailor King of Pen review, and discuss my latest discovery … and purchase.

Show Notes & Download Links

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Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Bestseller A5 Review

I've wanted to try a Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter ever since I heard Myke pronounce it on the Pen Addict Podcast. It may be the most fun-to-say product in the stationery world, but it's also a good product. If you have one, you get all the benefits of its use, and you get to say "Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter" every day.

The notebook cover is made from recycled leather. It's very soft and supple--not the thick, firm leather used by many notebook covers. It is stitched to several layers of thick recycled wool felt that line the inside of the cover. It's a much thicker lining than I had expected. On the one hand, it's taking up space I could be using for notebooks. But it does allow for a variety of useful pockets, and it creates a nice cushion, so those pockets can be used to house things like delicate electronics.

There are two card slots and a larger pocket on the inside front, and one large pocket on the back. It fits a small e-reader, as long as it isn't too bulky. There is a thick elastic strap that is attached to the back that wraps around the front to keep the book closed. There's also a very narrow pen loop. It does not fit most pens.

The most unique thing about the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter is the notebook holding system. Instead of elastic bands, like many notebook system holders, this one has metal hooks. They are on hinges. To insert a notebook, you lift the hooks open, lay the notebook inside the cover, and bend the hooks down to hold it in place. They look a bit bulky and obstructive, but the metal is thin enough that it doesn't affect the writing surface of a page until you get to within a page or two of the hook. Once you're at that point, you can feel the hook through the pages and might have to adjust it to write smoothly until you're past that center page.

The metal hooks are lightweight, and their stems continue down the fabric spine of the notebook holder, lending structure to the soft leather. I also worried about the hinges being secure enough, but they hold things in place very well. I had a number of concerns about how well the clips would function, and the folx at Roterfaden seem to have anticipated them all and solved them ahead of time.

Right now I have it holding my school notebooks, which are a bit thicker than the Roterfaden notebooks (which I will review soon), but they fit nicely. Anything bulkier would likely not fit, in triplicate. "But, Sarah," you say, "I thought you prefer larger notebooks with tons of pages!" You're right, dear reader, I do. And I need notebook covers that are versatile enough to hold notebooks with 300-400 pages. The thing I like about these Roterfaden clips is that they don't have to go into individual notebooks. It actually fits a seven seas writer perfectly, if you put a clip inside each cover, and one in the middle. I've done the same with elastics in traveler's style notebooks, but it is a lot easier, and sturdier, with clips.

Overall, I would say this is one of my favorite notebook covers that I've used. There are other sizes and styles available, and you can even create a custom one on their website. The tricky part is, they are not inexpensive. This one sells for $155 on Jetpens. That takes the price of what I consider an expensive notebook cover and doubles it. There are things about it, though, that do explain some of the cost. These are proprietary, engineered parts, and there are a lot of patterned pieces to fit and assemble. Each of those clips has its own reinforced stitched channel along the spine, and every seam on the piece is precise and sturdy. Roterfaden also claim it will outlast me, which is a bold statement. I'm a bit skeptical on that one. I've worn out hardier notebook covers than this one in under three years. I'm going to find out, though, because I love it enough to keep using it. And I hope it does last forever, because at that price, it better.

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

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Fisher Cap-O-Matic Black EMS Edition Ballpoint Pen Review

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

In a year that's been punctuated by one atrocity after another, I can't even imagine being among the front lines of our national defenses against a pandemic. The health care industry has had a rough year, but they haven't given up. For that, they deserve our thanks and everlasting gratitude. In this particular special edition, Fisher is tipping their hat to those in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) sector. When I think of EMS, the first persona I visualize is a tireless EMT riding in the back of an ambulance with a patient, ensuring they survive the ride to the local hospital. I didn't know this before reading about this special edition pen, but EMS professionals are represented by the Thin White Line. As such, this special edition Cap-O-Matic features a single white line printed down the side of the matte black barrel. It's a minimal but striking design, and I've really enjoyed carrying it around on my (infrequent) trips outside the house.

This is my first foray into the Cap-O-Matic line, and I've been surprised by how convenient the retractable format is. Sure, it's not as small as the iconic Bullet, but it's still small enough to be pocketable and easy to stow away when not in use. When writing, it's just long enough to be comfortable and easy to control since the end of the pen rests on the area of my hand between my thumb and index finger. The included Fisher PR4 refill isn't my favorite, but it's hard to beat the ruggedness and "can-do" attitude of this refill. You can write with it anywhere, regardless of the conditions. Seems like a fitting refill for EMTs! The medium black refill tends to be anything but crisp and dark, but it makes marks on the page reliably. The trade-off of crisp, dark ink for the ability to write in wet conditions or upside down are manageable.

The clip on the Cap-O-Matic is really small but surprisingly strong. Once you clip it to something, it doesn't budge unless you pull the pen straight up in the direction of the clip. It's impressing how grippy it is, but still remains easy to slide onto a pocket or sleeve with no problems.

With any pen that features a barrel design with any sort of barrel-length lines or designs, it can be a little maddening to have these things misalign. My favorite example is the Caran d'Ache 849 fountain pen. All those lovely facets don't line up automatically! In the case of this Fisher, the thin white line aligns properly as long as you picked the right thread to start screwing the pen together. If you end up with the line on opposite sides of the pen, just unscrew it, unscrew it another half turn until you feel the cap drop onto the next thread, and then screw it back down. The line should be aligned at this point. If not, try again! This isn't a Rubik's cube puzzle, but it stumped me a couple times before I got it right.

The Fisher Cap-O-Matic EMS edition is only $17 at Goldspot (normally $25), which is a fantastic deal. This is a rugged pen with a bulletproof refill and will serve you well in any conditions.

It's also great that you can show your support for the EMS community and professionals with this pen, but I think it would be even more awesome if Fisher had some sort of charity set up to donate a portion of the profits from this pen to a worthy cause. It's cool to show support for something with branding, but money is the most universal means of showing support. If you're interested in supported EMS programs, the best way to do so is to donate to your local services. You can quickly find local chapters or programs that operate in your area, and they normally have some way of giving donations or providing other ways that you can help out and show support.

(Goldspot 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!