Under Wraps

While my wrist is under wraps for the next few weeks I'm going to explore a few new ideas during what is normally my Monday review time slot.

Today, we make a mess.

Over the past week I've missed using my stationery immensely. I didn't touch a pen until Friday, and only then to see how bad my lefty handwriting was. It was passable, and could certainly do in a pinch. But my new, shorter, cast freed up my fingers enough to grip way back on any pen or pencil, which was even better.

But I'm still not comfortable working on a proper product review for my normal Monday time slot. It feels too weird to do it differently than I have done for almost 13 years. So this Monday, and the next several Mondays, I'm going to talk about whatever pops into my head. Luckily, that usually involves stationery in some shape or fashion.

Going almost a week without pens had me wanting to swim in the stuff this weekend. Sunday afternoon provided a great opportunity, with windows-open weather, and the Masters in the background. I went around the house and gathered up all the things I've been wanting to use and piled them up on my dinner table. Yes, I thought. Back to normal.

I went through my inked fountain pens to make sure they haven't dried out from inactivity (one had, but it was more due to the fact it had almost been written dry,) and cracked open some new uni-ball products sent to me by their new US offshoot.

I grabbed my bills (I got a bit behind), and my books, and made sure to grab my creative journal to play around with. There was a bag of pencils, a sharpener, a bunch of washi tape, and a notebook, or two.

And I just played around. How were the new uni-ball Vision 0.38 mm pens? Surprisingly good. Can I use scissors with my right hand? Yes, quite well in fact. Is a wooden pencil the best writing instrument for me right now? It sure seems that way.

Softer and darker cores are better for me right now, I've discovered. My grip pressure is lighter, and further away from the page, so a pencil like the Blackwing MMX works well, when normally it isn't a consideration.

I used that pencil to copy one of my early favorite poems from my first Billy Collins book. Well, to start copying, because I could feel my arm pressure begin to tighten up inside my normally loose cast. Too much stress for today. Oh well. My wife probably won't appreciate the cast marks on the edge of the table either. Nobody tell her, ok?

I'm writing this post in the Ulysses app on my phone, where I have also taken and edited these average photos. I've been typing with my left hand on my phone a lot. It's more comfortable than my laptop sometimes, and Myke shared with me the amazing swipe to type feature, which I didn't know was built in to the iOS keyboard already. Oops.

I still need, and love, all of the digital hardware and software that allows me to do my job, but dang if this mess on this table on a random November afternoon didn't put a smile on my face.

Time to go play some more.

Misfill, Bizness Edition

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:

— Show Your Work: Bizness of Zines (Comfortable Shoes Studio)

— rOtring Initial (dapprman)

— Inky Pursuits, November 2020. (Fountain pen blog)

— The super-slim tm2 from Gazing Far (UK fountain pens)

— The Stationer Work Book Review. (The Finer Point)

— Van Dieman’s Diamonds are a Girl’s BFF on Rhodia (Inkcredible Colours)

— Video-Review: Galen Leather Flap Pen Case (for 3 pens) (Scrively)

— Ink Review #355: Kala Nostalgia Gemstone Moonstone (Fountain Pen Pharmacist)

— Extra Prima (Lexikaliker)

— Railway Arch Venues (Punk Girl Diaries)

— Posters That Changed the World, From Anti-Slavery Campaigns to Vaccination Efforts (Hyperallergic)

— Notebook Review: Leuchtturm 1917 Some Lines a Day (The Well-Appointed Desk)

— Sara Lautman (Uses This)

— Handwriting with a TWSBI Diamond 580 Rose Gold II Fountain Pen with an Extra-Fine Nib (Gourmet Pens)

— Pen Family Armando Simoni Club Bologna Extra Blue Lucens Fountain Pen Review (SBREBrown)

— Taccia Ukiyo-e artist inks – Hiroshige and Utamaro (Fountain Pen Ink Art)

— Bonecrusher Studios Cigar Fountain Pen in Jonathan Brooks' Fire Agate Resin (Write Experience)

— Dwight Garner Shares From His Stash of Other Writers’ Words (The New York Times)

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

Pineider Avatar UR Demo Fountain Pen in Amber: 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.)

The Pineider Avatar Fountain Pen is made of a new material called "UltraResin" (thus the UR in the title). According to the pamphlet included with the pen, UltraResin is a mother of pearl compound resin that is resistant to breaks, oil, ink, variations in temperature, and UV rays. The company compares it to celluloid, stating that it has all the features of celluloid without the problems, such as crystallization and susceptibility to heat.

The pen comes in a classic-looking cardboard box, which contains the pen, the pamphlet, and instructions.

The Avatar is 3D engineered so that it can be assembled without any glue. Trims are palladium plated, including the bottom tip.

The clip is designed to resemble a quill and is spring loaded.

The cap band is engraved with the Pineider name and the skyline of Florence, Italy.

Using a sealed magnet, the cap locks securely merely by placing it onto the barrel--no twisting or fiddling necessary.

A converter is included with the pen. It has the Pineider logo on it and an ink level gauge as well.

Measuring 5.79 in/147mm (capped), 5.24 in/133mm (uncapped), and 6.46 in/164mm posted, the Avatar is a medium-sized pen. It is rather heavy at 30 grams (capped/posted) and 17.8 grams uncapped/unposted. The cap posts securely but makes the pen unbalanced in the hand. I liked the weight and balance of the pen unposted.

For comfort, the grip is covered in rubber, which does make it easy to hold while writing. However, ink somehow seeped beneath the rubber grip and stained it. Pineider's website states that the grip can be replaced easily, but I have no idea how to remove it.

I'm quite confused about the nib. The pamphlet included with the pen states that the nib is a "large N6 Demi Flex." However, both the Pineider website and Goldspot identify it only as a steel nib. It has a futuristic look to it with the Pineider name engraved decoratively on both sides of the nib.

If this is supposed to be a "Demi Flex" or "Semi Flex" nib, it certainly does not live up to the name. There's absolutely no give to it at all. I tried applying some pressure to produce line variation and this is what resulted:

Otherwise, the fine nib writes smoothly, even though the tines are a bit misaligned.

I used Bungubox Sweet Potato Yellow to create my writing samples. The ink flowed well, and the writing experience was pleasant. However, the cap apparently doesn't seal completely, because after leaving the pen unused, I experienced hard starts--actually no starts. I had to force ink down into the nib unit in order to begin writing again. Other than that problem, I experienced no skipping, scratchiness, or other issues.

The Pineider Avatar is a beautifully designed pen. You can really appreciate the engineering that went into it when you examine it closely. The palladium plated accents complement the pen, and I particularly like the easy on and off cap.

Although the rubber grip offers a soft and stable surface for your fingers, the fact that ink can get underneath and stain it is disappointing. I'm not particularly fond of the ink level measurement on the converter and don't see why it's necessary at all, especially with a demonstrator pen.

I haven't tried dropping the pen to see if it lives up to its "almost unbreakable" description, but the UltraResin material does seem substantial in the hand. That said, the company's claim that UltraResin is comparable to celluloid isn't convincing, at least for the demo models. The opaque models (in various colors) look a bit more like celluloid.

You can purchase the Pineider Avatar UR in Amber for $157.95 from Goldspot.

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

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