The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 586 - Only 19,996 to Go

Spoke Pen Click Prototype.

Would you watch me click a pen 20,000 times? I get a kick thinking about that. Heck, I get a kick out of a lot of things stationery related. That’s why we keep showing up! Myke and I talk business this week, and then tackle a pen kit thought experiment. Tag me if you play along!

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.

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Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen 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 her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

One of the things we love about fountain pens is that they can hold a wee tank full of our favorite ink and continuously feed it to a smooth nib. Dip pens give a similar nib experience, but without the ink tank hooked up to it. Instead, you dip the nib into a bottle of ink before writing on the page. It sounds inconvenient--having to stop writing all the time to re-dip! And with some dip nibs, it can be an issue. Leave it to Pilot to make one that just rocks.

The Pilot Iro-Utsushi is a simple design. It's a hollow, lightweight plastic body with a plain metal nib at the end. That's it, that's the pen! Uncomplicated. No feed, no moving parts, just a writey stick. The body comes in several color options, this one is a smokey, clear grey. The body tapers steeply toward the end, and it has a fairly plain grip section. There are a few textured lines along the length of the grip to help with slipping, but they're so smooth I'm not sure they do much. The pen is so light, though, that it doesn't need a fancy grip section. Balance and control aren't issues.

The nib can be either fine or medium. The one I tested is a fine nib. If you've written with a Pilot Metropolitan pen, the writing experience is similar. Which is to say, it's good. The nib is smooth and has perfect ink control. It's not too wet, but never feels dry. It isn't flexible at all, but it creates a nice, consistent line.

The most noticeable feature of this dip pen is that it writes for aaaaages on a single dip. I got 70 words on a single dip--about a third of a page. Two dips per page? That's hardly an interruption at all. And I could scribble vigorously across more than an entire line of a page before a single dip ran out. Despite holding a useful amount of ink, the nib never dripped. There was no mess, no fuss--just a pleasant writing experience.

The only issue I had with the pen at all is that I wish it had a roll stop of some kind. Because it has no real cap, just a rubber sleeve covering the nib, it tends to roll around whenever it is set down. Other than that, this is a great dip pen. It is currently priced at $11, which is a little higher than I thought it would be. The Pilot Varsity is only $3.20, and it has ink in it! It's a fair price compared to fancier dip pens, though, and it would be perfect for ink testing. Or just writing anything--the dipping is rare enough that it doesn't slow things down. It feels old-timey. Like I'm writing some kind of love letter or a constitution, not a grocery list. I dig it.

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

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Troublemaker Tablea Fountain Pen Ink Review

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

It was just a few months ago that I had the pleasure of using my first ink from Troublemaker Inks out of the Philippines. Autumn Rain Gray is a shimmering ink with dark character, but the latest ink I'm trying is part of their standard line of inks. Tablea is a deep brown ink with plenty of shading and zero shimmer.

Brown inks are never at the top of my list of things to try or rotate into my active pens. That said, I can definitely appreciate a nice brown ink if it has some character. In my mind, that character can be achieved with shading. With Tablea, there's plenty of shading to be had, and you don't even need a really large nib to coax it out.

With a lot of dark inks, seeing the shading effects can be difficult with smaller nibs. Given the dark color of the ink, you have to spread it drastically to allow the shading to pop through. Tablea is just light enough to allow the lovely shading to come through with even a German fine nib. It comes out even easier with the 1.1mm stub I used for the photos of this review. Given the great shading effect of this ink, it's definitely a brown that I'll keep around and recommend.

Apart from the shading, this ink is pretty standard. The flow is good, but it feels a tad dry on the nib when writing. This isn't a flow issue at all — more of a lubrication item due to the unique formula of this particular ink. At any rate, it's not severe enough to be unpleasant. It only took a few seconds of writing to adjust to the feel.

The ink does really well on paper. The lines are crisp and defined, and there aren't any bleeding or feathering issues that I've noticed on the different papers I've tried. Show through on the back of the page is on par with what I'd expect with a dark ink, but not overly noticeable. The back of the page is still usable.

The one area where this ink is a little disappointing is the dry time. In my unscientific testing, the ink took between 35 to 45 seconds to dry to a point where it didn't smudge when I ran a finger of it. Look out lefties — this probably won't work well for you unless you really like all your writing to be smudged and on your hand. Regardless of your writing style, you still have to be careful about handling the paper or notebook after writing to avoid smudging or transferring the ink before it's fully dried.

Tablea is a rich, beautiful medium brown ink that fits in well with this season of changing leaves and cooler weather. You can pick up a bottle for $16.50 or a 4ml sample for $4 from Vanness. I'm not often in the mood for a dark brown ink, but this is definitely on the top of my list for when that mood strikes. Give it a try if it looks interesting to you!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount 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!