In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Explorer

Author Laura CameronPosted on 8 Comments

A few weeks ago when I was browsing JetPens, I came across a new-to-me pen, the Pilot Explorer ($25). I decided to pick one up and see what it was all about.

My Google-fu tells me that the Pilot Explorer debuted in 2019 and I’m not quite sure how I missed it. Well, I have a few guesses. My first Pilot love was actually the Pilot Metropolitan series. When I first started getting into fountain pens, the Metropolitans were in the “under $20 crowd” which meant they were easily obtainable for me. They came in a variety of fun colors, an array of nib sizes, and were lightweight and felt good in my hand. I may still have several (I can find at least 3 sitting right near me!)

So back to the Explorer. The Explorer is an odd little pen. It’s now priced in the same range as the Pilot Metropolitan (as of writing this the Explorer is $25 and the Metropolitan is $25.42 at JetPens), but it’s a plastic body. Yes, even though it looks like a metallic finish that’s all plastic baby! It comes standard with a steel nib in either Fine or Medium, and a black clip. I also think it looks a lot like the Lamy Safari or AL-Star – doesn’t it remind you of the Vibrant Pink edition?

Then pen comes with a snap cap that is postable, and a proprietary cartridge and converter. (It’s one of the squeeze-y ones so make of that what you will.) The pen is around 5″ uncapped (12.5 cm and 4.8″ to be precise) and 5.5″ capped (14cm and 5.6″). It weighs in at a cool 14g which makes it about the same as the Platinum Preppy that I reviewed a few weeks ago.

pen weight comparison chart

L to R: Platinum Preppy Maki-e, Pilot Kakuno, Pilot Explorer, Pilot Metropolitan

All of this is to say that this pen looks and feels like other pens I’ve written with. And while it is perfectly serviceable and nice enough to write with, there’s nothing in it that grabs me and makes me say “Gosh I LOVE this pen.”

Have you tried the Explorer? What do you think?

In feature

I Modded My 849s!

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
I Modded My 849s!

While in the throes of COVID, I did not have a lot of energy to write, swatch inks or even sit up straight. In the few moments of energy and coherent thought, I decided to mess around with swapping nibs.

I have loved using my Caran d’Ache 849 fountain pens but ever since the very first nib housing broke and I had to replace it, I have had issues with the actual nibs. I have two Cd’A 849s: one hot pink and one fluorescent green (my signature colors!) and have had them tuned repeatedly because the nibs were not performing properly. I was getting hard starts and weird nib scratchiness. I didn’t know what was up.

So, this weekend, after cleaning and trying to use these pens again with a great deal of frustration, I decided to see if any of the random nibs I had laying around might fit into the feed housing. At this point, I wasn’t going to make my situation any worse since the pens weren’t writing with any consistency.

I started rooting around in my junk pen drawer looking for a small, No. 5-ish sized nib. Despite the odd shape of the Cd’A nibs, they have a standard arc at the end that fits into the feed and housing so it was worth a shot. I had several Chinese pens I purchased years ago in an effort to see what they were like. And while the nibs were smooth and wrote well, the cheap plastic barrels were not particularly interesting to me so the pens never got much use except when I needed to do comparisons. Well, it turned out that the Chinese No. 5 nibs fit perfectly. I had two Dlike nibs in slightly different nib sizes that I slotted into the Cd’A housing and VOILA! no more hard starts or weird scratching, angle issues.

I think the biggest advantage that the Dlike nibs have over the Cd’A is the breather hole. I could be wrong. the Cd’A nibs might just be garbage or I may have exceeded 100K miles on both of them (I got these back in 2017). But because these two pens are my absolute everyday go-to pens for work, I didn’t want to give them up just because the nibs weren’t working for me. These pens have features that make them my prized office pens: snap caps and room for TWO standard international cartridges. They are also eye searingly bright so I know where they are at any given moment.

Ignore where I wrote “PENBBS” in the written example above. It was all a fever dream and the nibs are both Dlike!

Do you have any pens that you love but don’t love the nibs? Have you tried swapping out the nib, getting it tuned or buying a new nib? Tell me your nib stories in the comments!

In Paper Review

Paper Review: Wearingeul Swatch Notebook and Sheets

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

While I’m pretty attached to my Col-o-ring products, I do sometimes like to see what else is out there and how it compares. So when we picked up some Wearingeul Color Swatch notebooks and sheets from Vanness, I was excited to give them a try.

The Wearingeul Jacquere Impression Color Swatch Book ($9.20) is a fun A5 size spiral bound book, preprinted with ink bottle outlines and lines for writing ink manufacturers and names. The notebook has 40 pages of super smooth 200 GSM paper and 9 ink bottles per page, allowing you to swatch 360 inks in a single book.

The paper is thick enough that it has a cardstock feel, and it handles the ink beautifully. On one swatch, I added enough ink that the back of the page distorted slightly, but there was no show through on any of them. And to be clear, I was using cotton swabs so there was a lot of ink involved! Though you  may not be able to see it in the notebook, the paper is great for shading, sheening and sparkle inks. Emerald de Chivor sparkles and sheens in all its glory (see the photo in the next section!).

The second product I’m adding to this review is more or less the same, minus the spiral binding. Wearingeul Color Swatch Sheets ($6.00) come in your choice of a few bottle patterns, and each pack contains 20 sheets. The paper is the same, 200 GSM, and the same size (of course the binding doesn’t eat up that half inch or so). The loose leaf sheets are printed slightly differently and contain 10 ink bottles per page. On the loose leaf sheets I’m better able to show you how the ink sheens!

I don’t have anything different to say about these sheets, other than that I slightly prefer the notebook, just because it helps me keep them all corralled.

Just for comparison’s sake, I thought I’d show you what I use as my own spiral notebook tracking. A long time ago, I decided to turn my Col-o-ring Oversize ($15.00) into a swatch notebook. So I sat down and organized by inks by color, and started pages in my Oversize for each color range. I haven’t updated it in a while, and it’s not as neat or fun as ink bottles, but it does show me at a glance all the different shades I have in my collection. The paper is quite different – it’s toothier and possibly not quite as thick, but I’m a fan.

Overall, I really like the Wearingeul products and, while I’m not likely to switch to them because I’ve already started my own swatch notebook, I think these sheets or notebooks would be a fun addition to your supplies.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Slo-vid Edition

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Slo-vid Edition

Thanks to everyone who has sent us well-wishes and kind words — and a little ribbing too. Bob and I both managed to go three years without catching Covid-19 and then we both went down this week.

I’m in the “draggin’ a**” phase of Covid-19. I am so exhausted right now. Every activity requires a minimum of 30 minutes of recuperation. Dishes? Then 30 minute rest. Making lunch? Another 30 minutes to an hour of resting. You get the idea. But I’m not suffering from many of the cold and flu symptoms that plagued me over the last few weeks when I “just had a cold” so there is a bit of a bright side.

Hopefully, by next week, we’ll both be back on our feet.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In photo

Yarn & Ink: Delightfully Springy

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

This week I’m working on a fun new chicken for The City Girl Farm, so it’s time for another ink + yarn palette.

This yarn is mostly natural (white) with hints of tons of other colors. There’s a bright carrot orange, a pretty pea green, an orangey-red, and an aqua to name just a few.

My ink palette includes:

In Pencil Review

Pencil Review: Uni Kuru Toga 0.5 mm Mechanical Pencil – Kiki’s Delivery Service

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Pencil Review: Uni Kuru Toga 0.5 mm Mechanical Pencil – Kiki’s Delivery Service

Want to know how to get me to buy anything? Stick Totoro or Kiki on it. I grew up on Miyazaki films and was never able to find any swag or toys with the characters when I was a kid. Peanuts, Disney Princesses and such were everywhere but never any Catbus, dust sprites or Jiji the cat. So, now as an adult with access to “disposable income,” I enjoy feeding my inner child the occasional treat.

The most recent limited edition Kurutoga Studio Ghibili Mechanical Pencils ($14 each) were a must-buy for me. I had to choose between the Totoro, Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service designs but who was I kidding? A pink barrel with Jiji printing on it was always going to be the winner.

Kurutoga pencils are popular for the self-turning lead function. Everytime you lift up the lead rotates slightly. I am a compulsive pencil turner because I did not grow up with this self-turning feature so I am not sure I really notice the advantage of this. Especially with the thin 0.5mm leads, I am not sure how beneficial self-turning mechanical leads are.

As a lefty, I still smear what I draw when I use standard graphite lead. I know there are some less-smeary options available but for this review I used the lead that shipped with the pencil. It was nice and dark and reasonably soft but that, of course, meant it would also be easy to smudge.

There is a teeny tiny eraser under the cap on the end of the pencil but I prefer to use a nice block eraser when I use one but its always nice to have something to use in a pinch.

If you like inner-child-inspiring graphics on your mechanical pencil, I can’t recommend this more highly. I get a wave of delight every time I pull this pencil out of my daily carry case. I know folks love the Kurutoga self-rotating ability but this feature is lost on me. If you prefer a more understated mechanical pencil with the self-rotating option, other 0.5mm (or even 0.3mm) options are available starting at $5.50.