Whiskers & Paws: October 2014 Edition

Giveaway at @VintageGntlmn @FountainPenDay @JetPens

The Gentleman Stationer is giving way a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen with a fine nib, with JetPens. This is in celebration of Fountain Pen Day on Friday, November 7th, 2014! Click here for details!

Review: @Kaweco Sepia/Caramel Brown Ink @JetPens

A warm thank you to Sebastian for sending this ink for review - warm because this ink is so warm and delicious. LOOK AT IT. Like caramel apple pie juice. Don't even argue. You know exactly what I mean. (With cinnamon).

 

ABOUT

Color: Brown
Bottle: 30 ml
Price: $17.50USD
Price/ml: $0.58/ml
Where to buy: JetPens

PROS

• Gorgeous, warm caramel brown.
• Beautiful shading.
• Good flow.
• Some water resistance.
• Ink really shines in wet/broad nibs.

CONS

• Looks gross when it gets wet.
• I think it's a bit boring in an extra-fine nib.
• Expensive.

OVERALL

Oh my, caramel brown. I was so eager to try this colour because I was dying to see what colour Kaweco thought "caramel brown" was. I think they nailed it. It's a warm, rich brown that looks creamy. I love it. It's a well-behaved ink, though pricy. If you don't burn through ink like crazy, and you are seeking a nice brown, do give this one a go. It's really quite lovely in a wet nib.

I received this ink free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion.

Giveaway at @JetPens

JetPens is giving away a Maruman Zuan Series Sketch Book Sketch Pad - B5 - 50 Sheets and a Marvy Le Pen Marker Pen - Fine Point - Black. Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends November 5, 2014 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Click here for details!

Giveaway Round Up @JetPens @NoPenIntended

JetPens is giving away some goodies for Halloween! You could win: a set of Platinum Smart Touch Gloves for Smartphones and Touch Screens - Black & Gray, two Pilot G-2 Gel Ink Pens - 0.7 mm - Black, a Pilot Dr. Grip Full Black Dual Layer Grip Shaker Mechanical Pencil - 0.5 mm - Black Accents, a Pentel Stein Enhanced Silica Pencil Lead - 0.5 mm - HB, and a Nomadic PE-08 Easy Classification Pencil Case - Yellow. Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends October 31st, 2014 at 11:59 pm Pacific. Click here for details!

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JetPens is also giving away a Lihit Lab Teffa Bag in Bag - Size A4 - Black, a Kokuyo Campus Design Notebook - A4 - 3 mm Graph - Black, a Rhodia DotPad Notepad - Black - 5 mm Dot Grid, a Maruman Mnemosyne Light Notebook - A4 - 5 mm X 5 mm Graph, a Kutsuwa Stad Ruler Set - Black, a Retro 51 Hex-O-Matic Mechanical Pencil - 0.7 mm - Black, a Pentel Ain Clic Knock Triangular Eraser with Clip, and a Red, Blue, and Black Uni Pi:s Double-Sided Markers. Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends October 29th, 2014 at 11:59 pm PST. Click here for details!

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No Pen Intended is having a giveaway to celebrate 200 posts! Enter to win a huge amount of goodies! Giveaway ends Wednesday, December 24th 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time. This awesome giveaway is OPEN WORLDWIDE. Click here for details!

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Kickstarter: Twist Bullet Pencil Home Stretch!

Fifty hours to go on the Twist Bullet Pencil Kickstarter campaign! If you haven't backed it yet, check it out ASAP before you miss your chance! Early Birds are gone, but there are other packages and the straight up goods still available, of course. I...Ireallywantthem.

Giveaway at @JetPens

JetPens is having a Rhodia giveaway! You could win a lot of Rhodia:

• Rhodia Meeting Book 90 - Black - A4+ - Lined
• Rhodia R Premium Note Pad No. 18 - 70 Sheets - Blank
• Rhodia Reverse Book - Black - 80 Sheets - Graph
• Rhodia Clic Bloc Mouse Pad/Note Pad - 30 Sheets
• Rhodia Webnotebook - Dot Grid - Black
• Rhodia DotPad Notepad - Black - 80 Sheets - Dot Grid
• Rhodia Pad No. 11 - Orange - Graph
• Rhodia Pad No. 10 - Black - Lined

Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends November 5th, 2014 at 11:59 pm PST. Click here for details!

Wordless Wednesday

Giveaway at @Neatography

Neatography is giving away three prizes to mark the 13th curation of paper good packages at Neatography!Here's what you can win:

• Paper Goods package (October)
• Cards & Stamps subscription (two months)
• one black Leuchtturm 1917 hard cover notebook (large) with grid ruling and a set of five Zebra Sarasa Push Clip 0.5 gel pens

Giveaway is open worldwide, and ends Wednesday, October 29 at 11:59 EDT, so get your entries in ASAP. Click here for details!

Review: Marlen Aleph Pearly Grey LE Fountain Pen - Steel Flex @MarlenItalia @couronneducomte

The Marlen Aleph is a fountain pen made from a colalboration between Aleph and Fountainpen.it, and it is particularly unique because it has a flexible steel nib!

ABOUT

Body Material: Resin
Trim: Metal
Length (capped): 144.9 mm/5.70"
Length (uncapped nib-end): 135.8 mm/5.34"
Length (posted): 155.87 mm/7.12"
Barrel Diameter: 12.6 mm - 14.0 mm/0.50" - 0.53"
Section Diameter: 10.4 mm - 11.8 mm/0.41" - 0.46"
Nib material: Steel
Weight: 30.9 g
Fill type: Piston-filler.
Price: €160,00
Where to buy: La Couronne du Comte

PACKAGING

The Aleph arrived with very interesting packaging - the pen was nestled in a recycled cardboard paper bed, in a paper box that has Marlen's information on it, along with the Aleph logo. The box says 100% eco friendly, and it looks like it's made from recycled materials, which I really like. All the packaging is recyclable, which I really like, so there is little waste. Way to go, Marlen.

APPEARANCE

The Aleph is a large, beautiful fountain pen. The ends are flat and fairly blunt. The finial has the Marlen logo on it, and it matches the pen well, being simple and tasteful. The barrel is a pearlescent grey resin and has no bells and whistles on it, which adds to its beauty, in my opinion. The only trim is the clip and three chrome rings around the cap. The section is also the pearly grey resin, and the threads are at the end of the section right before a small step to the barrel. The barrel gradually tapers towards the end, and the whole pen has a sleek look to it by not having any sudden or drastic shapes to it.

What really must be mentioned is the very pretty clear feed. When inked, the ink can be seen through the breather hole, and when looked at from underneath, the entire feed shines with the colour of the ink. It's lovely.

NIB & PERFORMANCE

The nib is large and very attractive. It is a steel nib with a heart-shaped breather hole. I really like it because it is not adorned with much - it just has the Aleph letter, and it says Marlen on it in small writing. It's very tasteful and simple. In addition, there are two notches cut into the sides ("the wings"), which not only serve a functional purpose; they are aesthetically pleasing as well.

The nib is pleasant to use unflexed - it's lovely and smooth when the tines are properly aligned, with good flow. I found that when flexed, the tines could become misaligned relatively easily, perhaps because they are long and thin. When writing with pressure, the feed can run dry, so one must pay attention to slow down with this pen to allow the feed time to keep up with the ink demands. Unflexed, as I  mentioned, there are no issues with ink flow. I was disappointed to find the feed runs dry so easily when the nib is flexed. It's normal for a pen to railroad when it's pushed, but a nib that is marketed as a flex nib should be able to keep up with average flex writing.

With  moderate pressure, the nib flexes to give moderate line variation, so in that regard, the flex is nice.

IN HAND

The piston-turning knob is exposed enough to operate easily and comfortably. The section is also nice and comfortable, smooth with a slight flare towards the nib.

Although the pen is fairly large, it's not too heavy, and when unposted, I find it perfectly comfortable to use as it falls right into the perfect spot on my hand to write with - but this is just as it was designed to do. I do find it a little difficult to control though because the nib is thin and long, leaving my grip far from the nib itself. I like to grip as close to the nib as possible to have as much control over my writing as possible. I could just be weird though.

Like I said, it's fairly large.

PROS & CONS

OVERALL

While I find this pen intriguing, I was disappointed by its flex capabilities. The pen is attractive, I think it's great that it's a piston-filler, the nib is attractive, the feed is neat, and it writes nicely unflexed, but not drying out so easily is a real downer. If it was a lower price, I'd say jump in, but at full retail price, it leaves me hesitant.

For more on this pen, check out Serious Nibbage Part 8!

Mailbox Goodies: Sailor & Paper

A set of mailbox goodies arrived not too long ago! In the box was an Apica CD15 notebook, some sheets of Le Typographe's paper with a bee on it, a sample of Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki (appropriate for the current weather), and a Sailor King of Pen on loan! Yes. It must be returned to its owner, but its a stunner. Review is coming! Last but not least was a handwritten note, the final touch.

Serious Nibbage Part 8: Marlen Aleph @sbrebrown

SBRE Brown and I talk about about the Marlen Aleph fountain pen. Is this pen serious nibbage? 

Check out SBRE Brown's review of the Marlen Aleph fountain pen.
Check out my review of the Marlen Aleph fountain pen.

Check out Serious Nibbage Part 1: Noodler's Neponset.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 2: Franklin-Christoph Music Nib.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 3: Conway Stewart Winston.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 4: Pelikan Souverän M101N Red Tortoiseshell.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 5: TWSBI Classic.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 6: Edison  Menlo.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 7: Pelikan Souverän M600 Red Stripe.

If you'd like to sponsor an episode of Serious Nibbage and would like us to review a pen/nib/ink, etc, contact Stephen or myself!

Sunday Reads: October 26. 2014

Click image to go to post, or click the banner on the right!

• Write To Me Often reviews J. Herbin's Rose Cyclamen fountain pen ink.
• Pens! Paper! Pencils! reviews a shading favourite of mine - Noodler's Apache Sunset ink.
• A Fool With A Pen reviews KarasKustoms Ink fountain pen.

In Case You Missed It

Serious Nibbage Part 7: Pelikan Souverän M600 Red Stripe fountain pen
Review: Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint Rollerball Pen - Black.


And don't forget you can get 10% off at Pen Chalet until the end of the year on your purchases! (Not an affiliate link!)