Bought this, the roulette..., May 7, 2013

By par...

Bought this, the roulette and the high grade for my boyfriend and he loves this one the best. He says the grip makes it more comfortable which makes him prefer using this one even though the other ones are better quality. One big big draw back is that he momentarily lost the top and it became very hard to use. SO WARNING DON'T LOSE TOP. the top is very unique and pushes down in a special way.

So with top far better than the other Kuru Togas for sale on this site...without top it stayed in a drawer. My bf is an engineering student and says that these pencils meet his needs both as an engineer and as a note taker. Says the leads break less and give him a nice even line. he is the envy of all other engineering students. :)

  As many of you, I don't..., May 7, 2013

By fto...

As many of you, I don't write reviews. So, I guess I'm a bit excited about this pen to feel like writing one now. Possibly too soon since I just got it last night.

I was hesitant to get it at first because of some of the issues mentioned by others and also not expecting much of it because of its cheap price/appearance. But because I've been searching for that EF nib that would lay thinner lines than the Germans' EF, I went for it with a "It-wouldn't happen-to-me" confidence.

I inserted the cartridge that came with it without paying attention to their instruction that recommended inserting it with the nib pointing up. What the heck! What difference would it make? I don't know if it made a difference but the pen refused to work and after a while the idea of the occasional "lemon" that others had mentioned crossed my mind.

I restrained myself from using forceful methods to make it work. Not pressing down, bending of the nib, no blades and no pin tips on the channel for me. All those would have defeated the purpose of getting a nice EF.

But I did the following and worked: I placed the nib under the running faucet to get the mantle(?) wet. I guess dipping the nib in water would had worked as well. Then I rubbed the channel side of the nib against a paper towel/napkin to absorb the water and in the process pull the ink in by capillary action. I kept touching it until the ink started to stain the napkin. After that, and after scribing a little, the ink went full strength and this pen has ben delightful. Amazing.

Together with it, I also bought a Tachikawa fine nib -which recommends inserting the cartridge upside down- and it turned out to lay lines even thinner than this Pilot Penmanship. I cannot imagine what their EF would do. But this one skips a bit. Maybe after some use it would get smother.

Essentially, I've found the EF nib that I wanted for drawing/sketching and at a great price.

  This is a great bag...., May 7, 2013

By ecw...

This is a great bag. The pockets are particularly well thought out, and the north/south style is more comfortable to wear cross-body than my previous east/west style bag. The dividers in the pocket intended to hold cell phones, etc. is made from a soft cushy neoprene, which is a nice touch. The gray color shown on the site is true-to-life and very attractive.

The bag could be improved by the addition of sewn-in rings to which clips could be attached (e.g. for keys on lanyards). But otherwise it is pretty much ideal.

  I bought a handful of..., May 7, 2013

By rmo...

I bought a handful of weights of blue Jetstreams, Acroballs, Vicunas, and Surais, and the 0.5 Jetstream was my favorite. I'm heavy-handed so I found some of the other pens scratchy, but this one was just right. The ink doesn't smudge at all, which is great for lefties. My only complaint is that the cartridge is a little loose, so there's a slight tactile sensation when the point is placed down/up. I remedied that by wrapping a few layers of tape around the back end of the cartridge to thicken it up and keep it from wiggling around in the barrel.

  I've been using this..., May 7, 2013

By deschamps.vincent

I've been using this pen for three years now. It's a great pen I use every single day at work, at home, everywhere. It starts many conversations too! It's solid, light, and inexpensive.

As much as I love the pen, I never was found of the ink refills. They write smoothly but the ink is very light, hard to read in some cases. After trying several refills (the Pilot H-Tec-C, Platinum BSP-100S), I finally found the perfect one: Zebra Sharbo X.

All aforementioned refills are D1, which means that they all fit in the Zebra T3. However, the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, although they right nicely, are not a perfect fit and requires some work around. The Platinum BSP-100s perform just as bad as the Zebra refills that come with the pen. In the other hand, the Zebra Sharbo X are top notch. They right fluidly and beautifully. The ink pops a lot. It creates strong lines.