In Fountain Pen Review

Pilot Prera Review

Author AnaPosted on 10 Comments

The Pilot Prera is a bit of a budget fountain pen celebrity and I finally broke down and bought one. Its a Japanese steel nib pen with a cartridge filling system though there’s a cartridge converter available for it as well. Don’t tease, I had to have the lime green one.

The Japanese nib sizes are finer than the American and European sizing so I got a F, not the EF. I wanted a pen that would be finer than the other fountain pens I have but not a needle.

Straight out of the box, I found the Prera very smooth on the papers I tried. It’s a very fine writer but still smooth and easy to use. It seems a little dry right now but I’m not sure if its because its so fine or if its the ink cartridge that shipped with the pen. It makes it a good pen for lightweight papers like Moleskines and your average office copy paper.

I thought it might help to compare it to other pens that might be more familiar like a Uni Jetstream, a Kaweco Classic EF, the Pilot 78g and a Lamy Al-Star (same nibs as a Safari or Studio).

Compared to a Jetstream, the Prera is a bit thicker line and it is a bit “stickier” on paper. The Prera is definitely pricier but I thought it would help to compare the fountain pen to a common disposable pen.

The 78g is very comparable to the Prera and considerably its much cheaper. If you can find a 78g, its a good alternative as it seems to be a very similar nib. However, the 78g has a squeeze filler only while the Prera has a cartridge option or cartridge converter (this might not be entirely accurate, I’ve been researching the 78g but I’ve found conflicting information as to whether the squeeze-filler can be replaced with a cartridge or standard converter. Does anyone have experience switching out the 78g filler?). In the past I’ve had a little bit of an issue with the 78g leaking a bit so I’m hoping that the Prera is less prone to the mess.

Against the Kaweco, its a tie in terms of line quality though the Prera is a bit heavier and larger. I know that the added weight and length would be a plus for some people. I think the Kawecos are perfect pocket/EDC pens and the Prera is just slightly bigger.

Against the Lamy, its no contest. I find the Lamy scratchy and dry even after several years of use. For a left-handed overwriter, the Lamy prescribed grip is awkward and uncomfortable. Even with its wider nib, the Lamy is not as nice a writer as the Prera with only a couple days use.

Here are pens for size comparison: Kaweco Classic (Guilloch 1930 version), Pilot Prera, Pilot 78g, Lamy Studio, Lamy Al-Star, Sailor Candy.

When actually put on the scale, the Pilot Prera is just three grams heavier than the 78g, Kaweco Sport Classic and the Sailor Candy but its considerably lighter than the Lamys. (All pens were weighed with cartridge/ink filled and included.)

After several days of use, I am liking the Prera’s snap cap for easy-on, easy-off capping in meetings and throughout my average workday. The Prera does not seem to suffer from dry-starts during the day the way my Kawecos sometimes do. And overall, the larger body and silver details make this look like a nice fountain pen. While I love the stealthy fountain pen look of the Kaweco, the Prera looks and feels more like a traditional fountain pen.

I’ll follow-up this review in a couple weeks with more details after I’ve put a few more miles and a couple of different inks through the Prera.

Did I forget to mention anything?

Pilot Prera is available through JetPens for $49.50.

(This pen was tested on the Miquelrius medium flexible 300 grid paper book purchased from B+N.)

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Link Love: Miscellany of Love

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Daycraft Diary, Cookie Bookie, Guteberg Notebook and a little surprise

Author AnaPosted on 24 Comments

Daycraft is a Hong Kong based stationery producer that offers a range of notebooks, diaries and accessory. One of the most notable things is the array of products with contrasting edging.

This is the Animaland Elephant Diary, a small diary for 2012 that measures 4.25″x6″. It starts in September 2011 and goes through the end of December 2012. The cover is stiff paper wrapped board with a light iridescent sheen. It is filled with colorful artwork, a satin bookmark ribbon (end has been sealed so it won’t fray) and features a week-at-a-glance.

In the front of the book is a listing of international holidays, year overview calendars for the current year, previous year and next year, nutrition and health info and a place for a birthday or gift list. The diary also came with a sheet of coordinating stickers to embellish your entries.

At the beginning of each month is a full color illustration and space for writing. They have crammed 18-months into a book that’s less than 0.5″ thick so the pages were bound to be thin. But the paper is a warm ivory and the lines are gray and dotted so they are no too obtrusive.

I tested a Uni Jetstream 0.5 (in red and black), my Kaweco Sport with F nib and de Atramentis Pigeon Blue ink, pencil, my new Pilot Prera with F nib and black ink.

On the reverse side, I tried a Coleto Hi-Tec-C in purple and red. You’ll notice a bit of show-through from the Kaweco and even the Prera but the gel ink Hi-Tec-C and Jetstream are not so noticeable.

In the back are some pages for logging expenses, four pages for contacts, some pages for notes and a page for personal info. The last eight pages are perforated into thirds and embellished with small illustrations for notes and what not.

Overall, the diary is a nice little book. I do wish the paper was a little bit thicker to accommodate a wider range of writing tools but it is so small and compact that I find it very useable.

Expect a new version of this notebook to be available soon for 2012-2013. $119HK (approx $15.50US)

I received a couple other items from Daycraft as well. First up is the Cookie Bookie. It is designed to look like cheese and crackers and amuses me to no end.

It measures just under 5″ square and features 144 pages of orange lined paper. The covers are puffy leather-like stiff board with orange embroidery floss to simulate cracker tufts.

The paper is lined with 6.5mm fine black lines and a heavier paper stock than the diary. According to the Daycraft catalog it is 90gsm.  I love this notebook! $129HK (about $16.75 US or on sale through the MOMA store for $8.95)

The last book I received was this white embossed “Gutenberg Notebook“. It measures about 4″x6” (A6) with pliable leather-like cover with uppercase letters embossed on the front and lowercase letters embossed on the back. The interior pages have 6.5mm fine black lines and a much heavier stock than the diary. The catalog lists the paper as 100gsm and describes it as white though I think its more of a soft white. $129HK (about $16.75 US)

All the Daycraft products can be purchased on through their web site and they offer FREE worldwide shipping.

So, if you’ve stuck with me to the end of the post, I have a deal for you. I am going to give away both the Cookie Bookie and the Gutenberg notebook. So, leave a comment below and tell me which notebook you want and why.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by midnight CST on Friday, June 8, 2012. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winners will be announced on Saturday. Winner will be select by random number generator. Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money.

 

In feature

And now for something completely different…

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

Tachikawa nib holder

This is a nib holder from Tachikawa Model 40 via Jet Pens. It is listed as a tool for comic and manga artists but if you’ve ever wanted to experiment with flexible nibs for calligraphy or more decorative writing and line weights, this nib holder is a great option.

The Tachikawa is designed with two grip rings for nibs that accommodate just about every style of nib on the market — some nibs have a wider arc at the base that normally fit into one size holder and other nibs have a smaller arc that require having another nib holder to hold it — which makes it universally handy. Then there is the soft padded grip area… ah! Most nib holders are just wooden or plastic and can be uncomfortable after using them for awhile, so this soft grippy area is a welcome option.

Tachikawa Brand Nib Holder

And finally, the nib holder comes with a plastic cap to protect your nib from damage when traveling or even when it just sits in a cup on your desk. Can I tell you how many times I’ve impaled my hand on a nib accidentally when reaching for a pen?

$6.75 (worth every red cent)

In feature

Pilot Prera Unveil

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

Pilot Prera unveil

Oh, what could be inside this glossy black box?

Pilot Prera F nib in LIME, of course.

None other than the Pilot Prera fountain pen with F nib and in the most lovely shade of lime green, of course. I’m hoping this will satisfy my lust for a lime green pen and that I won’t feel the need to buy the apple green Lamy as well. I’ve been itching to try this pen ever since Brad and Myke started waxing romantic about it on the Pen Addict podcast. So, I finally gave in and bought one. This is just a quick overview. I plan to do a longer, more detailed review next week but I just had to share.

The packaging is unremarkable. Just a plexi box with a beige flocked insert and a fabric elastic band to hold the pen in place. The ink cartridge was just stuffed into the box on top of the pen. For a $50 pen, I wasn’t expecting much. It did come with one black ink cartridge. Somewhere in my pen mess, I believe I have a Pilot converter that I hope will work with it as I prefer to use cartridges only as emergency back-up ink supplies and not as my primary option.

Pilot Prera uncapped and ready to go

The cap snaps into place, its not a screw closure like some of my other pens. I would compare it to the Lamy Safari/Studio capping mechanism. The Prera snaps fairly tightly but might be an issue if you tuck your pen in your shirt pocket and pull it out from the cap. It’s not an issue for me but I thought I’d mention it.

P6011650

I loaded it with the stock Pilot cartridge that shipped with the pen and started writing with what I had on hand — a budget composition notebook from a big box office supply store. It is a supremely fine nib. On first touch to the paper it performed so smoothly I wanted to compare it to a gel roller ball which is fairly impressive for a fountain pen at this price point. I wrote a few letters with it last night and discovered that the nib is so fine it is not a good option for more textured, toothy paper stocks. This is a pen that may perform admirably well on Moleskines and other lightweight stocks (with the right inks).

Pilot Prera and Kaweco: Compared

The Prera is only about an inch longer than the Kaweco Classic so its still a good portable pen. Its a big weightier but for a lot of people, the Kaweco is just too lightweight for doing a lot of writing so this may be an appropriate step up.

Expect a more detailed review next week!