The Doane Paper Ideal Journal

Time to announce the winner of our Doane Paper Idea Journal…lots of entrants for this one which is not surprising considering how popular and how awesome Doane Paper is.

The winner was:

Thanks to everyone for entering and spreading the word about this.  If you are Joni,  just leave a comment here to claim your prize, and use the About/Contact link on the top of the page to email us your shipping info.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Head On

So the other day I shared a review of the Sailor Professional Gear Imperial with you which is the all black fountain that even has all black metal accents and nib.  For me, the all black look is always something that I like, so the first half of the review focused more on the looks of the pen itself, and today we will take a look at the actual writing experience.  Just as a reminder, this pen was purchased from our friends at Goldspot with a slight bloggers discount.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial fine Nib Writing Sample on Doane Paper

This pen has an extra fine nib which for a Japanese fountain pen is actually really narrow as compared to nibs from other European manufacturers.  The above writing sample shows a comparison of the Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Fine Nib next to multiple Gel Ink Pens and Ballpoints ranging from .18mm to .7mm as well as some other non-Japanese Extra Fine fountain pen nibs.

Personally I thought that the Pilot G-Tec-C was the closest of the bunch to the writing experience as compared to the Sailor Professional Gear.  They both laid down similar width lines, and both had a similar silky smooth feel as they glided across the surface of the paper.  The Sailor Professional Gear is a very nicely balanced pen and it is comfortable in the hand to grip which makes it fantastic for even the longest of writing sessions.  I managed to use it to take about 4 pages of notes the other day at work and not once did I find any discomfort or fatigue with the pen.  Obviously some of the smooth writing experience can be chalked up to good quality ink and paper, but even having tried this pen on a few different papers and with one other ink, the writing experience remained very impressive.

In the writing sample above you can see that even when flipping the pen over and writing with the back of the nib, it laid down a very clean and consistent line.  Often if you write with that side of the nib on a fountain pen, the line breaks a bit and you get a very scratchy feel.  Definitely not the case with the Sailor Professional Gear Imperial.  Just like with the front side of the nib, its very smooth and very consistent…mind you not AS smooth as the front of the nib, but still impressive.

Many people on lots of the pen related blogs and message boards that I read talk about two different things that I think this pen addresses:

1. Fine and Extra Fine fountain pen nibs are inconsistent across manufactures – Now while this is a true statement, it is easy to see that it is geographically related in that Japanese pens tend to have more narrow nibs in comparison to their European counterparts.  For a close comparison, click on the photo above and you can see that the EF nibs on both the Lamy Studio and Pelikan M205 are both noticeable wider than that of the Sailor Professional Gear Fine nib.

2. Fine nibs are scratchy – While this generally comes down to a personal preference, I don’t feel this nib as being any different than the Lamy Studio or Pelikan M205 that they were compared to above.  Now this doesnt mean that you might not think they are still scratchy, however it is just a relative comparison to the two.  Quite honestly I wish this pen came in an EF nib beccause for how smooth it is, I can definitely see going down even one more size and probably not suffering any degradation in the writing experience.

Overall this is a fountain pen that is going to be a staple in my rotation for a long time to come.  In addition to the pure good looks of this pen, it just writes like no other fountain pen I’ve used before, and it comes the closest I’ve seen yet to that super narrow line that I enjoy getting from my sub .5mm gel ink pens.  If the money isn’t an issue, I honestly cant imagine why someone would not absolutely love writing with the Sailor Professional Gear Imperial.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

METAPHYS Notebook Cover

If you missed the review of our Metaphys Pocket Notebook, head on over and check it out.  Chances are if you are here today though you probably entered the contest to win it, so without further delay….

Charles Hadden was the winner with this comment…

And just to prove that we didn’t just pick him because he asked so nicely:

If you are Charles, use the About/Contact link at the top of the page to contact us with your mailing address, and also leave a comment on this thread letting us know that you are claiming your prize.  Thanks as always to everyone that entered and spread the word about the contest.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The Doane Paper Ideal Journal

So as I’ve mentioned a few times over the past couple of weeks, I’ve recently moved, and if there is one thing you realize when you move is that you have too much stuff.  I stumbled across a few “extra” Doane Paper Idea Journals, so I thought I’d share the wealth with one of them.

I really love this notebook and I’m kind of annoyed that I just found them now and have not been using them, but thats what happens when I have so many notebooks around to test and review.  Check out our Doane Paper Idea Journal Review and go ahead and enter to win your own:

Rules are the same as usual, but here is a reminder:

Rules:

• Contest is open to US residents only
• Winner will be selected by using the random # generator at Random.org
• Each entry method requires a separate comment, do not combine your comments into one comment
• You will have until 10 PM on Tuesday May 15th  to complete your entries
• Winner will be announced on Wed., May1 6th

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The All Black Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Fountain Pen in Box with Cap On

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I picked up a brand new fountain pen that I was pretty excited about, so today I’ve got a review of that fountain pen for you.  It is the all black Sailor Professional Gear Imperial that I picked up from our friends over at Goldspot.com with a slight bloggers discount.  Generally I don’t like to mention prices since they tend to change, and because different people have different views of “expensive” vs. “affordable” but it is definitely safe to say I won’t be tagging this pen in the beginner fountain pen category.  This will be part one of two, and while this part of the review takes a look at the aesthetics of the pen, the second part will focus on the actual writing quality and experience.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Open Box Uncapped

I’m pretty much a sucker for anything all black, and I had been wanting a Sailor fountain pen for quite a while, so this pen was pretty much the perfect storm for me.  As you can see in the previous photo, not only is the body of the pen black, but all of the metal accents from the clip down to the nib are also all black….and to top it all off, it comes with black ink, in a black box with black satin-like lining.  I would imagine that if a ninja was going to use  a fountain pen, this would probably be the only logical choice.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Cap and Clip

A close look at the ring on the cap shows the imprinted “Sailor Japan Founded 1911″ text around it, and the clip has a very nice and subtle stepped line that runs down the length of it.  The thing that makes this black pen even more different though is that matte or non-gloss finish of the entire body instead of the usual high-gloss finish that you see on many pens.  The Interesting thing about that though is that you do still manage to get finger prints on it left by the oil from your hands and fingers.  As with any other pen though, the fingerprints can be buffed away with a soft tissue or towel.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Nib and Cap

If you take a close look at the nib in this picture you can see that even for a fine point, it is very narrow as compared to other fine and even extra fine nibs that you may have seen.  The second part of this review that I will post on Wednesday will focus on the writing sample and compare it to some other fine or extra fine nibs from other manufacturers.  Besides the size of the 21kt  nib, you can also see in the larger picture how intricate the artwork on the nib is.  Depending on the lighting situation and the angle that you hold the pen at, the nib (and other black metal accents) can range anywhere from having a light silvery gray tone all the way to looking pretty dark black.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Head On

Above is a second shot to show how narrow the nib is and that gives a better view of the nice black color of the nib.  The pen measures almost exactly 5″ long with the cap closed and about 5 15/16″ with the cap posted.  Although you can see in all of the photos, the cap is a threaded cap that just twists on and off pretty easily.

Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Top Down

The only part of the pen that isn’t black is the sailor logo and circle around it on the top of the cap.  I’m not sure if this was an oversight or on purpose due to some strict branding rules about the logo, but it would have been nice if this had the same look as the rest of the metal accents on the pen…not that this part is actually metal, but in my opinion, it should have been at least made to look like the other parts.  Obviously this is an incredibly minor thing, but it is something I noticed and does bug me a little bit.  Regardless of that minor visual design flaw, I absolutely love the look of this pen, as well as the feel of the matte black body.  As I mentioned earlier, the second part of this review on Wednesday will focus on the writing sample and experience as well as a comparison to some other nibs of similar sizes.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen Full Body

We had a huge response for this giveaway which was nice to see, so thanks to everyone that entered and spread the word.  Here is the info on the winning comment:

And the proof from Random.org:

If that was your tweet and comment, just use the “About/Contact” tab at the top of the page to send us your full name and mailing information.  Thanks again to everyone for entering and don’t forget to check out our other qiveaway right now.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Oxford Flingbook Cover

I’ve had a few of these Oxford notebooks hanging around for a while now, and I really like them but unfortunately they are hard to come by here in the US.  By “hard to come by” I pretty much mean impossible, and although I hate sharing stuff that I know most readers wont be able to find, I really like this notebook so I thought I’d share anyway.

Oxford Flingbook Movable Tabs

This is the Flingbook by Oxford, which is the same company that makes one of my all-time favorites, the Black n’ Red Notebook.  The thing that makes the Oxford Flingbook so unique is the tabbed divider you are looking at in the above photo.  Similar to the Levenger Circa notebooks, the plastic tabbed dividers on this notebook easily pull out and can be moved to any position in the notebook.

Oxford Flingbook Colored Page Edges

Much like the Oxford Meetingbook that we reviewed here before, the pages in this notebook are an A4 and are very fountain pen friendly.    You will also notice that theese pages are gridded, and they also have color coded edges, which in this case you can see are red.  In other sections the edges of the pages are black, red, or yellow.

Some of the specific details on the Oxford Flingbook are:

• Gridded squares measure 5×5
• Paper is A4 sized
• Comes with 3 plastic movable tabs
• Pages are perforated for easy ripping out
• 90g paper
• Durable cardboard cover

I have been using these notebooks for extended note taking sessions where I don’t feel like cluttering up my Circa notebook with lengthy notes, and I instead consolidate my ideas into the Circa notebook later so they are more clear and concise.  I really enjoy writing on this paper though, which is why I use it for long note taking sessions because it is so smooth and so fontain pen friendly.  I wish I could recommend that you go to a particular store to pick these up, but they are not available here in the US to the best of my knowledge.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

METAPHYS Pocket Notebook

Going through my recent move, I came to realize that I have WAY too many unused notebooks and pens.  I actually have so many that I don’t even remember getting some of them, like this nice little METAPHYS blanc pocket notebook.  Coming to this realization I’ve decided that I want to try and do a few more giveaways, including this one.

METAPHYS Notebook Cover

The cover of this 2.6″ x 4.1″ pocket size notebook has a bookcover material with a nice texture and a bright orange color, while the label and product information is embossed in a solid white text.  Under the orange cloth there is a fairly heavy, yet still flexible cardboard backing which makes it ideal for slipping in a back pocket.  The sheets of paper have a very soft and smooth feel to the touch, so I am assuming they probably hold ink well, but might not dry very quickly.

Now onto the giveaway…

Rules are the same as usual, but here is a reminder:

Rules:

• Contest is open to US residents only
• Winner will be selected by using the random # generator at Random.org
• Each entry method requires a separate comment, do not combine your comments into one comment
• You will have until 11:59 PM on Tuesday, May 8th to complete your entries
• Winner will be announced on Thursday, May 10th

How to Enter:

Don’t forget that each of the above requires a separate comment, and good luck!

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen Full Body

Between being inspired by Brad’s “Spring Cleaning Giveaway” last week over at PenAddict.com, and realizing that I’ve got way too many pens that I don’t use, I’ve decided that I’m going to give away one of my good fountain pens that I just don’t use.  This was originally purchased on sale from my friends at Goldspot.com, and unfortunately I no longer have the box so the winner is just getting the pen and thats it, but regardless it is still a nice pen.

Rules are the same as usual, but here is a reminder:

Rules:

• Contest is open to US residents only
• Winner will be selected by using the random # generator at Random.org
• Each entry method requires a separate comment, do not combine your comments into one comment
• You will have until 11:59 PM on Saturday, May 5th to complete your entries
• Winner will be announced on Sunday, May 6th

Don’t forget that each of the above requires a separate comment, and good luck!

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Apologies for it being a light week on reviews, but with limited access to most of my possessions including my camera, lighting equipment and actual products to review its been hard to get new content up, but it made me think about older reviews that can and should be revisited.  The nature of this site is such that I tend to use things for a fairly short period of time before I move on to the next item, so I often don’t get to write about the very long term qualities of particular products.  With that in mind I’ve been thinking about what items I should go back to in order to update the reviews, and so far the list is short so I was hoping for some input.

Saddleback Leather Classic Briefcase Large Dark Coffee Brown

One of the first items that came to mind for an updated review is my Saddleback Leather Briefcase.  In the past I’ve had specific requests for a one year update with photos to see how well it held up after every day use, so that will definitely be something I do soon since it has been just over a year since that post and I’ve used the bag just about every work day since then.

The Lamy Safari grip, or section on the right shows its unique and comfortable design.

The second item I was considering was the Lamy Safari, not only because it is a pretty awesome starter fountain pen (which people tend to ask about often) but also just because the pictures with that original review are horrible so I want to fix that situation.

Those are the first two items that came to mind, so if you have any other products you have seen reviewed here and have been wondering how they held up, leave a message in the comments section below and let us know.  Also, if you left a comment in the previous “Help Wanted” thread, we will definitely be getting to some of those as well.

© 2012, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.