Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Diamine Sherwood Green Review

I think green is my favorite ink color, or it would be if I could find one I really liked. I bought Sherwood Green without think about it hoping to would satisfy my inky needs, and for the most part it has. It is slightly lighter than expected, and it is a little drier than I like. It's a pretty good ink though. I wouldn't say my hunt for a perfect green is over yet, but Sherwood Green can hold me over until I am. I have to say though, this ink is the least waterproof out of any ink I have ever used. There is practically nothing left behind after water is added. Not a huge deal to me, but I know that is a major dealbreaker to some. Here are the photos!
Produces a cool sheen in the swab, but I was unable to replicate this in actual writing :(









I put some water on the section with 4 layers of ink just for fun to see if it would wash away too. It did better than expected actually

Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo Review

When I first got into to fountain pens I watched a lot of Brian Goulet's videos, and because of that the first ink makers I was introduced to were Noodler's and Iroshizuku (that's pretty much all her ever uses in the videos). I really liked some of the offerings from Iroshizuku, but after I discovered the hundreds of other inks out there (which all seemed to be way cheaper), I sort of just threw the brand to the side. None of the colors every really popped to me. The other day, on an impulse buy, I picked up a bottle to see what I was really missing out on. I now understand. I don't love the color of Yama Budo, but if all of the other Iroshizuku inks behave like this then I can't wait to get more! I still don;'t many of the colors very exciting, but I would be willing to sacrifice awesome looking colors for a perfectly preforming ink. Expect to see more Iroshizuku reviews from me soon. On to the pictures!|



That beautiful Iroshizuku bottle everyone always talks about



SHEEN!!!!!!











Sailor Pen and Message Cigar Review

Thanks to webgeckos on FPN for providing this sample for the review!



I have never been a huge fan of hard to obtain Japanese inks. They all look really pretty, but come at such a steep price tag that I don't find it worth the effort. I was recently asked if I would like to try out one of those hard to obtain inks, and I said sure. When I fist got the ink I was a little scared to see how it would work out. The ink is called cigar, but it looks dark green in the vial. I cut up some paper and got ready to swab up the ink, and lo and behold the ink was dark green. But after a second or two the color began to change into a beautiful khaki color. I was shocked; it was freaking awesome. I immediately filled up my Ahab with this ink to see what writing with it was like, and I was not disappointed. The color isn't quite as khaki out of the pen (and still has some green undertones), but it still looks very pretty. While the color is good, if it were identical to the color of the swab this ink would far and away be my favorite I've tried so far. Sadly the ink doesn't to amazing in a flex pen. It seems to railroad far easier than all others I have tried to this point. Cigar definitely turned me on to more Sailor inks, and hopefully they will all be as good as this one. Now for the review!











You can see the green understones, and shading here 






Not the most waterproof, but that's ok

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Noodler's Ahab Review






The Noodler's Ahab


Initial Thoughts -Then pen came in a nice little cardboard box with some papers on instructions of filling the pen, and picture of Captain Ahab. All of which was really cool. The pen did suffer from the dreaded "Noodler's pen smell." It went away quickly and wasn't that bad. The packing was cool, but left something wanting in terms of protection/longevity of it. Overall I was excited initially Score: 9/10

Weight & Dimensions - This is no small pen. It comes in at just under 140 mm, and weighs about 18 grams. Due to the resin in the pen it is light, but the length is great. It post super shallow, and when posted the pen is seemingly unusable. I don't ever post my pens though, sop this is not major selling point. The large size, and low weight make for a very pleasant writing experience Score:10/10
Here is how the Ahab sticks up to other pens. From left to right the pens are: Pilot Metropolitan, TWSBI 580, Noodler's Ahab, Jinhao x-750, and the Kaweco Sport Classi

Here they are posted

Unposted 

And just the nibs





As you can see, the pen gets quite long when posted

But when unposted it provides for a very stable writing experience 

Filling System - This pen implements a plunger system converter. It works just fine, but can get stuck. So it can take quite some force to get the thing to function if you let it sit for a while (I tried to grease the piston to fix this, but I got no success). The system is fully "dissabemable"and it holds a ton of ink. The pen is also capable of being converted to eyedropper if you're into that, but to me that is simply too much ink here. The filling system isn't flawless, but it works well. Score: 8/10

Writing Experience - This is the selling point of this pen, it has flex! A lot of people have complained about the railroading issues in the pen, and the overall writing issues it can have. I have not had a single issue. Of course when the ink gets too low, or I push the nib too hard it can railroad, but it seems every time it does railroad I am too blame. The feed automatically picks back up if it stutters, and just works as it should. The pen also functions as a great daily writer, because it takes some effort to flex. So essentially you have a normal wet-fine nib, until you put some pressure down and then you get the special writing. Reverse writing is also possible. One thing I found that I hadn't seen in other reviews is that the nib has "fude" like qualities. So essentially the nib is bent, so at high angles it writes thinner than low angles. I have no idea if this was on purpose or not, but I like the feature. Score: 10/10

Here you can see the "fude" aspects of the nib


The top line is normal writing, second is fast writing, and the last is flex






You can see here the line variation I got just by changing hand angle



Cost & Value - This pen only cost 20$ dollars. I know some of them have a few issues, but I feel like it is worth 20$ risk because my certainly is worth every penny. I love this pen, and it is the best value pen I know of. Score: 10/10

Overall - This pen is now a part of my EDC because of its high ink capacity, fine (and thick) line, good looks, and just being a fun writer. I am glad I got one, and I would suggest it to anyone. They make them in lots of pretty colors too! Overall Score: 9.4/10