Pen Addict + Huckberry Giveaway

I have been a customer of Huckberry.com since they opened their virtual doors in 2010 and am honored to partner with them on this giveaway for readers of The Pen Addict.

Not familiar with Huckberry? I'll let them explain what they are all about:

Huckberry is a bi-weekly web magazine and shop for guys with taste. Each week we bring our readers unique apparel and gear along with the stories behind the products, and we only feature brands that we'll personally vouch for. We've worked with brands like Danner, Taylor Stitch, Topo Designs, Tretorn, Deus Ex Machina, Holden, Triple Aught Design, Oak Street Bootmakers

Huckberry is like your favorite store, your grandpa's favorite store, and your favorite magazine all rolled into one.

We're a team of writers, designers and above all else doers. We live and work in the heart of San Francisco, but try to get out of the city as much as possible to hit the surf at Ocean Beach, ski the Sierras, and hike the Marin Headlands.

The products on our site are culled from all over the world to suit the diverse interests of our team, and can often be found in the bed of our trucks, keeping us warm and dry on our bike ride to the office, and on our not-so-tidy desks.

If we don't like it, it doesn't go on the site.

Our mandate is to bring you the coolest new gear at the best prices, but we don't cater to coupon-clippers. If you want your inbox loaded with 70% off this, and 80% off that, we recommend you go elsewhere. We simply try to create value for our readers during our weekly offerings, working with our selective brand partners to ensure we're bringing you their best stuff at the best price.

We endeavor to be the most interesting email in your inbox each week

So in addition to a fresh dose of unique products, you'll also find the stories behind products along with original content on our blog, and links to the interesting stories, inane videos, and fresh beats that are circulating around the office.

I bought my first Topo Designs Backpack from Huckberry (I now own two) and have parted with more of my money on their site than I care to let my wife know. They speak my language and find the goods I didn't even know I was looking for. They are offering a great giveaway package that Pen Addict readers will love.

The drool-worthy prize package from Huckberry is as follows:

(1) "The Bolt" Brass Pen

(1) Vintage Leather Moleskine Cover

(1) Postalco Pressed Fabric Notebook

(1) Huckberry Word. "Compass" Notebook

Here is how to enter:

1. Head over to Huckberry.com and sign up as a member. All you need to do is enter your email address and a password, or connect with your Facebook account. It is that simple and there is zero commitment.

2. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now and Monday night, May 20th, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. International readers are welcome to enter!

3. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

4. The contest winner will be posted on Tuesday, May 21st. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

Thanks again to Huckberry for providing this wonderful package of goods for Pen Addict readers. It is greatly appreciated!

Good luck!

(Note: Links to Huckberry.com are affiliate links. If you patronize them through these links I get a small percentage back which helps support this site.)

Uni-ball Field Lead Holder Review

Do you ever see a pen or pencil that looks cool but you have no real use for it? You justify it in your mind - "I'll figure out a way!" - and into the cart it goes. How many times did that work out well for you? Yeah, never for me too.

That is my situation with the Uni-ball Field Lead Holder. I don't own a lead holder but the bright red plastic and silver knurling screamed "BUY ME!!!" through the computer screen. And it has red lead too? Yes please!

I knew better than to order it, knowing I wouldn't know what to do with it when it arrived. Design wise, it lived up to the hype. This is a great looking and feeling lead holder. Performance wise, I guess it is good too, although I didn't do much more than write with it a few times. The lead color is lighter than I expected it would be but the reddish-orange shade photographed well.

The only drawback I can see is that there is no built-in sharpener, which some brands do provide. I imagine most hardcore lead holder users have their own favorite sharpener so that's not as much of an issue as it seems.

Are you an avid lead holder user? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section. Enlighten me!

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Ink Links

-- Review of Palomino Blackwing Pearl (Pencil Revolution)

-- Parker Urban Fountain Pen (Informal Scribble)

-- Sharpie Accent Highlighter (A Penchant for Paper)

-- Visconti Turquoise Ink Review (Goldspot Pens Fine Writing Blog)

-- Sula Jane and Earl Single Pen Sleeve - Carnation Pink (Gourmet Pens: Review)

-- Pelikan M620 New York inked with Noodler’s American Eel Turquoise (JustDaveyB)

-- Visconti Viscontina (2001) (kmpn)

-- Rhodia Webbie Dot Pad Notebook Review (Write to Me Often)

-- Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue (Peninkcillin)

-- Tchaikovsky - De Atramentis Ink Review (Ink of Me Fondly)

-- Prized: Edison Extended Mina in Cinnamon Swirl Acrylic (EF nib) (From the Pen Cup)

-- May's Goulet Ink Drop (Inkdependence!)

-- Clairefontaine Back to Basics 1951 (Pens Paper Inks...Whatever!)

-- Vintage Parker 21 Review (The Well-Appointed Desk)

-- J. Herbin – Terre de Feu (Ed Jelley)

-- My Son's Dragon Fountain Pen (The Daily Acquisition)

-- It's Carnival Time! (Rants of The Archer)

Platinum Balance Fountain Pen Review

I was a little concerned after opening my package from JetPens and taking my first glance at the Platinum Balance Fountain Pen. Do I like the design? How durable is it? And most of all, is it worth the price?

At $50, this is not a toss in the cart add-on. Some thought is required to commit to a pen like this. Like I mentioned in the podcast this week, I don't want another "one and done". Fortunately, once I inked this pen up and started using it, all of my concerns flew out of the window.

The nib on the Platinum Balance is the primary selling point. For a Japanese steel F nib it is nothing short of fantastic. I inked this pen up with a Platinum Blue Black ink cartridge and was amazed at how fine, clean, and consistent the lines were. From a writing standpoint alone, it ranks as good as or better than any other pen in its price range.

Since the nib is so great, the real decision is whether you like the design or not. I am a fan of demonstrator pens and branched out with the Crystal Blue instead of the Shine Crystal (I didn't consider Crystal Rose). It is a good weight - not too light - and comfortable while writing. The only visual issue I have is that I don't care for the white insert inside the cap. I assume it is there to hide any stray ink that may fly off the nib when jostling around.

Color me surprised with this one. I thought it was just going to be another average fountain pen but as well as it writes I think I will be getting regular use out of it.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

"I use a fountain pen older than my grandparents"

(This is a guest post by Taylor Skidmore. You can find more from Taylor on his blog, Twitter, or App.net.)

This fall, I will be heading to college at Indiana University to study Informatics and Linguistics. As part of the tour, all prospective students participated in an icebreaker question: "What's a fun fact about yourself?" When I responded, "I use a fountain pen older than my grandparents," the response was exactly what you might expect from a group of 16/17 year old high-schoolers: utter confusion.

I've been using fountain pens on a relatively regular basis for two years now. I first discovered a pack of Pilot Varsities at Staples and fell in love with fine writing utensils. Since then, I've found myself with a Lamy Al-Star, a Pelikan m205, a TWSBI Vac700, an 'infamous' Noodler's Ahab, and an azure Parker Vacumatic. (As a student in high school, I've struggled to afford much more than that.) Although my collection is meager, I can't ever imagine going back to using those free BIC pens from hotel rooms. But using fountain pens at a rural, relatively low-income high school has lent itself to a few issues in my pursuit of the hobby.

"You Must Be Some Sort of Rich Momma's Boy."

Yeah. That's a reaction I've gotten when I use my Vac700 at school. And no, my parents have never bought me a pen. And no, I am not rich. This reaction, however, is not unique to fountain pens. I often get the same reaction talking about App.net, Spotify, and other recurring subscriptions with free alternatives. I just think my peers struggle to grasp the concept of paying money when you don't particularly need to do so; it baffles teenagers (or at least the ones I know).

I try to compare my purchasing of pens to another expensive hobby: video games. A number of my peers happily throw away $70 buying a new video game that offers 10 or 15 hours of playing time without a second doubt. A new TWSBI Vac700 runs for $80. In my honest opinion that offers a marginal price difference, especially when you take into account my peers who buy multiple games a month. On the other side of things, I do not buy pens every month, nor did I have to buy an expensive console to use my pens. Why is there such a large difference between the two?

"My $0.25 BIC Pen Works Just As Well."

Well, no, $0.25 BIC pens do not work as well, or at least they don't in my opinion. I struggle to explain why I just enjoy writing with fountain pens; it's nearly euphoric sitting down to write in my journal every night. I could say things like, "The words flow through my pen as easily as the ink," or, "I like all of the inks I can use, and the way I can change the thickness of the pen's line with the slightest pressure." In fact, I have tried to explain those feelings, and I'm almost immediately met with "Wow, that's dumb," or some other more colorful phrase.

Whether we like it or not, pens are becoming obsolete, especially fountain pens. It breaks my heart that I might not be able to open a sealed, hand-written letter and enjoy communicating with people I never would have without letters, but unfortunately, I think it's the reality of the matter, and most of my peers have never been exposed to anything other than Facebook on a variety of laptops and iPads, let alone the wonders of hand-written mail.

"Wow, that looks really cool!"

Reactions like these are few and far between. Some just like to see the ink slosh around in the barrel of my demonstrator. Others think the nibs are pretty, or the lines graceful. I ask if they'd like to write with it, and the answer is usually yes. I hand them my pen, and they gingerly take it from my hands as if it would shatter if they held on too tightly. They take some filler paper, scribble their name and hand it back, enjoying the isolated experience. Of the dozens of people I've let try my pen(s), only one enjoyed the experience enough to ask more questions about fountain pens.

I absolutely adore fountain pens, ink, paper, and even a high-quality wooden pencil or two. Most of the time, no one says anything about my pens, and when they do, my peers often look at me with confusion, completely oblivious to the wonders of such a simple technology.