Posts filed under Pen Case

Galen Leather Slip-N-Zip 4 Slots Zippered Pen Case Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

If you love stationery (and if you're here, I'm assuming you do), then you've probably swooned over a Galen Leather product or three. Or all of them. I've had the pleasure of trying a few, and they've all been absolutely elite in quality and construction.

Galen Leather Slip-N-Zip 4 Slots Zippered Pen Case

The Galen Leather Slip-N-Zip Case is a piece of simple brilliance. It's made of sturdy-but-soft vegetable-tanned leather, with a solid, smooth zipper. It's firm enough to hold its shape well, but is still very flexible. The insert is made from felt-backed reinforced leather, so it provides internal structure to help guard your pens. The 4 pen loops are thick elastic, tight enough to fit small pens, but stretchy enough to accommodate large pens.

Galen Leather Slip-N-Zip 4 Slots Zip Case

The zipper goes across the long edge, around a rounded corner and down one side, so it's easy to get items in and out and you can easily see everything in the case. With the insert inside, you can still fit a small pocket notebook or two inside, or a few additional pens. The case is too soft to be truly protective, so a thin pocket notebook between the pens and the case wall might provide a little extra shield. I wouldn't put four delicate, expensive pens in this case and then toss it in a bag. The leather is thin enough that you can feel the outlines of the clips and pen bodies through it. There is no lining or padding inside the leather--it's just the single layer.

While it's definitely designed more for transport than protection, this is some classy transport. The crazy horse brown leather shown here has a wealth of character. Each piece will be different. There's a wonderful variety of shades, patterns, and textures in the leather, and it picks up scratches and oils as its handled, taking on the character of its user. It also comes in crazy horse green and crazy horse tan.

Galen Leather's goods are pretty high-end, by my assessment, but the price on this piece is only $37. That's an extremely good value. It's going to arrive in a thick board box that will also contain a few goodies from Turkey. You'll feel like you've been sent a gift, because you have.

(Galen Leather provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Galen Leather Slip-N-Zip 4 Slots Zip Case Box

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Galen Leather, Pen Case.

Nomadic PE-07 Pen Case Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

You can never have too many pen cases, right? That seems to be true in my case, as I can find a way to make any new pen case fit into some aspect of my life with relative ease. The latest case to join my collection is the Nomadic PE-07. It's a small case that can pack a deceivingly larger amount of pens and supplies than the sleek exterior lets on. It's become my favorite "catch-all" mini-bag for holding pens, earbuds, chargers, cables, and more.

Let's start with the specifications for this case. It's 8.3 inches long, 4.6 inches tall, and 1.8 inches thick. There's one zip pocket on the exterior that has a mesh lining on the bottom half, making it easy to see what's in the pocket without unzipping it. There's also a main compartment, which has two zip pulls for easy use and partially opening the case. The navy colorway that I have features a bright orange interior fabric that makes it extremely easy to see what's inside (unless you're packing a lot of orange pens), along with light gray accents in the mesh dividers. On one side of the interior, there's one long slash pocket. On the opposite side of the interior, there are two slash pockets divided right in the middle. The middle divider is also a pouch with a zippered top. It's made of a finer mesh and works well for small accessories like lead cases, thing erasers, sharpeners, small sticky pads, and other slight accessories. The middle divider/pouch is suspended above the bottom of the case, allowing items to move around the bottom of the main compartment with ease.

The case doesn't open flat due to the wings that sewn into the inner edges of the main compartment. This makes it easy to open the case and set it on a desk without worrying about anything inside rolling out. The exterior material is 210DL ripstop nylon, which is very thin and strong. There's a nice square pattern on the fabric that adds texture and visual interest. This lightweight nylon is great at shedding water, dust, and hair. There's also a small bit of padding on the exterior panels of the case to protect what's inside.

The navy colorway that I picked is really pretty. The name and photos don't quite do it justice because it's more of a dark turquoise; it's certainly blue, but there is a lot of green showing through as well. It's a beautiful color, and I'm glad it's not any darker.

In use, this case is really versatile. If you're only packing pens in this case and don't worry about everything touching and rubbing together, you can fit about 20 gel pens without a sweat. The case is bulging a bit at this number of pens, but it's solid. The interior slash pockets are great at stowing thin items, and the case is just tall enough to fit a standard 3.5" x 5.5" pocket notebook.

My favorite use for this case so far is as an electronics organizer. It's really small but holds so much, and the internal organization is minimal enough to get out of my way if I don't want to use it. I don't go anywhere these days, but I can easily see this case being my go-to for work and travel. It can fit my laptop/phone charger, some cables, my AirPods, some pens, and a notebook with some space to spare. When traveling, I'd probably throw my phone and some medicine and hand sanitizer in to round out the kit.

There aren't any attachment points (for example, something to attach a carabiner to) on the exterior of the case, but I think that's a good call given the size. It also keeps the case looking slim and neat.

Overall, I've been really happy with this case! Once I start venturing out of my home more often, this will be a staple of my carry. If you're not a fan of the navy, then you can choose from red or black. Oddly enough, there's a slightly different version of the case with additional fun colors in the PE-17. There's no difference between the PE-07 here and the PE-17 except for color options. At $17, this is a great little case for storing pens and other accessories that is sure to last a long time.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 15, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pen Case, Nomadic.

La Berlue Pencil Case Review

Like many of you, my email inbox can be a beast. But sometimes - sometimes - a real gem sneaks through that makes me sit up and take notice. That’s exactly what happened when La Berlue reached out to me.

Frédéric, the founder of La Berlue, shared with me his very unique take on the pencil case. And that’s exactly what this product is called: Pencil Case. But it is far from anything that you would expect hearing only the name.

The stated goal behind La Berlue is to reinvent everyday objects to make them fun. Pencil cases, in general, are a pretty basic object. A pouch with a zipper will suffice (I should know!) as long as it is long enough to hold unsharpened Blackwings. Even old school wooden pencil boxes, often made with a sliding wooden slat as the lid/cover, are reasonably common.

But this one. This one is different.

No matter how much I tried, I’m not sure I would have come up with the design that Frédéric did for his Pencil Case. And the thing is, it is very simple. It’s a long wooden cylinder with a cutout for a handful of pencils, covered by an additional wooden sleeve. The sleeve on mine is Walnut, but there is a Cherry wood option as well.

I’m enamored with it. When I first unboxed it, I got a huge grin on my face and thought “What am I supposed to do with this?” It’s not a carry case, that’s for sure. Technically, you could I guess. The 10.5” x 1.5” tube can slide into a bag or a backpack, but it is obviously not pliable. What the Pencil Case is to me is a beautiful desk object, standing at attention, ready to provide you with a sampling of your favorite pencils at a moments notice.

It can fit more that pencils, too. Mine shipped with a small wooden ruler, and I can easily fit an eraser and pencil sharpener inside the case as well.

The Pencil Case from La Berlue is a fun, functional, and unique product that represents everything I love about stationery. Thank you for reaching out Frédéric - I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

(La Berlue provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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