Lihit Lab Hinemo Stand Pen Pouch in Red: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Lihit Lab Hinemo Stand Pen Pouch is made from canvas (Fuji Kinbai) woven in Japan and sourced from various places around the world. The pouch itself is made in Myanmar.

The pouch is shaped like a lower-case "n" when closed and an "m" when open. It is 7.9 inches in length, 5.1 inches in width, and 1.4 inches in depth (unfilled)--it expands to accommodate lots of supplies (see third picture below).

The name "Hinemo" is stitched on the front of the case; otherwise there is no branding. The canvas is thick and well sewn, and the metal zipper is sturdy. I think the red and cream colors make for a striking contrast.

Inside are two large canvas pockets and three smaller webbed pockets bordered in elastic. The large pockets can accommodate bigger supplies, such as large pens/markers, scissors, small rulers, pads of paper, craft knives, etc. The smaller pockets are useful for erasers, smaller pens and pencils, painting tools, sticky notes, and other supplies.

The pouch is reversible, so you can open it up, fold back the sides and zip it with the pockets facing outwards. This allows you to stand the case on your desk with easy access to your tools. You can also stand the case up like an open book, if you prefer.

The Hinemo Pouch is well made with quality stitching on the outside and inside. The pockets are capable of holding lots of writing instruments or other craft tools and the case closes easily when full.

I would not use this pouch with expensive fountain pens because there are no individual pen slots. Your pens will knock against one another resulting in scratches and dings. For EDC pens, plastic writing instruments, and other supplies, the Hinemo pouch will be perfect. You can slide it easily into a backpack or large purse.

You can purchase the Lihit Lab Hinemo Stand Pen Pouch in red from JetPens for $17.50. The pouch also comes in black, yellow, navy, and beige.

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

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Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus Pencil Case Review

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

There's a pencil case or organizer available for every situation you can think of. It's this vast variety that makes choosing a case so difficult, and it's also why I have so many cases in my closet that don't get used as often as they should. So many cases!

One trend I've noticed over the years is that cases usually try to solve specific carry requirements. Pen cases versus wood pencil cases, notebook cases versus stationery supply cases. The list goes on, but I've been really interested in generic stationery cases that can hold a wide assortment of things.

The Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus case is one that falls in the latter category — generic stationery storage. While it's marketed as a pencil case, it really excels at storing chunkier items. Pencil sharpeners, erasers, headphones, lip balm, multi-tools, small notepads, and even some pens and pencils!

The exterior of this case is similar to many cases, in that you can tell it's some sort of long pen pouch. The zipper runs the entire top of the case, rounds the corner, and continues to the base. There are leather pull tabs on the top of the zipper and the zipper pull as well. It looks really sleek on the outside and fits in with any environment, especially with the black fabric on my copy.

Once you unzip the case, the zipped side is allowed to expand a bit, which makes it easy to open it wide and see what's inside. There's a lot of organization happening in this small space, but let's start at the top of the panel on the left side of the case. There's a small sleeve that provides a great spot to clip pens and pencils onto so that they're within easy reach and kept out of the bottom pouch where they could get scratched or difficult to find. It's a pretty lightweight pen/pencil storage system, but it's nice to have. This is one of the main reasons that I view this case as a generic stationery case versus a pen or pencil case.

Moving down the left side of the case, there's a zipper pouch that runs the length of the interior. This is a shallow pouch that has no real dimension, but the interior side is a mesh material that makes it easy to see what you've stored in here. This is great for cables and small adapters, earplugs, spare erasers for mechanical pencils, mechanical pencil lead, and anything else that is quite small. While the zipper pouch does run the full length of the case, it isn't attached to the long wall, meaning it also serves as a sleeve or divider for items that you don't want to mix in with the larger open compartment.

The main compartment is open and quite large given the overall size of the case. Your imagination is the only limitation as to what can fit in this section. Along the back and right walls, there are different lengths of nylon sleeving that add a little more organization. But, since they're so thin and minimal, they're also easy to flatten against the wall to make room for larger items. I've found that AirPods cases fit well, larger erasers, pencil sharpeners, and other small items that have clips really do well in these sleeves. They're nice because they keep things semi-organized in the case while you're moving from place to place.

Since the case has an expansion flap that opens up when the case is unzipped, that means it also has a nice compression effect when you zip the case closed. This means you can't stuff the case to the brim and expect it to shut nicely, but it provides a nice level of compression to keep the contents organized even when it gets jostled or shaken around in your bag.

The quality of the materials is fantastic for the price. The stitching is solid and the case is still lightweight and pliable. I can see this holding up for many, many years of use (assuming we can ever leave our homes again).

At $26, the Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus case is a great price for such a versatile case. While it's not the best option for carrying nicer pens, it's a fantastic catch-all pouch that provides just enough organizing when you need it, but also disappears when you don't.

If you're not a fan of the black version shown here, you can also choose from Navy and Brown.

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

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Kamio Japan Pokemon Paco-Tray 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!)

I've reviewed a Kamio Japan Paco-Tray Case before, but it's a good enough case that it's worth revisiting, especially because this one has Pikachu on it. Originally, it was only available in some fairly plain colors, but now you can get them with all sorts of fun characters and in a lot more striking designs.

To recap: It is a simple rectangular cuboid in a clamshell-style with the zip opening lengthwise across the front and side edges. It's made of nylon canvas and has a double zipper, which is always a plus. When opened, the inside lining blooms like an accordion into three separate trays. Magnets in the spine snap together to hold the case open. When you close it, the dividers hold the contents nested in those trays, so everything stays neat and orderly and is easy to find when you need it. If you overstuff the pockets (lol if), there may be a few things that smoosh out into other compartments, but otherwise it does a great job of keeping things separated. When the case is closed, the magnet in the spine can be used to attach the case to a metal surface, like the front of a desk drawer.

Despite its small size, the case can hold a surprisingly large number of pens. A few dozen easily, plus accessories. It is, alas, too short to hold some wood case pencils at their full length, but once they've been sharpened down a bit, they'd fit, too. The rectangle shape makes it easy to fit in bags alongside books and other pen cases.

One downside is that you can't just open one end of the case and dig out a random pen. Because of that tray lining, the case has to be opened the whole way to get to anything. So, it's great for sitting down to a work station, but not great for quick access.

Since I first reviewed this over a year ago, I can now also attest to its durability. My eldest has been using my old one for his school pens for the past year, and it has not disintegrated the way everything else in his backpack does. This Pikachu version was immediately claimed by my youngest, who drags it around the house full of markers, ready for spontaneous illustration.

Standard design cases are $16 on JetPens, and character cases sell for $17.50. It's a really good price for a sturdy, well designed case. Someday I might even get to keep one for myself.

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

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!