Galen Leather Co. x Kaweco Sport Fountain Pen Review

I think it is common knowledge at this point that any mention of a Kaweco Sport Limited Edition is my “You had me at hello” moment. And who is the latest to take advantage of that? My good friends at Galen Leather, that's who.

They sent me a stack of items that have been, and will be, reviewed on The Pen Addict. Most were parceled out to the review crew, like Sarah's recent look at the Slip-N-Zip, but I pulled rank on one item. Specifically, the Galen Leather Kaweco Sport in Cognac.

Galen created their own custom packaging for this pen.

Look, I have soft spot for this pen. What can I say? I mean that literally. What can I say that haven't already said about this awesome pen. Over and over and over again. It's the best and most fun pocket fountain pen on the market.

The interesting thing about this pen is that it is my first translucent barrel Kaweco limited edition. There was a standard issue Ice Sport release a few years back, but I don't recall another see-through LE. I feel like I have to be overlooking something obvious so please let me know. (Update: I knew it!) Regardless, this is my first, and I'd wager that it won't be my last.

Galen Leather nailed the color on this collaboration. As a primarily leather goods company, a brown hue makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure a solid brown plastic would have delivered the richness in color that Cognac does. It is warm and bright, yet fits in perfectly with the many different shades of leather Galen offers.

And I even love the gold trim and accents!

The one question I had was which ink I was going to use with it. Specifically, which short international cartridge will I pull from the stash that would compliment this pen the most? I discounted any blue right out of the gate, and even oranges didn't make it past the first cut. Then I saw the winner for this initial journey: Graf von Faber-Castell Olive Green.

It's as good of a match as I was going to get with what I had on hand. The only competition in my mind would have been a purple ink, but alas, I had none around. Put some on the list! And I'll need them, too, as I see myself using this wonderful collaboration for quite some time.

Thank you Yusuf, and the entire Galen Leather team, for sending me this pen. You can get yours for $30 directly from Galen, but move quickly if interested - only Medium, Broad, and Double Broad nib sizes remain!

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

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The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set: 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 Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set comes in a silver metal tin.

Inside you'll find a pen with one nib installed, two other nib units, two plastic nib covers, and three boxes of ink cartridges in blue, black, and pink. No instructions are included with this set.

The pen is made of light silver-colored plastic with a metal clip and raised dots along the barrel (thus the "Grip" name).

The finial is concave with the Faber-Castell logo, and the cap sports the Faber-Castell name on the side. It is a snap-on cap.

The pen is medium-sized, measuring 5.4 inches/137mm capped, 5.1 inches/130mm uncapped, and 6.9 inches/175mm posted. It weighs only 15.19 grams capped/posted and 9.42 grams uncapped. It is comfortable in the hand, and the grip (made of textured black plastic) curves inward slightly, measuring 10.42mm.

Three interchangeable steel calligraphy nib units are included: 1.1mm, 1.4mm, and 1.8mm.

Three boxes of ink cartridges are also included. The ink is "erasable," but you have to purchase an ink eraser correction pen in order to correct mistakes. "Erasable" is bit misleading since the correction pen applies fluid over the ink rather than removing the ink.

I practiced my calligraphy alphabet with each of the nib units in my Endless Recorder Notebook. The 1.1mm nib (inked with black) wrote beautifully without any skips or hard starts.

I was impressed with the 1.4mm nib (inked with blue). It's wide enough to offer noticeable line variation, but not so wide to make writing awkward.

Unfortunately, the 1.8 nib (inked with pink) was horrible. I had to work hard to write two or three letters before the ink stopped flowing. It was scratchy, ink-stingy, and most unpleasant to use. A close up of the nib explains why: the tines are misaligned.

The writing samples below do not show the difficulties I had with the nib. To get one page of writing was an exercise in frustration.

Here's a comparison of the nibs writing normally:

The Faber-Castell pen is comfortable to write with, and the nib units are easy to switch. The nib caps insure that the nibs won't dry out. The three ink colors are vibrant and flow well, plus the cartridge system is simple to use. This set could make a good starter kit for a beginner.

However, the 1.8 nib in my set is unusable. In addition, there are no instructions--not even a basic alphabet exemplar. This makes the set less suitable for someone just starting out. The $40.00 price tag makes me question whether this set is a good choice for a beginner or anyone, for that matter. If it were around $20.00 I would be more comfortable recommending it. You can buy a Pilot Parallel set with four calligraphy pens for $25.00, for example.

The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set is available at Goldspot Pens for $40.00.

(Goldspot Pens provided the Faber-Castell set at no charge to Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Traveler's Company Brass Fountain Pen 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!)

Traveler's Company is already well known for their fantastic notebook systems and line of stationery products with a classic, vintage aesthetic. I've enjoyed their notebooks, accessories, pencils, and writing utensils before, but this is the first fountain pen of theirs that I've used. I'm really quite happy with it. It isn't perfect, but it does its job well.

The Traveler’s Company Brass Fountain Pen pen is made from - you guessed it - brass, so it has a hefty weight to it, despite its small size. They've kept it quite thin, though, so it's not as heavy as many other brass pens I've used. When capped, it's very small and resembles a brass bullet casing, but when pulled out of its lid and posted, it's the size of a normal fountain pen. It has a flexible steel clip that is removable, and a lanyard loop on the top of the cap. The top unscrews to allow you to remove the clip, if you like. There are some decorative grooves hammered into the top, and the words "Traveler's Company Made in Japan" are engraved on the barrel. Otherwise there are no decorations to distract from its minimal design.

The pen is uncapped by pulling on the bottom of the pen. The cap is friction fit with some ridges that grip the pen body. The bottom part that you pull is a bit small and has no texture, so it is sometimes hard to uncap. If you've just put lotion on, it's probably not going to work. The pen body is short and narrow, similar to a Kaweco Liliput. Large hands may struggle with the narrow grip, but I found it comfortable to hold, even without posting. Keep in mind that if you use it on a lanyard, you won't be able to post it very easily, which might be a problem if you have larger hands. Or even regular sized hands.

The section unscrews from the body for inserting a standard international short cartridge. I'm not aware of any converters that will fit this wee pen. It does come with some cartridges, though, that can be refilled with bottled ink if you have a blunt syringe.

The nib is a fine #5 nib with "Traveler's Company" engraved in it. Mine writes very well. It's firm but not too scratchy and has excellent flow. It's not too wet, and the line is fine enough that it works well on scrap paper or in pocket notebooks that don't typically handle fountain pens well. Which is perfect, as that is what I typically use my pocket pens for.

The best part about this pen, besides its excellent portability, is that it ages with character, much like the Traveler's Company notebooks do. The brass begins to patina almost immediately, and even after just a few weeks of use, it's starting to look more like a family heirloom instead of something I just got in the mail. If you like to keep your pens shiny, that might be a downside, but I love it.

At $57, it's a reasonable price. It feels a bit steep for something so small, but the brass is very nice and it functions well. I love that it's small enough that I really can fit it in my pockets--which I can't actually do with a lot of pocket pens, because I have girl pockets. It's been great to have with me at work, and its ruggedness means I'm not worried about damaging it. I think it could use some texture to make it easier to pull open, but otherwise I think this is a fantastic little pen.

(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!