Are you ready for a new planner in 2025, and an amazing cover to go along with it? The A6 Hobonichi Techo is one of the most popular on the market, and along with this stunning Unsodo: Bijutsukai cover, you will be ready to tackle the upcoming year. One person will win the planner/cover combo, so read the rules below and enter away!
The Journeyman Pen from Wingback - Final Days on Kickstarter, and a New Winter Option! (Sponsor)
The Journeyman Pen from Wingback recently crossed the $100,000 mark during their Kickstarter campaign. And with only 4 days left, now is the time to jump on board.
The original Wingback Mechanical Pen was designed for everyone, a tool that had a minimalist aesthetic and was engineered to perfection. The Journeyman Pen is designed for you, by you. With every component of the pen able to be customized, you can make it the most unique addition to your stationery collection.
The Journeyman has some new features that Wingback customers have been after since the launch of our original Mechanical pen. The new barrel is longer, allowing for any standard international G2 ink cartridge, including gel ink cartridges. It also features a clip attached to the crown for better storage, and which stops the pen from rolling away from you. These features transform the pen into a travel companion that you are able to clip onto clothes or notebooks, to stay with you throughout your journey.
For the final week, Wingback has added the Winter Journeyman, which features a subtle geometric pattern laser engraved around the barrel. Available in Brass, Stainless Steel, Black Steel and Titanium, this reward will only be available to Kickstarter backers until the end of the campaign.
Whether you are choosing the classic Brass barrel, the beautifully engraved Winter Journeyman, or building your own using a variety of materials, Wingback has you covered - but not for much longer! The Journeyman campaign ends Friday, so head over and checkout all of the amazing options they have available.
My thanks to Wingback for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week.
Staedtler Wopex Pencil Review
Ok, fine. The Staedtler Wopex is not the worst pencil of all time.
Sure, I like to make that joke frequently, and the pencil itself has become a bit of a meme in our community, but it’s not that bad. Right?
I question myself, because it’s not great to write with. It’s just not the worst. What’s the worst pencil on the market? I’m not sure, but ones with cores that crumble when writing would top the list. The Wopex at least writes. And, depending on your expectations, writes well.
With the Wopex, Staedtler has built more eco-friendly pencil using wood waste (70%) in combination with plastic (30%) to form material than can then be extruded to make this pencil. Assumedly, Staedtler takes the waste from the production of their more traditional wooden slat pencils and uses it to make more pencils. Honestly, that sounds smart, and I appreciate that Staedtler has committed to this process for one of their products.
Does HB even mean anything?
While I can appreciate the environmentally friendly bonafides the Wopex brings to the market, what I don’t get along with is the core. There is less information on that formulation than with the barrel, but the graphite, if it can be called that, has a waxy, plastic-like feel. I’m guessing the core needed to be modified to fit the expectation of the pencil. And also to match the weight of the pencil - the extruded barrel is heavier and denser than a traditional wooden barrel, so it likely needed a stronger core to match.
Marked on the barrel as HB #2, the Wopex writes nothing like any HB #2 pencil I have ever used. It is so firm, and so light, that in comparison to traditional wooden pencil cores, I’d put it all the way up in the 2H-4H range. My handwriting looks fantastic with it, but it is very light. Too light for heavy usage.
On performance alone, I wonder where the Staedtler Wopex sits for hobbyist pencil users. Special conditions only, maybe? Under no circumstances is it better than any traditional pencil I own, for any use case. If I wanted output on the page like the Wopex, I’d just grab a 4H pencil whose graphite is much more enjoyable.
There are some good things to mention about the Wopex. I appreciate Staedtler’s focus on recycling and using the waste products they create during production of their other pencils. The color and style is fantastic. The feel is nice too, despite the relatively heavy weight. The eraser is decent, which is high praise compared to most. They are inexpensive, coming in at less than 30 cents in bulk (Amazon affiliate link.) Finally, the Wopex might actually survive nuclear fallout, along with cockroaches.
On the left, sharpened with the Uni KH-20. On the right, with a KUM handheld. Even with a good blade in the KUM, you can see how both the graphite and barrel are sharpened inconsistently.
The downsides? The lead isn’t good for me, but others may enjoy it. And sharpening the Wopex with a handheld sharpener is an exercise in frustration. I used my Uni KH-20 desktop sharpener for this review and it worked well. I’ve used handhelds with the Wopex in the past and it doesn’t sharpen the barrel cleanly, sometimes leaving a ragged edge. The barrel material makes it difficult.
So there is my look at the Staedtler Wopex, a pencil I have come to love because of how weird it is. If you want to become a part of the weirdness, it is at least inexpensive to try. And who knows, maybe it will become your new favorite pencil.
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