Posts filed under Gel

Zebra Sarasa Nano Vintage Color Set Review

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

The Zebra Sarasa gel ink pens are well-known to anyone in this community, and it's for good reason. They feature vibrant colors, smooth flowing gel ink, and a nifty spring clip for attaching the pen to things. When I received a pack of Sarasa Nano pens, I was curious to find out what made them different than the standard Sarasa Clip version. While the Nano line is a bit more premium, they still use the same refills.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano line's main difference is the clever internal spring that provides a nice suspension for the refill to ride on while you write. In practice, this makes the pen feel like a smoother instrument when writing thanks to the small amount of give the spring affords when exerting pressure on the tip. Aside from this, the Nano also has a premium metal nose cone and a completely black body (unlike the transparent body of the Sarasa Clip).

Another key difference from the Sarasa Clip line is the tip size selection. For the Sarasa Nano Vintage Color set I have, you only have one choice: 0.38mm. There are some other Nano pens that have matching body colors and use a 0.3mm tip, but for all the pens with a black body, they all use a 0.38mm tip size. Compare this to the standard Sarasa Clip line, which offers options from 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, and a handful of 1.0mm tips.

Luckily, you can swap in any standard Sarasa refill in the Nano body if you want to use the fancy spring suspension system on larger tip size refills.

So, how does the Nano perform compared to other pens that don't include a shock absorber? It's a subtle difference, but it's definitely noticeable — especially if you are comparing with other 0.38mm pens at the same time. With any small tip size pen, it can feel like the refill is a bit scratchy given the tiny size. For me, I tend to be a bit heavy-handed, so this scratchy feeling is something I can agree with on typical small tip pens I use. With the Nano, it doesn't feel as scratchy or like I'm writing with a stiff nail.

If you press the tip of the refill against the page and apply pressure, you can see the refill retract slightly as the spring absorbs the resistance. When writing, it's extremely subtle to the point that you don't realize it's happening. I assume that this is by design — if you could actually feel the tip springing while you write, that would be incredibly distracting and would require you to alter your writing style a bit. The pressure is just right for normal writing.

Aside from the satin-finish metal nose cone and internal spring system, this is a standard Sarasa. The clip is largely the same — the only difference is the shape of the clip is a bit more petit compared to the standard Clip line.

The five colors that are included in the Vintage Colors Set (for $12.50) are Cassis Black (dark red), Green Black, Blue Black, Blue Gray, and Sepia Black. There is also a "Basic" color set that includes what I think to be the better color combination (pink, red, orange, blue, and black). The Vintage colors are all dark, but the blue black, green black, and sepia black are incredibly hard to tell apart. For me, the colors in this set do not excite me. But, for other people, this could be a great color combination that they love! That's the beauty of stationery.

The final difference I'll point out between the standard Sarasa Clip and the Nano is price. At JetPens, the standard Sarasa Clip is $1.75. The Nano, however, is $2.95. This is likely due to a variety of factors, such as the extra bits for the spring suspension, the metal nose cone, and the fact that (I believe) the Nano is a newer product. Still, when you remember that both pens use the same refills, it's a bit difficult for me to swallow the large price gap. I'm a huge fan of the Sarasa Clip body — I think they're really comfortable and work great. For me, the Nano body and shock absorber don't do much for me. For almost twice the price, it doesn't make sense. The shock absorbing body is novel, but I can also adjust my writing style to suite the standard Sarasa with little effort.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano is an interesting product, but I'm not sure it differentiates itself enough from the standard line to justify its existence. I'd love to hear other opinions about the Nano and how it works better for you than the standard Sarasa! For me, I'm happy to stick with my dozens of Sarasa Clips for the time being.

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

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Posted on December 18, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Zebra, Sarasa, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Kokuyo Me 0.5mm Gel Pen Review

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

It's not often at all that you see a new gel pen manufacturer enter the market. At this point, the big companies that operate in the stationery space already have various ballpoint refill pens available en mass, and they regularly churn new and updated variations on these. Bringing a new, cheap semi-disposable pen to market must be an extraordinarily large cost. So, when I see a pen from a manufacturer that I haven't previously associated with writing instruments, I jump at it.

Kokuyo is near and dear to my heart for the paper products they sell. Their paper is a good "middle of the road" quality, but it's paired with lower prices. It's nearly impossible to compare Japanese stationery culture with the American version, but Kokuyo feels like the ubiquitous brand that you can find at any office supply store. It's nothing special, but it's good at what is does. At any rate, it's about a thousand percent better than the paper products you find at any generic office supply store in the US.

Remember when Moleskine started selling pens? And they turned out to actually be pretty good? Well, that's kind of what's happening here with Kokuyo. The Kokuyo Me gel pen is fairly new, seems like a sleeper, but it actually hangs with the best gel pen options out there.

The Kokuyo Me pens are fairly new for the US market (forgive me if these pens are something that are really old news in Japan!), and I haven't seen much info or reviews on them so far. After trying one out for a while, I can tell you that Kokuyo's gel pen game is strong.

The 0.5mm black gel refill included with this pen is fantastic. It writes instantly and has no issues with starting, skipping, or bleeding. The ink is black and consistent in hue. The line edges are sharp and crisp. The only gripe I have about the refill is that I don't agree with the 0.5mm label they've given it. It's more akin to most 0.7mm refills, but that's a minor gripe.

The shape of the refill is very familiar. It's just a tiny bit different than the common Pilot G-2 refill, but it's essentially a complete match for other common pen/refill types. I've tried swapping with Uni Signos and Zebra Sarasas with great success. In theory, you could use the Kokuyo refill in other pens, or in machined pens made to use specific refills (like the Signo, for example). The only problem is, there aren't a lot of options in terms of Kokuyo's refills at the moment (at least for the US market). Black 0.5mm is the only option, unfortunately. I really hope that Kokuyo expands on their options for refill colors and sizes, but I guess it's still early days.

Getting back to the actual pen body, it's pretty standard fare with a couple of unique touches. The grip section is hard plastic instead of a rubberized, textured grip, and one side of the grip is faceted. This flat side of the grip is a nice place for a finger to rest while writing, but unobtrusive for those that prefer a different grip.

There's also a small round window between the clip and the grip section that shows you the numeric designation of the refill inside. It's easy to see the "05" through the window whether the refill is extended or retracted. This is possible because they've actually printed the 05 on the refill dozens of times to account for basically any possible placement of the refill inside the pen. Seems to me like something that was over-thought or over-designed as it doesn't really provide much value. Most pens in this price range have the refill size printed somewhere on the pen, but I guess being able to see the refill label is more accurate.

The "bell pepper" color I picked is a nice basic green. The pen body color has no bearing on the ink color — they're all black ink refills. There are several other pen body colors to pick from.

Vanness sell the Kokuyo Me gel pens for $4.50, which is in the ballpark for other comparable gel pens from the more well-known brands. Even if it's a little more than some options, I'd still say it's worth checking out. The refill that Kokuyo are using in this pen is promising, and I can't wait to see more options in terms of point size and color. Keep it up, Kokuyo!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 24, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Kokuyo, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Uni-ball One F Gel Pen 0.5 mm Earth Texture Color Series 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 her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

Uni-ball has some of the best gel ink around, especially if you like your colors bold. The pigmented gel in the Uni-ball One is formulated to sit on top of the paper, so there's no bleeding or feathering, and you get the full effect of the color. It also has a fast dry time and doesn't smudge, making it great for lefties or swift writers. That also makes it ideal for quick notes, like planner appointments, class notes, or meeting notes. Or anything? I mean, really, this is just good ink.

So if you have an excellent ink and you want to take things up a level, what do you do? You put that great ink in a cool new pen body. The Earth Texture Color Series from Uni does this very well. These speckle-patterned special editions come in six colors: grey, white, brown, pink, green, and blue. This is the Grassland Green version, which is a lovely pale shade of green with grey and tan speckles on it. It's just a color effect--the word "texture" in the name is somewhat misleading, as the finish on these pens is a smooth matte. The speckle effect is worked through the plastic, so it shows some dimension. It's a lovely finish that looks almost like natural stone.

The plastic body feels very good in the hand, and it's a sturdy, well-made pen. It is deliberately weighted toward the tip, and the pen body is wider than a standard size, which makes it extra comfortable for long writing sessions. It does not, however, have a grip section, or any grippy texture at all, so some slipping can happen.

The pen has Uni's levered clip, which opens very wide, like a baby crocodile, to hold onto book covers or even a whole stack of paper. The click mechanism is very sturdy and satisfying. One of my favorite things about the Uni clicks is that the spring is attached inside the pen, so when you unscrew the body to change the cartridge, the wee spring does not go shooting into the air, or fall out and get lost. And this is definitely a pen worth refilling.

So, a great ink in a nice, refillable, attractive and ergonomic pen body. Awesome. I don't know what you'd expect to pay for such a thing, but I bet it's more than $4.95. I would have guessed at least twice that, if not three times. And if you pick a Uni-Ball One F from the standard series instead of the Earth series, it's only $4.50. I think that's a stellar deal.

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

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