Notebook and pencil

If you want to make sure you don’t lose your pen when you walk around with your notebook there are several ways of attaching a pen or pencil to a notebook :


You might already have a notebook. In this case products like Leuchtturm’s PenLoop or this pen holder from Lexikaliker‘s blog  (Google translation of this link) might be the right thing for you.There is also a slightly different version of the metal pen holder (Google translation of this link). For a designer look have a look at the pen clip by Stefan Diez.


You might prefer DIY solutions. Lexikaliker has the right solution, depending on your skills: There’s the easy version (Google translation of this link) and the more complicated version (Google translation of this link).


You could of course buy a notebook with a built-in pen loop, like Brunnen’s Kompagnon, or you could buy SUCK UK’s notebook that can store your pen inside the notebook.


Links:

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Stabilo EASYgraph offer

I don’t want to give the impression that I am a big fan of Tesco’s. When we go shopping we also buy from the other supermarkets (except maybe ASDA) …but I just have to mention this offer as it might be of interest for those of you in the UK (there might also be a similar offer in Ireland).

Tesco is currently selling the right handed version of the Stabilo EASYgraph double pack for 75p (~$1.17, 89c). The normal retail price is £2.70 (~$4.22, ~€3.23).

The EASYgraph is designed for schoolchildren who learn to write. It has a triangular shape, is over-sized and its specialty is its design which includes grip moulds that are supposed to support the fingers in gripping the pencil easily. As the pencil gets shorter through sharpening the next grip moulds can be used until the pencil is used up. There is a clear layer of paint above the wood visible in the moulds to protect the, from dirt. There is also a name tag at the end of the pencil which emphasises that this is a pencil for school children and the wood is PEFC certified.

Stabilo EASYgraph (front) and Lamy plus (back)

Altogether a very nice pencil, but it does feel a bit scratchy. After reading one of Sean’s recent articles I do however think that the sound this pencils makes might be responsible for the scratchy feeling.

As far as I know the EASYgraph pencils are produced in Český Krumlov in Bohemia.

The EASYgraph on a Cherry G80-3000LSC

Stabilo EASYgraph (front) and Lamy plus (back)

In case you wonder about the keyboard in the photo: This is my favourite keyboard. The G80-3000LSC (click tactile) from Wisconsin’s Cherry Corporation. How does it fit into this article? They are both ‘writing instruments’ and they are both made in the Czech Republic.


Links:



I would like to thank Lexikaliker for the Lamy plus pencil used in the photos.


Prices and exchange rates: September 2010

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Eckenklammer corner clips

Photo by Diana Metzner

Today we have some sort of premiere at Bleistift. The first guest post (..if this counts as a guest post).

Photo by Diana Metzner

Diana, who in 1980 was my first English teacher, read my recent post about the Japan Clips and send me a photo and additional information about some other unusual clips she bought in the past, including the Eckenklammern from ALCO.

Diana wrote:

Here are the “Eckenklammer” corner clips, which I used as in 1,2,3. They are flatter than a normal paper clip and hold the paper tighter. I think they are only meant for 2 or three sheets, though, but they do look really good on “important” papers.

There seem to be at least three different version of the  corner clips available: brass-plated, nickel-plated and made from aluminium. A box with 100 corner clips usually retails for about €1.50 (~$1.95, ~£1.25), a box with 1000 retails for about €9.00 (~$11.70, ~£7.50).

As mentioned before Diana’s Eckenklammern were from ALCO, a family business established in 1906. They are also available from other companies and I assume that all the different corner clips come from the same manufacturer as they all seem to look the same.  They are size is 18 x 18 mm and about  0.25 mm thick.


I would like to thank Diana for making me aware of this product and for the photos and the explanation.

Prices and exchange rates: September 2010

Photo by Diana Metzner

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Pelikan Edelstein Ink Collection

If you like fountain pens you are probably also interested in ink. Pelikan has released a new series of luxury inks, the Edelstein Ink Collection [1]Edelstein is the German word for gemstone or jewel. The price for a 50ml glass bottle is €12.90 (~$16.75) in Germany and £11.95 (~$18.50) in the UK. The Edelstein inks are available in seven colours. According to Niche Pens they will be available for purchase towards the end of September.

More information about the Edelstein inks from Pelikan.

More information about the Edelstein inks from Niche Pens.

References

References
1 Edelstein is the German word for gemstone or jewel

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Banditapple carnets

The first time I came across Banditapple carnets was when my friend Kent from Pencilog send me a few to try out. A few weeks later I received another envelope with Banditapple carnets, this time from Arnie Kim, the man behind the Banditapple carnets and an acquaintance of Kent. Kent told me that Arnie quit his job in Korea and went to Vietnam to create the perfect notebook. Vietnam was a French colony and was therefore influenced by French culture with the French-style carnet being no exception. Kent also added that Vietnam is the most suitable place in Asia to produce European-style notebooks. When I asked Arnie about his carnets he told me that he designed and planned the whole project and that he spent more than two years to find the right paper, the right “masters” to produce his carnets and the right location to make the carnets. The carnets currently available are the first edition, but he hopes to produce the second edition in a year or so.

Talking about the current edition he added that the paper is acid free paper and that it works great with a fountain pens, because the ink can dry quickly and because there is no feathering.

His Banditapple carnets are now being sold in the large stationery stores in Seoul and are also available in selected shops in Japan. He is also selling them online (contact banditapple@gmail.com if you are interested), with most orders being shipped to the USA and Japan, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The online sales are however tiny in comparison as Arnie does not have an online shop and these orders are based on word of mouth. The carnets are available in the following sizes:

  • Peewee size, a moleskine pocket size, 9×14 cm
    for 1,800 KRW (~$1.54, ~ €1.21, ~£1.00)
  • Handy Size, a midori traveler’s note size, 11×21 cm
    for 2,800 KRW (~$2.40, ~€1.89, ~£1.56)
  • Tablet size, a moleskine large size, 13×21 cm
    for 3,300 KRW (~$2.83, ~€2.22, ~£1.84)
Banditapple left, Muji right

 

 

When I first looked at the Banditapple carnets my first impression was that they are very similar to Muji’s passport sized notebooks I bought in the past. If you have used Muji notepads before or read my previous posts about Muji (about their A5 notebook and their A6 memo pad) you know that Muji products look nice and are great for pencil users, but that their paper is not particularly fountain pen friendly. I use their white lined A6 notebooks to keep QSL logs, but I only use graphite pencils (mainly mechanical pencils) for this purpose. The similarities between the Muji passport notebooks and the Banditapple carnets lend themselves to comparing them. Keeping Kent’s and Arnie’s praise for their ability to cope with ink in mind (“The main partner with this notebook is actually fountain pen”) I decided to have a closer look and see how both cope with graphite and ink.

 

Banditapple carnet, sewn through the cover

Both notebooks are sewn, not stapled, which adds a nice touch to them. While the Banditapple’s cover feels like normal, coloured paper the Muji’s cover seems to be made from impregnated paper, which will probably keep it looking new and tidy for longer. Another difference is that the Muji notebook was sewn with a white thread before the outer cover was glued on, so the seam is not visible from the outside, while the Banditapple was sewn with a red thread through the cover. The paper used in the notbook is also quite different. While the Banditapple’s paper looks a bit rough, Muji’s paper looks extremely smooth, nearly shiny in comparison and with a more yellowish tint.

Banditapple

Muji

Workmanship on both notebooks is very good, but if you are looking hard you can see that the last bit of thread is hanging loose on both notebooks and that the rounded corners of both notebooks could have been cut a bit better.

Texture Banditapple

Texture Muji
Click on the images to see the texture in large.

Writing text using a pencil and erasing is fine in both notebooks, but shading the paper with a pencil does not really work well in the Muji notebook. Shading works much better in the Banditapple carnet, but the rougher paper means that the paper’s texture will be a little bit more obvious than in Muji’s notebook. The suitability for ink was tested with two different fountain pens and inks. I used a Lamy Al-Star with an M nib, filled with Montblanc royal blue ink and a Pelikan Souverän M400 white tortoise with a 14C F nib and Lamy blue-black ink [1]This is the blue-black ink from the bottle,  not from the cartridge. I emphasise this because the blue-black ink from the bottle is said to be an iron-gall ink, while the blue-black cartridges are … Continue reading. This M400 is usually a very wet writer, but since this ink is very dry this combination overall is dryer than the Lamy / Montblanc combination. While the Banditapple carnet copes exceptionally well with both inks, the Muji notebook has some problems which result in the text being clearly visible on the back of the page.

The back of the page, Banditapple left, Muji right

 

The Banditapple carnet is the clear winner in this comparison, because of the superior paper. The Muji passport notebook paper does not perform well if you use ink or if you draw with pencils. I have to emphasise that the paper of the Muji passport notebook is performing much better than the paper in Muji’s A5 notebook I have reviewed previously. If you only write in notebooks and you only use pencils, then both will be excellent and the Muji will provide you with a cover that is more water and dirt-repelling.


I would like to thank Kent and Arnie for the Banditapple carnets used in for this post.

 

 

Arnie is an avid collector of postcards. If you would like to send him a postcard, please send it to:

 

Young-jo Arnold Kim
CPO Box 1754
Seoul
Republic of Korea
100-600

 

Prices and exchange rates: September 2010

References

References
1 This is the blue-black ink from the bottle,  not from the cartridge. I emphasise this because the blue-black ink from the bottle is said to be an iron-gall ink, while the blue-black cartridges are said to be just a mix of blue and black ink

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