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Kyokuto F64° Notebook Review

Kyokuto F64° Pocket-Sized Notebooks Kyokuto F64° Pocket-Sized Notebooks (Ruled & Plain)

A Tale of Six Notebooks, a Chinese Pen, and a Whole Lot of Feathers

This was supposed to be a short, quick review. But it turned into a genuine saga.

I love notebooks. I have piles of them that I’m not sure I’ll ever get to use. But I keep buying them because I’m looking for the PERFECT notebook. As I’ve been trying different brands, paper types, styles, and bindings, I think I’ve identified exactly what I’m looking for. Unfortunately, I don’t think it exists. With the thousands of different types of notebooks out there, you’d think I could find a handful of options that suit my needs. But you’d be wrong…. Read More

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Kaigelu 336 Fountain Pen Review

Kaigelu 336 Fountain Pen
Next up in my “Inexpensive Chinese Fountain Pens” series, I present to you…

Kaigelu 336 Fountain Pen

Price: $20.00
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

In my research trying to find good Chinese fountain pen manufacturers, the name Kaigelu comes up a lot. I’ve read reviews on different Kaigelu models and nearly every one claims excellent quality and writing experience. I stumbled on an eBay auction for the Kaigelu 336 and immediately loved the way it looked. It’s a little more expensive than other pens I was looking at, and because I was fresh off my Crocodile disaster, I didn’t want to trust a random eBay seller with this one. So I searched around, found it on iSellPens, and put in my order. Let me say that all the pictures of this pen on the Internet just don’t do it justice. This is an absolutely stunning pen and I just couldn’t wait to ink it up and get writing. How does it write? Keep reading to find out…. Read More

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Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen Review

Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen in metallic blue

From the “I expected more from this pen” files…

Sheaffer Prelude 380 Fountain Pen

Price: $41.00
Nib: Fine
Filling System: Twist-Style Piston Converter

About the Pen

I’m on the constant hunt for a fountain pen that puts down an extra fine line, but with the smoothness and wetness of a medium nib. The closest thing I’ve found so far is the Pilot Metropolitan, which really is a brilliant writer. An eBay auction for a Sheaffer with a “fine nib that writes like an extra-fine” caught my eye. I know Sheaffer is a great and respected brand, and the pen looked really pretty, so I decided to take a shot on it. Amazon had the same pen listed for $65, so I thought $41 was a good deal. When it arrived, I cleaned it, inked it up, and this is what I found…. Read More

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Yiren 823 Fountain Pen Review

Yiren 823 Fountain Pen

The next entry in my “Cheap Chinese Pens I Got from eBay” series is the…

Yiren 823 Fountain Pen

Price: $7.00
Nib: Medium/Fine
Filling System: Twist-Style Piston Converter & International Standard Cartridge

About the Pen

This was one of the first pens I purchased during my recent eBay bender, and it was one of the ones I was most excited about. I just loved everything about the way it looked in the pictures, so I took a chance on it. Within five minutes of inking it up, I decided it was worth every penny. The short story is: This pen rocks! The long story is…. Read More

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Knox Galileo Fountain Pen Review

Knox Galileo Fountain Pens (Black and Orange)

Price: $15.00
Nib: Extra Fine
Filling System: Piston / Cartridge (International Standard, I think)

About the Pen

Knox is an interesting brand. They’re only available from one retailer (XFountainPens out of Pittsburgh, PA, USA). They appear to be commissioned from a Chinese manufacturer, but outfitted with German nibs. I heard some great things about the Knox nibs and noticed that the Galileo came with a free bottle of ink. For $15, I figured I’d take a chance on it (okay, the fact that it comes in a nice, shiny orange may have had something to do with it, too). With the exception of one rather large flaw, I absolutely love this pen…. Read More

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Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen Review

Two Pilot Metropolitan fountain pens: one Bronze Lizard and one Black Crocodile

From the “I know there are a million reviews of this pen already, but I’m writing one anyway” files…

Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen

Price: $15.00
Nibs: Fine & Italic
Country of Origin: Japan
Filling System: Aerometric / Squeeze-Type

About the Pen:

The Pilot Metropolitan is undoubtedly one of the best “starter” fountain pens out there. The street price is $15, making it very affordable. But it’s also a hallmark of quality: durable, dependable, reliable, and comfortable. The Metro is available with either a Fine or Medium nib; however, it used the same nib as several other Pilot pens, which are available in other grades: the Pilot Plumix has an Italic nib, and the Pilot Penmanship has an Extra Fine nib (Note: the Plumix and Penmenship cost about $8 each). The nibs can be swapped from those pens into the Metropolitan, giving a total of four nib options.

For this review, I’m using two different variants of the pen:

  • Bronze Lizard with a Fine nib
  • Black Crocodile with an Italic nib (that I swapped from a Plumix)

… Read More

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Crocodile 806 / NCR64 Fountain Pen Review

ncr64_01

Recently, I went a little berzerk with eBay and picked up a poop-load of Chinese pens. As they come rolling in, I’d like to share my thoughts with everyone on their performance.

My first contribution in the Fountain Pen Reviews Department is for the…

CROCODILE 806 (AKA NCR64) Green Marble Celluloid Fountain Pen

   Price: $18.50
   Nib: Medium, Steel, 22KGP/two-tone
   Country of Origin: China
   Filling System: Piston / Cartridge (International Standard, I believe)… Read More

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How Do I Manage All These Freaking Passwords?

A Box of Index Cards

If you’re like me, you have accounts on a ton of web sites. I probably have over 200 accounts, including my email services, storage & note-taking sites, organizations, social sites, and a pile of online stores. In my previous articles, I’ve hopefully convinced you that you need good, strong passwords that are different for every site. The good side to this plan is that it helps keep your accounts secure. The bad side is that all these good, strong, unique passwords are a nightmare to remember. In fact, unless you’re one of the lucky few with a photographic memory, there’s no way you’ll remember all these passwords.

So what’s an Internet surfer to do?… Read More