Review: Cain Cigar Box Pen Case from BamaPens

June 19, 2015 by Lori Beck in Accessory Review

You may remember a little over a month ago when I reviewed my OSOK and Hoyo de Monterrey boxes from BamaPens. Shortly afterwards John reached out to me when he read on my review that he'd forgotten to put the rubber feet on my OSOK box. He immediately made it right and sent me some rubber feet in the mail to apply to my box. I was very pleased that he would go to the trouble of doing that, completely unsolicited by me.

In speaking to John at that time, I asked him if he happened to have any boxes like the ones he's sold Brad Dowdy with the glass top. A glass top box was what I'd really wanted as a nice display for my pens. He said he had exactly one left, and offered it to me with whatever color lining I'd like. He was also nice enough to offer a small discount as a returning customer, which I thought was an awesome gesture.

After about a week or so John emailed that he had completed my new box and sent it on its way to me. Just like last time, the packing was impeccable - it would have taken a small explosion for this thing to get damaged in transit. He also sent along another nice note with my purchase.

As much as I loved the OSOK box that I purchased from John, this is the one that I fell in love with. For the price, you can't beat this as a pen display box and it's got a bit of a rustic feel to it.

I noticed that the glass on the box was a bit scratched up, but I kind of expected that given that it's intended purpose was to house cigars. I'm sure the manufacturing tolerances on these things aren't the tightest when it comes to things like scratches and scuffs. The box has some nice stamped logos on the top and sides, which I really liked. The "Cain" logo itself kind of appeals to me.

The front of the box has a nice indention so that you can easily open the lid. The inside has 10 pen slots that John has covered in a nice black felt that I chose. He offers both felt lining and suede in various colors on his website. I really love the black lining in this box as it allows the pens to stand out. John also applies a foamy rubber sheet to the bottom to prevent the box from sliding around. I found it to work really well.

Once again I was very pleased with my purchase from John. If you're looking for storage and/or display boxes for your pens, I highly recommend you check out his website. If you're looking for something that's not on his site, be sure to shoot him an email because I've found that he has more in stock or readily available than he has time to list on his site.

Thanks for reading!
Lori

Ink Review: Noodler's Gruene Cactus

June 17, 2015 by Lori Beck in Ink Review

Noodler's Gruene Cactus
Pen: Lamy AL-Star 1.1mm stub
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: high
Saturation: high
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 20 seconds

Noodler's Gruene Cactus was one of the first bottles of ink that I bought when I rekindled my love of fountain pens. Prior to that, I used a Pilot G2 0.7mm in green. In my hunt for fountain pen inks, I'd decided that I wanted an ink that looked very similar to the G2 green that I loved so much. Noodler's Gruene Cactus is the closest to that color as I've found so far.

Gruene Cactus is a very nice neutral green in Noodler's line. It is a great shader, despite the fact that it's got quite a bit of saturation. Inks with the best of both these traits are some of the best in my opinion. The ink flows very well, but the dry time suffers a bit at 20 seconds with my stub nib. Noodlers also makes an "eel" version of this ink which is meant to lubricate pens with a piston mechanism - though a lot of people also use them because they provide a nice smooth writing experience.

This ink doesn't compare well to any other shade I have in my collection, but I've heard that Private Reserve Spearmint matches up pretty well.

If you're a fan of the Pilot G2 green, or a nice neutral green, then I'd highly recommend Gruene Cactus. You can pick up a 3oz bottle for $12.50.

Thanks for reading!
Lori

Ink Review: Noodler's Socrates

June 16, 2015 by Lori Beck in Ink Review

Noodler's Socrates
Pen: Lamy AL-Star 1.1 stub
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: none
Saturation: high
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 17 seconds

Noodler's Socrates is part of the UK Series of inks from Nathan Tardif. It's a dusty, pinkish-purple that claims the bulletproof, eternal, forge-resistant and water-resistant associations from the Noodler's ink property list.

Named assumedly for the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates didn't speak to me much as far as the color. It was surprised by how the ink behaved on the paper when writing with it. It seems to almost instantly seep into the paper and loose almost all of its vibrancy as it dries. In looking at the ink itself in bottle form you'd think it would be a nice vibrant purple, but that's oddly not the case. Despite that, it's still a very unique dusty purple.

Socrates behaves quite well on good paper. It does have quite a bit of spread, which can be bothersome for some - I'm not a big fan of that myself. It doesn't feather, though, and I didn't notice any bleedthrough or ghosting even with my 1.1 stub.

No ink that I've seen so far compares to the color of Socrates. In swab form, it looks more vibrant than it does on paper.

I can't say I'd ever buy a full bottle of Socrates, but that doesn't mean it's a bad ink. If you're interested in one yourself you'll get 3oz for $12.50.

Thanks for reading!
Lori

Ink Review: Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher

June 15, 2015 by Lori Beck in Ink Review

Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher
Pen: Lamy AL-Star 1.1 stub
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: low to moderate
Saturation: high
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 15 seconds

I recently tried another one of Noodler's warden series of inks - Bad Belted Kingfisher - when a family member visited who had it inked up in his pen. One of the more surprising things about this ink is how similar it looks to Bad Blue Heron, which is also part of the warden series. In fact when I used it I asked him, "Is this Bad Blue Heron?" That's one thing that's puzzled me about those two colors - why have a couple inks that are so similar to one another in the same line? They have black, green and blue covered, so I would have liked to see a red in the mix instead of a second blue - just my opinion though.

Nathan Tardiff created the Warden Series of inks to combat both currently existing forgery techniques, as well as ones that haven't actually been observed by law enforcement as of yet. The inks are what he calls "combination lock" inks, that have a set aging and component variable that are different on a per-bottle basis. Essentially they each have a unique fingerprint; this makes it impossible for a forger to have an ink exactly identical to your bottle, making the forgery process nearly impossible. In addition to the standard Bulletproof and washing-resistent properties that a lot of the Noodler's inks have, the Warden Series inks are also laser proof - pretty cool!

Bad Belted Kingfisher is a nice deep blue with a very high saturation level. It does a great job of not feathering on good paper, though if you lay it on thick like I did with my 1.1 stub, you'll get some ghosting on the back side of the page; no bleedthrough though. Compared to Bad Blue Heron, Kingfisher is a tad bit darker and more saturated, so there's less shading. Heron maintains a very similar color, but has more shading and overall variation depending on how your writing.

Bad Belted Kingfisher is a great forgery-resistant ink. If you already have Bad Blue Heron, I wouldn't bother picking up Kingfisher unless you're a completionist and want the whole warden set (trust me, I totally understand!). You can pick up a bottle from Goulet or a similar retailer for $12.50/3oz.

Thanks for reading!
Lori