I love my Moleskine notebook. I hate my Moleskine notebook. Well, the paper that is. I like using gel pens and the Prismacolor graphic design pens to write with, but unfortunately I found many of the writing utensils I favor bleeds right through or worse — doesn’t dry fast enough. The only exception to this, is that I do favor Japanese pens, but I don’t know the brand and sadly can’t read the language. I picked a handful up at an import store and I love them so, so much. Just worried the ink’ll run out.
Since these notebooks aren’t cheap, I’d much rather use both sides of the page than abandon half the book. Pencils and ballpoint pens won’t do for me. I did try out the Pentel Wow! series, which comes in a variety of colors, and the ink doesn’t bleed, however it’s not as smooth and quick as a gel pen and the words leave a slight impression on the paper. The Bic Z4 0.5mm bled right through. So, I turned to the hive mind (a.k.a. Twitter) and asked them for advice.
I picked out three contenders from JetPens.com, all of which are pictured below. The Uniball Vision Elite 0.7mm in blue-black (I LOVE THIS COLOR!), the Pilot G2 0.5mm in black, and the “official” Moleskine pen in black ink which clips to the front of my notebook. Love that feature given I’m prone to pen loss. (It’s a disorder.)
And now for the pen death match! Er… Writing test. You can see the Moleskine pen has a heavier weight than the other two. Annnnnnnd fight!
The results of the missile test are?
All three dried quickly; no worries there. Slight bleed at certain points, but manageable. I found the Pilot G2 tends to skip (this is likely do more to my handwriting than anything else) and the Moleskine pen feels like more of a novelty item. Big, bulky — I’m happy with it, but it’s not an everyday pen. The winner is definitely the Uniball Vision Elite.
Phew! That was a close battle! I think I shall celebrate with more writing.
- Mood: FEAR MY PEN
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: I was falling asleep at my keyboard, so I had coffee and then switched to Jim Beam and Diet Pepsi later on in the evening. So tired today.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: W00T! Interval training on the AMT Open Stride
In My Ears: Meh. Fans and all that white noise crap.
Game Last Played: Sonic All Star Racing Transformed
Book Last Read: Lovecraft’s Monsters anthology
Movie Last Viewed: THOR: A Dark World
Latest Artistic Project: *Still* *still* *still* need to take pictures… It’s on the list!
Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last
Latest Game Release: Freedom Flyer
What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work and novels.