Brass Pocket Pen by SchonDSGN Review - and Giveaway!

From an EDC pen perspective, Ian Schon of SchonDSGN created one of my favorites a few years ago which he launched under a Kickstarter campaign called The Pen Project.  Small, reliable, and perfectly pocketable.

I've had the opportunity to review the pen on a few different occasions in both aluminum and titanium, but Ian recently released two new materials: bronze and brass.

Needless to say, I was pretty pumped when he offered to send me a brass version for review.

For a recap of the overall pen design, it is a small, clipless pen that takes the versatile Fisher Space Pen refill.  A pen that writes in heat, under water, in the rain, in space... great for all of your writing situations.  Granted, it is a ballpoint which may not be everyone's preferred, but still great for a pen to toss in your pocket or bag to take anywhere.    

The pen is a simple, cylinder shape, but a somewhat unique element is the threaded design on the end.  Once uncapped, the pen is too short to write with (unless you have really tiny hands) and the threaded end allows you to post the cap and extend the pen to a normal writing length.

Continuing on that thread, the brass material is weighty.  Coming in at 3 oz, it is a hefty pen. Personally, I enjoy the added weight, but required posting for normal writing does make it a slight on the top heavy side.  Not unbearably top heavy, but noticeable. 

The pen came polished to an almost machined golden finish, but has acquired a nice patina over the weeks I've been using it.  Like any brass pen, it will start to "age" with use.

Another thing I love about this pen is that has several ties to small business.  Ian, the designer, and a small machine shop in Massachusetts that does all of his work for him.  The products may be a slight bit pricier being made in the USA, but I love supporting small business and have bought several of Ian's pens including his Titanium version.  Excellent stuff.

Personally, I think that every EDC (or pen) person should own at least one of Ian's products...

Please take some time to look over his wares at his SchonDSGN website and make sure to keep up with him on Instagram.

AND, A GIVEAWAY!

Now, to sweeten the deal for the review, Ian has provided me with another brass pen to giveaway to a reader of The Clicky Post which is extremely generous.  Thanks so much Ian!

CONTEST/GIVEAWAY RULES (the "fine print"):

- Contest will run through Wednesday, June 24th and will end at 11:59pm Arizona Time, USA

- To enter, leave a comment below about something you carry every day with you.  Could be anything!  One entry per person; no cheating! 

- I will arrange the entries in numerical order and randomly select a winner.  The winner will be announced on the blog on Thursday, June 25th and will need to connect with me within a week to claim their prize.  

Open to both domestic and international!

  

Dudek Modern Goods 2nd Anniversary Giveaway WINNERS!

Thanks to everyone for joining the giveaway!  We had a great turn out with 210 entries.

And the winners are:

The Cube - KT!

The Block - Will!

Congrats KT and Will!  Please connect with me this week to claim your prizes.

SPECIAL PROMO FOR 10% OFF

Thanks again to everyone for playing!  If you didn't win but were still wanting to pick up a Dudek Modern Goods piece, the 10% off promo is still good through tomorrow Monday, June 15th at 11:59pm EST.

Use the promo code ANNIVERSARY to receive 10% off anything in the Dudek Modern Goods Store.  

Sailor 1911 Standard Fountain Pen - H-M Nib

For this review of the Sailor 1911 Standard fountain pen, a special thanks to Pen Chalet for sending it over to me.

I've had the opportunity of reviewing a few Sailor pens in the past: Brad Dowdy's 1911 Black Luster, my Orang Pro Gear, and most recently the Young Profit and have had an enjoyable experience with all of them.

Even though Sailor pens seem to fall into a slightly higher price point, I do feel that they definitely hold up to it in value.  Outside of the sup-$100 range, you're always going to get either a 14k gold nib in the pens around $200 and 21k in pens around the $300 range.  If you look at comparable pens in this range like the Pelikan M205 or even M405, you're going to generally be paying more to get there, even for steel nibs.

Brad's Black Luster that he so kindly lent me last year is of the larger 1911 variety, while this one is the standard.  I hadn't used or handled the standard size before Ron sent this one my way and I didn't quite anticipate how small it would be in comparison.  

The larger 1911 is a great size with just enough heft, but I found the standard to be just a bit small for me personally.  It really is a good size, but if I had to choose between the two standard vs large, I'd go with the larger.  That being said, someone with smaller hands this may be a perfect size.

The standard 1911 comes with a 14k gold nib.  This particular nib is an H-M.  I'm not certain what the "H" stands for, but I've read some forums that say it stands for "hard" medium.  I would say this is likely accurate as the nib is very, very stiff.

The medium runs a pretty standard Japanese medium (slightly on the finer side). 

Sailor nibs tend to have a certain wetness, smoothness and feedback.  They aren't overly wet and they definitely have a feeling on the page that is very pronounced.  I would not call it smooth by any means, but not uncomfortable.  

Personally I find that I enjoy nibs that I can feel slightly against the page.  Super glassy smooth nibs make it a bit difficult to make each pronounced stroke.  I would wager that some people would find Sailor nibs a scratchy, but definitely a personal preference.

Pen Chalet doesn't offer the standard 1911 without the gold trim, but from my investigations I've seen that they do make them with a rhodium trim.  I think I recall that they may not be available in the US as of yet?  If moving up to the larger size, rhodium trim is readily available.

I really enjoy the Sailor brand and the standard 1911 is a great pen.  A slight bit small for my taste (in comparison to the large), but still comfortable.  Pen Chalet has a wide range of Sailor pens at good prices and is a great seller with excellent customer service.  Also, for readers of the blog, using the promo code CLICKYPOST will also get an additional 10% off.

Thanks again, Ron!