Goulet Pens Order

I recently posted an unboxing of an order I got from Goulet Pens. I decided it was finally time I picked up some fountain pens. After a bunch of research, I ended up getting a Pilot Metropolitan and Kaweco Skyline Sport. Along with the pens, I got some extra ink cartridges and a Rhodia notepad. 

For anyone that doesn't own a fountain pen, I definitely recommend you pick one up. I'm only a few days into owning one, but it's such a different, more enjoyable writing experience. Of the two I got, I prefer the Pilot Metropolitan thus far. The Kaweco one seems cool because of how small it is, but I don't like the plastic body at all. The Metropolitan's metal body feels so much better in the hand. These are only my first impressions, so it'll be interesting to see how my opinions change. I'll be getting up some more posts on these soon. Thanks for looking! Go check out Goulet Pens

Slip-n-Snip Scissors Review

I’m not a huge fan of these Slip-n-snip scissors. I did a lot of testing the past few weeks and haven’t been impressed with the results. There’s nothing wrong with them quality wise. That surprises me because of their $10 price tag. All the issues I have with them are concerning performance or ergonomics. They simply don’t feel good in the hand during use. My fingers are too small to fill out the holes. When I’m cutting, the scissors don’t stay firmly in my hand. They slide down my hand, which quickly becomes uncomfortable. It’s hard to explain, but just know they’re not comfortable in the slightest. If you have bigger fingers, these scissors would probably feel a lot better in your hands.

The other issue I have with them is the performance. They don’t cut any better than the Victorinox Classic scissors. Since they’re bigger than the Classic scissors, they’ve obviously got a longer edge. This longer edge comes in handy occasionally, but honestly isn’t a deal-breaker. The scissors just aren’t that great at cutting stuff. They aren’t very smooth when cutting.  When I’ve been using them lately, they’re squeaking loudly and are quite stiff. They are terrible at cutting paracord. They cut everything else decently well, like paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. Thicker things are a pain for these scissors to cut. The cutting edge is pretty thick itself, so that probably explains that problem. If I had to pick between the Slip-n-snip and the Victorinox Classic scissors, I’d choose the Victorinox ones every time.

I will say the concept behind them is cool. I like that they fold up, because it helps keep them a lot more compact. It’s easy to get the scissors to fold or unfold. That is the only part of the tool that is smooth. The finish on the scissors is also quite nice. There’s been no chipping or flaking in the paint at all. I am extremely happy that they made them available in purple. Those are about the only positives I can say about this tool.

It’s an interesting idea, but honestly not the best execution. The performance sucks, and that’s really what matters. For the price, they’re cool to try out, but not something I recommend. Like I’ve mentioned earlier, the Victorinox Classic have much better scissors. Thanks for looking!

Parker Jotter Pen Review

The Parker Jotter is a pretty infamous pen in the EDC community. Everyone loves them, so I figured it was time I tried one out. I didn’t want to give in to the hype, but it deserves every bit of it. If you don’t read any further, I definitely recommend you pick one up. It’s a fantastic pen for the price. Here's a link to one on Amazon!

Quality

The quality of this pen is great. I’ve had no problems with mine at all. I’ve used it a lot for school, and it has held up well.

Writing Experience

The Jotter is very comfortable in the hand. I didn’t like the plastic grip initially, because of its slickness. I’ve grown to like it quite a bit. The lack of a grip area contributes to the slickness. Again, it’s not the grippiest pen in the world, but I haven’t had it slip out of my hand before. Since there is no grip area, it does look a lot classier and cleaner. The Parker refill writes pretty well, like your typical ballpoint pen. I was surprised that it came with a blue refill opposed to a black one. I didn’t have a nice pen with blue ink, so it worked out in the end. I have found that it tends to blot a lot, which is kind of annoying. What would you expect for a pen like this though?

Price

The Parker Jotter retails for around $10. That’s a great price for a pen of this quality. It’s a nice step up from those cheap Bic pens. I’d say it’s a good value for the price.

 

Other

The clicky is stiffer and a little louder than most clickys I’ve tried. It’s not a huge problem, but it is worth mentioning. It takes slightly more effort to click than most clicky pens as well. The arrow shaped clip is a nice touch. It looks cool while performing like a normal clip. It’s pretty sturdy, so I don’t think it would snap off over time like the cheap plastic clips. The materials are impressive for the price (stainless steel and the plastic grip area). These combine for a nice looking pen. They’re available in other colors, which is always nice to see. Mine is a limited edition coral color. It's so bright, definitely way brighter than the camera picks up. Both the pen and the refills are available in most office supply stores. The last thing I’d like to mention is that it’s super lightweight for a full-sized pen. This pen would disappear in the pocket if that’s how you’d choose to carry it. I keep mine in my bag during school.

All in all, for the price you can’t beat it. It’s an impressive pen that packs a lot of quality. For $10, you might as well try it out to see if you like it. You can never have too many good pens. It will last you forever, and it won’t even break the bank. Definitely give it a look! If you'd like to check it out on Amazon, here is a link! Thanks for watching!

Hinderer Investigator Pen Review

The Hinderer Investigator pen is interesting. It’s a good writing pen like you’d expect. I mean how difficult is it to mess up a pen? However, because there’s a certain brand name on this pen, the price is super jacked up. I don’t think it’s worth the full price. If you can find it on sale or used, then buy it, but I definitely don’t recommend it for the big price tag.

Quality

The quality is fantastic. The threads are smooth. It’s exactly what you’d expect coming from Hinderer. No complaints at all.

Writing Experience

This pen is high end, but only uses a Fisher refill. Don’t get me wrong, I love Fisher refills. It just seems crazy that you’re paying $60 for a pen that uses a simple Fisher refill. Since it’s coming from Hinderer, I guess I just expected something more special.

 

Back to the Fisher refill, it writes well and can write in all sorts of crazy conditions. They’re one of my favorite refills. They do blot a lot, so it’s not the most high-end refill. Without o-rings in the grooves, the pen is extremely uncomfortable to write with. The grooves really dig into my hand to the point where I wouldn’t want to write with it for more than a minute. Getting some o-rings would eliminate this problem. I don’t get why Hinderer doesn’t just include the o-rings with the pen. You’re definitely paying enough, so the least they could do is include some.

It’s slightly heavy for its size. It’s not quite a full-sized pen, but more than enough to write with. The extra weight does help weigh down your hand when writing.

 

Other

The clip is way too tight. I’m not sure if that’s just mine, or if I need to wear it in some more. It’s pretty much unusable for me. Hinderer offers this pen in different colors and materials, like stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, or titanium. The cap is easy to unscrew with one hand. It’s a classier, tactical pen. I wouldn’t use it for self-defense or anything, but the option is there if you choose. There are different elements for the end—striking ones, flat ones, etc.

Price

This pen costs around $60. I think that’s outrageous for what you’re getting. There’s nothing that stands out about it besides the brand. Once you get it, it’s cool to have, but it’s definitely not worth the full price tag in my opinion. It’s not comfortable to write with straight out of the bag. Hinderer could easily include o-rings with these like I mentioned earlier. Also, can we talk about how it comes in a Ziploc bag? This is Hinderer were talking about. You would think for a company like them and for the price, they’d do a better job with the packaging. Even a simple box would have been better than a bag. I have a $10 pen that came in a nice box, so why can’t a $60 pen come in one too? I think that’s unacceptable for the price and this highly-esteemed company.

I don’t think this is a good pen, plain and simple. Sure the refill writes well, but for me, a product is more than just how it performs. There’s a lot of hype surrounding Hinderer, so I think they need to live up to that hype. This is a $60 pen that doesn’t write better than a $10 pen. Any pen with a Fisher refill is better than this. It’s hard to recommend a pen when it’s got a price tag that doesn’t live up to what it should be like. Everything about it is standard besides the brand. If I need a pen that uses the Fisher refill, I’m better off with my Fisher Bullet space pen. Not only is it more comfortable to write with, but it’s available at a much more affordable price. Anyways, sorry for ranting on and on about Hinderer. I just can’t recommend a product that’s a terrible value. Check it out if you love Hinderer, but there are definitely much better pens out there. Thanks for looking!

January 2016 Updates

I was looking through the list of blog posts I've done and saw that the last update I made was in November. I definitely did not mean to take such a long break from this blog. I don't set New Year's resolutions, but one goal of mine is to post a lot more on here. I can talk about pretty much anything, so be prepared to see a lot more topics covered.

I also noticed that I haven't done a new gear update since October. Man, I've really been slacking. Long story short, I didn't get any new gear over those months. I was going to come up with something so I could still end up posting those updates, but I just never got around to it. Hopefully, I will start those back up at the end of January.

As far as what specifically you can expect to see on this blog, I hoping to post a lot more relating to EDC and knives. I'd like to get a ton of "reviews" up this year. I put reviews in quotes, because I'm not sure whether they'll be actual, professional reviews or more of my thoughts on the gear. I use the reviews to chronicle what I've tried. I think it's really cool to go back and have a log of all the pieces of gear I've had. I found some reviews on my computer from months ago, so I will get those up as soon as possible.

This is the year I go to college, which means I need to pick up a few new things to get myself all set. Other than those purchases, I don't think I'll buy much else. The new things for college will include a backpack, brighter flashlight, stuff for hiking, etc. I did end up ordering a couple things yesterday, so you will see me talk about those when they get here.

That's all I've got for now. Thank you all for your support even though I haven't been posting too regularly. I really will get up a lot more blog posts than last year. Maybe I'll even get more than 100 up this year. Who knows. I guess we'll all have to wait and see. I've been posting videos a lot more frequently, so be sure to keep your eyes out for more of those as well. Thanks for looking!

Knife Collection Update 2016

I know I haven't posted on here in forever, so I figured my first post of the new year should be a collection update. I will definitely be a lot more active on here over the course of the year! Without further ado, here's where my collection is at the moment.

On the far left, the purple fixed blade is the Esee Izula. Then on the top row of knives, there's the Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite, 5.11 knife, Cold Steel Mini AK-47, Zero Tolerance 0566, and Spyderco Endura. On the bottom row, there's a Spyderco Dragonfly 2, Victorinox Alox Bantam, Wenger S118 (I believe that's the model name), Spyderco Ladybug, Victorinox Classic, and a Leatherman Squirt P4.

It's not a very big collection, but it's everything I need. I will be getting rid of a couple pretty soon. Other than that, I don't expect it to change too much. I have all my perfect knives, so there's no need for me to buy any more. I will say that I would like some kind of mid-sized folder, but that's not something I necessarily need at the moment. I'll post any updates throughout the year if it changes drastically. Thanks for looking!