Levenger Decathlon: A study in modern elegance…

For now, just a photo set.  Soon, a review.  If you’re wondering how it writes, though…it’s terrific.

 

 

 

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Get ‘em while you can!!!

Like these inks?  Get ‘em quick…they’re being discontinued, and from what I understand, they’re not going to be re-ordered. 

Click the picture to go directly to Levenger.

What about these colors of the TrueWriter?  Same story…get ‘em while you still can.

Happy shopping!

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Hack.05: Signos and Sliccis and Bits…oh my!

The uniBall Signo, the Pentel Slicci, and the uniBall Signo Bit are great rollerballs that are available in super-fine lines.  I’ve been a fan of skinny lines forever, it seems.  I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because I’m a lefty.  Ergo, thick lines = more ink on page.  More ink on page + left handed overwriter = messy hands.

I also like to fit a lot on a single page.  Saves paper.  It’s one way that I can reduce consumption of natural resources.

Ever since JetPens opened up its webstore, I’ve been wanting to place an order from them for some of the new breed of skinnier-than-thou rollerballs that you can’t find here in the States.  Pilot’s Hi-Tec C, the Pentel Slicci, the uniBall Signo Bit (which, incidentally, is the skinniest line on earth at the time of this posting), etc.  They’re all cool pens, but not one of them is easy to get if you’re in the middle of corn country. 

So when I got started with the testing for the Moleskine shootout that I’m finishing up, I decided I’d order a couple of things and give them a run for their money to see if they’d fit the bill.  I ordered a Slicci 0.25mm rollerball, a uniBall Signo Bit 0.18, and a handful of other stuff just for fun.  Here’s the problem with these pens, though.  They don’t fit very comfortably in the hands of big ham-fisted guys like me.  I’m 6’6″ tall, and I’m built like one of the guys on the Ohio State o-line…except I’m not nearly as fit. 

Time for a hack.  3 of ‘em, actually.  With very little work, you can easily make the refills in these fit in a handful of different pens that are more comfortable for bigger hands.  I used the Levenger TrueWriter, which I think is an incredibly well-balanced pen, the Lamy Safari, and the Sailor Gel Innovation. 

What you need in order to make these work:

1. A Pentel Slicci.
2. A Sailor Gel Innovation.
3. A little piece of paper towel.
4. 2 minutes.

What you need to do:

1. Take the Slicci’s refill from the barrel.
2. Remove the Sailor’s refill.
3. Wad up a little tiny piece of paper towel, and shove it down into the Sailor’s barrel.  The Slicci refill can be used as a ramrod to get it in there.
4. Put the Sailor back together.
5. Enjoy hacked pen for big hands.  The shape of the Gel Innovation is really comfortable.

Here’s what it looks like.

The TrueWriter Hack:  The Signo RT Gel refill in a 0.38mm is a nearly perfect size (in my mind) for a refill.  Nice and skinny, and the RT Gel’s refill is remarkably well-behaved, too.  Pull the refill from the TrueWriter, and replace with the RT Gel.  Enjoy!

The Safari Hack:  This one is just a little more involved, but still easy.  Take the Signo Bit 0.18 refill, and use sandpaper to grind off about 1/4″ of the material on the bottom of the refill’s plug.  Keep test-fitting as you go, but you’ll know when it’s right.  Enjoy! 

Of all of these hacks, I’m still not sure which one is my favorite.  They all have their place in my life.  The Safari Signo Bit is my Bible marginalia pen, and as such, it works great.  Super-fine lines work well with the thin Bible paper and they don’t bleed through, either.  The TrueWriter Signo also works for this, although the lines are thicker.  The Slicci/Sailor works really well as a Moleskine pen/disposable, and I enjoy their blue ink quite a bit, too.  If I could only keep one, it’d probably be the Slicci/Sailor.  All three are great pens, but the hacked Slicci is the one that’s the most versatile.

(Yes, the Moleskine shootout is still coming.  It’s not quite ready yet…too many great products!)

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Levenger jumps in with both feet…stub nibs!

A quick one that I hadn’t had the chance to mention yet…

Levenger has recently jumped in to the world of customized nibs with a new stub/italic nib for their TrueWriter series!

I’ve had the chance to play with one of these for a while now (for a time, they were available in-store), and I have to say…it’s GREAT!  Super-smooth, and enough of an italic cut that it’ll give you great line variation!  Sadly, I don’t have any writing samples or homebrew pics because the TrueWriter is currently on loan to a good friend in North Hollywood.  When she’s done with it, though, I’ll take a few and post ‘em up. 

Here’s a few pictures borrowed from their website.

Review: Levenger Plumpster

I decided to try a little something new for this review. Let me know what you think!

Initially, I had intended on posting a Flypaper review, but since WordPress (for now) disallows fully interactive Flash, it didn’t work.  For those of you who’d like to see what I’d originally intended on posting, check it out here.

Here’s a quick photo gallery, and a writing sample.

Enjoy!

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