Lamy Al-Star and Nomadic Snap-Button Pencil Case

I announced on this blog awhile ago that I bought a Lamy Al-Star fountain pen for myself.  Well, I’ve been using it for awhile (a few weeks) and I think I have enough time on it for a review.

First, a picture gallery of the pen:

See the full gallery on Posterous

This pen looks cool.  I went with the blue option, and at the time didn’t realize that it was the exact same shade as my Fisher, so there’s a bonus there.  The pen writes amazingly well.  I would have preferred black ink, but that can be fixed with an inkwell and a converter.  I just need to order the converter and find some ink that I’d like to try in this pen.

I use it every day at work, and I was surprised that it would take over my “fav pen” spot so quickly.  It writes smoothly and has more character than the ballpoints and gel pens I usually use.  If I need a different color (red or green or black) I’ll go to those other pens, but this one writes well and is pure joy to use.  It seems to have adapted to my writing style and has improved my handwriting, which is something to be said.

Now, if there was just a retractable version…  ;)  I know that will never happen, but it’s convenient for the quick changes I do on paper for my work.

Now, onto the pencil case:

See the full gallery on Posterous

Wow, what a case!  This thing holds a lot of stuff, as you can see from the pictures in that photoset, as well as the picture below.  I keep it in my bag and I’m not worried about my pens and pencils getting broken because of something unforeseen happening to my backpack.  I mean, it’s not a hard case, so potentially things could break, but I feel my stuff is very well protected in this case.

As you can see, I have my three Jetstream pens, two mechanical pencils, my earphones, one lead container, two erasure containers, the data cable for my MP3 player, my mp3 player, the Lamy and the Fisher.  The MP3 player has since been relocated to the backpack pocket, but everything else is the same.  The point?  This thing holds a lot of stuff, and I think if you were going out drawing with colored pencils, then this would be a perfect case.  Actually, I take that back… you might want one that has a zipper to keep your pencils in it because I’d worry about ones with no clips falling out if it was inverted.

Anyway, I’m extremely pleased with JetPens.  I will be buying more from them in the future.  Perhaps some ink and a converter for the Lamy.

JetPens Order!

Some of you follow on Tumblr, and you’ll know this already…

I’ve finally broken down and bought a fountain pen.  A proper Lamy Al-Star.

I’ve never spent this much on one pen before.  How about a picture?

Lamy Al-Star fountain pen.

It was $37.50.  Like I said, I’ve never spent this much on one pen before.  I’m thinking it will improve my handwriting, because I really need to do something about it.  It’s actually gotten worse since I’ve gotten out of school.  I hope to use it at work and such (it will go back home every day; that’s what the second item is for) and also take it with me if I’m going to be writing longhand.  I think if I write longhand more, it’ll be better.  Or something.  Maybe it’s an illusion.  I don’t know.

Nomadic Snap Pencil Case

This is the pencil case I bought.  It looks pretty cool, and I think it’ll hold what I need it to.  My backpack has some pockets to hold stuff, but I’m not happy with the way my stuff floats around in it (my MP3 player is casualty to this, and I’m afraid something might happen to it).  I’ll be able to carry pens and pencils back and forth to work and not worry about them getting crushed or broken in this case.

I’m also looking at a Fisher Space Pen, but that might be for another month.