GPW #4: Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball

Here's (a super late) GPW #4: Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball medium black.

GPW has been out for too long, and today, it's back with another non-Pilot pen: a Zebra. This pen, together with a blue Foray gel pen, was given to me as payments for fixing someone's computer a while back. :) When I got this pen, I thought it's just another gel pen. Together with the Foray gel, I placed it in my plastic box of gel pens, ballpoints, and mechanical pencils. But while I was sorting through that box looking for a pen for GPW, I was brought to face the Jimnie again, for which I am thankful for.

Here's a writing sample of the Zebra Jimnie (The XL view is here):

As I wrote to test the Zebra Jimnie pen, I was suprised at its smoothness and the wonderful consistent medium line it lays on paper. The ink also dried up fast, and though I didn't do a water-resistant test, I am fairly satisfied at the amount of drying time it required. The ink did not feather or bled on the Cattleya paper I am using for pen and ink reviews, and this made me very happy. :) The pen's plastic barrel, section and cap do not bother me at all. In fact, the rubber grip installed is very helpful as the pen stays on my grip comfortably as I write.

But among other things, the Zebra Jimnie's black ink is its winning mark. I realized through the Jimnie's ink that the degree of darkness of black ink (for gel pens or fountain pens) is equally important. Black is not enough, if it is not dark enough. Period. The darkness of the Zebra Jimnie's ink is what I really like, and I hope I could find an ink as black as it is for my fountain pens, too. *Winks.*

My Weekend Hoard of (Gel) Pens and A Pencil

I took a much needed respite from blogging recently as I focused on more pressing matters, such as work and health. As I finish those important tasks, I’m happy to be back. With pens.

This is my growing stash of gel pens. For a bigger photo, click here.

The three-day weekend last weekend has brought me to what else, NBS. I went there to get some (more) notebooks (again), but this time of the month is not a good time to visit NBS, or any bookstore/school supply store as people flock to these places to hoard school supplies and similar items. June is the month when classes start here in the Philippines.

I couldn’t get my way through the crowd near the notebooks, so I went to check their pens. Hm. I was instantly attracted to the Pilot Acroballs because they are available in non-black/blue/red colors such as green, pink, and turquoise. But my attraction turned to disappointment when I realized that Acroballs are ballpoints and not gel pens. Oh, well. Moving down the display, I finally gave in to the Coleto when I saw the three-color blue barreled multi-pen. I got the 0.5mm refills of black, blue, and red, the only refills available at NBS.

Since I was at the Pilot section of the pen displays, I saw the yummy H32 mechanical pencils and tried out the transparent red H325. The transparent H32 is available in different barrel colors: clear, red, blue, yellow, green, and gray/black. I got this pencil for its looks, but it proved to be an excellent writing tool. Mine has a 0.5mm tip, but I’d like to get the 0.3mm and the 0.9mm next time.

New pens: a transparent red Pilot H325 mechanical pencil, blue 3-ink refill Pilot Coleto, Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball, Foray, and two Uni-Ball Signo Gelsticks. For a bigger and clearer photo, click here.

Lingering on the pen section of NBS is very dangerous. LOL. Because not long after I decided to buy the Pilot H325, the Uni-Ball pens caught my attention. I got several Uni-Ball gel pens in my stash already, but I liked the way the 0.7mm Uni-Ball Signo Gelsticks wrote when I tried them so I got both black and blue, the only colors where the pens are available. They write smoothly and don’t skip, and I’ve used them on the postcards I’m sending out today. No smears, smudges, or skipping lines. Great pens, really.

The other two pens in the tray, a Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollberball in medium black and the blue 0.6mm Foray are gifts to me by my aunt because I kinda fixed her computers last Saturday. Great service fees. *Wink.*

Here's the writing samples of all the gel pens, sans the pencil. For a bigger and clearer photo, click here.

With the growing number of pens on my box, I'm thinking of using one or two pens a week, to rotate using them, together with my fountain pens. I may call it GPW Project, or gel pen(s) of the week project. Cool idea, eh?