One Star Leather Goods - Notebook/Pen Wallet GIVEAWAY!

October 25, 2013

Two giveaways in a row in two weeks? How awesome is this?!

My good friend, Keegan from One Star Leather Goods, and I were chatting a couple of weeks ago and thought it might be a good idea to do a giveaway of one of his awesome handmade leather products. My current wallet is a One Star Leather Goods piece that I've reviewed here on the blog if you want to take a look. I absolutely love his work!

I'm going to make a recommendation for everyone that joins the giveaway: visit One Star Leather Goods' site and follow him on Instagram if you can. Heck, consider buying something from him for holiday gifts for your family and friends! His work is stunning and he posts new pics of his pieces all the time. You all know how much I love small business, and One Star is definitely one that I support whole heartedly.

(photo courtesy of One Star Leather Goods)

This piece is an absolute gem. Super high quality, handmade, looks great... What more could we ask for? One of you lucky readers will get to win this!

The pictures in this post are ones Keegan took and his photography is always so good. I opted to use his instead of retaking some, but I've got this thing in my possession and it is a beauty.

Keegan whipped up something special for us, a notebook and pen holder case/wallet that can hold not only slimmer pens, but even a Bolt from Karas Kustoms! Cases like these can be a back pocket carry, but if you're toting a brass Bolt (like in the pictures), make sure you've got the pen in a comfortable spot!...

The piece is made from a Horween chromexcel blue exterior and a British bridle brown bridle interior. A killer combo for sure.

The wallet is shown with a Field Notes book (which will be included in the giveaway, but not the pen though as this is from Keegan's personal collection...), but can take a variety of your favorite 3.5"x5.5" journals like the Doane Paper Utility Notebook.

HOW TO ENTER:

The "Fine Print" (sort of):

This giveaway is open to US and International readers again (woohoo again!) and will run through next Saturday, November 2nd, until 11:59pm PST (Arizona).

To enter, complete the form below with your name and email address.

I will arrange the names in order as received and use a random number generator to pick the winner.

Upon picking the winner, I will announce it on the blog, email them, and they will have one week to reply with their address information. After a week goes by if there is no response, I'll pick a new winner.

Fisher Space Pen - Matte Black Zero Gravity Series

October 24, 2013

Another brand I seem to have a soft spot for is the Fisher Space Pen line. As I've said before, there are some of their pens that don't appeal to me as they are a bit "over done" if you know what I mean, but there are quite a few models that I think are either classy or conservative enough.

While perusing their line I came upon a clicky pen of theirs called the Matte Black Zero Gravity series. They had one of these that said POLICE on the side; I'm not a policeman so I opted for just the straight matte black.

This pen isn't overly expensive and I think I paid less than $20 for it, but upon receiving it I was really surprised at the weight of it. This thing feels like a tank which I assume is why they've included the version for law enforcement as I'd imagine it's pretty sturdy.

The barrel is metal (brass I think), but has been given a black rubberized coating for grip. It doesn't feel squishy though. Regarding grip, the pen has a strange 3-sided grip section, although not triangular buy any means. Like the took a smooth round barrel and squeezed it between three point just enough to flatten it out. Honestly, I feel this was completely unnecessary from a design standpoint and detracts from the look of the pen. When you pick up the pen the "sides" seem to get in the way a bit too. Maintaining a smooth barrel the entire length would have been better.

The click on this thing is pretty loud. Like REALLY loud. Granted, it is a ton of fun to click as the nock is nice and stiff, but it is noisy. Louder even than the Parker Jotter.

When writing there isn't any real play in the tip of the pen, but the nock does have a bit of a rattle. It doesn't impact the experience of actually writing, but it is a bit of an annoyance. It seems to be off and on when the mechanism is in a certain place to where it rattles sometimes but not others. Strange.

The clip is pretty thin and has weaker tension than I'd expect and I wouldn't be surprised if it bent out badly with one decent jerk on it. For a really sturdy pen, this is kind of a downside.

The pen looks and feels great and overall and even with its cons I wouldn't say is a bad value. It is big, sturdy, heavy, and takes the space pen refill. Oh, and it is in matte black which adds to some cool factor. I'm gonna go on record to say that I like this pen, just not some of the quirks about it.

Karas Kustoms Render K - "Raw Bar-Stock"

October 22, 2013

Pretty soon after the Render K was produced, Karas Kustoms made a few special runs of different materials and finishes to test the waters. The Delrin version has been given quite a bit exposure here on The Clicky Post, but there is one called the raw-bar stock version that hasn't been seen too much.

Bill Karas was kind enough to provide me this pen to have and review, and I think this thing is absolutely cool!

What makes this pen interesting is that it is made from the same bar-stock of aluminum as the regular Render K, but the barrel of the pen received no machining or taper. The inner parts of the pen, grip, and threading are machined, but the barrel is left the same diameter (just about 1/2") as when it came to Karas as the raw "rods" of aluminum that they load into the machine. The outside is rough, and even still contains the marks from when it was moved through the chuck of the lathe.

Since the pen hasn't been tapered that means it retained more material and weight which makes it a bit heftier than the polished version. If feels super solid in your hand.

Like the other Render Ks, this one also takes the Hi Tec C or the Parker style refills (and Schmidt Easy Flow). With a spacer, it will also take the Fisher Space Pen refill which I think is personally a dynamite combo with this sturdy beast.

Now, for the good news. There are still some of these left if anyone was interested. They aren't listed on Karas' site, but they made a post awhile ago on their blog about these as well as the Delrins.

These may not be right for everyone, but they sure would make a really cool raw, industrial gift for someone that would appreciate the unfinished look and feel these carry. (or for yourself to enjoy...)

Thanks Bill!