Long post today, it covers Uniball pens, Paper Shredders, Privacy Screens, and a bunch of online resources.  Just my spin on how to use office supplies to keep your personal info protected.

I’m sure that many of you have already seen the above Uniball commercial that explains some of the benefits of their pens in preventing identity theft and fraud, and I know that there have been some other good posts on other pen review sites about these pens and the topic already, so I hope to add a little something different with my review here today.  When the PR folks from Uniball contacted me to offer me some of these pens to review, I wanted to try and make sure I not only provided the info on their pens in particular but also provide a bit more comprehensive view on preventing fraud and identity theft when it comes to other office supplies as well.  What I plan on doing with this post is the following:

• Share my pictures of attempted check washing by comparing a Uniball pen and a “giveaway” type ballpoint pen.
• Show some other office supplies that can help you reduce the likelihood of being a victim of fraud or identity theft.
• Provide some resources for educating yourself on identity theft and reducing the chances of it happening to you.

Hopefully these photos and tips can help someone avoid the hassle and financial impact of being a victim of identity theft by making a few inexpensive and simple changes to their day to day activities.

Uniball and Check Washing:

Top check written with a Uniball Vision Elite. Bottom check written with a cheap giveaway ballpoint pen.

The checks you see pictured above are examples of a standard check, the top one is written with a Uniball pen with their proprietary ink designed to help prevent check washing and other document fraud.  The bottom check is written with a cheap ballpoint pen that I got as a giveaway, you all know the type and I’m sure you have dozens of them strewn about in your drawers, purses, cars, and who knows where else.  As you can see right from the start, the top check written with the Uniball pen shows much more vibrancy and consistency, which is something I think we have all come to expect from Uniball pens.  When I started my research on check washing I came across lots of sites that attempted experiments with various chemicals and household products, so rather than doing extensive repeats of those experiments I thought I would just see what happened with my first attempt at check washing using stuff I already had on hand.  I am not going to go into detail discussing how to attempt document fraud, but just show you so you can get an idea of the basic concept.  My results certainly were not what I would consider passable if I actually wanted to commit fraud, however the results I did get are a bit eye opening when you consider the little time and no cost I incurred to do this.

Quick and dirty results - with little expertise you can see that just removing the non-Uniball ink from a check is not all that difficult. Scary.

Again, in the above pictures, the Uniball written check is on the top, and the giveaway ballpoint is the bottom.    You can see that I have tried to erase the word “Two” from the amount line on both checks, and on the bottom check I also tried to remove the number two from the amount box.  You cant really tell, but in the picture with the Uniball written check, it took much more rubbing, and any ink that you see that is gone is more a result of the paper actually being worn away.  Now I dont think this check would pass anywhere if I re-wrote any old number in and handed it over to a teller at a bank, but in my mind, this experiment is convincing enough to make me believe that a criminal who is good at doing this and has the right chemicals would be able to pull off a much more convincing “edit” to my check.

I’ve heard plenty of responses to the Uniball video, and to check fraud in general that usually go like this:

“Yeah, but I only have like $200 in my checking account, who is going to steal that?”

The problem there is that nobody attempting this type of fraud really cares how much you have.  Chances are they will write it for a small amount, like a few hundred dollars as to avoid suspicion.  The real impact here is not that you end up getting a few hundred bucks stolen from you, but you are now in a position where you will likely have to pay your bank a fee for insufficient funds, and then you will incur late fees, and/or other penalties from your creditors who you will inevitably miss payments for.  So yes, big deal, someone steals the measly $200 that you have in your checking account, but tack on 3 or 4 late and insufficient funds fees and now you are up to another $200, not to mention that you probably end up with a lower credit score for your missed payments, and higher interest rates on everything as a result.

Bottom line, do yourself a favor and toss all of those old ballpoint pens OR donate them to a good cause such as this one that @dowdyism over on the Pen Addict supports.   Go out and buy some of these Uniball pens they even come in multiple colors.

What other Office Supplies can help?

2 shredded checks. Would you want to put these back together? No? Then why wouldnt you own a good paper shredder?

To me, there is no good excuse NOT to own a good paper shredder, and if you do have one, use it on EVERYTHING that has your name, address, or other personal info on it.  There are some obvious items that we all know should make it to the shredder, such as bills, statements, and credit card applications, but there is one other thing that I always shred, and that is the address label for any magazine, catalog, or junk mail that has my name on it.  Often times these items have account information buried in them, and in other instances its just not secure to leave a full lable laying in your garbage because your name and address could be the missing piece to the puzzle for someone who is trying to fill out a credit card or loan application.  Fellowes makes some great paper shredders, and it so happens that they have a good one that is seriously discounted on Amazon.com right now. The Fellowes Powershred P-57Cs was originally $149 but is now reduced to $41 and it even qualifies for free shipping.

Laptop privacy screens are another easy way to make sure that wandering eyes dont pick up any personal or work related info if you do a lot of traveling with your laptop.  There are tons of people at an airport, and when you get on a plane you have lots of people in close proximity…its impossible to keep an eye on everyone and make sure that they cant see what you are doing on your laptop.  These privacy screens basically black out your display to anyone who is not sitting directly in front of the computer, so that shady guy next to you wont be able to see you updating your budget, paying your bills, or working on that sensitive presentation for work.

Other Resources:

• First of all, The Uniball site has some great info regarding identity theft and its prevention.
• Uniball has also partnered with the non-profit organization, Identity Theft Resource Center and also with Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano to help promote solutions for avoiding fraud, scams, and identity theft.  On Siciliano’s website, you can find resources for all sorts of anti-identity theft and fraud solutions, not to mention other security related issues.
• Credit monitoring and alert services can be good and bad, you need to know what you are paying for and make sure you are not being over charged for something that you could get elsewhere for free.  In the past I have used MyFico.com and it was helpful because it alerted me to activity on a card that had been inactive for 6 months.  Apparently someone wanted to go skiing in Oregon and have me pick up the tab.  At the time, their service made sense for me, but you should investigate further for your specific needs.
• Articles like this one from SmartMoney are helpful in cutting to the chase on what you really need, and if consumers are being taken advantage of.  I myself wonder how banks and financial institutions are not doing more to prevent fraud, but then again, if they can sell their customers something for $9.99 a month to “protect them” then I guess that answers my own question.
• There is a great personal finance blog called Get Rich Slowly that has an older post on preventing identity theft.  Be sure to look at the comments from the readers as well.

So there you have it, some very basic and inexpensive steps that can help you to avoid you huge headaches and financial problems.  I really try to avoid long posts like this, but I’ve come across plenty of people who never give any thought to this kind of thing, and if a long post on my blog today helps even just one person avoid this, then its totally worth it.

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The all new Uniball Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil. Both writing points are a .5mm tip.

The good people over at Uniball have shown their generosity and let me get my hands on their new and yet unreleased Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil. Specific thanks go to @Uniball_Pen_Gal on Twitter. She works for the Uni-ball brand, and was the one responsible for sending this new pen over to me. When I started this blog I really just thought it would be a good excuse for me to buy some more office supplies to play with, and I could justify the purchases because I was going to write about them on my blog, never did I think Id get to try out all these new products like the Stainless Steel Sharpie, the Post-it Flag+ Gel Pens, and now this.  I also owe a special thanks to all of my readers, because if not for you, then obviously the folks making these products would have nothing to gain by giving me so many free products to review and write about.  A new giveaway will be coming up soon to officially thank all of you.

Uniball Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil in its packaging.

Take a good look at the above picture, it is the packaging you should be looking for when you head out to the store to pick this Pen/Pencil Multipen on April 1st when it becomes available, unfortunately I dont have a price on this one yet.  You will notice from the packaging that the Signo MF2 not only offers the uni Super Ink technology to help thwart check and document fraud, but it also offers uni-ball Diamond Infused Lead to help prevent breakage of your leads.  Having both of these propritery uni-ball products in one multipen was a fantastic surprise for me to see when I opened up my mail a few weeks ago.

Uniball Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil writing sample done in a Mead recyeled paper notebook.

The writing sample that I did with this pen was done in a Mead Grad Recycled notebook. I felt that this was an appropriate choice for this type of writing implement because I know a lot of students really like the pen/pencil multipens because of their flexibility.

The first thing I did when I got this was to try out the pen portion of it.  Having already written with multiple different versions of the Signo, I pretty much knew to expect a nice smooth solid line as Ive become accustomed to with any uniball pen.  I certainly was not disappointed in the quality of ink and ability to put down a nice line.  One minor issue I did have with the pen though was that you can kind of feel a tiny bit of movement when the point hits the paper, it is almost as if you can feel the point slide back up into the barrel by the tiniest amount.  This is something that I have never experienced with other Uniball pens, but when I switch over to writing with the pencil I dont feel this happen.  I’m not sure if this is just specific to my pen or if they all do this, but either way, it is certainly not a huge distraction or issue…it is most likely just me bing picky.

When writing with the pen, I did take a considerable amount of work notes, and the grip section was pretty comfortable.  I do like a thinner grip on my pens, however with a multipen like this, I dont think a thinner grip is really an option, so I cant really complain.  The grip itself is fairly soft and smooth, but is not one of those extra-cushy grips, its just the right amount of grip to get the job done, which I appreciate.

Now I have to be upfront here and tell you that I almost never write with a pencil because I hate the way that the point is in a never ending race to being dull, I love the feeling of writing with a sharp pencil, but unfortunately that only ever lasts for about 2 letters at best.  I did do some writing with the pencil myself, but I also outsourced some of the testing to my girlfriend who is a scientist and likes to use pencils…and she also happens to be someone who writes with an amount of pressure that makes me think that she wants to actually carve the letters into the paper rather than actually write them on the paper.  Needless to say, these uni-ball Diamond Infused Leads were made for someone just like her.  She took this pen with her to work and did some writing with it and seemed genuinely surprised (meaning I expect this pen to mysteriously vanish from my posession at some point) when she reported back that the lead never snapped on her.  I know that in the past she has mentioned that her other mechanical pencils have had the leads snap on her while she was carving…err, I mean writing in her notebook.  This should be considered a big win for the uni-ball Diamond Infused Lead.

Uniball Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil with eraser exposed

As I said, although I did oursource some of the testing to her, I still obviously wrote with the pencil myself, and did find it to be pretty nice to write with.  I still have my issue with pencils in general which is the fact that the points dont stay sharp, but that aside, the pencil did write well.  The lead left a nice smooth dark line, and I did not experience the same bit of play when the point hit the paper as I did with the pen.  One other noticeable thing was the eraser on this pencil does a really nice job.  I actually wanted to include the eraser results in the writing sample above, but you literally couldnt see them, so I think that should speak for itself.  Even when writing with a considerable amount of pressure, the eraser seems to remove all evidence of lead on the paper.  I like how the eraser is hidden away under the pluger, you remove the plastic outer enclosuer and the eraser is exposed, this is pretty much the standard location for an eraser on any mechanical pen.  I also tried writing with multiple degrees of pressure, and it was not until I got to a point that I felt was beyond a realistic writing pressure that the lead finally snapped…it was pretty impressive.

Inside the Uniball Signo Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil. In the forefront of the picture is the lead advancing mechanism which separates from the tube so you can insert the lead.

The final picture above shows the close up of the section of the pencil which advances the lead. You simply remove this section from the lead storage shaft inside the body of the pen, and it allows you to slide the new leads in.  Although as I said before, pencils are not my first choice of writing implement, this section of the Uniball mechanical pencil is impressive to me…so much mechanical technology and precision in such a tiny package, its pretty cool.

Anyway, I really like this combination of the Uniball Signo and Mechanical Pencil with the .5mm points, and if you find yourself using both pen and pencil, you should be on the lookout for this pen starting April 1st at your favorite office supply store.

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

I’ve decided that because my readers are so great, and have left so many comments, that it is time for another giveaway of some of the great office supplies that I have reviewed in the last few weeks. Personally, I dont know what could be better than winning some free office supplies in a giveaway, so I hope you all enjoy it. I wanted to make this one even better than the last, so I thought Id make it a little more competitive. I’m going to have two winners of office supplies this time, and the first winner to contact me gets their first pick of the items listed below, second winner to contact me gets their choice of whats left that the other winner didnt pick. Here is a list of the office supplies (click on the links to read the original review) that I am offering up, and the rules are below:

• Staples Brand Soft Grip Binder Clips (pick any 6 colors)
• Uni-Ball Vision Needle Micro
• Post-it Flag+ Permanent Marker
• Uni-ball Alpha Gel HD Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Green Grip
• Pentel Slicci .7mm black, green and purple (pick any 2 colors)
• Uniball Signo 207 .7mm black, blue, red, and orange (pick any 2 colors)
• Pilot Hello Kitty Cap Limited Edition Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen – 0.4 mm – Clear Blue
• Paper Mate Liquid Flair Pen (pick any 2 colors)
• Pilot Razor Point (pick any 2 colors)
• Six Levenger Page Points
• Uniball Signo DX .38 Light Blue
• Doane Paper Note Book 48 pages  3.5″ x 5.5″

Here is what you need to do to win:

1. Leave a comment on this thread by 11:59 PM on Sunday, March 15th, one comment per person
2. Check back here on the morning of Monday, March 16th when I will post the 2 winners of this giveaway
3. Leave a comment on the post announcing the winner, and tell me which of the above bullet points you are claiming as your prize
4. Contact me via email using this form with your mailing address where your prize should be sent (only if you are one of the 2 winners)

© 2009, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Woody hiding the unique feature of the Uni-ball alpha gel HD ballpoint pen.

I actually forgot for a while that I even had this Uni-ball alpha gel HD ballpoint .7mm pen until I was straightening out my desk a bit last night and I came across it again. I had initially purchased it from JetPens.com a few months ago and used it for a little bit before writing this review. For the most part, I don’t usually buy ballpoint pens to use unless there is something particularly unique about them, and this pen fits that criteria because of the extra “squishy” grip that it has. If you check out JetPens.com you can find this pen there for $9.00 and it comes in 7 different grip colors including Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Rose Pink, and Royal Blue. There are also multiple other versions of Uni-ball Alpha Gel pens that JetPens has available on their site.

Woody shows the Uni-ball alpha gel HD ballpoint pen and reveals its cushy grip

The grip on this pen is made from a very cushy and comfortable silicon material that is very soft to the touch. When I first gripped the pen I was impressed by how soft and comfortable the grip was, while not being overly squishy and too soft. Once I started writing with the pen I did struggle a bit to find a comfortable writing position with it…I found myself gripping it as tight as I normally would , which was comfortable, however to be able to enjoy the cushy grip I was forced to hold the pen higher than I normally would. I figured this would be OK and that I would get used to holding it slightly differently. With this new adjusted writing position I went about my business of taking some notes, but I quickly found that holding it higher was making my hand tired much more quickly than if I had been holding it in my normal writing position.

Uni-ball alpha gel HD writing sample on Doane Paper

As far as a ballpoint goes, this onedoes write pretty nicely, I feel that Uni-ball always manages to crank out some very smooth writing ink, even if it is not in my favorite delivery method…ie. the ballpoint. As you can see from the writing sample above, the pen wrote very well on the Doane Paper, showing virtually no skipping or light spots, and as I said before it worked across the paper very smoothly as compared to other ballpoints I’ve used. I think that if you like ballpoint pens, and if you tend to not hold your pen very close to the point like I do, this is probably a great pen for you…it just doesnt seem to work well for my personal writing style and preferences. This pen is definately going to make it into my next giveaway so if you have gotten this far through my review and are still interested in this pen, you will have your chance to get it for free soon.

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Woody shows off the Uniball Vision Needle Micro that was so kindly given to me by the friendly folks at Uni-Ball for a review.

The Uni-Ball Vision Needle Micro in this review was given to me by Uni-Ball themselves, specifically by Steve aka Uniball_USA on Twitter who also provided some great feedback for this review on a Uni-Ball Jetstream.  This is just another example of what I was talking about in this post when I said that Twitter was a great way to keep connected to the world of office supplies.  The folks there are a great resource for all kinds of information, and  I suggest you check it out if you have not already done so, and also think about following the users in that post I pointed out back there.

When I first tried out this pen, I was a little nervous because in the first 3 or 4 seconds of writing I got a strange feeling, almost as if there was a grain of sand in the tip.  It kind of scratched and didnt start writing as I was used to with every other UniBall pen, fortunately that stopped pretty quickly and the pen has not skipped a beat since then.  I’ve tried the pen on my Doane Paper and on my Levenger paper, and it really writes very nicely on both. The writing sample in this review shows the Doane Paper.

I did have some concern in thinking that a pen with “Needle Micro” in the name might be too fine and delicate for every day use, but this pen proved me wrong, as I felt no hesitation in writing in my normal writing style.

The Uni-Ball Vision Needle in Action.

You can see in this picture here the cap is a little different, it has a transparent blue insert towards the top of the clip in the center of it.  It almost has kind of a jeweled look to it, but in a nice non tacky way.  The body of the pen also feels a bit more narrow than most pens, but still a comfortable size for writing with.

The one thing on this pen that I wish was different is the grip area, and the fact that the grip area actually lacks any kind of grip or traction to it.  After writing for a bit with it, you do notice yourself (at least my sweaty fingers did) gripping a bit harder on the smooth plastic surface to make sure you have a good hold of the pen.

Other than my specific issue with the grip, I think this is a very nice pen that will write well for you and probably hold up for some time too, as it seems to have the same quality construction of all the other Uni-Ball pens I’ve used.  A big thanks goes to Steve at Uni-Ball for sharing this pen with me, and it will be included as an option in my next give away.

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Uniball Signo DX .38 and Woody

I’ve seen quite a bit of praise regarding the Uniball Signo line of pens, particularly from everyone’s favorite pen reviewer, dowdyism at The Pen Addict so the last time I ordered from JetPens I decided to pick one up…among other things. That deal they have for free shipping on orders over $25 always results in me spending more than I had intended.

I also wanted to use this post to introduce you to the newest addition to the OfficeSupplyGeek team, his name is Woody and as you can see from the picture above, he really wasted no time in lending a helping hand to his first assignment here.

Anyway, on to the pen review. With all of the great reviews of this pen out there, I was curious to see what everyone was so excited about. I enjoy using the finer tipped pens such as this one, but am usually hesitant about them being too small to be practical. Thankfully this was not the case with the Signo DX. My main concern with the smaller tipped pens like this is that if I am writing quickly, I will either rip the paper, or I will write too fast to let the ink run smoothly out of the pen without skipping on the page. In order to test this, I tried taking some notes at work during a phone conversation I had with someone because that is when I tend to write the fastest. I was happily surprised at how smooth the pen wrote and that it did not incur any of the problems I was anticipating.

In the following writing sample of the Uniball Signo DX you can get an idea of how smooth the ink flows from this pen, even with a light color it lays down a solid line of ink with no white gaps which is very impressive for such a small tip. The sample you see below was written in a Rhodia notepad, which I always find to be a notebook that is easy to write in with paper that works well with most pens. When I tried this pen with my Moleskine, which is really not a favorite of mine, I was surprised to see that the pen even wrote well in that. Overall I would say this is a great pen if you like the smaller tip, and I might have to go back and pick up some additional colors because there are so many options to choose from.

Woody Jots Some Notes in with a Uniball Signo DX in a Rhodia Notebook

If I had to pick one thing about this pen that I dont like, it has to do with the style. I was a little disappointed when I realized that the UPC code and other markings on the barrel were actually painted on, and not a clear sticker which is usually the case. Clearly this has no effect on the ability to use this pen, however I just really think it takes away from the clean smooth look of the pen. I have no issue with a model name or number, but I could do without the big UPC and “Recap after use” instructions on the barrel…kind of cheapens the look of an otherwise really nice pen. You can see this in the photo of the Uniball Signo DX .38 below.

Uniball Signo DX with UPC and Other Markings

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Uni-Super-Ink Robot!

So Uniball has a new ad campaign and they are using this really cool looking robot (They appear to be calling him “Uni-Super-Ink Robot) in some of the spots and also on their website. I am taking it up as my official duty to start a petition for Uniball to make and sell a “Uni-Super-Ink Robot” Action Figure. You can see him in the video below.

If you are honestly interested in Uniball making an action figure of this (ie. you are a huge geek like myself) then just vote over there to the right in the “Polls” section and lets see if we can get Uniball to cave in and decide to actually make them. I’ve already asked one person from Uniball when we could buy one and the response was “soon I hope” so all I ask is that you do 2 things:

1. Vote in the poll over there. —–>
2. Use the “share this” link below to share this post on any of the major social networks, but I have already submitted to digg, and reddit, so you can just click on those links to make it a little easier.

It probably also would not hurt to leave a comment on this post to show even more support.

I will be making the Uniball person aware of this post, so do your best to show your support for Uniball and Uni-Super-Ink Robot by voting and sharing with others who would be interested.

**for the record I have absolutely no affiliation with Uniball and am doing this on my own with no support, direction, or request from them.

Also, later this week I will be posting a new review of a Uniball pen, so I hope to see you back.

[poll id="2"]

© 2009, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook

My previous post detailed the Levenger Circa 2009 Daily Planner Refills that I am using to improve my organizational skills this year. Today I wanted to focus on the actual leather portfolio that I am keeping those calendar pages in, or as Levenger calls it, the Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook.

The junior size notebooks from Levenger measure 6 1/2″W x 1/2″D x 8 3/4″H. The measurement depends on the size rings that you decide to use with it, but the dimensions used here assume the standard 1/2″ discs that all Levenger notebooks come standard with. Other than the actual size of the notebook, the junior size has the same features and accessories that can be found with the letter size version which I did a two part post on here and here. The only real difference is the inside front cover, where the pocket sizes are smaller than the ones found in the letter size notebook. The following picture shows the inside pocket with a standard credit card or gift card placed inside so you can get an idea of how big it is. Obviously you will find that the larger pocket on this notebook is just shy of being 8 3/4″ high, since that is the height of the notebook itself.

Levenger junior size circa bomber jacket notebook pockets

The calendar template that I decided to use for my business planning this year is Levenger’s “page a day” version which they sell by the quarter, and they also happen to be on sale right now. In using these quarterly page a day sheets, you will quickly find that the junior size notebook comfortably holds just one quarters worth of pages, with a little room to spare. In my case I decided to put some of the blank Circa Annotation 1/4″ Ruled Refill Sheets at the end of my calendar pages for additional notes. In the picture below you can see that I am using one of the 5 subject page dividers to separate my calendar pages from my notes pages so I can easily flip to them.

Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook Notes Section

Overall I am very pleased with the Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook. As with all of the other Levenger products that I have purchased, the quality is as good or better than any of the other products in this market space. For now, the only other thing that I am contemplating to go with this notebook are the Circa 3/4″ Nickels Discs because they are slightly larger so I would have more room, and I think that they would look really nice with the dark brown leather cover. I am holding off for now though because I have not seen any reviews of those discs yet, and I have heard some complaints about the other regular metal discs that are available from Levenger. If anyone out there has used the new nickle discs, I’d love to hear from you. My next review relating to the 2009 planning season will be for the wooden Cubi Agenda Stand that I purchased to go with my junior sized notebook.

Dont forget to check out the Levenger Daily Planner Pages I reviewd earlier.

Update: I picked up some of the Levenger Circa Nickel Discs to spruce up my notebook.

© 2008 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

We have reached the final post in this 3 part series…and the results might be a bit surprising. I managed to successfully freeze all of the pens in a test tube and get some more writing samples from each of them. I also did a quick test to see how each of these pens write on wet paper. One thing I realize that I did not do is compare another ballpoint pen to the Power Tank, I might have to try that at a later date. Now on to the results.

DISCLAMER:I am not a real scientist, so I am sure that any of you out there who actually are scientists could probably poke some holes in my experiment that would invalidate it. In this review, science is whatever I want it to be…but I think I got to fairly realistic results anyway.

The Wet Paper Test
I decided to do this test with standard notebook quality paper ripped from a 5 Star Notebook since I dont think that most folks would use their Levenger Circa or other notebook that they really care about out in the rain. You can see from the scan below that each of the pens held up relatively well. The Power Tank and G2 both had a little trouble getting started, however once they did, everything was fine. I think the Uniball Power Tank did get started quicker than the G2 based as you can see from the photo. The Pilot Varsity showed some feathering at first that appeared to stop after a few letters. I should note that I can’t isolate the trouble getting started or the bleed from the fact that these pens were just resuscitated from a state of cryogenic suspension.

Uni-ball Power Tank, Pilot G2, and Pilot Varsity on wet paper

Now for the freezer test results!

The Freezer Test

My biggest fear (besides drilling a hole through my hand) during this experiment was the possibility that one of these pens might explode while in the freezer, which I am happy to report did not happen. After about 2 hours of being in their state of cryogenic suspension (Unlike Walt Disney and Ted Williams) I took the pens out and began to run the writing samples.

First, lets take a look at the pens after being frozen and uncapped so you can see just how much of the body of the pen was frozen. If you look closely you will see some blue specks on the test tubes and on the ice, this is not ink, it is actually the residue from me drilling holes in the blue caps on the test tubes.

Uniball Power Tank, Pilot G2, and Pilot Varsity frozen and uncapped

So lets take a look at the writing samples, starting with the results of the Uniball Power Tank. As you can see, from the sequential writing samples (all done in a small Moleskine if I had not mentioned that already) there appears to be a very consistent and uniform performance from this pen. The initial writing sample labeled as “under normal conditions” appears to me to be the darkest and most consistent of the bunch. I did notice that in the frozen writing samples, there are a few very small instances where there are thicker deposits of ink such as the bottom of the “B” in “Ballpoint” but those are few and far between, and overall do not detract from the performance of the pen.

Uniball Power Tank Freezer results

The next two samples both surprised me, but I’m not sure which was more surprising, the G2 or the Varsity. I had half expected the Varsity to either explode, or just leak all over the place, but as you can see from the sample image below, this was not the case.

The Varsity wrote almost as if nothing was wrong. You can see that there was some feathering, especially in the beginning of the writing sample, but overall the results surprised me in that there was no significant leaking or mess. I know that this is one point of inconsistency in the experiment because I did not do a regular 32 degree Fahrenheit test, but to be quite honest, I didn’t want to risk leaving a $3 fountain pen to freeze overnight in my car, but obviously that doesn’t look like it would have been a problem. I will say that based on these test results I guess you could get away with leaving it in the car, but i would not recommend it just to be safe.

Pilot Varsity Freezer results

Now, for the last, and I guess most surprising test result, the Pilot G2. As you can see, the two tests of the pen after it had been subjected to a night of 32 degree temperatures in my car, are pretty impressive. No major issues, the upside down sample is not quite as dark as the right side up, but still very acceptable. The smudges and smearing that you see are not a result of this portion of the test, they occurred when I was doing the next pat of the test.

The last two lines, which you probably can’t read are after the pen was subject to being a pensicle for a few hours in the freezer. As soon as I started writing you could see that the pen just wanted to let as much ink as possible flow out. Both the upside down and right side up tests exhibit poor performance and clearly do not stack up to the results of the Uniball Power Tank or the Pilot Varsity. I am assuming that a Gel based ink has certain characteristics (remember…I said I wasn’t a scientist) that just don’t lend well to being subject to such extreme temperatures.

Pilot G2 Freezer results

Conclusion

I think that the Uniball Power Tank pen certainly lived up to the billing that it can perform in some very extreme conditions, and I feel confident and safe leaving this pen in my car even in the worst weather. I am very happy to have bought this pen from JetPens.com and will likely pick up a few more at some point. I do however hope that I never find myself trying to write with the pen stuck in a block of ice because whatever situation causes that to happen most likely won’t work out so well for me and I don’t want everyone’s last memory of me to be that I was found dead clutching a pen in a frozen block of ice.

As for the other two pens, I will be up front and say this review was probably not fair to them, especially since they have never be reported by the manufacturer to be able to sustain such conditions. Both of these pens have their place and do a very good job of doing what they were designed for, unfortunately I just needed some comparison points and those were the two I picked.

© 2008 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Well, I’ve got my experiment for part 2 set up, so I thought Id post a quick update with some pictures too.

As I had mentioned previously, I mostly use the Uniball Power Tank to track my gas mileage, so I am often writing on gas receipts leaning against my steering wheel or some other non flat surface that requires the pen to be on an angle. In addition to regular pens not working so well when writing on an angle, I also end up having trouble with regular pens during the winter as the pen sits in the car over night in the freezing cold. Before I got the Uniball Power Tank, I would end up having to scribble frantically or I would need to shake the pen really hard just to get some ink out of it. The Power Tank pen really seems to hold up well to the cold weather, and also to writing in a non upright position. The following picture shows exactly what it looks like when writing with it in different conditions.

Freezing Weather Writing Sample - Uniball Power Tank

As you can see, it wrote fine in both upside down, and right side up positions while at a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The only noticeable difference that I see is that in the “normal conditions” photo, the pen wrote slightly darker. For now I can confidently say that the Uniball Power Tank seems to be perfect for my needs, I have yet to pick it up and not have a smooth line of ink immediately flow to the desired writing surface, but who knows if that will change once I conduct my experiment…here is a picture to give you an idea of what to expect.

Pens and Test Tubes before being put in the freezer...writing samples soon to follow.

If you cant tell from the picture, from left to right you have the standard Pilot G2 that everyone loves, The Uniball Power Tank, and a Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen. All of them submerged in water filled test tubes with caps on them. I’m going to give it some time and wait for the pensicles to completely harden and then I will be back with the last part of this review.

Click here for part 3 of the review!

© 2008 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.