Front flip panel, you might be asking?  The Smand features a magnetic flap on the front of the case (or is it the back? You decide!) that will lay flat onto your work surface and reveals a grippy surface, perfect for propping up your phone.

When I first saw this, I wasn’t sure I needed such a feature. Isn’t the point of writing to not use your phone?  decided to give it a try anyway and discovered that the flap is so handy! Throughout my day, I find that I use my phone for podcasts, the occasional chat and other little tasks. The grippy surface has become the “phone landing pad” so I know where I put it and can easily see if a message pops up.

The rigid construction of the case supports your phone (or a small notepad) easily. I have discovered that the remaining grippy surface can act as a pen rest, keeping pens from rolling off the table.

The easy portability of this case means that if you find yourself working from a coffee shop, library or other non-office-y space, you still have the convenience of propping up your phone and laying a pen on the grippy surface like a makeshift pen tray. AND you’ll have a case full of tools for whatever project you need to tackle.

The internal storage space opens wide to allow easy access to supplies. The case is long enough for most pencils and an array of markers, gel pens and small supplies. The Smand can hold about a dozen pens or pencils comfortably so it forces me to be a bit more choosy about what supplies I keep with me. Any more than 8-12 tools and I find that I need to dump everything out to find what I want to use. I try to pick an assortment of brush pens, Mildliners and dot markers each month to add  a little flourish to my planner but keep my options to a limited palette. The Smand is perfect for this.

If lemon print is not for you, the Smand is available in a bunch of other patterns and colors including more sedate, solid colors. Facing a long, dark January, the bright pop of yellow reminds me that summer will be here soon but in the meantime I can warm my soul with my lemon pen case!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Review: Sun-Star Delde Smand Pen Case in Lemon appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Below are several tools I use on a regular basis for ink testing, but only one is suitable for the travel involved with pen meet-ups and pen shows.

If you are a regular reader of Well-Appointed Desk, you may remember a recent post where I spoke about my travel kit. One item in the larger kit is a Nock pouch that fits Col-o-Ring cards, a travel paint brush, and a travel dip pen.

Today I wanted to show how to assemble the travel dip pen!

This pen started life as a Traveller’s ballpoint pen, but you can also start with a Traveller’s pencil. The Traveller’s fountain pen or rollerball pen will not work.

These are fairly easy to find at retailers that carry Traveller’s products, and they can be found in a few different finishes (typically special editions). The pen (or pencil) consists of the body (brass in this case) and a steel insert. This insert is what holds the ballpoint or pencil – pull the insert from the body, remove the ballpoint or pencil, and throw it away. No one wants a ballpoint or pencil around here.

The only mysterious portion of this setup is how to keep the nib in the insert.

A great many dip pens consist only of a shaped rod of some type of material – wood, plastic, metal, or, in the case below, ebonite. A small plug of the material is removed from one end and a ferrule is inserted. This is holds the nib firmly in place while in use, but still allows the nib to be removed when desired.

These are ferrules. I purchased a large quantity of these several years ago – they consist of an outer tube of metal that is adjustable and an inner tube that breaks into four fingers (that is not a technical term – they just look like fingers to me) that hold the nib in place. The ferrule is forced into the hole in a nib holder and the nib is inserted between the outer and inner tube.

Here is a slightly over-zoomed photo so you can see the ferrule inside the Traveller’s pen insert. You can see how the fingers fold together once the nib is inserted.

That’s it! Any nib can be used in this dip pen, as long as it can fit in between the two tubes in the ferrule. Mapping nibs and crow quill nibs are too small for this setup. I’ve never run into other nibs that wouldn’t fit, though.

When traveling, simply remove the insert from the brass holder of the pen, flip it around and place it back into the brass holder – the nib is protected during travel and your hands are protected from being stabbed by a nib!

The post Hack Idea: A Traveling Dip Pen appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The truth is I don’t travel much, but I do tend to go to an industry trade show about once per year. Or I did until 2020 happened. This week I’m in Chicago at the first big industry show since COVID.  Not traveling often, and not having traveled for work for 3 years, I was struck with a bit of a panic about what to bring. I had time to order a few things, but I thought I’d cover my “carry” for this show.

One bag to rule them all – The Baron Fig Tote Bag

Those of you who were around for the Kickstarter days of this one may remember that it was the subject of a bit of controversy. However, I’ve recently rediscovered my Baron Fig Tote Bag and I have to say it’s checking my boxes lately. The straps are wide and comfortable and will be nice and utilitarian for carrying a bag through a conference floor. It will easily hold my marketing materials (biz cards and postcards), a notebook for keeping notes on my meetings, my wallet and phone. It doesn’t have a lot of pockets, but I like that one on the front for my keys and phone, and the rest will be contained in zippy pouches and the like.

When I’m not on the conference floor, I can slip my laptop in the bag (in a new sleeve, keep reading) and head for coffee to catch up on my notes. And there’s probably still room for a knitting project.

The Laptop Sleeve – Rickshaw Horizontal Laptop Sleeve

When I realized I wanted to throw my laptop in the Baron Fig Tote rather than carry a more padded bag (I’d rather carry less weight on the trade show floor), I decided I needed a sleeve to slip my laptop into to keep it safe and scratch free. Cue Rickshaw. I ordered myself a Horizontal Laptop Sleeve in the custom color of my choice, added priority shipping and I had it in just a few days.

The Notebook Cover – The Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter

A while ago Ana gave me her Roterfaden Tachenbegleiter on loan, and it is the perfect tool this week. It’s lightweight, made primarily of felt and cardboard, with lots of pockets for biz cards and other things. It’s got metal tabs where you can add notebooks, and a pen loop so you have a pen handy. I don’t see these amazing zippy colors (Ana says this was a special order), but you can find more details here at JetPens.

The Notebook – Midori A5 Color Paper Notebooks

I ordered a stack of the Midori A5 Color Paper Notebooks ($3.25, Jetpens)  these a while ago, and I just need a lightweight notebook I can dedicate to this show – my notes on meetings, photos, leads to follow up on and more. I “customized” mine by adding a leftover holiday card envelope (using washi tape) to the inside front cover so I can store lots those biz cards I collect with all my notes.

The Pens – An assortment of favorites

As much as I love fountain pens, they’re just not always the most convenient at a working show. People are always asking to borrow your pen, cartridges somehow always explode all over me and I just need something quick and reliable. For this show I opted for the following three:

• Zebra Zensations – I don’t like going disposable, but I’ve been very pleased with these. If it walks off at the show, I won’t be super upset, and I’ve still got lots of ink left, so hopefully it will get me through!
• Spoke Roady – I just got this one last week and I’m eager to take it out for a drive. It’s a combination of fun and convenient. I’ve got a brand new refill in it and I’m ready to go!
• Kaweco x Hello Kitty AL Sport – Ok I can’t resist so I’m taking one of my favorites with me. It’s filled with KWZ Raspberry Ink and it will be super fun to use!

All of these are stored in my Unicorn Snot (Spa Blue/Lime Green) NockCo Sinclair pen case which I use as a combo pen case and wallet when I travel. My id, a few cards, some cash and 3 pens and I’m good to go.

So that’s what I’ve got with me this week. What are your must haves when you travel?

The post Out of Office: What am I carrying? appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.