What is a Pocket Size Review?

There are as many styles of stationery review out there as there are stationery reviewers. And every style has its own value and unique insights; I’ll probably continue to read every new Lamy 2000 review I come across and take away something new every single time. Some reviews subject a pen, a paper, or an ink to a series of controlled variable tests, and record how the subject performs. This is super valuable when you’re comparing pens and other items. Some ink reviews present gorgeous swabs and swatches and chromatography. Even if these aren’t the exact colors that you’re going to see coming by out of your pen, they still show you the range of potential waiting to be unlocked in that little glass or plastic bottle. 

Our pocket size reviews are the answer to a different, more impatient question. The question of “what does this look like if I just grab it and use it with whatever I have laying around?”  Pocket size reviews feature pens from our current rotations, inked with whatever we’ve chosen for personal use, and tested on whatever paper we have on hand, generally whatever pocket notebook is currently residing in our pockets.

As the archive of pocket size reviews grows over time, we expect pens and inks to be revisited. If you look back you’ll be able to see the same pen with a different nib grind, or the same notebook on page two versus page forty-two. You’ll see what we see when we write with some of our favorite pens, and hopefully you’ll see them in a new way that piques an interest you may not have had before.

Pocket size reviews were originally posted to the Penquisition Instagram feed before this blog became their primary home. Below you can find links to the first 28 Pocket size reviews, which aren’t otherwise featured on this site.