Aurora Duo Cart Fountain Pen Review

As a brand, I am mostly familiar with Aurora's modern offerings, but as a company with nearly 100 years in existence, they have quite a reputation and back catalog to pull from. The Aurora Duo Cart is a prime example of that.

First manufactured in the 1950's, the Duo Cart was created as a response the the world-famous Parker 51 from a design perspective. It was also created to be more portable as one of the early cartridge based pens. And yes, it held two small cartridges in the barrel in a special holder, hence the name Duo Cart.

There is no need to carry two cartridges in the barrel these days, especially with the converter that ships with the pen. I filled mine with Pilot Blue Black ink, and got to writing.

The Duo Cart is only available with a medium steel nib, and it writes wonderfully. If this were my pen, I would be grinding it down to something much finer or stubbier, but it is as nice of a medium writer as I could hope for. The ink flow is true and it is dead smooth out of the box.

I especially love the style of the Duo Cart. Aside from the flat ends, it is nearly identical to my Parker 51. In fact, when I had them sitting side by side on the desk, I had to double take to make sure I picked up the right one. Uncapped, the Duo Cart has much more of the hooded nib exposed than the 51.

One issue I noticed with the Duo Cart, and I read Matt experienced the same with his, is that the cap doesn't lock down in place as tight as I would like. It slides on, but there is no snap or firmness. This would be a perfect carry pen if it weren't for that.

That said, this is an excellent all-around pen. It's fun, functional, and beautiful. At around $150, it competes with popular gold nib pens in that range. Would I tell you to buy the Duo Cart over the Lamy 2000? No, but this is a pen nice enough to be competitive in this category.

(Kenro Industries provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Nemosine Fission Classic Blue 0.6mm Fine Stub Fountain Pen: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Nemosine produces a variety of reasonably-priced fountain pens in three series: the Singularity, the Neutrino, and the Fission. The Fission is named after “the process by which a nucleus splits into smaller particles through a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay, releasing large amounts of energy. Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to dismantle a nucleus into its component protons and neutrons” (quoted from the Nemosine site).

The Nemosine Fission comes in four colors: classic blue (the one I’m reviewing), gunmetal, ice, and navy, and you can get them with nibs in EF, F, M, B, and 0.6 stub.

The Fission is an all-metal fountain pen with a stainless steel nib. The body of the pen is coated in lacquer and has what I assume are stainless steel accents. The pen comes with several black ink cartridges or you can use the included converter.

My pen is a beautiful Robin’s egg blue color. The silver accents complement the blue perfectly. The clip is engraved with an “N” and it’s nice and tight.

The body is decorated with two silver rings (one at the bottom of the cap and one at the top of the barrel) and silver threads at the bottom of the barrel that allow you to post the cap by screwing it on.

This is a hefty pen, weighing 43 grams without ink (though ink adds negligable weight). The pen is medium sized: 5.0 inches uncapped, 5.5 inches capped, and a little over 6.5 inches posted. As stated above, to post the cap you actually screw it on, so it posts very securely.

As with all pens with metal grips, the Fission’s grip, while smooth, can become slippery if you’re fingers sweat. I’d prefer having some sort of engraved pattern to help steady my fingers.

The stainless steel fine stub nib is decorated with scrollwork, an “N” for Nemosine, and the size of the nib. It’s a relatively smooth nib and is very hard—no bounce or softness at all.

I found ink flow to be unreliable. The pen would write well for a while, then the ink flow would start to dry up. I had to manually force ink down into the feed by turning the converter. The flow randomly fluctuates between wet and dry.

I’m going to rinse out the pen, floss the nib, and try again. Fortunately, Nemosine has a generous three-year guarantee that allows you to send the pen in for a replacement for any reason. You simply pay $5.00 to cover testing, labor, and return postage. I’ll definitely take them up on that if the writing doesn’t improve.

Regardless, I like the 0.6mm fine stub nib. It offers a little bit of line variation, and when the ink is flowing well, it writes beautifully.

You can purchase the Nemosine Fission from JetPens for $29.99.

Pros

• The Nemosine Fission is a rock solid pen—hefty, well-manufactured, and beautiful.
• For those who like posting caps, the Fission’s screw-on system is reliable.
• The steel nib is smooth. I especially like the variety of nib sizes Nemosine offers. The 0.6 stub is a choice many writers will enjoy since it’s not too broad but offers some line variation.
• The pen comes with a generous three-year guarantee.

Cons

• This is a heavy pen, so writers whose hands cramp when using heavy pens will want to look elsewhere.
• The metal grip is slippery, especially if you get sweaty fingers like me.
• The ink flow on my pen was unreliable, ranging from super wet to super dry. I’m hoping this is something that will work itself out with some thorough cleaning and flossing the nib. If not, I’ll make use of Nemosine’s guarantee.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Uni-ball Signo Needle Gel Ink Pen Review

What do you do when the best gel ink pen gets an update? You buy a bunch of them of course! One of my all-time favorites, and my number one ranked gel ink pen for as long as I can remember, the Uni-ball Signo UM-151 0.38 mm is now available with a needle point.

Any time I am asked for a gel pen recommendation, especially in a micro-tip size, this pen is my answer. And it’s not really close. While I repeatedly profess my love for the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, and the Zebra Sarasa Clip is wonderful in its own right, the Signo UM-151 is a step above. If you prefer a needle point over a conical tip, then this is a pen you will want to try out.

Aesthetically, the needle tip model is nearly identical to the standard version. There are a few cosmetic differences, such as the addition of the racing stripe down the barrel, but otherwise, this is the same barrel, same grip, same cap, and same ink. And that’s good in my book. The only thing missing on this model is the DX marking, which I never knew why that existed in the first place or what it meant. It was easier calling it the DX though, as opposed the the UM-151, and now the UM-151ND.

Writing with this pen is a complete joy. The lines are fine and sharp, and the colors are rich and saturated. If you are a tiny writer like me, it’s practically perfect. I’ve never had a Signo UM-151 fail to work when I need it to, like the Pilot Hi-Tec-C. I’ve never had the ink run out quickly, like the Zebra Sarasa Clip. Uni-ball has set themselves apart with this pen.

And it is only marketed and sold in Japan.

Uni-ball clearly knows this pen is a success, so why isn’t it on store shelves around the world? Sure, we can all get them through importers like JetPens (thank goodness!), but I find it odd that this isn’t more widely available, at least in 0.38 mm and 0.5 mm sizes. The Signo 307 is the store shelf pen for Uni-ball, comes in many colors, and is amazing in its own right. I don’t see why the UM-151 isn’t out there more alongside it.

Speaking of colors, I grabbed my favorite five: Blue Black, Lime Green, Violet, Light Blue, and Orange. In the past, I would grab three of them to take notes at work so I could have tasks or similar details color-coordinated. These days, I’m a single color note taker, but like having the color options available. Blue Black is my go to, but I mix in the others frequent enough to get used. And there are 10 more colors to choose from, with possibly more to come.

Bottom line: This is the best gel ink pen on the market. It’s always an enjoyable experience whenever I pick one up, and I always make sure to have one - or more - within arms reach.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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