Welcome To My Thoughts On Pens And Pencils

I will respect your right to disagree with what I have to say about Pens and Pencils as long as you respect the fact that I am an Old Geezer.




Featured in Alltop

My Obsession

My Obsession
A Beauty Every One... And There's More At Home!

All Jammed Up?

If you need detailed instructions on how to clear a lead jam from a mechanical pencil then click this link, "All Jammed Up?" or the link in the pages header.



NOW THE BLOGGING BEGINS...

Please enjoy your stay at my humble blog. Please feel free to leave a comment about any article that you read
. Also please notice that there are four reactions at the bottom of each article. If you find any article funny, interesting, cool or helpful please so indicate. Thank you for visiting my blog.

The Old Geezer
Please Excuse My Absence

I have not blogged since July of 2015 due to the fact that my Lovely Wife was diagnosed with 2 types of cancer. A new case of breast cancer which has metastasized and gone to her bones, mainly her back. She had a mastectomy of her left breast which showed the type of cancer that was in her bones. She has been taking an oral med. every day and she has a port under her skin to receive a liquid med. She has gone through one round of radiation treatments to stop some pain in her back. That gave her GERD and the med for that was nasty tasting. The bone cancer has caused the vertebra in her lower back to pinch her left sciatic nerve causing her pain, numbness and foot drag. She also has skin cancer that has only been partly addressed.

I have been busy taking care of her as the treatments have left her weak and sickly. She can not drive so I have to drive her to her appointments and treatments. I also have to do all the cooking and most of what cleaning we do. So I do not have a lot of time for blogging. However the installment of the review of the Schaeffer Ultrafine 0.3mm pencil marks what I hope will be a new review every month. However some of my future reviews may seem familiar as they may be a review of a pencil or pen that I have reviewed before just in another size due to my limited collection of writing instruments and the economic state of our nation.

I am grateful to George Fox for wanting me to do a review of another one of his pencils. I think that as a reader of my humble blog, may fine of interest as the Schaeffer Ultra Fine is a very unusual pencil.

So please excuse my absence and as a reader of my humble blog I hope that you enjoy the review of this unique pencil.

Coming Soon...

Thank you,

The Old Geezer.




Thursday, July 2, 2009

Bic Triumph 537R 0.5 mm Rollerball or The Tommy Turquoise Show

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and foes, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Tommy Turquoise! What do you have for us today, Tommy?

"Thank you, Geezer, for that rousing introduction! Well, Geezer, today we have the BIC Triumph 537R 0.5 mm Rollerball!"

Of course, Tommy, you have reviewed the Triumph so why don't you tell us all about it!?

"Certainly, Geezer, I'd be happy too! A short time ago a gentleman by the name of Kirk sent The Old Geezer a request to for a review of one of the new BIC Triumphs. Unfortunately before I could get around to the review Kirk bought his own BIC Triumph! But since Geezer already had the pen, I decided to do a review of it anyway!"

"There are 4 versions of the Triumph the 730R and the 537R both in 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm. Geezer was able to find the 537R 0.5 mm Triumph at a local 24 hour CVS Pharmacy, the only version they sell, but Staples is supposed to carry all 4, but Geezer was unable to find any at his local Staples recently. The major difference between the 537R and the 730R is the outside case. As the pens are refillable they use the same core which incorporates the ink reservoir, grip, baffles and needle point. The 537 features a chromed metal clip and a metallic wrapped barrel. The 730R features a Zinc Cobalt clip and metal accents. It also has a more tapered end to the barrel but a more squared off end to the cap."

"The 537R is an attractive pen being made of gray, black translucent and white plastic as well as a chromed metal pocket clip and silver metallic foil wrap on the barrel. The lower body has a window that is designed to allow you to see the ink reserve but since there is no window on the opposite side of the barrel it may be difficult to see the status of the ink reserve without shinning a flashlight directly into the window. The upper body of the refill has a translucent clear plastic grip covering the baffles which has a slightly roughened surface. The needle point is approximately 3.5 mm long making is adequately long enough to maneuver around drawing equipment such as templates and triangles."



"Now, as The Old Geezer is fond of writing, for the stats! The 537R is 137.8 mm long capped, 127 mm uncapped and 165 mm posted. The balanced point is 53 mm from the tail end of the pen when unposted and 73mm from the end of the cap when posted. So unposted the pen is bottom heavy, posted, top heavy. The barrel is 11.2 mm in diameter and the pen weighs 10 grams. When compared to most other rollerballs it appears to have a large ink supply. The stated point size is 0.5 mm but the measured line width is 0.4 mm. The ink, which in this example is black, is nice and opaque, not at all watery or thin. BTW the Triumph is available in Black, Red and Blue ink."

"Posted or unposted the BIC Triumph is a pleasure to write with. The pen writes very smoothly especially for a 0.5 mm tip, which is unusual. There is only a hint of the usual scratchiness associated with 0.5 mm pens. The plastic grip, with it's light texturing, is well designed and easily held for long periods of writing or drawing. When the Triumph is refilled not only do you get a fresh new ink supply and a new tip but you also get a new grip as well as all three are an intergal part of the same unit."


"The pen test is Geezers usual: On a standard 7" x 5" lined note pad (AMP brand "efficiency" pad) a line of text was written followed by a drawn line which is used for the waterproof test. A single drop of water is placed on the line to see if the ink will run. Following the line is the bleed through test. This is where the pen tip is held to the paper, using normal writing pressure, for a period of 10 seconds. Just added is the smudge test. A word or two is written and as quickly as possible the finger is run across the ink to see if it smudges (oops, I guess The Old Geezer can't spell!)" Hey, watch it there, Tommy! It could have happened to anyone! " Eh, yea, sure Geezer, anything you say!... The results of the test were that the pen wrote smoothly, almost effortlessly. The ink is not waterproof as the ink ran and feathered when a drop of water was placed on it. The ink bled through 3 sheets of the paper, the top sheet plus 2 more. The ink dries fast enough to make it sufficiently smudge-proof. Good news for left handers."

"The BIC Triumph appears to be the non-refillable Z4+ in a nice new refillable package. The Triumph writes the same as my BIC Z4+ only it's packaged in a nicer, more sophisticated form. The BIC Triumph 537R gets 5 out of 5 stars for it's good looks, good feel, refillability and smoothness of writing. I'm deducting a half point for the ink not being weatherproof and another half point for bleed through. All in all a good quality rollerball packaged in an attractive dressing. My rating, 4 out of 5 stars."

Well thank you, Tommy for that in depth review! Tommy Turquoise, everybody! That's it for the Tommy Turquoise Show! Tune in next time for another exciting review!

12 comments:

Nate said...

http://www.bictriumph.com/default.aspx

Bic is currently runnig a contest for these pens. They are giving away 100 pens per day.

Unknown said...

As a fellow pen-obsessed person, I am disappointed in these pens. I bought a 4 pack of the 0.5mm 730R's, and after a few days of using them, all 4 leaked all over me! Has anyone else had this problem? I was happy with the pen until the leaking started for no apparent reason.

Ron said...

I've had the same problem with the leaking. Have used two 730Rs and after a few weeks they leak big time. I threw the first one away figuring it was a glitch with a single pen, but then the second one began leaking too. Think I'm going to send it back to BIC with a letter of complaint. Too expensive to leak like this. They do write like a dream, though.

alfred said...

I'm Alfred From New York. I'm having the same problem I bought 2 pens. Both started leaking from the tip shortly after using them ( about a week). I'm thinking about sending them to bic with a letter of complaint.

Stephanie said...

Same random leaking problem here- I am sitting here with large black ink stains on two of my right fingers. Plus I found the bleed-through in my dayplanner pages to be unacceptable. Into the garbage with these pens, unfortunately.

Bryon said...

Hi!
I, too, love the way the things work but the leaking is unacceptable.
I just emailed Bic about this. I'll report back here what happens.

Anonymous said...

Bummer, I really liked this pen and was trying to find out why they keep leaking. The other problem I have with it is that the barrel keeps coming off and the threads are stripped.

Anonymous said...

Your blog is so informative … keep up the good work!!!!

Anonymous said...

i bought 4 of the pens, for school, and the pens are great. I'm not sure, i don't think i have had any leaking problems, although i walked out of class with ink blotches on my hands because of one of my friends. the only bad thing is that the ink runs out VERY quickly. it has been a month and a half in school and my second pen is half finished.

funny thing: works great for scaring my friend to stop annoying me though, you know, "stop or else, i'll poke you"

Anonymous said...

Q.: What could cause my BIC Triumph Roller to leak?
To ensure the best performance from any free ink roller-type pen, do not vigorously shake, twirl or tap the pen on a hard surface. Since free ink is much thinner than regular ballpoint pen ink and is delivered through a unique writing system, free ink rollers are more prone to leak as a result of these harsh behaviors. Always be sure that your BIC Triumph Roller is securely capped when not in use. Be sure the refill cartridge is fully tightened into the barrel before each use.

Also, exposure to extreme temperatures, such as being left in a car during the summer months, or extreme changes in air pressure such as in an airplane can cause roller/free ink pens to leak. If using these pens on an airplane, take the cap off with the tip facing upwards. This equalizes the pressure in the pen by allowing air into the chamber.

cal said...

I had the exact same problem again... it seems common... but i washed and dried all the ink of and found my pen was empty. the clear chamber with all the lines on the grip had slowly filled up and when it got to the bottom it leaked.

conclusion - when it leaks it means it is pretty much out of ink... didnt last long and is a bummer... i would recommend getting a different one or not, even though they write so perfectly...

Mike Kelly said...

my 730R was the smoothest, richest, most comfortable pen I've ever owned. mine fortunately never leaked. I'm sorry Bic stopped making them although the 537 is apparently still available so I'm going to try a 12 pack of them out as soon as they arrive. reading your article convinced me to take that chance since I can't find the 730R anywhere. the 730RT's I bought accidentally were highly inferior! thanks!!!