Writer’s Tools: EK Tools Journaling Pens
I don’t usually talk too much about how I do what I do. Mainly because I doubt there are many people who care how I get the words down on paper, as long as I do so with enough regularity that they can read a new book every so often.
However, since the EK Tools Journaling Pens are so cool, I thought I’d make a post about them.
I’ve had just about every pen in the known universe, which may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. I have been interested in, and disappointed by, pens that made bold claims like waterproof ink, no smearing, and no bleeding. Invariably, pens that state such lofty goals in their marketing materials often fall flat in one or more of these areas.
Enter the EK Tools Journaling Pen
I picked up these pens on a whim while we were out picking up Halloween decorations for the kids. What caught my eye was that the packaging claims that the pens are waterproof, archival quality (whatever that means), non-bleeding, and acid-free.
Every waterproof pen I’ve owned in the past has experienced some sort of bleed when submerged in water. They may still be relatively legible, but there’s always some slight degradation of the ink where you can tell it’s been wet. So I decided to see exactly how waterproof these pens really are.
I wrote down my little note and stuffed it in a pickle jar full of water and I left it for several hours while I finished up the chapter of Pirates of the Siren’s Sea I was working on, then played a few rousing rounds of Titanfall.
When I remembered that I’d begun this haphazard experiment, I went back to the pickle jar expecting the water to be a little muddy and there to be some running of the ink. Nope. Not even a little bit. I even shook the jar up a bit to see if I could make it run…no dice. Although the paper started to fall apart, the ink held fast.
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I fished the paper out and sat it on my desk. Although it was falling apart from being submerged for a couple hours, the writing was still perfect. I’m impressed. I can honestly say I’ve never seen waterproof ink that didn’t run at all. Here it is after being fished out of the jar.
You can see around the edges where the paper has started to fall apart from being submerged. I decided to see what would happen if I let the paper dry out. So I put it on top of a paper cup and left it out overnight to dry. Although a bit wrinkly from its bath, the end result is just as clear and legible as before it’s submerged adventure.
So what’s my point? I don’t have one, really. I was just impressed with the ink and the fact that it is REALLY waterproof. So if you’re worried about dumping a cup of coffee or tea over your journal or novel outline, if you’re writing with a EK Tools Journaling Pen, don’t fret. Just dry out the paper and you’ll be good to go.
You can buy the EK Tools Journaling Pens on Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1xxbB8J
~MFHengst
