Hobonichi Cousin Pen Test: Which Pens Are The Best?

Hey there Planners! Today I am testing out all my long time favorite pens on the Hobonichi Cousin to see which pens write the best and leave the least amount of smudging. Check out all the supplies listed below along with some videos to watch next!

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[Chaos_and_Creativity]

My brother is bringing me back my very first Hobinichi from Japan today, actually! He went for two weeks, and since I couldn't afford to pay double what people want on apps or the shipping to get it here... I thought I would ask him to bring me one and he did!! I can't wait, so this video was perfectly timed in my feed! As always, thank you, Annie!

[happyoneable]

My favorite pen is the Carbon black fountain pen. I’ve had mine for almost ten years, it cost about 8 bucks back then. It is a very fine nib (I prefer fine, as in 0.38 in most gel pens) and it doesn’t skip or anything. Highlight over it LIKE A DREAM because I use carbon black ink in the refillable ink thingy. I absolutely love this pen. It’s always near me. Love your channel Annie!😊

[berryvillain]

Im so glad I found this! I am a long time planner but first time to Hobonichi.... I didnt even think about the paper/pen situation! Thanks so much! <3

[null]

i wish i saw this video before i bought a bunch of gel pens for my hobonichi and found out the hard way. thanks for the great content anyway!

[wendymolony]

Thank you for this - super helpful! I would have loved to see which ones bled through but this was great :)

[keirawelling]

Nice video, Annie. I wish you showed the back of the page. I love Papermate Flairs, but they bleed through badly. TFS! ❤

[RebeccaHuffThatOrganicMom]

I kept waiting to see the back of the page to know which ones did not bleed thru
otherwise great selection of pens to choose from

[carmengarza]

I have been in planners with Tomoe River Paper (TRP) for a while. Sarasa Study and Sarasa Dry are my "go to". For a bit of color, I was SHOCKED at how wonderful this papre takes acrylic pens (Archer & Olive, Primrosia, etc.).

[kathiwilson]

Annie, you have given me wonderful ideas for 2024. Going to use a Staolgy with Moterm A5. Just received the Mitsubishi Pencil Uni-Ball One P UMNSP38.30 Gel Ballpoint Pen, 0.01 inches (0.38 mm), Coffee. Love the wide barrel, really fine point works great for my large writing. Feels great in my hand. Also love, love, love the Dr. Grip - .5 fine point ball point pen. Started using it in college for lecture notes and still use it today. Thank you for the comparisons and all the info you provided us. 😊

[abbaschild]

Loved this comparison, Annie! Fellow pen fanatic, here. I'll be in Hobonichi or Stalogy for 2024 - A6, probably, for size and portabiity.I was trying to test-drive a Weeks, but it may not work out as a main planner. I agree with most of your "best" choices (only because of some I haven't tried yet). In fact, I either use Muji or Zebra Sarasa Vintage Clip--great in the Fall colors. So sorry about your camera glitch - I would loved to have seen the back of the page, showing any ghosting or bleed-thru. As far a smudging, I gave up and got me some blotter paper, which I cut down to the planner size - it works with fountain pens and the "juicier" gels. As always, great post! TFS.

[vicki]

This is great information. If I'm in a hurry, I'll carefully blot the paper to pick up the excess ink.

[Mmosuccess]

Agree Uni jetstream is the best without smudge... thanks for sharing.

[thekatplans]

Zebra bLen is my fav ballpoint! It's buttery like the jetstream but has less of a needle tip so it feels even smoother to me, can also come in multipen varieties! The Pilot juice in .38 is a good gel pen for the tomoe river paper, but my favorite gel pen is the uniball one .38 - feels more like a .5 but is so smooth and very little smearing.

[GlamGadz]

I’ve found that Micron 05 and 03 are great on TRP. Also, my new favorite are Sharpie 0.4 felt tip pens work great as well.

[Bettystroup]

I was just asking my planner friends, witch pens write good, and here YOU did It. Now witch pens write on stickers, pictures, velum sticky notes, Witch high Liners go over these pens, or as a rule high liner first than mark over. I also like LePen write good tome river paper. THANK YOU

[LinzyLouPlannerPrincess]

omg this was super helpful. I'm new this year to the hobonichi and I am LIVING for this video! Can I ask, did any of these like the tombow bleed through the paper? I'm kinda assuming they didn't but am so scared of that. Ty so much for the video! Love your content!

[moyaharris]

surprised you didn't use the uni Pin fine line. I love it for my everyday pen. Black, gray, (dark and light) and siena. :)

[jenniferriddell]

I use the sarasa mark on, love that pen. The refills are pretty cheap too.

[danajones]

This was great. I think of all three pens, only 3 would be considered archival: uni jet stream, pigma micron and the pilot arcroball 😊

[JosephDickson]

Micron 05 dries almost instantly unless drawing over the same spot. Wet and slow fountain pen inks need extra time to dry compared to my experience with Rhodia, Apica etc.