The Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3: Can Uni Improve on the Jetstream Experience?

The Jetstream Prime is the upscale version of Uni’s ubiquitous Jetstream low viscosity ballpoint pen, featuring sleeker barrels in more stylish colors. While I love pretty much everything Jetstream, I truly enjoy the Jetstream Prime lineup, and the standard Jetstream Prime Twist Ballpoint is one of my most recommended pens for those looking for a no-nonsense everyday writer to use in the professional context. Regardless of the new Lite Touch ink, the Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 multi pen was inevitably going to end up in my pen case.

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I’ll talk about the pen first, then offer my thoughts on the Jetstream Lite Touch ink, which is a new ink formulation Uni introduced last year. The Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 multi pen is a three-slot multi pen (no mechanical pencil option) that uses a rotational mechanism to switch ink colors. In other words, you rotate the barrel until the clip points to the color you want. As far as multi pens go, this one is far more compact and lightweight than what you usually find. Many multi pens are either oversized or on the heavier side, due to both the relative complexity of the mechanism and the weight of the additional refills, so the comfort and usability of this pen made for a pleasant surprise. The matte texture on the coated metal barrel makes the Lite Touch 3 easy to grip and minimizes slippage. The overall length is such that it sits well in my hand, and the pen fits easily into most pen loops I’ve tried. A couple weeks back I carried this one around New York City in my Lochby Field Journal Mini, and for the past few days it’s been in my Plotter A5.

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So now about the ink. Uni introduced the Jetstream “Lite Touch” as a smoother version of the Jetstream low-viscosity ballpoint, engineered for increased darkness and less resistance on the paper. In other words, if the Jetstream was originally designed as a “hybrid gel-ballpoint” pen, then the Jetstream Lite Touch takes things even further towards the “gel” end of the spectrum. The Lite Touch ink flows exceptionally well, leaves a dark line with all three colors (black, blue, and red) that shipped with the pen, and still dried almost instantly. I guess the only question I have is why introduce this particular ink as a new product, as opposed to modifying the formulation of the original Jetstream cartridge? The Jetstream Lite Touch is different for sure, but I’m not sure that it’s so different the average person would remark on it. That may change as I try different Lite Touch formats, which I currently have on order.

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Of all the colors, I found the difference most pronounced in the black ink, which was smoother and noticeably darker. The difference was less pronounced in blue, and honestly almost indistinguishable in red.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I’m not sure that I like the Jetstream Lite Touch ink “better” than the standard Jetstream - I’m one of those people who actually does enjoy the tactile feel of a standard ballpoint cartridge so the additional smoothness isn’t a huge selling point for me, as I’d typically just use a gel pen. That said, if what you’re looking for is a ballpoint that writes a smooth, dark, quick-dry line and is as close to a gel pen as you can get, give this cartridge a try. Those who can’t write with heavier pressure may also find the Lite Touch to work better for them. For me personally, I will probably continue to buy either Jetstream or Jetstream Lite Touch pens based on whether I enjoy the form factor of the pen itself, since I can happily use either ink.

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Both the Jetstream 4+1 and the Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 come in muted yellow colors, which I love.

As far as the pen itself, The Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 is one of the better multi pens that I’ve used. The slimmer, more classic profile fits my own personal preferences, and I love the rotational mechanism. Plus it comes in yellow. If you make it in yellow, I will buy one. Now just make it in dark red too. We currently have a small number of these pens in the shop, with more on the way, as well as Lite Touch versions of the classic Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pen. These pens take the SXR-L80 refills, which are currently on order and will also be available. Each of these pens ship with three .5mm refills already installed in the pen, which should last you a while before you need extras.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here. Please note that we are experiencing inclement weather (ice and snow) on Feb. 18 and 19, so shipments may be delayed in going out by a day or so.

New Arrivals: Well-Appointed Desk Stickers and Washi, and "Grown-Up" Washi Returns!

We always love to support our friends, and we’re happy to add a line of products from the Well-Appointed Desk to the shop! As of this morning, we offer the “Inky Dreams” Sticker Sheets and Washi Tape featuring Ana’s original illustrations, as well as the “Date Dot” planner stickers that allow you to convert any notebook or ring/disk binder into a journal or planner system.

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The “Date Dot” stickers from the Well-Appointed Desk come in five different colors.

And while I won’t post a photo to the main cover page here because I like to keep things (mostly) family-friendly, our “Grown Up” washi tape is back in stock, in both the original floral and the gold foil format. Fans of iLootPaperie will be happy to know that most of their other washi is back in stock, including the snail mail-themed tapes such as the popular “Par Pigeon” washi and more.

Remember that February is International Correspondence Writing Month (InCoWriMo)! For the month of February, take an extra 10% off certain letter-writing supplies using the code “SNAILMAIL” at checkout. Also, we are expecting some inclement weather this week, so keep an eye on the shop page for updated brick-and-mortar hours as necessary.

Sunday Reading for February 16, 2025

1. A Fountain Pen Lovers Guide to Paris in 2025 (via Pen Addict). One of my favorite cities to shop for pens! I enjoyed catching up on the current state of the market since it’s been a while, but it was sad to see that some of my own favorites didn’t make the list and possibly didn’t survive the pandemic years.

2. 90 Years of Diary-Keeping (via Notebook Stories). “No reason not to.” Couldn’t say it better.

3. Conklin 1898…the Best Conklin I have Reviewed? (via Figboot on Pens). This looks like an updated take on the Conklin All-American, exclusive to Atlas.

4. The Joy of Just Not Buying Ink for a While (via Stationery Pizza). I’ve spent some time lately writing down my own ink supply, and haven’t really purchased much ink in the past year.

5. Majohn P136 Titanium Hammered Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). A tall order at $140 for a Majohn, but I do like hammered finish pens.

6. Saying Goodbye to a Favorite Ink (via mnmlscholar). Congrats on finishing a bottle! I’ve only done this the “traditional” way (writing, not giving away samples) a couple of times.

7. Pilot Short Pocket Pen (via Dapprman). All of these cool Japanese pocket pens, mostly from Pilot, definitely not made anymore. :(

8. The Forever Pen (via Well-Appointed Desk). How long does the “Forever Pen” really last? Not quite forever, apparently.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I published two posts focused on inexpensive pens. The first answered a question I often get in the shop: When is the right time to “upgrade” from an inexpensive pen? (There’s also a companion YouTube video.) Yesterday I published a few additional thoughts, including some notes on the types of relatively inexpensive stationery that I use daily.

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Oh, and Teranishi Inks are restocked, including the ever-popular Gentle Green.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

This week we added close to a dozen different specialty Japanese papers, including different Tomoe River assortments as well as a bunch of rare and/or discontinued papers curated by Yamamoto and Sakae Technical Paper. In addition to all of the new paper, check out this week’s Thursday Drops post for a huge laundry list of new arrivals, which I can barely keep up with, including new Lamy Safaris, AL-Stars, and Studios, Tombow pencils, more Uni Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils at a lower price point, Uni 2B pencil value packs, Mitsubishi natural pencils, and so many more!

THE Washi Tape!

Lamy

Exacompta Cards

Anecdote Goods

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

More Thoughts on (Relatively) Inexpensive Stationery

Building on Wednesday’s post and accompanying YouTube video about why many of us love inexpensive pens, I’ve been thinking more broadly about the role that the less expensive stationery products play in my everyday rotation. While I firmly believe that all stationery - even the very nice pricey stuff - needs to get used at some point, because that’s what it’s made for - even I balk at using more expensive paper for things as routine as grocery lists, meeting notes that won’t be retained, draft markups, and other “junk paper” that I never intend to keep. Similarly, when I’m forced to write on cheap recycled copy paper at work, I don’t necessarily want to use my nicer inks in a context where they’ll just feather and bleed, and where I won’t get much enjoyment from the writing experience. So although I do tend to use the more “upscale” stuff for most of my personal journaling and longhand professional writing, here are five categories of relatively inexpensive stationery that I tend to keep on hand for the more mundane tasks:

1. Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Levenger, and Maruman Mnemosyne Paper. These paper brands handle most ink types relatively well, and the paper is fairly priced so that I don’t feel self-conscious about using it as scrap paper. Sure, I do sometimes still get comments from co-workers such as “You spent $8 on a legal pad?!?”, but honestly, if you care about a baseline level of quality in the tools you use, you learn to tolerate the attitude. (Sometimes I like to gently remind people that the legal pad I’m using still costs less than the coffee/beer they’re consuming during the course of our conversation, and will last 30x as long.)

2. .5mm Mechanical Pencils. For everyday office work, I’ve been relying more and more on mechanical pencils because I can use them for pretty much anything, without thinking about how they’ll perform on the paper. As you saw in Wednesday’s video, I’m a fan of the Pentel Sharp Kerry since it has a cap and slips easily into my pocket. The Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch is an underrated writer, which also comes in a .3mm for those who write very small.

3. Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen with EF Desk Pen Nib. This particular pen requires a bit of a hack, but if you take the EF steel nib from the Platinum Desk Pen and swap it into a Platinum Plaisir fountain pen, you get an excellent everyday writer that works quite well on less expensive paper, especially when you pair it with Platinum Carbon Black or Blue-Black cartridges (both great “cheap paper” inks).

4. Standard Blue, Black, or Blue-Black Ink. Speaking of ink, I always have one or two workhorse fountain pens inked up with very basic water-based “pen company” inks that I know will behave moderately well no matter how they are used. All of the Waterman Inks, basic Pilot Blue, Black, and Blue-Black, and the Platinum cartridges linked above are all rock-solid options.

5. Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Multi Pen. Alongside my mechanical pencils, a versatile three or four-color multi pen is always in my rotation. While not the most inexpensive, the Lamy 2000 4-color is my main workhorse, supplemented by various Jetstream Multi Pens and the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto gel pen. The ballpoints come in handy for when I need to sign documents in permanent ink (not an infrequent occurrence), and the Coleto Multi Pen when I need a pop of color.

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My Platinum Plaisir Frankenpen (Top) and a green Pentel Sharp Kerry I’ve had for years.

As someone who makes a chunk of their living writing about and selling stationery, people often expect that I use the most expensive stuff available, and that’s far from the truth. Most of what I use day-to-day falls well under the $30 price point (and sometimes sub-$20). It’s one reason I’m not overly pessimistic about the future of our hobby in the face of inflation and rising costs. Even if we end up having to scale down, there’s plenty of great options to be had for not a lot of money!

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

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Thursday Drops: Lots of Lamy, Even More Pencils, and Japanese Paper Galore

It’s been pouring outside this week, which is good because I’ve not really been able to leave the shop, trying to get all of this new inventory entered and listed! As we talked about in Tuesday’s post, we received a large shipment of assorted Japanese papers from Yamamoto Paper, as well as Iroful Paper from Sakae Technical. All of this paper will work well with most fountain pens, and will vary in texture and thickness. We’ve also restocked on most Lamy pens, as well as the more popular colors of the Teranishi Guitar Inks.

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New pencils, such as these Mitsubishi 9800EW, are arriving almost daily.

Finally, woodcase pencil enthusiasts take note: we are rapidly moving to expand our pencil offerings, from individual pencils to pencils by the dozen to sharpeners. This week’s Thursday Drops post highlights a few of the brands we have added, but more will be hitting the shop every few days!

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

1. Yamamoto Specialty Paper. We have packs of 50 A4 sheets of the following specialty Japanese papers, selected for distribution by Yamamoto due to scarcity (either current or impending). Many of these papers are extremely small-batch creations or have been discontinued. (We also have standards such as Sanzen Tomoe River Paper and Tomoegawa Tomoe River Paper writing pads.)

2. Iroful Paper by Sakae Technical Paper. This ink-friendly paper was developed specifically for fountain pens, and comes in a wide range of looseleaf formats as well as A5 notebooks. Iroful is known for showcasing ink color.

3. Teranishi Guitar Ink Restock! Favorite colors such as Gentle Green, Antique Black, and Night Time Soda are back. We have plenty of Gentle Green, which is one of my favorites from the line. Read the review here.

4. Lamy Safari Restock, Including All the Standard Colors. Per the photo above, we received a new Lamy display! Included with that was a large shipment of Safaris and AL-Stars in standard colors, as well as lots of ballpoints and rollerballs. Some of them are listed but photos may lag a bit.

5. Lamy 2000 Taxus and Blackwood Ballpoints. These two unfortunately overlooked entries in the Lamy 2000 lineup are stunning. I can’t decide between them. One of each?

6. Mitsubishi 9800EW Recycled Wood Pencils. Made in Japan from wood scraps, you’d never guess these uncapped HB pencils were recycled because they still feature a gorgeous natural finish.

7. Faber-Castell Grip Series Pencils. The Grip 2000 pencils have a distinctive triangular shape and textured grip. We currently have both untipped and eraser-tipped versions, in HB, B, and 2B hardnesses.

8. New Pencil Sharpeners! We have all sorts of new pencil sharpeners in the shop, including the super-portable Iwako Mini Ace sharpeners and Faber-Castell Grip Trio sharpeners.

9. Pilot Kakuno Fountain Pens. One of the best inexpensive pens on the market, featuring the signature smiley-face nib. Don’t miss this week’s YouTube Video, in which the Kakuno features prominently.

10. Exacompta Index Cards. You all tore through the excellent Notsu dot grid cards we introduced a couple of weeks ago, so I thought it would be prudent to bring in more brands! These cards from Exacompta feature Clairefontaine cardstock and come in blank, grid, lined, and grid/multicolor formats.

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These Exacompta Index Cards are ink-friendly and come in four different rulings!