I’ve lost count of how many Pentel retractable highlighters “Handy Line S” I’ve gone through over the years—probably around a hundred by now. Ever since I began “relearning” in my mid-fifties and studying for various qualifications, this highlighter has been an indispensable companion.
この蛍光ペンのよいところは、ノック式で蓋がいらないことに加えて、リフィルを交換できることだ。実のところ、インク自体はすぐになくなってしまう(根を詰めて試験の勉強をしていたときなど、一日でなくなってしまうことも珍しくなかった)ので、私にとってリフィルは必携である。 What I really like about this highlighter is not only that it’s retractable—so there’s no need for a cap—but also that the refill can be replaced. The thing is, the ink itself runs out pretty quickly (back when I was cramming for exams, it wasn’t unusual for the ink to be gone in a single day), so having refills on hand is absolutely essential for me.
ただし。ここが重要なのだが、リフィルを交換できるからといって、本体が決していつまでも使えるものだと考えてはいけない。概ね2~3回ぐらい交換しているうちに、本体のノック機構が壊れてしまうことが多い(この仕組みが実に貧弱だったりする)。それと私の場合、うっかり芯(ペン先)を出しっぱなしにして放置し、芯が乾ききって使えなくなってしまうケースが極めて多い。 That said—and this is important—just because the refill is replaceable doesn’t mean the body itself will last forever. In my experience, after two or three refills, the knock mechanism often breaks down (the build is rather flimsy, to be honest). On top of that, I have a bad habit of leaving the tip out by accident, only to come back and find the nib completely dried up and useless.
#ペン先が乾いたときには、マニキュアの除光液を使うとよいといったTIPSがネット上で見つかるが、私はその手の方法で回復に成功した試しがない。 # By the way, I’ve seen tips online suggesting you can revive a dried nib with nail polish remover, but I’ve never once succeeded with that trick.
MUJI sells a similar product. It doesn’t seem to be an OEM version of Pentel’s, and when you compare them side by side, the length is quite different. Still, I came across a comment online saying that Pentel refills actually work with MUJI’s marker—and when I tried it, sure enough, it did. Since there’s a MUJI store nearby, I ended up using their markers almost exclusively for a while… Lately, though, I’ve gone back to Pentel’s Handy Line S. The reason is simple: MUJI’s version seems to dry out much faster. In fact, maybe due to stock management issues, I’ve even had the frustrating experience of buying one that already felt half-dried the moment I opened it. As you can see in the photo above, the two differ quite a bit in length, which might explain the differences in the nib construction.
なお、アマゾンで交換用リフィルのレビューを読み返すと、「乾いていて使えない」というレビューが極めて多いが、これは交換インクが乾いているのではなくて、本体の芯が乾ききってしまっていることが原因だと思われる。 Also, when I went back and checked the reviews for the refills on Amazon, I noticed a ton of people complaining that they were “already dry” and unusable. But I’m pretty sure the problem isn’t the refill ink itself—rather, it’s that the nib in the pen body has completely dried out.
私自身の不可解な経験をもうひとつ。ピンクのリフィルをひと箱買って、長いこと使わずにいたら(数年単位)、なぜか一部のリフィルのインクがオレンジ色に変わってしまっていた。不思議なこともあるものだと思うと同時に、交換可能だからといって、あまり大量に備蓄しておかないほうがよいのかも、とも思った次第。 Here’s another puzzling experience of mine. I once bought a box of pink refills and left them unused for years, only to discover that some of them had mysteriously turned orange. Strange, isn’t it? It made me realize that, just because the refills are replaceable, it might not be such a good idea to stock up on too many of them.