The Pen Addict 167/transcript
| The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript | |
|---|---|
| Episode: | 167 |
| Title: | Fishing Vests are Super Important |
| Release Date: | August 10th, 2015 |
| Hosts: | Brad Dowdy |
| Guests: | No guests this episode |
| Additional Information | |
| Official page: | Episode 167 |
| Audio File: | Audio Episode 167 |
| Podcast page: | The Pen Addict 167 |
| Length: | 7070 min <br />1.167 h <br /> minutes |
| Previous Transcript | Next Transcript |
Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 167. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's exceptional shave at a fraction of the price and fracture. Photos printed in vivid colour directly on glass. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy.
Brad Dowdy: What's up, mate? How are you?
Myke Hurley: I'm very well, my friend. How are you?
Pen Show[edit]
Brad Dowdy: I am really good. I am really, really busy. It's a busy week here at the Pen Addict household. Got the DC Pen Show coming up later this week, which we're going to talk about on this episode. Do some DC Pen Show etiquette. Otherwise, I've just been running around. I feel like everything is going crazy all at once. Kids are getting ready to go back to school and activities are starting. So, you know, once the end of summer hits around here, things get a little bit nuts. So, but it's good. I'm here. I'm talking to you. You know, it's, you know, one of my favourite hour of the week. So, I say we get it started. Cool. Let's jump into it, Brad. Yes. So, hey, before you... We have a lot of stuff to talk about on your ledger, which is good. But one thing our listeners want to know, which I've had more than one person ask me this, is what are you writing with right now? A mechanical pencil. Your mechanical pencil. Be more specific.
Myke Hurley: My Rotary 600.
Brad Dowdy: Nice. And what paper?
Myke Hurley: I'm using the pad that you sent me, which I can never remember the name of.
Brad Dowdy: Spiral pad. Spiral pad. We keep it simple. The NotCo spiral pad.
Myke Hurley: So, on the spiral pad, I... Whoops. Just banged it against the desk. Aside from that, I have found two things happening. One, I'm going through this faster than I did the Arts and Sciences for two... Well, but this goes into point two. This is for two reasons. Point one is I don't use the back, which I would on the Arts and Sciences. I would use both sides. Mm-hmm. The other is, for some reason, since having this pad on my desk, I've been writing a lot more, and I don't know why that is.
Brad Dowdy: Huh. That's interesting. That's good, I think. You know, that's a good thing to be doing. And, you know, you can always flip it over when you're done. You know, run through it one side the whole way, flip it over, and then run through the whole back side of it.
Myke Hurley: Do you know what? I hadn't thought of that. That's a pretty good idea. Although, part of the problem is, one of the reasons I've been writing so much is also one of the reasons that I can't write on the back of this thing. And that's because of a certain ink that I got, which I'll talk about in a moment.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. We're going to talk about it in a second.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. But maybe I'll do that. But I also think that's one of the reasons I've been writing a lot and stuff like that. But we'll see. I mean, I could do it. I mean, you know... Yeah, yeah. Your paper, even with the ink and the nib that I've been using, is actually surprisingly usable. Good. That's good. Unlike the product that I'm about to start talking about.
Brad Dowdy: Uh-oh. Yeah. Oh, I can... Yeah. That's... I can see that. But before you do that, before you do that, let me say, I'm using Alami 2000. I just inked it up with the Quiz Iron Gaul Turquoise, which I'm getting ready for the pen show. So I'm inking this one up to carry on the plane with me and have it the pen show so people can test out this quiz. I guess I'm going with quiz. K-W-Z Iron Gaul. I don't know how to pronounce it, if there is a pronunciation. Um... And I'm using the NOC, um... The dot dash pocket notebook. So... And this turquoise Iron Gaul ink is wicked awesome. It's going to be really cool. So... All right. I wanted to mention that because people are asking. I always have a pen and paper handy for the show, even though I'm not necessarily writing. I will jot down some notes. You write a little bit more during the show than I do. But, um... I can't not sit here at the podcast and not have a pen and paper next to me. It's like I would... I would lose my mind. Just like you and Casey talked about on Analog this week. You know, how... You know, what you're fidgeting with while you're recording. I can't just sit here and not... Not fidget with something. So I usually keep the pen in my hand and click the cap or write a little bit note. No doodle. You know, what game are you playing right now?
Myke Hurley: I'm actually doodling right now. Okay. So I'm not in game phase yet. I'm in doodling phase. I do a lot more doodling during this show than I do in other shows. The thing is, like, I like the idea, because I think somebody mentioned this, of doing that, like, at the start of every episode. But I think, for me, it would be really boring.
Brad Dowdy: I do, too. Just because it's... I don't have a lot of variance in this. And the reason is I am in a very tiny location. So I have to physically bring stuff into this room where I record. And I don't have a desk, like, a traditional desk setup. So I'm usually always using the same pad because of the format, the reporter-style format of these, the .dash notebook, and then just whichever pen I use. So it would be... We won't do this every episode, but people do just want to get a flavor every now and then of, you know, if we're using something particular during the show. So... But I think you're right. It would get boring really quick.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, for me as well, like, I have the element of noise. Yeah. Yeah, because it was a while into using my Karas Customs Inc. all the time that I would edit and hear these weird sounds and then realize that it was me screwing and unscrewing the cat.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, you hear that way more than I do. Yeah. You probably cuss me sometimes when you're listening back. You hear some click or something random like, what is that? Was that me? Was that doubting?
Myke Hurley: Talking about Karas, actually, I received my cube.
Brad Dowdy: Oh, yes.
Myke Hurley: Like the one that I ordered. Yeah. It's a beautiful orange.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's awesome. And I got the red for my Kickstarter backing. It's great.
Myke Hurley: I'm very much in love with the orange color that I've got because it's not bright like the orange that they make the inks out of. It is like a deeper color. I really, really love it. And I actually now have two of these things on my desk. I'm worried that they're going to bring my desk down. So I put them at separate edges. That's right. For the time being.
Brad Dowdy: You need to balance it out.
Myke Hurley: But what I have now is I have like a tier one and tier two system. Oh. So I have the tier ones right next to me. And then the tier twos on the other side of the desk where they always used to be. Cool.
Brad Dowdy: That's good. I like it.
Myke Hurley: So I'm very happy about that.
Baron Fig Notebook[edit]
Brad Dowdy: All right. Well, let me let you get back into what you alluded to a minute ago. You got some paper that's not handling some ink very well. And I know exactly what it is.
Myke Hurley: So it's the Baron Fig. Mm-hmm. So Baron Fig arrived. The work play edition is what I've got my hands on. And so I really think that they messed up in creating a limited edition, which is just black.
Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.
Myke Hurley: When they had that beautiful work play artwork on the box.
Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.
Myke Hurley: I would have really liked to see them put that actually on the outside of the book. I can see that. Because I don't know why you would make it a limited edition. I mean, I know the paper inside is different, but I don't know why they would commission that artwork to be done. Right. And then not put it on the actual book itself. It feels like that makes more sense to me. But it's a style choice. I mean, maybe they just wanted their books to remain pretty, like, calm. Which I understand. If that's what they're going for.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but so far the confidants have had nothing on the cover. Yeah. In the three colors I think they've done.
Myke Hurley: That remains the way that they do it, even as they do more limited editions. And I will forgive it. But if they start putting things on the outside, then they missed a trick. Because I actually think that I prefer the colorway of the gray and the yellow. But I wanted to get this one because I liked the paper. Yeah. And I saw about it on your website. So I figured I would buy it via your website. So I actually got the one that they got. And the quality of the book, the way that it is put together, is really great. Like, they are very well made. They have a real great feel to them. They really do open flat, which is not easy to do. And it closes flat as well, even after being open flat. So that is a, you know, I have my hats off to them. Because even like in the middle pages of the book, they managed to open flat. Yep. Which is very difficult to do. Well, I would expect it's very difficult to do because of the amount of people that can't seem to do it.
Brad Dowdy: Especially the more pages you get. Like, I mean, it's a thick notebook. I mean, it's not like it's 40 pages and lays flat. It's, you know, it's large.
Myke Hurley: And the paper quality is okay.
Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's fair. That's, I would sum that up about right, yeah.
Myke Hurley: But it has, for me, like, I think as much bleed as the field notes. Mm-hmm. And, you know, as I said before, field notes bleed. And I know that is the case. But the trade-off for me is, like, the interesting design and the pocketableness of it. Right. A book of this size, of a hardback, I don't want my ink to be bleeding. Right. It feels like that there is, to me anyway, it feels that there should be a disconnect. Like, a book like this, I want to have to be made out of much better materials. Even though the paper quality is very good. It's very good. I don't think it's very fountain pen friendly.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I thought, for some reason, I felt that this one was actually more fountain pen friendly than the first ones that I tested. Like, the first ones that I tested, I didn't enjoy using fountain pens at all. Okay. When the first gray confidant came out. And I got this one, and I was using different pens and inks when I got the Workplay edition. I actually emailed him. I said, hey, I feel like my fountain pens are working better. Did the paper change on this edition from the original confidant? And they validated that, no, it's exactly the same. So, I think it's just a matter of, like we talk about with field notes, if you want to use fountain pens, it's not the most fountain pen friendly book going by a long stretch. But there are certain combinations of nibs and inks that do much better in this type of paper, with this type of paper, than others. So, you're going to find, like the first time I ever used a Baron Fig, I didn't like it for fountain pens at all. And then this Workplay edition, whichever fountain pens I had inked up at the time, they worked really well. I was, it actually kind of, it made me, they worked so well, it made me ask them the question, did something change? So, I think it's a matter of the pen and ink choices. And I do tend to use more gel ink pens in the Baron Fig than fountain pens, just because I know for sure that that's going to work instead of trying something random necessarily and being disappointed with the output. So, I think your assessment is spot on.
Myke Hurley: So, without, and I really don't want to do either A, just blow smoke your way, or B, just make this show a shill for your product. But genuinely, having used the paper quality on the spiral pad, the Notco spiral pad, which again, I can't even remember if that's the name. Why can't I remember the names? I don't know. I think you need to give them like a name, like a name. Yeah.
Brad Dowdy: You know? We have these discussions. These are long, these are not simple discussions when you're introducing products. Yeah, I'm with you.
Myke Hurley: Like, even if it's like the Notco Barry, just give it a name. I just want a name because I can't, for some reason, I can't remember the name. Having used that and then used this, the paper quality is so much better. Like, and the place I noticed this the most was in using a mechanical pencil. Like, because on your stuff, it just glides. But on the Baron Fig, I could feel resistance, but not the good kind. Right. It just didn't feel as nice to write with. It didn't feel as comfortable to write with. So my overall feeling about the Baron Fig is, so my main takeaway from this is both a good thing and a bad thing. So this, the way that this is presented and made, the way it feels and looks, this is a notebook that I want to put important things in. Right? I mean, because the paper quality is good. It's not incredible. It's good. It definitely does the job. But overall, the overall build and production of this is excellent. But I don't know what to put in here. So I probably won't put anything in here. That is a problem. This is a problem I don't have with field notes. And the reason that I don't have that problem with field notes, I don't mind them getting battered up, bashed up. I have a ton of them. They slide in my pocket. They go in my bag. They go everywhere with me. And that works a lot more for me mentally into I can just put anything in here. It doesn't even matter. Right. And that's the same with the Knock Co Barry pad. Is I could just, I don't feel like I need to be precious about it. Right. So I just chuck anything in here. But this thing for me is too fancy looking and feeling. And that means that I feel like I have to be putting in my hopes and dreams into here, which I know a lot of people do, but like this is a perfect journaling notebook. Right. But that's just not the way that I use this stuff. It sat on my desk and it will continue to sit on my desk for a while because I would like to think of some important stuff to put in here. But that tends not to be what I do with pen and paper these days.
Brad Dowdy: So this is an entire show topic that we could go down that path. And we won't do it today, but the preciousness of the tools that we use. And I have certainly changed over the past couple of years in my thought process on that. But it's still a challenge in using things. There's like a mental block for what the appropriateness of the tool is. Right. Well, I paid a lot for this pen, so I need to be like super careful with it and only use it at my desk and only use it with this certain paper. And, you know, I think we can we can we can shelve this this topic and maybe do one down the line because I know we've certainly talked about these things in the past. Right. And a lot of it happened like around the time I bought my first Nakaya. I think that's when the switch flipped for me. That's when I knew I was ready to stop being so precious. When I bought the most expensive, delicate item that I own was the day I stopped being precious with the tools that I use. So I think maybe we should we should shelve that because we could go on for another half an hour about that topic because I think it's an important topic. I mean, I think it's it's a thing. It's a thing we all have.
Myke Hurley: Like I get the the the like the not being preciousness of it, but it's like I think there's a difference between what you've described and what I'm describing is like I just don't like I just don't feel like I have anything that needs to go in here. Sure. As that couldn't go anywhere else. But having something like an Nakaya is like a it's a different experience because you I well, at least me personally, I don't own a pen where I'm like this pen's too fancy for this kind of writing. And I know that I'm basically just making the inverse argument on the paper side. But it's just the way that my mind works is you put things into the notebook and the notebook kind of says something about what's inside it. Sure. Where the pen, the pen is like an extension of me and the notebook is a container. And for me, those two things create some sort of difference.
Writing Container[edit]
Brad Dowdy: Well, and to be honest, you haven't used this type of container for the past couple of years. This hasn't been your format of choice either. Right.
Myke Hurley: Exactly.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So it's excuse me. It's outside the realm of the normal writing experience.
Myke Hurley: Yep. Yeah.
Brad Dowdy: So.
Myke Hurley: All right.
Brad Dowdy: So we let's put this one to bed and we can always we can always circle back around it because I'm sure we'll get some emails on the the preciousness argument. And, you know, I can totally agree with that. But let's let's talk about something that you maybe have have put on some some fancy paper or, you know, that you got in recently.
Myke Hurley: Do you know what? I'm going to make the people wait just for a little bit longer. Oh, look at you. Such a tease. This week's episode is brought to you by Harry's. For many of us, shaving can be a pain. It can be a pain on our faces. It can be a pain on the other parts of our bodies that we like to shave. But it's also a pain on the wallet as well because razor blades are expensive and they tend to be even not great quality or because they're expensive, you use them for a little bit longer than you should be. This is what Harry's set out to fix. It's started by a couple of guys who wanted to create a better product, which was fairly priced, great quality and meant that you could treat your face nicer. Harry's make their own blades. They have high quality, high performing German blades. They're crafted by shaving experts. But because they own the factory that creates those blades, they can offer them at about half the price of other big brand blades. They will also ship them for free to your front doorstep. On average, an everyday shaver who shaves with Harry's blades will save themselves $150 every single year because they use Harry's blades. Harry's blades are cheaper. They can use them more often. It's a great combo. And with Harry's, your satisfaction is guaranteed because that is something that is important to them. They have a starter set which you can get yourself for a fantastic $15. In fact, you could actually get it for $10, which I'll tell you about in a moment. And with this set, you'll get a razor, moisturizing shave cream or foaming shave gel. And three razor blades. Now, I am a foaming shave gel person. I know that Mr. Dowdy is a moisturizing shave cream kind of guy.
Brad Dowdy: Yep.
Myke Hurley: But that's the great thing with Harry's. You get the choice and both of their products are great. They both smell great, but they have different characteristics to them. I like the fact that the gel turns into a crazy foam. And Brad just likes the silky smoothness of the cream because that's the kind of guy. Brad is silky smooth. So it doesn't surprise me at all. So Harry's products all look really great. They have great design to them, which is kind of this really great retro modern style that I like. And this is in both their graphic design, but also the design of the razor handles and stuff like that. I think that they're absolutely great. I use them myself to keep myself looking sharp. I think both me and Brad are beardy guys. But we use Harry's blades just to trim everything down because otherwise you're going to get completely unruly and that's not what you want.
Brad Dowdy: That's right. Keep it tight and clean and looking sharp.
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Brad Dowdy: Yes. Thank you, Harry's, very much. I will be, I mean, you know, I'm a huge Harry's fan and that will be, that's the, it gets prime placement in my kit, my travel kit that I'm, you know, getting ready to go to DC for.
Myke Hurley: Yep. I remember. I remember the, the bathroom smelling great.
Brad Dowdy: That's right. Don't leave home without it. You bet. All right. So tell us about some fancy ink you got. I really want to hear about this.
Emerald of Shivor Ink[edit]
Myke Hurley: All right. So I finally received the Emerald of Shivor. Oh, I always feel like I'm saying that wrong.
Brad Dowdy: I think that's what we're going with. That's what I'm going with anyway. So Shivor.
Myke Hurley: Shivor. I can get on top. I can get on top.
Brad Dowdy: Until they, until they produce a new video.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh no. Everything's going terrible. So yeah, that's, so that we're going to go with Shivor. That'll work for now. So it came in. I think I, had I ordered it when we spoke last week?
Brad Dowdy: Yes. Okay, great. Yeah. So you'd mention it because, because the U S retailers don't have it yet, but like Canada and the UK and a bunch of places all over the world have it. But a lot of the retailers in the U S are just getting it, you know, maybe this week or next week, something like that. Yep.
Myke Hurley: Yep. This was one of my three individual orders to Colt pens this week.
Brad Dowdy: You don't have a problem. We should do a podcast about pen addiction.
Myke Hurley: That's a really good idea.
Myke Hurley: So I'm going to go through with you, my kind of thoughts and feelings as I was noting them down. So it came through, I think maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday. And this one, as opposed to stormy gray is a great color in and of its own without all the special stuff that's going into it. Just the green is really fantastic. So the first thing that I did was I tried out some of my pens to see like, what am I going to get the thickest line from? Right. Because I thought that that might give me the best chance of getting a lot of the gold and the color. So the first pen that I put it in was my Franklin Kristoff. Mm-hmm. Because I have the cursive italic nib on that guy. And I thought that that might be a good option. So, I mean, this looks great in the eyedropper, but I didn't see any magic from it.
Brad Dowdy: Okay.
Myke Hurley: I wasn't really getting anything from the cursive italic nib that was too impressive. It just looked like a really nice green ink. And I know the gold's in there because I can see it in the eyedropper. Mm-hmm. Right? So in like that section. This was the first time that I've refilled the eyedropper. I used the grease and everything. Nice. Look at you. I know. I know. So then I was like racking my brains over this and taking a look at other people's posts. I looked at Ed Jelly's post again where he took some pictures and stuff with it to try and take a look at like what type of thing is he using here to help try and show me the kind of thickness that I'm going to need. And he was talking about like flex nibs and double bold nibs. And I was looking around and finding this sort of stuff online. And I mean, and he's writing with some crazy stuff here. Like I don't even know some of the things that he's using, but like some of the lines that he's got are insane. So I assume they're like dip pens and stuff like that. Yeah. He did. Yeah. So I remembered that I bought a pilot flex nib from somewhere. I think it might've been a pen chalet deal. I bought a pilot Namiki flex. The Falcon? Falcon. That's it. Yeah. Okay. I bought the Falcon. So I got that guy out and tried using that, but that didn't give me much of a thicker line, more like any more thicker of a line than the Franklin Kristoff. So therefore also didn't give me much in the way of specialness. Right. So I thought to myself, look, I know that this is possible, right? And I'm sure that it's possible with a nib like that I can put in a fountain pen. So I started looking around and that was when I came across like the double bold, extra ball, sorry, double broad, extra broad type scenario. Right. So I went on Colt pens and took a look around to try and find the cheapest double broad nib that I could find. And I came across Kaweco nibs and memory served me that I could put the Kaweco nib in my Karas Customs ink. Okay. Whether that's correct or not, who knows?
Myke Hurley: I bought it. It arrived. I put it in the ink. It took a bit of persuasion. Sure. To get in there. But I was able to do it. And the key was, you know, anyone will fancy it. Obviously I had to keep the feed and the, what's the other part? You know, the part that you actually put the metal of the nib onto.
Brad Dowdy: And put the metal of the nib on. I mean, that's the feed. Okay. It's all the feed.
Myke Hurley: Because I was thinking like there's also that part. Anyway. Yeah. Of course.
Brad Dowdy: There's like a, there's a collar around the collar.
Myke Hurley: That's what I was looking for. Okay. That's what I was looking for. So I was able to put it fit. So, you know, whatever.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah.
Myke Hurley: Can you, do you know if you can do this? Did I make this up?
Brad Dowdy: I don't know. Jeff, Jeff jammed a pilot Kakuno nib in one of his, in his Keras render K, which has the same nib unit in section. So I think you can pretty much do anything if it fits. Yeah. You're good.
Myke Hurley: It fits. So it took, it took a bit of fighting to get it, to get it to work. Yeah. But, but I got it in there and it, and I've not had any explosions or anything. Um, so that, you know, I was able to jam it in and this is just like a wonder. It is almost like a pen from heaven. Oh, wow. Cause you know, I love these things anyway. Right. Right. And I am now, I mean, I used to love broad and I've not used broad or bold nibs in a long time.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I remember you, that was like the primary thing. Yeah. Like what, back when we started.
Myke Hurley: Like I was looking around and I was struggling to find a broad nib, like just around. Uh, and this thing is like, it just ink flows out of it. Um, it's so smooth. It's just fantastic. But plus this Emerald of Chivor is incredible.
Brad Dowdy: So when you get the, the, the larger ink flow out of the broad nibs, you're really the ink's popping for you now.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. I'm getting color variation. I'm getting gold and it's happening constantly. That's great. And it is just awesome. Nice. You are going to love this.
Brad Dowdy: Well, good. I can't wait to try it. I, I have a feeling I'm, I mean, I know I'm going to like it like this turquoise color I'm using right now. As you were talking, I was putting this color on the page to see if it's kind of like the, a little bit like the greenish of the, uh, Chivor. So I'm, I'm pretty sure I'm going to, I'm going to like it very, very much. And I'll actually probably use it in the same Lamy 2000 bin once, uh, once I do get it.
Myke Hurley: So yeah, that's great. It really is awesome. So I went on this whole big journey, uh, but finally got to a point where it's all working and yeah, I, I really, really love it. I really love it. It's come out great.
Community Connection[edit]
Brad Dowdy: Isn't that funny though? Like this is how we are in this community. Like this one simple thing led you down this path and then we can have this conversation about it for like 10 minutes and we're all like, yeah, oh yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. And it's like, if you had this conversation in public, it'd be like, you know, we're talking about, uh, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, you know, in the middle of a restaurant, you
Myke Hurley: know, it's like a different language, right?
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, totally. It's, it's great. I love it. That's why we do this. I, it's fun. I, I, I'm just sitting here grinning, listening to you, listen to you talk. So it's pretty cool. Cool.
Myke Hurley: So that was order number two from cold pens in a week.
Brad Dowdy: And then there's a third.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. So I don't know if I mentioned, I don't think that I did, that we were looking for a new pen for Adina now that her mini, to his mini broke on her.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I can't remember if we talked about that on the show or we talked about it on the side. We definitely talked about it. I can't remember if it was actually, it was probably in the episode last week when we're, we were talking with Dr. Deans about Twisby. Yeah. So yeah, I think we talked about it then.
Myke Hurley: So she was mentioning it. Um, and I was like, uh, I don't really have, cause you know, we went through this whole thing before, if you remember a while ago.
Brad Dowdy: Oh yeah. You went through like this whole discovery thing for her.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. And I was like, I don't really have a great option.
Myke Hurley: So we bought a Twisby Eco. Okay. So, because the thing is, I was thinking about it and I was like, I know that she loves Twisby nibs. Yes. So I could, cause that was part of the big thing was the nibs. Cause she, she wants two things. She wants to feel good. She wants to look good. She likes the way that the Twisby nibs are kind of, um, drawn out like, you know, the decoration on them. Yeah. And we got like a medium or something cause they were out of 1.1 stubs. Cause I'm assuming I can swap the nibs on this guy.
Brad Dowdy: Uh, no, this is a different nib unit. I think. Yeah. I don't have an Eco yet, but I think these are, um, these are more, these are more friction fit, uh, nibs. And I think, I don't know, you might be able to finagle something. I just don't know. I haven't had my chance to play with it directly myself, but pictures tell me that the previous minis in the 580s have full nib units that you, uh, screw in and the Ecos look like from pictures look like a friction fit nib, but just getting another nib for that should be pretty easy.
Myke Hurley: Uh, hang on one second. Right. On Goulet pens, what nib does the Eco use? Can it take a nib from another Twisby? It appears to use the same nib as the Classic and Mini, and they're interchangeable, but you have to physically pull the metal nib from the housings of the Classic or the Mini to fit in the Eco. Right. There is no nib unit to swap, so, oh man, like I have to yank the nib out of the Mini.
Brad Dowdy: Well, that's not far from what you did for the, uh, the ink you were just talking about.
Myke Hurley: No, I kind of twisted it out of there.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's, it's going to be the same theory.
Myke Hurley: Oh, okay.
Brad Dowdy: Okay. It just, you know, it's going to take some elbow grease to, to do it, but it's, it's going to be the same theory. Yeah.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. And Thomas Hall just tweeted at me to tell me that I should be able to pull the nib on the Eco. Not sure if they'll sell replacements, but you'll be okay. Yeah. I'm going to give it a go. I'm going to give it a go.
Brad Dowdy: Like, actually, that's why I want the Eco is because of how those nibs are designed for swappability and even using other nibs, um, on that size, size pen. So anyway, go ahead. Yeah.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. So I will give that a go, uh, because we couldn't get the 1.1. And I said to her that if for any reason we, it wouldn't work, I would just buy it from her and I'll use it. But the reason that I went with this one is because people are saying it's better made, um, especially the one piece grip, because both of hers are broken on the grip.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's always where that that's been the most, uh, the biggest bone of contention. area for their manufacturing.
Myke Hurley: Yep. And I just got, uh, the, everybody's sending me tweets today. Uh, Dudek just DM me and said that, uh, Dan Smith did an eco vid on YouTube and I'm pretty sure he shows how to swap them. Good. So it's possible. Yep. And now Thomas Hall saying, same, these guys get in the chat room. I know. I know. Um, so yeah, it seems like it's possible and it just, it just made me think that it made sense for me to go down this route because she likes the brand except for the fact that they break. Yeah. And if they have fixed a lot of the breaking stuff, uh, then I'm willing to give it a go. And considering she's had them break in the same place, but they have addressed this. Um, I'm willing, I'm willing to, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt again, uh, on this one.
Brad Dowdy: So yeah. Last call.
Myke Hurley: Yeah.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is. Yeah. So there we go. So, so do you have that pin yet or is it on the way?
Myke Hurley: No, it's on the way. It may have actually arrived today. I'd be surprised if it hasn't arrived because at the end it gets these things shipped to work. Yeah. I think she, I think there's a strong chance that she probably has it, but I'll be able to talk about it next week.
Brad Dowdy: And Colt pins in the UK has like one day shipping. It's nuts.
Myke Hurley: Yeah.
TWSBI Eco Pens[edit]
Brad Dowdy: So shipping is so fast. Yeah. So I haven't ordered an eco yet, but I'll probably pick up a one or two. I want two of them. Uh, I'm going to try to two different ones just so I can monkey around with one. Um, I'll probably pick some up at the pin show this weekend. Great. Yup. So let's talk about that pin show. Huh? We got anything else we need to cover? We need to talk about another one of our friends.
Myke Hurley: Yeah, we do. Uh, aside from that, I think I'm, I've got everything taken care of. So it's all of my stuff.
Brad Dowdy: You've had a, you've had a, uh, a good pin week.
Myke Hurley: Oh, it's felt good, man. I had my hands covered in ink for a couple of days, you know, like just changing inks around and ripping nibs out of their sockets.
Brad Dowdy: So proud of you. Can you imagine, you know how far we've come like in the last two years?
Myke Hurley: Oh, I know. I know. I think about it every time someone tells me they're listening from the beginning or something.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. We just had one or two people tweet us this week. I know I've had at least one say, Hey, I'm just on episode 10. Do I need to keep listening through? Well, I mean, they said they were going to listen all the way through and I was like, you know what? You will get a lot out of listening from the beginning.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. People, people ask me sometimes like, Oh, I've come across the show. Like, shall I go back? And it's like, I say, what I tend to say to people is if you can, you definitely should. Yeah. Because more than anything else, if you're kind of interested, but not already super nerdy about this stuff, you should go back because our nerdiness has increased tenfold, both of us, since when we began, especially with the amount of time we devote to fountain pens. When we started this show, what was that three years ago now? Mm-hmm. Neither of us really knew anything about them.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah.
Myke Hurley: So, it is useful. If you're listening to this and maybe it's your first episode or you've been listening for a few weeks, I would really recommend going back and listening from the beginning. If anything, you're going to have a lot of podcasts to listen to, right? Yeah. Because we're like 167 episodes in, so it will last you a long time, which is always fun if you enjoy the show. Yeah. But you will learn a lot as we learned. Yeah.
Brad Dowdy: There's a lot of interesting things that happen in the first 30, 40, 50 episodes. Yeah. Like, you know, saying I'll never use a fountain pen to using fountain pens to taking a break. I still get emails for the taking a break episode. I need to go back and listen to that one sometime.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. I was thinking about that.
Brad Dowdy: I still get emails on that episode. I don't remember the episode. It's in the late 20s, I think. Like, I don't remember the episode number, but I think it's in the late 20s. We'll have to go back and get it.
Brad Dowdy: You know, it was a sad episode.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. Because I remember, I don't know, I was just talking about the show and was saying, you know, it's three years old, but it's only 167 episodes in because we took a break for a period of time. And all I remember was you were busy in life.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's what it boiled down to. And what's funny is now, as we totally go off on a tangent, is that I feel like every week I just feel so refreshed doing this show. Like, it's the first time. Like, I feel like I always, I've said it before, I feel like we're just getting started now and we're like on 167. Like, I just feel now that we're just like, we've, I guess we've hit our stride, but I feel like we're just really getting underway. And, you know, three years into it, which is a great feeling to have, to be honest. Yeah.
Myke Hurley: We are in a very long stride here, my friend.
Brad Dowdy: And that's how I like it. It's awesome.
Myke Hurley: Let's take a break. This week's episode is brought to you by Fracture. Fracture make a super great product that I think you guys are going to love. They are transforming the way that people print and display their favorite images and they do it in a way that I really love. So what you do with Fracture is you will be able to get yourself a photo printed onto a piece of glass. Now, this isn't something where it's going to be framed, like a little paper picture with a frame around it. No, this is a piece of glass that you receive in the post that has some lovely foam on the back so it can be mounted nicely. That has a picture printed sandwiched right onto the piece of glass. And it makes your photos look like you've never seen them before. It really is awesome because they're edge to edge. That's one of the things that I like about it a lot is all you have on the wall is the picture. There is no frame, no mess, nothing. It's just the picture. And that is a very different experience. You are putting the picture on the wall. You're not framing a picture and putting the frame on the wall. The picture goes on the wall. And that looks fantastic.
Myke Hurley: And it's so simple to get one of these for yourself. You just go to FractureMe.com. You upload your photo. You choose the size you want. They have square sizes and rectangle sizes. The square sizes are really great for Instagram shots and stuff like that if you want to print some of those out because they're smaller. And then you can get rectangle sizes all the way up to 21 by 28 inch, which is huge. So you can get some really big prints of some of your favorite photos there if you want to. And then you just select the size you want. You make sure it all lines up. They have like a quality checker and stuff for resolution to make sure it's all going to look okay. And they let you know if the picture is in too low resolution. And, you know, because they want you to know that the picture you're going to get is the best possible quality and the print's going to look great when it's sent to you. It's then all made in Gainesville, Florida, and they'll ship it out to you. And I've had these things shipped from Florida to the United Kingdom. I have had six sheets of glass sent to me. And they all arrived completely intact. It's absolutely their packaging is really fantastic because it's all kind of like packaged together like the same foam they put on the back is it made is in the boxes. And then they have like these great carbon. They're taped up really well. And it's all kind of like really nicely sandwiched and kept in there to stop it from rolling around and stuff like that. You also get everything you need to hang or mount the picture. For the squares, the little square shots, they'll send you a little stand if you want it. You can get a little stand. Other than that, they're going to give you a screw in the box with all of the prints so you can put it straight on the wall. I think that fracture prints are just so fantastic. And, you know, there are lots of artistic people that listen to the show. I've had people, I've had a friend of mine send me something that she painted as a fracture as a gift, which is really, really nice. So you can do that kind of stuff. You scan in some pictures or some stuff that you've done and you can get them on fracture prints. So fractures are not only great for you. They're also fantastic gifts. They're a really great gift idea. And they have prices that start at just $15. So they're not going to break the bank. And you can get yourself and you can get yourself a discount and support this show. You better get yourself 10% off your first order with the coupon code pen addict. Just go to fracture me.com to get yourself started. Thank you so much to fracture for supporting this show.
DC Pen Show[edit]
Brad Dowdy: All right. So I wanted to talk about the DC pen show. It's coming up this week. We've been talking about it for months, but I've gotten now that it's here, essentially, people have been asking questions about pen show etiquette. And we've covered this kind of stuff when we were going to the Atlanta pen show when I was going there before you made it over for this year's show. And people, it's an intimidating thing kind of for people who have never done it. The first time I went to Atlanta, I was certainly like deer in the headlights. So just talking about it, a lot of this is going to be old information for some, but it's new information for a lot of people. And that's what we want to try to share with everyone to make all of these people who are making it their first show or their second show feel comfortable, you know, going into what's really the biggest pen show on the planet, supposedly.
Myke Hurley: Yeah, because there's going to be a bunch of things in this list where you don't even know what to expect. Yes.
Brad Dowdy: So this is going to be, this is a one of a kind adventure, apparently going to DC and Lisa Van Ness has helped me out a lot with like these, like the pen show etiquette things and what to expect from DC because last year was her first year and she was really overwhelmed. I mean, she just talks, she can't, it's been hard for her to put into words how busy it is, like relating it to, okay, what Atlanta was and then extrapolating that into what DC is going to be. She said it's like hard to even make that jump, which is just kind of mind boggling, right? It's so different, she says, and so much bigger, so much busier that, you know, it could be a little bit intimidating.
Myke Hurley: And it's kind of not the same thing.
Brad Dowdy: Yeah. At that point. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, so I want to go over just kind of a few primary topics that a lot of people have asked over the past couple of weeks to hopefully help out, you know, when they get to DC and, you know, are trying to make their way through, through the show. So the first thing that should be the first thing on anyone's list, if they're looking to do it at a pin show and not, this isn't just DC, but this is any pin show. But if you're looking to get nib work done, you need to do that. You need to plan for that. The very first thing when you walk through the door. So if you know you're going to get nib work done, and I think Lisa said there's probably six or eight, uh, uh, people working on nibs there, you know, uh, Myke Masayama, Richard Bender, I don't know the whole list of them, but like, if you want Myke Masayama, you need to walk in the door the morning of the day you're there and put your name on the list because it might be the afternoon, even at that point before you get to it. So, so Dan Don in the, in the Slack room, he said, how do you run to all the nibmeisters at once? And that's the, that's a good way to put it. If you can't get in there early, you want to get a friend that can hook you up, say, Hey, can you put my name on the list? Um, and have someone do that for you. Even if you go, even if you come Friday, I'd put your name down and you know, you're going to be there Saturday. I'd put your name down late Friday for Saturday. You know, they'll start a Saturday list even early, um, then, and for the next day. So yeah, after the first couple hours of the show, I mean, they're done. I mean, they're booked for the day. And if you think you're going to purchase a pen and walk over to Myke Masayama at three o'clock in the afternoon and get something done, well, you're in for a rude awakening. And it's just something that has to be planned. If you're trying to do it, this is the first pen show where I'm not bringing anything to get worked on. So I've always been real cognizant of getting this done the very first thing. And you just want to get it out the way because it can take a while.
Myke Hurley: Do you just not have anything that you need or want?
Brad Dowdy: Uh, there's a couple of things that I want, but I'm going to be so busy, um, doing other things, the show, like I like taking in the show and then working on Saturday and Sunday for, uh, Van Ness that I don't want to get wrapped up in the hours of, you know, thinking about, you know, getting things done. Um, as far as nib goes, I have two pens actually that I want to get worked on, but I'm just going to wait until after the show. And then I'll probably send them off to someone to get done. Um, I'm just not going to have time this year to, to do that. So that's kind of my, that's my thinking. Yes, I have some nibs I want to get worked on, but I think I will pass on this show and just, uh, just go for it, um, after the show and go from there, but get in early, get your name early, then go about your shopping. And if you can't get there early, see if you know someone that's going to go there early and they can put your name down on the list for you. So that's a, that's kind of a crucial thing. If you want something done outside of that, probably the biggest topic that came up, um, which kind of surprised me. I didn't really think about it that much in the past, although we've kind of mentioned it in, in passing a little bit is haggling. So people are wondering, you know, are, can you have these discussions with these vendors, um, about, you know, haggling on the price? So, uh, debt is debt in the chat room today. Um, debt put it in the, in the Slack room. He says, would love to hear some discussion about pen show haggling. I'm not very good at haggling period. And I'm always unsure how to do it at pen shows when buying multiple items from one vendor. It seems easier. For example, if I get this and this, you think you can work with me on the price for a bit, but is it permissible or possible to do it for one item, an expensive vintage pen, for instance? And if so, how would you go about it? So this is a case by case basis, but in the general sense of things, vendors who were selling more modern pens, you're not really going to be able to haggle with them because a lot of times their prices are fixed by the manufacturers. So they don't necessarily have a lot of playroom, but if you're buying, say, you know, like three modern pens from someone, you know, and the total comes out to just, you know, say $200 or, you know, whatever, you know, okay. Would you take, you know, one 90 for that? Could you, is there some, a little something you can do? And usually they can, you're going to get more haggling room on the vintage pens just because it depends on the pen too. And it depends on the, the person selling the pen.
Brad Dowdy: But like with the vintage pens, you know, they may have had it longer or there may have a larger quantity of that particular pen. But if it's like an elusive, you know, hard to find item, there's probably not going to be much wiggle room. Um, and you know, some people just aren't going to haggle. Um, you can certainly ask, you know, is there anything you can do? You know, I, and I have asked in the past, like I bought a vacuumatic, a restored vacuumatic at the Atlanta pen show two years ago. And I forget the price. It was like, I don't know, I think it was like 140. And, you know, I looked at it and then I put it down and then I came back later and I looked at it and I put it down and I finally decided that I was going to purchase it. And, you know, I went up and I, and I asked the guy, you know, it was 140. I said, would you take 125 for this pen? You know, I'm not going to say, would you take 70 bucks for this pen? You know, be respectful. These people are here, you know, a lot of these people, this is how they make a living, right? So it's not a garage sale. You know, people aren't trying to get rid of things. They're trying to sell and make money. So, you know, I think as long as you're reasonable and respectful and asking, it doesn't hurt to ask ever. And he said, he actually said, well, you know, I'm selling this pen for someone else. He's like, I have this batch of pens that someone's asked for me to sell. He actually had a price list. He said, well, let me look and see if I can do that. And he looked and he said, yeah, okay, I can take 125 for that. And that was it. So it was done. But it's kind of a fine line. You just want to be, you know, reasonable and respectful. Um, certainly ask with the vintage pens, um, with the modern pens, you're hardly ever going to get any discount unless you're buying several items and, you know, have a several hundred dollar total. And, you know, they might be able to, you know, take 20 bucks off here and there if something happens. So, you know, I, it's, it's always worth asking. Um, just kind of don't expect like garage sale pricing. Don't have that mentality. If this, if you've never been to a pen show, don't expect that, you know, these are people, you know, who sell lots of pens and they know what they're worth and they know what they have into them. So, you know, and they'll, they'll tell you flat out, yes, I can do something on this or no, I really can't do anything on this. And if there's something very, very specific that you're looking for, like you're going in and you're saying, I want this exact pen from this exact year with its exact nib, and you're able to find something like that. Hopefully you've done some homework prior to going. So, you know, what a good price is, right? So you have an idea, is this a good price or is it not? Or, you know, should I, you know, haggle the price, see if I can haggle the price down. Because I think it's a little too high, but you know, you would never say that to the person. Well, I can get it online for this much cheaper. Well, they'll just roll their eyes at you and tell you to move on. But, you know, kind of have an idea if you're going for something very specific and you'll know about the pricing. And it doesn't hurt to ask, but, you know, being reasonable and respectful for everyone there, put yourself in their shoes. And I think you'll, I think you'll be okay. So I would definitely haggle. But it's not, it's not like the Wild West of haggling, I guess, if you will, right? It's, it's, you know, people might be able to do a little bit here, a little bit there, and they're certainly glad to do it, you know, if you're a customer of theirs and making a purchase. So what do you think? Did you do any haggling? Have you, are you a haggler?
Myke Hurley: No, I'm not. I tend not to be. I mean, you know, partly I find it a little bit awkward and uncomfortable. And there's this other part of me, which I was just going to mention. So I'm glad that you asked me. There are some people who this is their living. And I think it's, it's sometimes just, just remember that. Don't not haggle, but like be respectful. And I don't know, I personally find it to be awkward and maybe a little bit disrespectful in some scenarios, but I wouldn't pass that judgment on people that do it because it is an accepted thing to do in many scenarios, but it's just my own personal view on it, which is why I tend not to do it.
Brad Dowdy: Right. And it's certainly acceptable. And you know, one tip I can give you, okay, there's, there's going to be a lot of us at the show, right? There's going to be a lot of people that listen to this podcast, a lot of people in our community that all of us, you know, listeners, bloggers, readers. And if you see a pen that you're interested in, and you may not know everything about it, come find one of your friends here and bounce things off them. You know, like there's going to be so many people there in this community that are kind of in the same boat as you, but they might have a little bit more experience in one area than you do. And it's always good to like, you know, get a second opinion from one of your friends. Hey, come over here and take a look at this pen. Tell me what you think. You know, things like that. Is it worth it? Yeah. I do that all the time. Like, you know, my God, I know hardly anything, but I'll lean on people that I know that are there and say, Hey, I found this pen over here. It's really interesting. It's something I've, you know, seen or looked at over the years and it's, you know, 200 bucks and I'm not, you know, is that a good price? You think that's a good price? Actually, I did that in Atlanta for a vintage pilot pen I bought. I was like, Oh, this pen's great. It's beautiful. It's something I've eyeballed forever. What do you think about this price? You know, to like Mark Backus or Thomas Hall. And they're like, yeah, that's like, that sounds fair and reasonable because a lot of these vintage pens, you know, we don't have a lot of pricing experience with, you know, that's just not a lot of our realm. So it's good to bounce those ideas off other people and don't hesitate to do that.
Myke Hurley: I have to say a moment ago, Brad said, I don't know anything. So he said that he didn't know anything. And I know that there will be people listening will be like, that'd be silly. Of course he does. The rest of that question is compared to some of the people. Like seriously, yeah. Compared to some of the people that are at these things, he knows nothing. Right. As the same here. Like, and he mentioned like Mark Backus and Thomas Hall. Like there, there are people all like, uh, Lee Reyes, like there are these people, they just know everything and it's incredible. Uh, so if the, if you see people of their caliber around and they're the ones to ask the questions of.
Pen Testing[edit]
Brad Dowdy: Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. Let's move on to the next topic and that's testing out pens. So Hutch asks, I'm curious about the protocol for trying pens out. I assume that unless the vendor already has a pen inked up as a tester that it's frowned upon to ask to try to pin down, try a pen out. This is kind of the same thing. You kind of got to feel out each individual vendor is different on the modern pens. Most people will let you try them out, but almost none of the modern stuff's going to be inked up as least in my experience. Um, you know, people are selling modern pens. They might allow you to dip the nib or something like that. But I just don't see that a lot in the modern stuff. The vintage pens, some of them will be inked. Some of them will let you, um, you know, dip the nib to try it. Um, you know, definitely if you have a favorite pad of paper, bring that with you to try it on your own paper. Um, don't bring your own ink to dip your nib in. Uh, vendors aren't going to want that, but always ask, you know, just don't start grabbing stuff and picking stuff up and testing and, and playing around with like a wide range of stuff. Because at a pen show this busy and, you know, one person manning the booth, their brain's going to be fried just trying to keep up with everything. Um, that doesn't mean, you know, don't, don't pick up and inspect and look out. But if you're like really interested in something and want to test it out, you always want to ask first. Obviously, I mean, it sounds obvious, but you get wrapped up in things, you know, I get wrapped up in, you know, finding something neat and, you know, just not paying attention to what I'm doing or something like that. So, you know, just ask again, it's the whole respectfulness, you know, they believe me, they want you to try the pen because they want to sell it to you. They want you to buy it. Yeah. But, you know, you know, have that conversation with the vendor, you know, and, you know, even ask them some more questions. What can you tell me about this pen? If it's a vintage pen, has it been restored? Has there been any work done to the pen? Or is it like in the as is state? Has they found it? Maybe it's some, you know, estate sale and there hasn't been any work done to it. And say, you know, can I take a look at it and, you know, kind of inspect it? Can I, are you okay if I, you know, unscrew it and take it apart and, you know, look at the inside, see how clean it is, things like that. So have a, have a conversation with the vendor. Um, I wouldn't walk up to anyone's table and just start, you know, going through their pens and taking them apart and, and writing with them, you know, unless I had some kind of a conversation with them first, at least just to say, you know, Hey, how are you? And let them know that I'm here and that I'm interested in looking at a few things. And, but, um, just be sure.
Brad Dowdy: It's hard to say this because I get wrapped up into it, but don't be shy. And that's what a lot of our, a lot of our issues are. Um, you know, our, our personal issues for this community, you know, we just don't have that experience and being shy about something you don't know. It's just going to happen, but everyone is so nice and they're willing to help you. And you can ask, don't think your questions are dumb. I mean, we all have these questions and again, lean on your friends that are there or people that you've met while you're at the show to help you decide on things, you know, um, Lisa wanted me to make a point that if you are very specific in what you're looking for, like a high quality vintage item, be prepared to purchase it because the next time you come around the room, it's probably not going to be there at a show like this. So that's, that's something you, you should, Lisa said, I should mention to keep in mind, you know, I always talk about, you know, going around the room, getting the lay of the land, you know, there there's times where, um, if you see something that you, you know, is a good deal and you've done your research, it's okay to just jump on it and buy it the first time around. So, all right, what to take to the show? Hutch also asked, what should I plan to bring to the show? My initial thoughts are cash because vendors may not take credit cards, pens to trade or let others try notebooks, backpack, uh, things like that. So cash is definitely a big thing, but I didn't have too much problem using credit cards if I needed to. Most everyone's at least using like the square readers, but a lot of the vintage, uh, dealers, they're not going to, uh, deal with credit cards. They'll just use cash only. So if you're looking for that, make sure you have some, make sure you have it. Um, cash is King as Carrie says, and I wrote that in the document too, because not everyone will take it, not everyone will take credit cards. So, um, most of your vendors who have modern pens or have online storefronts or physical storefronts, they're going to have, um, some type of, you know, square reader or any type of, some type of, you know, PayPal credit card reader, things in that pens and paper you should definitely bring. Um, if not just to experience what, you know, have some things for other people to try. If they have questions that they haven't tried, you know, it's a big sharing platform for all of us, you know, um, when we're out and about, you know, learning about these new things and to be able to test something and try something that you have or that you don't have that someone else has is pretty cool just to have, you know, I always carry a few things with me just in case someone has a thought and I say, Hey, you know, I've got something similar or I've got that exact pen and you know, you can try it. The haggling part. I rarely see any like trading of pens. Um, I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I just rarely see it. Um, I wouldn't go in with a huge expectation that you're going to be able to trade your pens for someone, something that a vendor has. Um, I don't have a lot of experience with that. It probably happens some, I'd say it's pretty small, um, amount of trading pens. Like I wouldn't go from table to table, say, here's the pens I have. Are you interested in any of these? I would, you know, look at a pen that, you know, I'm looking to purchase and say, you know, I do have a few pens if you're interested in, you know, maybe a trade and they'll, they'll tell you right off the bat. No, I don't do trading. Um, you know, or yes, let me look and see what you have. But I would expect that they would say, yeah, I'm not really interested in trading, but you know, it doesn't hurt to ask. I just don't see that a lot. Surprisingly. Um, you know, I'm not sure how big of a thing that is at DC, um, especially on a day like Saturday at DC, where there's going to be so many people and it's going to be so packed that I don't even know if, um, you know, dealers will have time. I mean, I'm sure they always want to look and see what other people have in case they run across something they really need. But I imagine that's going to be a pretty, uh, infrequent thing. Um, the backpack is a key for me. Um, I just don't bring a gigantic one cause it'll be crowded. You'll be banging into people. You'll be banging into tables. Um, but you know, bringing enough to bring, you know, pens, papers, inks, whatever, you know, your purchases, don't just bring a huge one. And, uh, be sure to bring food or not bring food, plan for food, you know, bring snacks or plan to take a break in the middle of the day. Um, I've gotten caught on multiple occasions where I've just been going and going and going and like, I'll just crash at like three o'clock and realize that I forgotten to eat lunch. I haven't drank any water. You need to have a mental idea to take a break during the middle of the day, get a drink, get lunch, get refreshed. You will absolutely wear yourself out at one of these shows. Um, and it doesn't, you think that's a crazy idea that that would happen. It absolutely happens. I mean, you will just get yourself wiped out if you just keep going and going and not stopping. So aside from the backpack, um, fishing vests are like super important. Um, you know, you just throw one on, it's got six pockets on the front. You know, if you haven't bought your fishing vest for this show, you should go out and shop now. Um, and, uh, anyone that has a fishing vest on, uh, is going to get a big hug from me.
Myke Hurley: Are you going to be wearing one?
Brad Dowdy: No, no, but I think we're going to see, I think we'll just, we'll have to do a, uh, we should do a contest contest for like the most, uh, fishing vest, uh, Instagram pictures or something like that. Because, um, it's, it's, uh, it's going to be hot of, uh, with fishing vests in there.
Brad Dowdy: Oh, and, uh, Lisa says, don't wear white unless you want ink all over yourself.
Myke Hurley: Well, you know, you can wear it like war paint or something. Um, that's true.
Brad Dowdy: That's true. If you're going to wear white, just, just start at the ink sampling table. There's a big ink sampling table and just start throwing it all over yourself and just cut to the chase real quick. So that, that is something else that DC has that are not a lot of shows have. They have out in the, in the concourse type area, they have a huge tables of open ink bottles where you can go out and test all these kinds of inks that a lot of vendors, uh, like donate to, um, these, uh, this table. So where you can test out a lot of things, so bring your pens and paper if you want to try them out.
Brad Dowdy: I've kind of alluded to this earlier, but make friends. This is the single best thing about the pen show. Even if you don't spend a dollar, just meeting people, talking to people, making friends, trying their pens out, letting them try your pens out, seeing new stuff. Um, that's, has always been the biggest takeaway for me from these pen shows. It's not what great pen I found. It's what great people I met, you know, talk to people, go to lunch with people. Um, yeah, who said it, uh, Chris Manning. I think he, he's going to be a vendor at the show. He, he's the one that makes like the silver, uh, silver barreled pens. He said, if you're not at the bar at night, you're missing half the pen show, you know, just the community around this whole thing is a big deal. That's going to be what you're going to remember the most. Not what awesome pen you got. You're going to say, oh, I got to meet this person and they told me this story and I got to use this pen of theirs. There's going to be so much like activity after the show, but it'll be in a really relaxed atmosphere, hanging around the bar, you know, the pen attic meetup on Friday. Pen attic meetup is just going to be a bunch of people sitting around, you know, we're going to order pizza and, you know, just sitting around chit chatting, you know, trying pens, testing inks, playing with paper, all that kind of stuff. That's, that's the kind of best thing about this really. You know, even if you didn't come away with a pen or ink, you're going to come away with memories of the people that you met. The one key is when you're making these friends and you have a group of friends and you see a bunch of people you want to meet, make sure you're not blocking the vendor's table. That sounds petty. And, but you forget about this when you're like out in the room and all of a sudden there's five of you standing in front of one vendor's table and people can't get to that person's table. The vendor's going to give you a, he's going to give you the stink eye and you know, like people can't get to my table from all y'all hugging in front of my table and chit chatting. So, you know, there, there's, there's definitely room and time and to, to do all this and make friends, but you know, just be cognizant of your, of where you're at in the show. And like I said, from what Lisa tells me on Saturday, it's just going to be crazy anyway. So be sure you make, make time for downtime and some hangout time, you know, after the show lunch, go, go, you know, with people that, you know, you've just met for the day and, and, and go out. So it's, it's going to be really, really fun from that aspect. So I, and I mentioned the meetup. So Friday night, seven o'clock seminar room one, there'll be signs. We're going to order pizza. Um, you know, the hotel bar is there, so you'll be able to get drinks from there, but it's just going to be a fun time. You know, a lot of people are coming. And, um, so if you're there, you better come talk to me. Don't be shy. I don't bite. Um, I do hug though. So if you're in the vicinity and like, I recognize your face from Twitter, I will run and like, give you a bear hug. Um, you know, I like just jump on you, um, you know, unknowingly because for some reason I can, I do kind of notice faces and, uh, I can remember names a little bit. So I, um, I definitely snuck up on a few people at the Atlanta pen show and, um, I said, Hey, I know you when I don't really know them. So expect, expect hugs from me and, uh, expect a great night, Friday night and expect a great weekend. It's going to be awesome. And make sure you share everything. You know, people are going to want to see pictures, tweets. I practiced my periscoping this weekend, Myke. I don't know.
Myke Hurley: I saw that. I didn't see the stream, but I saw the notification. Yeah.
Brad Dowdy: So I'm going to, me and Jeff, we're going to periscope some stuff. Um, it's been pretty fun. So we'll, I'll put out a post probably Wednesday or Thursday. I'll just schedule it for when I'm traveling and have, you know, just for people who are interested. Most people already know where to find me on Twitter and Instagram and all that, but I'll have a link, um, on the blog and it's going to be, it's going to be a great time. I wish you were there, Myke. I know how much fun we had last time, but maybe we can work on that next year.
Myke Hurley: Yeah. I hope so. I hope so.
Brad Dowdy: Yep. So, uh, what else on the pen show stuff? I think that's kind, those are kind of the highlights I wanted to put down. Those are where I got the most questions about, um, really lean on the community when you're there. If you don't know something, ask a friendly face because a lot of times those people have the same questions of you or they asked that question last year. We're at the, they're at the show that happens constantly. That's been a huge benefit that I've found from being in this community and knowing people, even if you only know their Twitter name or their online avatar, you know, ask people and they're going to be so happy to help you. Um, there's a lot of like-mindedness, you know, in this community and at this show and we're all here to help. I want everyone to have an awesome time and, you know, don't be shy. Say hi. Carrie will be walking around with the fountain pen day buttons all over his shirt. I'm sure. Um, so you'll, you'll know who he is and, uh, yeah, you'll definitely know who Jeff is. And, uh, so yeah, you'll, you'll see lots of familiar faces, lots of familiar names. And just even if you don't get involved in the buying and selling aspect, get involved in the people aspect of it. That's going to be the thing that's going to stick with you forever. So that's what I have to say on that, Myke. And next week, next Monday, we'll do the re we'll do a recap, uh, of the pen show next week's episode. And hopefully I will make it home in time to record or else you're just going to have to call me in the car and we'll do a, we'll do a live episode as I'm driving home from the airport. But I, we land at like, I don't know, 12 or one o'clock Monday afternoon. So I should be barring any crazy delays. I'll make it home in time for the show, but, uh, don't plan on much, uh, podcast prep for me. Kind sir. We'll just do a, we'll wing the DC show recap next Monday. How's that sound?
Myke Hurley: Sounds perfect. That's exactly what I'd want to hear anyway.
Brad Dowdy: All right. Well, let's wrap it up. Cause, uh, I've got packing to do. I've got pins to ink. I've got backpacks to pack. Oh, uh, speaking of backpacks, people always say, people say Thomas Hall mentioned it. Someone mentioned in the chat room, bring like an extra, uh, like stuff sack in your bag. Y'all know what stuff sacks are. You know what stuff sack is, Myke? No, it's just like, it's like a compressed bag that's empty when you pack it, but it can expand when you fill it on your way home. Cause so you can put all your loot in it. So yeah, bring, bring extra bag to throw in your bag to carry all your stuff home. So anyway, that's it. Perfect.
Myke Hurley: Well, for everybody that does attend, I hope that you have a fantastic time. Um, I hope you have, if you even have half as much fun as we haven't had at Atlanta, you're going to have a great time. Yeah. Um, and I'm sure that you will, especially with everybody going. I'm very sorry that I can't make it out. Um, unfortunately, uh, I will not be making like a surprise jump out of a cake or anything. Um, I am unfortunately unable to attend this, uh, shindig. Uh, but for those of you that are, as I said, have a great time. If you want to find the show notes for this week's episode, head on over to relay.fm slash pen addict slash one six seven. And we'll be back next time. Good luck, Brad. Thank you, sir. Thanks again to our sponsors as well for supporting this week's episode, Fracture and Harry's. Go check them out. But most of all, thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad.
Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, Brad.