The Pen Addict 356/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	356
Title:	Busy Week in the Inbox
Release Date:	April 24th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 356
Audio File:	Audio Episode 356
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 356
Length:	7272 min <br />1.2 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 356. Today's show is brought to you by ExpressVPN, Pen Chalet, and Moo. My name is Myke Hurley. I have the pleasure, as always, of being joined by Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Hello, Myke Hurley. What's so funny to you over there? What did you go and do last week, Myke? What did you do? What did you do to us? I didn't do anything. Are you sure? Because my inbox is full this week.

Myke Hurley: I think that that's got nothing to do with me, and it's 100% to do with you, my friend.

Brad Dowdy: Am I a bad person, Myke? I feel like I'm a bad person sometimes.

IndieGraph Feedback

Myke Hurley: We have a lot of follow-up about the IndieGraph fountain pen, which is what took up a big portion of last week's episode when we were talking about the traffic light system for Kickstarter projects. Yep. And I think I made it pretty clear at the time when we were recording that I felt like you were, that this was not going to be the end of this discussion. Because you were very steadfast in talking about this project in a negative way, right? And you were perfectly fine to have the opinion that you had based upon the information that you had. But you were making a lot of very strong claims, which I was kind of testing you on a little bit. Because I could feel the feedback that we would ultimately receive for the segment, maybe from different people, maybe people that know a little bit more, maybe people that don't know a little bit more. We'll find out. Would you like to maybe run through some of the feedback?

Brad Dowdy: So what's the phrase? Strong opinions loosely held or something like that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I am definitely willing to admit when I'm wrong or didn't do all my homework, like this instance. And I don't like to do that. Like, I did not, honestly, I didn't consider some of the feedback when I was talking about this project. I was just going off, hey, here's some ideas that I have about this project and let's talk about them out loud.

Myke Hurley: I would say it's pretty rare when I feel like I have a good sense of what the feedback is going to be like. But this was one of those times where I was very sure what was going to happen.

Brad Dowdy: See, and I even wasn't. But once it started very quickly after we were done, I was like, oh, okay.

Myke Hurley: I think we started getting tweets before the episode was published. Like, it was one of those types of situations.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So let's dig into this a little bit. Lots of things to discover on the IndieGraph. And we will have a wrap-up at the end of this. But let's start with a comment, which I very much believe in, via Israel, who sent me several emails on this. And he wasn't saying, I'm taking this out of the entire context of the email. And he didn't mean it in a harsh way. But I want to reiterate this phrase because it's actually something I believe in. Just because a product doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean that it doesn't work or isn't worth trying. And those are actually words I try to live by. And maybe I failed a little bit last week. Yeah, I think you did.

Myke Hurley: I think I felt a little bit about this at the time where it was kind of like you were very knowledgeable. And more than anyone I know and more than anyone most people know, you know your stuff. But at some points last week felt like you were getting lost in that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I don't know what happened, honestly. I didn't go into it that way. Like, that was not my intention, right? And this statement is very much something I believe in and something I try to practice what I preach in this case. It's like, you know, I don't dislike, you know, a standard Bic ballpoint because that pins great to somebody, right? It's not about that. So, I definitely felt like I let some people down in discussing the product that way. The Indian Inc. mentioned, which I got a lot of. I thought that that was, you know, not that big of an issue. Like, I kind of figured what they were talking about, but I thought it was a little bit interesting. What was funny is it seems to be a British term more than anything. And that the couple of British emailers that I got had never heard of that, but they understood that that's what it was. And it seems to be a British thing. It actually kind of took me a little while. I was like, okay, well, let me go see if I can find a bottle of ink that says Indian Inc. on it. And I actually did. It took me a while. It was not straightforward. Have you ever heard? Not that you necessarily would have because you're not an artist and maybe don't dabble in Indian Inc., but have you ever heard that this is a thing?

Myke Hurley: Never. I would tell you, I still don't know what it is, right? Like, I have yet to work out what Indian Inc. is.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, yeah. Yes, it's a permanent waterproof kind of ink that's very, you know, high maintenance, which we'll get into in this next point, Myke. So, that was the Indian Inc. thing. I thought that was, okay. That was a point that was, I think, small in the overall big picture. The big thing is the moisture in the cap idea, like, which that was boggling my mind. And as it turns out, that's not the first time water in the cap system has been used. I got a link from Marcus from the Art Supply Posse podcast to link me to a Faber-Castell TGS1 technical drawing pen. Myke, do you know what I mean when I say technical drawing pen? Are you familiar with that general phrase?

Myke Hurley: Is that, like, architect-y type stuff?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's those pointy, very pointy syringy looking nibs that are used for, you know, technical drawings. And they use an India Inc. type of ink, right? A very black, very permanent, very waterproof. It's not – I didn't see any that actually call it India Inc. But this is actually an idea that has been attempted before. It doesn't look like it's in the modern models of this technical pen. And at the time, I think this pen was maybe from the 80s or 90s, maybe more recent. I was trying to find dates on them, and I couldn't really find dates. But it has these two little foam balls in the cap. So you, like, unscrew the top of the cap, and you drip some water on these foam balls. And that is to keep moisture in the cap to keep that nib wet. Because those nibs on those technical drawing pens are notoriously finicky. Like, people hate those pens because they dry out so quickly and are very high maintenance. You have to really, really love those pens to use them on a regular basis. And you have to put in a lot of maintenance work to them. So it doesn't, like, look like it took. Like, this didn't become a thing, like, permanently. It doesn't look like any of the current models of pens use this type of system. But the idea is the same, right? This is a very harsh ink you're using. It dries out when it comes in contact with air. And if we can keep the air around the nib at a higher humidity level, you will have better performance when you begin using the pen. So that was interesting. Like, that was cool. It's like, okay, this theory of keeping the nib wet has been, you know, tried to been solved before. So a couple people did reviews of the IndieGraph pen. Steven Brown's review, I think, came out that day or the day before we did the review. And I didn't see it until afterwards. And I watched it. And he, you know, spoke well of the pen. You know, good pen for what it is. Maybe not, like, the best. Like, if you're into, like, a fully refined fountain pen type of system. You know, maybe it's not the thing. But, like, for what it does, it works well. He said he's used it for two weeks. At the time of the video, he'd used it for two weeks. Had no drying out problems. So, hey, maybe it works well. Parker Blogs also did a review. Kind of said the same thing. I've had the pen for around two weeks. There's no real drying out of the nib. So, you know, that type of system, maybe it works. The other link I got was for the Noodler's Boston Safety Pen. Which, this is a little, this is a modern take on the vintage safety fountain pen to where the nib was actually submerged in ink when it wasn't in use. I don't know if you've seen these types of fountain pens in, like, a vintage type of thing. But they made this with materials that would be able to handle the India ink. Right. And, essentially, a pool of ink, the nib would retract back into it. And, you know, it's a different system. We'll put a link in there so you can see how the pen actually works. But it's actually, it's different from the moisture cap idea. But the same idea in that, hey, if you're going to use an ink that is as harsh as an India ink, well, we can keep the nib submerged in the ink and keep it, you know, ready to use whenever you are.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, okay. It's an interesting, it's an interesting system. Plus, it's also just kind of cool, too, right? To, like, retract it. I don't know why I find that cool, but it's kind of cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so, like, I have safety pens, but that are more cartridge-based. They're not, you know, filled in pools of ink-based. But that was actually pretty common for vintage pens. The safety pens have caps on them, or they just retract and that's it? They have caps almost universally.

Myke Hurley: Okay, so it's just like two-factor authentication for leaking.

Brad Dowdy: Right, because if you have a vintage safety pen, you don't really want to store it nibbed down because then you're going to run into some inky problems, most likely. So, but, like, the one that I have right now is, like, a little mini Mont Blanc, and it's cartridge-based. And so there's no pooling of ink or anything like that. So I can do whatever with that pen. So the last little tidbit I wanted to mention here, and as far as feedback goes, we had a listener email me saying that they actually live in a dry part of the U.S. And to combat difficulty in their regular fountain pens starting up, they rinse their cap out with water and kind of shake it dry, but not fully dry it. So there's, like, a few little dots of water in their cap. And just having that moisture in their cap allows them to not have to worry about their fountain pens so much drying out just because of the, you know, the weather system that they live in. Like, it's very dry or arid, things like that. You know, no humidity in the air. So that helps them out, they say, every two or three days, they do this little cap procedure. And it keeps their nibs riding. So this is to say, all of this is to say that I feel like I failed the IndieGraph project to a degree by not coming with all of the information up front. And I apologize for that. I think I could have done a better job. I don't like to universally pan projects. That's not my style. And I think I just got off track a little bit last week because I was very confused by it. So I certainly apologized for, you know, leading people down that path, which may not have been fully accurate or thoughtful in, you know, how we like to present things, especially how I like to present things on the podcast. So while it may not get a green light from me, there's still questions about, you know, being a new company and trying a new thing. It's certainly not a red light type of campaign to where I would avoid it completely if this is something I'm interested in. So maybe it fits firmly in that yellow light category. Myke, if this is something that's good for you, it may work out. And I've definitely learned a bit on, you know, trying to do more research on a particular product before, even though I may not have come up with all this stuff, which is why I love our listeners so much that we can get this feedback. And, you know, I can get links like this Faber-Castell technical drawing pen, which I definitely would not have stumbled upon on my own. Because if you try to Google anything with a fountain pen and like water in the cap, there's it doesn't exist, right? Like trying to trying to figure this out on my own. So I appreciate the reader's feedback on this. And, yeah, I think it was a busy week in the inbox and in Twitter messages. And I just appreciate that our listenership is willing to reach out and get their points heard on this. And I appreciate it.

Myke Hurley: So this is officially moved from red to amber on the Dowdy emergency scale of what do we call it? The red light system?

Brad Dowdy: The stoplight system, maybe. So, yeah, it's a yellow. It's a yellow. I think that's fair. You know, I think you need a green, a full green light on a Kickstarter project is. They need track record. A track record is required. So this is, there is a moderate risk, but it's interesting enough.

Myke Hurley: Let me even state, let me even state verifiable track record. Right. Right. So like me or you have to have used one of these, one of the products of this company to be able to give it a green light. Right. So that we can say, yes, we are personally comfortable because that's what it is. Right. Like if we're doing it, everyone can have their own stoplight system. But like if we're on the show and being like, oh, this is a green light project. Right. It's like we know this company. We've used their products. Like we're confident that they can make a good product. Other than that, you know, like I would struggle to want to bring anything to green. Right. Because it's like, yeah. Or it would have to be like from someone that whose tastes you're a super trust telling us. Right. You know what I mean? Right.

Personal vs. Logical Feelings

Brad Dowdy: And I think that's where I let people down last week is I got very like personal feelings about it instead of very logical feelings. The system.

Myke Hurley: No, I think, I think like the system should have some like personal aspect to it. I think that you got a little carried away basically with with the with the thought that like this can't be possible without actually knowing that. Right. And that was my mistake. But you can't know everything. Yeah. And all we can do is what you've just done. I could have worked harder. I could have worked harder for that one. Of course. But we can all work harder sometimes. But like this is this is it though. Right. Like the show is a living document. Like every episode does not begin and end and that's it. Right. Like they move forward. And now we're able to share more information and it builds a fuller picture. Because I still think that a lot of your concerns are valid because like again it's like all right. So let's say that this does work. You don't know that they made a good version of it. You don't know they can make a good version of it at scale. And what you also don't know and what none of the reviews know right now is is there a long lasting negative effect? Right. We don't know yet. So like I think that it's perfectly fine to be skeptical of this because it's different and a little bit weird. And also as well like probably not that necessary for most people. This pen. Right. Right. Like most of the people that are buying it are like probably in the mindset of oh no my fountain pen will never dry out. Whereas like your fountain pen doesn't dry out. Like it's you know and if it does you don't need to put a drop of water in the cap to fix it. You can just wet the back of your finger. Right. You know and like just touch the nib and you're good to go. You know what I mean? Like sometimes these products exist to serve a perceived problem as opposed to a real one. If you are using the India ink and you want a pen for that then great. But I would expect that most people that buy this pen will not be doing that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So anyway really really good and appreciated feedback from the listeners last week. So thank you very much for everyone who chimed in on our conversation last week.

Kickstarter Video Update

Myke Hurley: So the Kickstarter video of our live episode in Atlanta has been completed. It's just going through review process right now from me and Brad. So it will be sent out to Kickstarter backers later on this week. Two person review process. I've looked at it. I think it looks fantastic. I know Brad likes to watch it as well. So which is great. Yeah. So we make sure that everything is hunky dory. But again like I know we always say this but just like the production values are just even better than they've ever been this year. The Hacker Boys they really know what they're doing. So keep your eye on your Kickstarter activity pages and your email inboxes this week. But we will confirm next week that it's been sent just so you know.

Brad Dowdy: I am writing it down now that I need to validate and update.

Myke Hurley: Whoa look at that. That's two big fancy words just for sending out a Kickstarter update.

Brad Dowdy: But validate and update the update. This is a cool thing to see. I really love this video that we do every year. And Stephen and Mark do such an awesome job with it. So I can't wait to watch it. I have not seen it yet. So I will take care of that today and tomorrow. And no later than Friday you all will be able to see this video for yourself all you backers.

Myke Hurley: Wonderful. All right. Shall we take a break? Let's. I need a drink. All right. That sounds like a great idea. Today's episode is brought to you in part by our friends over at Pen Chalet. The company who sell amazing rollables, authentic fountain pens, beautiful ballpoints, marvelous mechanical pencils, and so much more. They have all of your favorite brands. Pelican, Lamy, Pilot, Namiki, Sailor, Kaweco, Monteverde, and many more. They have ink. They have cases. They have refills and pen holders. No matter what it is you're trying to get your hands on to add to your stationary lifestyle, you should be going and checking out Pen Chalet first because they're always doing great deals for their customers. They have very fast and reliable customer service, and they're a great supporter of this program. They do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the U.S. Dude! What?

Brad Dowdy: Sorry. I was just opening the link while you were talking. I interrupted you. It's good.

Myke Hurley: They do free shipping on orders of $50 in the U.S., but they also sell internationally with very reasonable shipping rates. Pen Chalet has low prices on high-quality pens and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So go right now to penchalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com, and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password penaddict for this week's special offer, and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at Pen Chalet. Now, Brad, I understand you're a little bit excited over there.

Brad Dowdy: Can I say this out loud? Like, I know I can't say the price, but I can say the item.

Myke Hurley: Yes.

Brad Dowdy: The Lamy Special Edition, AL Star, All Star. What's the official pronunciation guy? Oh, AL Star. Is in the chat room. It's AL Star.

Myke Hurley: I don't care what anybody else says for our show. It's AL Star. All Star. I don't like All Star.

Brad Dowdy: All Star Bronze. I'm going to do it on purpose now. All Star Bronze is on sale. At Pen Chalet.

Myke Hurley: They also, Ron also wanted me to point out the Diplomat Arrow in Matt Silver.

Brad Dowdy: That was the coming up next. This Matt Silver Arrow, the price is redonkulous. Like, yeah. So, Ron, you made me interrupt Myke this week because the deals were that hot. So, good job by you. This is cool stuff. And you scroll down, there's even more cool stuff down there. And if you keep going, you keep going, you keep going, boom. KWZ Inc. Way to the cheap. And I really love KWZ Inc. So, wow. Knockout level products at penchalet.com this week. Thank you, Ron.

Myke Hurley: Click the podcast link at the top of the website. Use the password penaddict for this week's special offer at penchalet.com. And you can also get the code that you need to save 10% at any time. Our thanks to Pen Chalet for their continued support of this show and RelayFM.

New Pen Acquisition

Brad Dowdy: All right. So, you got something new, apparently.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I got a new pen. I bought the Kaweco Student 70 Sol. Hmm. Which is the weirdest name. It's just a weird name. But it perfectly describes the way that this pen looks. So, I saw on Tiff Ahment's Instagram that she was using this pen. She posted the Kaweco Student. And I was like, what is that thing? Like, I didn't know what it was. Like, I couldn't work out what it was. And I also was like, oh, did you get that at the pen show? And she did. And I didn't see it. And she was like, oh, I really like it. It's just like a nice little pen. It's got like a metal grip section. I don't know what material it is. I don't think it's anything particularly special. I think it's just colored to look kind of bronzy.

Brad Dowdy: But yeah. So, it says brass metal parts that are chrome plated. So, generally, like your basic underlying metal parts on pens are most of the time brass. And they don't mean like, you know, super fancy brass. It's just like a melted metal that then get plated in whatever fancy color they want to plate.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, that's the case. Because like this definitely isn't like brass, brass. You know what I mean? Like, it's not like a brass grip section. Exactly. But it looks like it.

Myke Hurley: This is a great little pen. I have not used a Kaweco seriously in a very long time. And I was reminded of why they are so good. And the thing is, for me, is I just have no interest in the pocket pen size anymore. This podcast is over. It's just not what I use. It's like I don't carry fountain pens in my pockets, typically. And when I'm at my desk, I like to use kind of more full-size stuff. So, I was really pleased to get this. I got a double broad, which I've had a few Kawecos in double broad, and that is a wonderful nib. And I will say this is the thing that frustrates me, especially after getting so used to the king of pen these days. The nib is way too small for the body. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: It looks kind of a little bit silly. I think they're their number five nibs on these. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: They should be using number six nibs on this pen. But I really like it. I love the way it looks. This is, in my opinion, the only colorway that you should buy of the Kaweco student, because the rest of them are completely uninspiring.

Brad Dowdy: I'm laughing, because that is the exact phrase I was going to say later. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: There is no reason to buy literally any other color. Maybe the demonstrator, but it doesn't look like a super high-quality demonstrator, to be honest. I don't know why you would buy the red one. It just isn't fun enough. But this colorway, this cream, kind of beige-y body with a bronze grip and orange cap, it's just really nice. It's actually becoming a little bit of a favorite for right now. I keep finding myself reaching for it. The grip is cool to the touch without making my fingers smell. And it's nicely weighted. It's nicely sized and balanced. And it looks really good. And the nib is perfect.

Brad Dowdy: I was trying to bait you long enough and let you rave about this pen long enough so I could make you at least consider the fact that I might come in and eviscerate you on the back end. But you could not be more right about this pen across the board.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's a great little pen. And I'm pleased that they have this colorway, because I would have completely ignored this pen forever.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, Susan, who writes for the Penatic, and I have been going back and forth on this pen trying to get one. And, you know, if you're looking on Pencella right now, it says low inventory, act now. That's no joke. We haven't been able to get one to review. So maybe here is where I need to go get one. And we've been trying for a long time, because this model is so popular. This was the first model that came out, I think, in this style. And then the rest of these colors, or at least the red, blue, and yellow, I think, seem to be newer. Like, I won't go as far as saying this is the only model you need to buy. I actually think the vintage blue is really good looking. As someone who likes demonstrator pens, I think this one looks hideous. I would never buy the demonstrator in this pen, even though it's probably pretty cool.

Myke Hurley: Like, I mean, just from the images that I've seen of it, it just looks low quality in a way that I can't fully articulate.

Pen Design Critique

Brad Dowdy: Next to every other pen, especially the 70 Soul pen, which is, what a name. What a name for a pen. It is inferior in every way to every other solid barrel color.

Myke Hurley: It's just kind of, like, I can't understand why they've done this. Like, you know, every other, it's like white, vintage, yellow, red, clear, transparent, blue, transparent, black, and 70 Soul. What happened at Kaweco, where they, like, produced this line of pens, and then they made this one of them?

Brad Dowdy: They knew they had it. They knew they delivered on this pen, so they went for it. They're like, we're going to call it something crazy, because we know we killed it. That's what I would do. Oh, no, but I agree with that completely.

Myke Hurley: But, like, it's also so visually different to the rest of them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Like, in that it's multiple colors. Like, it's just an interesting, I just wonder what led them to this.

Brad Dowdy: I mean, you'd have to start going, like, shag carpet yellow and, you know, all these other things. Is that what you're wanting? Like, you're wanting the full 70s treatment?

Myke Hurley: Well, I want more than just a single color. Yes. Because... I'm with you. ...the overall design of this pen is also not exciting enough, right? It feels... To be plain. Yeah. Like, it is a $60 pen. I don't know if it necessarily feels that level, but it's a pen that I really enjoy, you know? It's why, like, I've never touched one of the regular colors at all, because it's like, well, that sucks.

Brad Dowdy: So, I think we'll see in future years that their back-end metrics will show the rate at which this one sold versus every other model. And hopefully, they're a company that can kind of pivot quickly, as opposed to someone like Lamy, who seems like they're locked in for years to come, that they might do some other things. I hope to see them do some other things in the student and, you know, have a wider range and variety, as opposed to solid colors. But I understand the need for, like, a full lineup of solid colors and mix it in the 70s sole. But I think they will see that this pen just did exponentially better than every other pen, that they might mix it up a little bit. I'd love to see that out of a company. I also don't know why this pen's called the student.

Brad Dowdy: It was, I think it's just the old, standard, full-length barrel, original, like, student pen shape that they have remade into something that's not really a student pen anymore, but kept the name. Okay. So, just like your Lamy student pens and things like that that you would see in schools. So, I think it's just based on that. So, yeah, I was shocked to see this in the document and that you have fallen for it. And I think it's great. It's a fantastic, fantastic pen.

Topic Shift - Pencil Discussion

Brad Dowdy: Next pen is not a pen. Myke, it's a pencil. Sort of. I bought the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. We'll just cut right to the chase.

Myke Hurley: Didn't you buy this in Toronto?

Brad Dowdy: No, but that's when, like, the lust for this actually really ramped up. Right.

Myke Hurley: I remember looking at it with you.

Brad Dowdy: At CW, right? So, at CW Pencils, they had Faber-Castell.

Myke Hurley: Oh, we were also looking at it in Leywines, too, if my memory serves.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, because they had a big Faber-Castell display there.

Myke Hurley: It's Graf von Faber-Castell.

Brad Dowdy: That's a special range. So, that is the luxury range of the Faber-Castell lineup. And to just kind of rewind this a little bit, this is a, I guess, essentially a pencil cap with a built-in sharpener for, you know, just the short version of what this product is. And it's been around for a while, a little over 25 years in various forms. It comes in your very basic, you know, they have a junior model and a basic model that run, you know, $3 for the junior model, $10 for the regular plastic model. Comes with the Faber-Castell pen. They have an aluminum model that's $40. But none of those caught my eye. I wasn't interested in those. Like, I was interested in the ridiculously priced $260 version. And I don't fully know why, like, my brain worked this way.

Myke Hurley: Oh, boy, that's why.

Brad Dowdy: This, this, this, this, I will not disagree with that. This pen, this pen, pencil cap does not elicit big fancy boy feelings. This elicits words I can't say feelings. Like, it's not good terms for, you know, bro type of guys. And it starts with a D and ends with a bag kind of feelings. Like, it seems a little bit more pretentious than even I imagine. But I wanted it. I really wanted this product. And I, I still don't know why. Like, I wanted it really badly. I think it was just kind of the vintage-y look at it, look. And I also wanted to understand why. Why does this $260, and this is the, for the, the Graf Vaughn series, this is the low-end one, right? They make, you know, rose gold ones and black plated ones. Anthracite. Anthracite ones. So, this is the cheap one of the expensive ones, if that makes sense. Um, and I wanted to know why. Like, this pencil has fascinated me for a while. And I knew I would eventually buy one. And I happened to stumble on, um, CW Pencils. They did a baseball kit. So, I was going to, I went to buy that at CW Pencils. I was like, you know what? I'm making this order. Let's bite the bullet and go for the perfect pencil. So, you'll hear, we'll be talking about this a lot because I've only had it about a week or so. To cut completely to the chase, I don't see any way this product will be worth it, right? You know, the quote, is it worth it question? I don't see any way. And right now, I say that because I think the sharpener is poor. And for a product that's expensive, I at least want it to be, like, a spectacularly good sharpener. And it's not. So, but to be determined, I still have a long ways to go. Like, this is a product that's going to take some time. For the utility of it and the style of it and the build of it, it's really great. Like, it's really, really nice. I don't regret buying it one bit. But this is a product I don't see me ever recommending. And the funny thing is, I don't ever see me recommending the low-end ones either. Because I think for, like, a $10 price point, you have options. Like, just get a tin cap and a nicer sharpener, right? You know, to carry it if you want to have a portable pencil. For $40, I think the aluminum one's pretty ugly. And you could get something like the Cron D'Ache Fixed Pencil as an option for that price point. So, with a built-in sharpener and different things. So, the most, to use one of my favorite words, Myke, egregious part of this entire Perfect Pencil package. Which I'm going to give a lot of time with. And I really am efforting to love this. And, you know, it may come around to be one of my favorite products ever. Right now, it's not. But the most egregious part, Myke, are the pencil refills that they sell for these. At about $10 a pop for a pencil.

Myke Hurley: Now, this does look like a pretty serious pencil to me.

Brad Dowdy: They actually have one of the best design features of this entire package is the screw-on eraser cap. Is my favorite feature of this entire thing.

Myke Hurley: Because it's like, you've taken a pencil and made it, like, it is not as easily a disposable thing anymore. It has a piece of hardware, like a serious piece of hardware on it.

Pencil Sharpener Discussion

Brad Dowdy: Yes. And it's extraordinarily well done. But I knew better. And I would have never ordered this Perfect Pencil if other pencils didn't fit into it. Which they do. It has kind of like this clamp system on the interior, right? That it can adjust to various sizes of pencils. I wouldn't have expected that was going to be the case. Right. So, it can adjust to narrower or maybe a little bit fatter. There's a limit to the range. But it fits most basic size pencils. So, I knew better than to buy the pencil refills. They're not, I don't like the hardness, the lead grade of the pencils that much. I like the looks of them. Like, they obviously fit the package very well. But I'm not spending $10. It's funny. I have a harder time spending $10 a pop on a single pencil than I did $260 on the fancy pencil cap, right? So, I'm bringing all this now because I've been starting to share it online because I just got it last week. This is going to be like a long-term review. I'm not going to come out and review this anytime soon. This, I need to live with this for quite a while to get a better picture because it's so different. But there's no way my end result is going to be that this type of money is worth it. But I want to see, I want to learn more about it and how I use it and how I carry it. Like, I've already, like, kicked the pencil to the curb and I've just been using other pencils in it right now. Like, I have a Carondash CW Pencil Special in there that fits it really, really well and looks really nice on there. The only thing is it's really long in it right now. So, this is better for, like, a three-quarters to a two-third length wooden pencil, you know, just for general carry. But, you know, as you use it and sharpen it down, it'll get to be a better fit. But I like it. I'm glad I got it where it's not going to – I just have a gut feeling that in the end I will – I'm not going to regret buying it. But, you know, maybe I'll sell it to someone, right? It's one of those products.

Myke Hurley: Maybe my pencil bias is going to show here, right? I cannot fathom any world in which this is a thing that people should be spending their money on. It's a $260 pencil cap. Right. Right? Because the sharpener isn't even that good.

Brad Dowdy: So, like you alluded to in the beginning, the Graf von Faber-Castell lineup is positioned as the luxury lineup. There's obviously a market for this and that's what I want to try to explore.

Myke Hurley: I think that a $20, $30, $40 version of this thing would be great. But starting at $260 is mind-boggling to me. Like I get it. It's a luxury item. But it sounds like that the performance is not good enough.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, we'll see. I need to spend some more time with it, you know?

Myke Hurley: $260 you were expecting to be using the best pencil sharpener you've ever used. Right. Right? You know what I mean? Yeah. Isn't that what you want from this?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, that's part of the deal, right? Mm-hmm. It's not just a cap. It's a cap with a built-in sharpener. So, we'll see. This is going to be a long-term type of review. Like, I'm decently good at short-term reviews. Like, can figure out, you know, the story that I want to tell in a short time frame with products. This one is not going to be that way at all. This one's going to, we're going to have to see how this goes. So, it's very interesting. That's mostly why I wanted to buy it. I think it looks killer. It's a very interesting space, like in the stationary world. And I want to figure out why this exists. So, we're going to work on that.

Myke Hurley: All right. So, I want you to tell me about this image that you retweeted of what appears to be a orange Platinum 3776. The exact thing that you've been asking for.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. So, I've been a bit of big fan of Twitter polls recently. And I should do a poll on what did Brad get contacted more about? The Platinum 3776 in orange? Neil Gaiman on Tim Ferriss' podcast.

Myke Hurley: Oh, no Gaiman on Tim Ferriss.

Brad Dowdy: Or, oh, I already forgot the third one. I interrupted. I interrupted. I missed it myself. Or the IndieGraph snafu from last week. So, Twitter poll. What did Brad get most mentioned? That's a tight race, Myke. And it might be the orange 3776. This is everything I want them to do. But there's two problems with this. One is very, very obvious. It has gold trim. Which, I think gold looks great on orange and brown. So, I'm not hugely crazy about this. Number two, it's limited. I want this to be a stock release. Yep. So, I don't have any issue with this. I'm not buying this pen. You know, if it was Rhodium, I probably would have hunted this down. Just because that's the one. But I'm holding out hope, among all hopes, that they're saving Rhodium for stock. And I can cross my fingers. And seeing this makes me actually worried about that opportunity, right? Is there an opportunity for an orange and Rhodium trim 3776 to hit the stock lineup? Those odds just went down with this release. Because this is generally a very basic release, right? It's not crazy special. So, although I haven't looked at the nib. The nib could have, you know, the specific branding for this limited edition. So, I love it. It's awesome. And a lot of people reached out. I've had people offering to pick it up for me. And I appreciated that. But I've passed on this one. I love seeing it. Just bring me the Rhodium to the stock lineup, please. Let everyone have the opportunity to get in the amazing orange 3776 market.

Myke Hurley: My Japan blue ship this morning. Ha ha ha. Nice. Do you know it's bigger than a Pro Gear?

Myke Hurley: It's like a little bit longer than a Pro Gear.

Brad Dowdy: Well, that's cool. I really want... I can't wait to see you again so I can see this pen in person. I mean, I know you'll be talking about it a bunch. Oh, you bet. But I want to get... I need to feel this. This is a pen you need to feel, right? This one's way different than most of what they've done in the past.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. There is like this part of me that's a little bit nervous about it. Right? I don't think so. I'm confident I'm going to love it because I know who I am. But there's, you know, this is like I'm like, interesting, right? Like this is going to feel very different and I'm wondering what that's going to be like. Like, you know, I was looking at the images today on Wontor's website and they have like some comparison images. And now that I spent like more time looking at it, it's like, oh, this is a very different pen, right? Like not only is it a little bit longer, you can... If you go to their website, I put it in the show notes, you click on shape and material. There are some like real key differences between this pen and a regular Pro Gear. So like it's wider and longer. Like the cap is much wider, which makes sense because they wrap this material around it. But the end is much bigger. They've like added this whole piece to the end of the pen. And the bands that go around everything are larger.

Brad Dowdy: It's very different. So I'm looking at the comparison pictures now, which I have not seen before. This makes me actually want it more. I think that's enough to move the needle for me. Still no clip, huh? We were just... We were saying no clip.

Myke Hurley: Very confident about that now. Yeah, no clip.

Pen Design Transition

Brad Dowdy: I'm very confident now, not just picture angles. Very confident that there's no clip on this pen at all. It is in no picture and they have a lot of pictures. I am... This changes things for me.

Brad Dowdy: I'll see if you like it. Yeah. When you did it.

Myke Hurley: There's also pictures on the One Show website. The box. The box looks very serious too.

Brad Dowdy: The box looks serious.

Myke Hurley: It does. If you look at their main images, it's like it opens out on itself and becomes its own stand. It's like a very...

Brad Dowdy: Oh, it's like a little... It's like a little lift. Yeah. Like an internal lift system. Dang. You paid a lot for that box.

Myke Hurley: Me and Nat Pen are going to be best friends, I think. Huh.

Brad Dowdy: Interesting. I am more interested than I've ever been in that pen knowing the size issue. Yeah, I think good luck though. Oh, I'm not... I don't need it, but I am way more compelled than I ever was seeing that picture. So. All right. I brought up the poll a second ago because I did a random Twitter poll about the Lamy Safari Pastels, which are starting to hit all of our favorite retailers out there. So I wanted to know, just out of curiosity, what color are people picking if they're interested in the Safari? I, of course, got a lot of none of the above, Kawekos, Lamy Sucks, all those things. So fortunately for me, there's only four options on Twitter polls. So I use them all accordingly. I'm just joking with people. I understand you don't like the Safari and I'm okay with that. But I just wanted to know, are you going to buy the Powder Rose, the Blue Macaron, the Mint Glaze, or all of the above? Do you have a favorite knowing that you're probably not going to buy any of these, I'm assuming, right? Yeah, the Mint one is mine. I kind of think so too. And that's what won the poll. Well, the Mint Glaze came in at 34% with Blue at 30%. So those were very, very close. 24% of the people said all of the above and 12% said Powder Rose. I surprised myself a little bit thinking like Blue's usually like my thing for this. I think the Mint is the one and it looks like the Twitter poll results kind of bore that out, which I thought was interesting. I didn't know how it was going to play out. I didn't think the Rose would be that far behind, but it is. But I thought Blue and Green are the standouts of the two. And if you're not buying all of them, which singular one? Yeah, I kind of think it's the Green. But I haven't picked yet. I haven't ordered anything yet. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with Green myself. So there you go. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Maybe I'll do more Twitter polls in the future. But you have to go to the official Twitter applications for that, which I rarely do. They do look good, though. The pens? Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, they look great. They do.

Brad Dowdy: I don't need all of them. This is not a get all three of them, though, for me. It's not that kind of deal, but I will get one of them.

Myke Hurley: I think the Mint is the best one. Yep. I think that the little plastic part on it, too, looks the best.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. They did a good job. They did a very good job. Good job by Lamy this year with the All-Stars. Very Easter-y. Yeah. It was good timing. If they're going to do that, the timing was right on the money. So, yeah. Real good.

Sponsor Segment

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Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I forgot to get my order in last time, so I've just added that to the list as well. It's all going on the list for you today.

Myke Hurley: We've got a bumper. It's a big list. Big bumper. Ask TPA to finish out today's episode. We've got a lot of questions in here. We're going to start with Pulp and Pen, who asks, What recent product has surprised and delighted you? Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. Oh, just kidding. No, no, no, no, no, no. It probably has, though, right? Like, I know you're making a joke, but you shouldn't really like this pen because it's so friggin' expensive. But you do. Like, there's something about it which is a surprise to you in that regard, right?

Topic Shift - Perfect Pencil

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I actually have a real answer to this question, but to stay on the Perfect Pencil for a second. So while you were reading the Moo ad, I really did put in my notes to go order, to place my order, and I'm using the Perfect Pencil today. So it's very enjoyable to uncap my pencil, write my note, and then recap my pencil. I enjoyed that, right? I did. When I put the cap back on, I was like, this is nice. But my answer, my real answer to this question is the Matt Martin Fountain Pen. That has been not only a huge surprise, it has been a huge delight. And I'm working on my review. I've been doing that for a few days. I've had this pen inked up since I bought it at the Atlanta Pen Show. I have two other of Matt's pens that my friends bought at the show that I'm going to do a review on Friday this week. I'm shooting for it. I don't see any reason why I won't get it done by then. But I've got some work left to do on it. It's not a pen for everybody. One, it's a full metal pen. Mine, in the case of mine, fully titanium. Two, it's very expensive. It was $295. But this pen sparks joy, if I may steal a phrase, Myke. Every time I grab it and put it in use, I take a moment to just kind of look at it. And I still just kind of go, huh, at it. Like, this shouldn't happen, but it is happening to me with that pen. It's really great. It's one of my current favorites by a quite large margin. So, yeah. Do you have anything that has surprised and delighted you? Maybe a pen from earlier in the show?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's kind of a shame because I gave it away. But the Kaweco student is that, right? Like, I kind of bought it because it was fun and came highly recommended. So, I was like, all right, I'll give it a go. But was, yeah, as I say, like, just really just, it was just a great pleasure, again, to use a pen like this. And remember, remember why I liked Kaweco and not like as it's been in my mind for a while of like, I liked Kaweco before I knew better. Right. Which is kind of how I thought about it for a while. Like, oh, I liked Kaweco pens a lot when I was kind of starting out. But because I haven't spent a ton of time with them recently, it's kind of just like, in my mind, it's been like, oh, it was because you were relatively new to quality fountain pens. But no, it turns out that, like, these nibs are excellent. They're very different, very different to Japanese nibs. They feel very different to me. Totally. But still equally very good. So I would say that the nib of the Kaweco students specifically is what has delighted me this week. Miatet asks, do you have any tips for working with titanium nibs? I have had issues with ink gushing and uneven flow. They have both been bock, fine and medium.

Brad Dowdy: I've never enjoyed a stock titanium bock fountain pen nib. Any titanium nib that I like, I've had worked on after the fact. They are extremely finicky nibs. So I've had mine ground down, modified, adjusted for flow. They are really hard to get a good experience right out the gate.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I have one. I think it's in the misu. Did I get the misu nova of a titanium nib? Maybe. Probably. I think it was. And it's just really squeaky. I hate that. It's interesting and it feels, because I like soft nibs. I like broad nibs, right? So when it works, and it does work, it works fine for me really. It feels really nice for me to use because it's soft, but it also is really squeaky and I don't like the squeakiness.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So once I got them worked on, they're spectacular. Like some of my favorite nibs. But the stock experience is tough. It's hit or miss. I found that they dry out a little bit quicker. The lines are a little bit uneven. I don't know. I've just had, you know, maybe that's a Bach QC thing, which they have a history of. I don't know if it's worth it.

Myke Hurley: Titanium, honestly, I don't know if it's worth it. Yeah. I think that you get, for many reasons, an equally wonderful experience from gold. You know, I know that there are subtle differences between them, but I very rarely had a gold nib that I didn't like.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So I have one, the one titanium nib that I got worked on and adjusted is the one titanium nib I'll use. So I won't order any more titanium nibs, right? I'll just pass that nib around to whatever pen I want to use it in. It's not worth it for me to get another one. So they're finicky. That's the best thing I can say about box titanium nibs. And I generally have only had good experience with them after I've had them worked on after the fact, which is, you know, not always a thing that everyone can do.

Myke Hurley: Fred asks, how do you get the ink off of your fingers after refilling your fountain pens? I just wait it out, man. I just like, whatever. That's just my life.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I generally don't. Like, that used to be a huge stickler, sticking point for me, I should say, where I was like, oh, I don't want to get messy with fountain pens. You know, they're going to get ink all over my hands. I just own it now. You know, when I'm done with a big cleaning and my hands will have ink on them, you know, I'll use hot water and dish soap and wash my hands. But that doesn't get it all off. But, you know, I just kind of own it now. I think it's like a badge of honor that I have inky fingers. And there is a product called Amidex that does help get that, that pen retailers will sell. So that's what you want to look for if you really, like, have a huge accident and your hands are, like, completely pink. Looks like, you know, some of our previous horror stories. Where you don't want to go walking around with blood red hands. There's a product called Amidex that does work. But I generally just, you know, use hot water and soap and whatever's left will be gone in another day or two. That's how I do it.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Rastafor asks, are there any purchases that you thought about, decided no, and genuinely regretted refusing?

Brad Dowdy: This question comes up a lot. Like, the regrets thing. Hashtag no regrets, man. Hashtag no regrets. I genuinely don't. I don't have any. I try to think of things that I've passed up on. Like, there's been some vintage pilot stuff. You know, some of the vanishing points, metal barrels, you know, striped my ewes that I've just never wanted to spend the money on. But don't necessarily regret. They would be nice to have if I was willing to drop stupid money on them. But I don't really have a regret not owning them in the end, right? So those are kind of the only things that I've looked at. You know, vintage stuff that you don't come across very often. Like, if you're a big vintage person. Like, anything modern, I definitely don't have any regrets on. So it would have to be something in the vintage category. And even then, there's always something else. So I don't really have any regrets.

Myke Hurley: And the Inky Side asks, I'm currently engaged. Congratulations. Congratulations. And lucky enough to be with a wonderful partner that is a penabler, which I've never heard. I don't know if you've ever come across that phrase. The portmanteau of pen and enabler. Like that very much. We've used it. Have I? Oh, okay. Penabler for my hobby. We have decided to buy fountain pens in the $100 to $175 range for signing our marriage licenses. I'm hoping to get it engraved too. What recommendations do you have? Do you have ideas for matching inks as well? My expensive pens currently include, this is, I guess, just to give an idea, Conklin Nighthawk, a Pilot Custom 74, an Opus 88 demo, and my grandmother's Parker 41 debutante in teal with fish scale cap. I would like to keep this pen for the rest of our lives and pass it on to our children one day. Visionaires.

Brad Dowdy: Two visionaires? Yeah. Coming right up. Visionaires. I think you can get those engraved too. You probably can. That's what you do.

Myke Hurley: What do you think? So I tell you my struggle when trying to think of like, what do I consider like super important enough? I guess I would maybe struggle in the $100 range. That my brain jumps to other places.

Brad Dowdy: So I kind of have two answers here. One, the vintage Parker 41 debutante in teal with the fish scale cap is a stunning pen. It is meaningful to you and your family. So it has that extra, you know, meaning to it. Oh, Brad, just throwing out the emotion. Yeah, it's a marriage, man. This is emotional time. I mean, if it's not the Visionaire, you have to go family. So romantic. So I love the idea of using that. The second option I would have would be something Pelican. I don't know why I see Pelican either modern or vintage as being just a fantastic wedding pen. That seems to be just...

Myke Hurley: It's just got an elegance about it that would really fit that environment. I think Pelican is a really good shout.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So you can find some, like the modern ones in the 205, you can find plenty of in that price range. And you can find lots of vintage, really classic looking ones, depending on what ink color you want to go with. And that's the only thing we're missing from this to pin down the ink is like, is there some type of color theme we need to work with? Otherwise, I'm seriously going with Iron Gall, like document blue black. As lame as that may sound, it's so traditional. But if you want to go with a pop of color, let us know, like if you have any like color preferences, we can narrow it down. But I'm going with the Parker or I'm looking at Pelican, maybe even vintage Pelican. Which you can do a lot of work with vintage Pelican in that price range.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. That's really great. I would say that I think using the Parker would be beautiful too, though, right? Yep. That's really nice. All right. We have some more RSTPA, but let me thank our final sponsor for this episode. And that is ExpressVPN. We all think we're immune to cybercrime. It's hard to imagine someone getting a hold of your information. But here's the bad news. Stealing data from people like you and me using public Wi-Fi is an easy way for bad guys to make money. If you leave your internet connection unencrypted, your passwords and credit card numbers could be vulnerable. There's something you can do to protect yourself from cybercriminals. And that is to use ExpressVPN. It works by securing and anonymizing your internet browsing, encrypting your data and hiding your public IP. You can turn on ExpressVPN protection with just one click. And then you're free to safely surf on public Wi-Fi without being snooped on or having your personal data stolen. ExpressVPN is rated the number one VPN service by TechRadar and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. I love that I can have it on all of my devices, on my iOS devices, on my Mac, just one subscription. And I have it everywhere that I need. For less than $7 a month, you can get the same ExpressVPN protection that I have and use. If you ever use public Wi-Fi and want to keep the bad guys away from your data, you need ExpressVPN. So go to expressvpn.com slash penaddict to learn more and protect your online activity today. Find out how you can get three months free at expressvpn.com slash penaddict. That is expressvpn.com slash penaddict for three months free of a one-year package. Our thanks to ExpressVPN for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: All right, so Scott has an interesting question here, and it's kind of backwards from my traditional thinking. So he says, I've typically preferred broader fountain pen nibs when printing and recently changed my handwriting style to cursive, where I find I like finer nibs in Field Notes memo books. What kind of nibs do you like for all different writing styles and situations? So big question, I generally think of it backwards from Scott, you know, I like broader nibs for bigger loopy style writing and finer nibs for print style writing. But, you know, we all have our own individual handwriting styles to manage. So Myke generally likes finer nibs in Field Notes. I never use fountain pens in Field Notes, so we'll eliminate that. But I'm, the way I write is a block print style. So I like nibs with an edge. And that's generally why I don't like broader nibs, because they usually have some type of round tipping, you know, when you're in medium, medium and broad size nibs. So I like something with an edge, whether that's extra fine, just because it's sharper and doesn't roll around the edges when I'm writing as much as a medium nib will do. Or something that has, you know, a real sharp edge, like a cursive italic or stub nib, which you can get plenty of stock options for those. TWSBI, Lamy, Pilot. I use all of those with regularity. I enjoy them all. So those are kind of the styles. The two different styles I prefer to write in are extra fine and stubbish, cursive italic-ish. And those could be any size from fine all the way to, you know, 1.5 millimeter, depending. So I just need something with an edge on it to make my handwriting look the best that it can be. So, you know, it's hugely dependent on, you know, everything from your grip to the angle and all kinds of things. So we can't get super specific, but that's what I like. How about you, Myke?

Myke Hurley: I mean, I'm going to say, honestly, I feel like I'm not discriminatory. I will write on anything of anything. Yeah, you pretty much are. I mean, that's true. It's honestly, it's just what do I feel like today? And I have got much more of a breadth of a collection now between, like, fine and broads, right? Like, I have way more of them. I used to be, like, all broads and all mediums. Now I do have a bunch of, I have a selection of fine sailor nibs. Because as far as fine nibs go, sailor nibs work very well for me. Because they're all gold, so they're softer anyway. And that works really nicely for me. Even though the Japanese fine is finer than the, like, the German fine. But the sailor nibs work very well. Plus, because they're so reliable anyway. So that's why I've been willing to kind of branch out a little bit more there. You know, I say all the way up to, like, 1.5 stub nibs. I have quite a few of those, too. Right. So really, because of the fact that I do tend to lean, typically, towards more ink, I cannot really be discriminatory of what I use. Because most of my pens are too inky for the paper that I'm putting them on. One way or another. Especially because I'm left-handed. So I kind of just roll with it. I don't really think about nib too much when I'm picking up a pen. I think about, do I want to use this pen today? Like, I forget what nibs I have in a lot of my pens. It doesn't matter to me. It's more about, like, is this pen, does it have the feel, like, that I want today? Like, does it look the way that I'm feeling? Like, or do I have some particular draw to this one for whatever reason?

Brad Dowdy: Right. And I probably put more weight on the nib, or at least a 50-50 weight on the nib when picking out which pen I'm going to use. Or the type of refill that's in it, you know, if it's not a fountain pen. So, yeah.

Pen Show Discussion

Myke Hurley: All right. So our next question comes from Shahzad, who says, Having attended all of three pen shows in total, twice at Baltimore, once in D.C., is there an unwritten rule about table vendors not selling pens from China? For example, the only gin house or wingsungs I saw were on the free giveaway table. P.S., thanks for finding a Mark I for me to click in Baltimore.

Brad Dowdy: I remember that very much. This is a great question, and I put it in here purposefully because I don't have a clean and concise answer to this. So there's definitely not any unwritten rule that any vendors partake in. There's probably a bias. There's probably a bias. But, for example, I bought a Wing Sung from Van S. Pens in Baltimore. So there's plenty of vendors that carry Wing Sung, and now you're starting to see some pen BBS out there in the market, too. So I think it's just getting used to a changing market, right? These are not the historic pens that they've carried. They do not have the distributor channels that vendors normally work through to provide products for resale. So there's a little bit more effort in getting these. They may not have the support system that they do when they are buying these pens. And there's also, you know, a little bit of do I really want to carry the Jinhao Safari right next to the Lamy Safari, right? There's a weirdness about that. And I don't know how to present that, you know, in a good answer. But they look like knockoff goods.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Because a lot of the time they are knockoff goods. And do you want to be seen selling that? I think that's a problem.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So, and that's not, you know, any fault of the vendor. That's the business decision that they make. How do we want to present ourselves as a vendor? And am I going to be able to sit here and rave about one pen while trying to sell you a different pen, too? Like, it's not an easy answer to this question. And there's definitely biases in play when, as a vendor, you're seeing what would be considered an inferior product, even though maybe it's not. But there is a, you know, a thought process that has to go behind this. And it's not straightforward. But what you're going to see probably is some different pens, like maybe Moonman, who, you know, there may be some pens that look similar to other pens already on the market, but might be something different. So, it's just, it's not an easy answer. And I think for a lot of valid reasons, being either accessibility, product support, and flat-out copying of other brands. You know, how do they validate, you know, putting an essentially a knockoff style right next to the original, you know, that came before it. So, it's a really good question. Something maybe I'll have a better answer to one day. But that's just kind of my initial thoughts.

Grail Pens

Myke Hurley: Stanley wants to know, what's your next grail pen?

Brad Dowdy: I don't know what falls in that category. I know the pen at the top of my shopping list is a Sailor Rialo Special Edition of some sort. That probably falls in the grail pen category. Yeah, I think that sounds pretty good. Just from a difficulty to acquire and a price point, you know, that probably falls in there. That's kind of the only pen right now that I really, really want, and I'm willing to wait to find the right one. So, if that, you know, fits into that category of grail pen, that's probably the only thing that I can think of right now that would do that.

Myke Hurley: Do you have something like that? No, I don't have it like what I would typically, or what we would typically refer to as our grail pen. Like, this very specific pen that I'm pining over, that I'm like waiting until I can afford, or waiting until I can, I don't have one. I have like, I think a dream pen is like what you mentioned, some really amazing Rialo custom that we haven't yet come across. Right. Which is what me and you have been talking about for like three or four months now, I think.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep. So, that's the top of my list, and there's probably not even a number two. Like, I wouldn't even know what that other pen would be. So, you know, we'll see. So, Keith asks, what's the best paper for the beach? I love this question. I always take a notebook to the beach. I'll take any notebook, any pocket notebook to the beach and use a ballpoint pen. But if you're really concerned about the beach, I would go right to the right in the rain notebook. Just because of the waterproofness and the build quality of it, it's a really good quality product that we probably don't talk about enough. Just because it doesn't take, you know, fountain pens and gel pens very well. You need to use ballpoint or pencil. But it's such a high quality product that I think that's probably the best choice. But really, I'll use any paper at the beach, but I will only use ballpoint or pencil at the beach. I will say that.

Myke Hurley: What about Field Notes Expedition?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, same difference. I would prefer right in the rain because of the white paper where the Expedition has the ivory cream Yupo. Right in the rain uses a pure white paper, which I prefer.

Myke Hurley: All right. Next question comes from Ron. Ron wants to know, when Sailor includes a black cartridge of a pen, is that Kiwaguru or Gentle Black?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's the Gentle Black. It's the basic. The Kiwaguru is, number one, considered premium. And number two, might cause problems for someone who doesn't know what it is. Like, it's going to dry out quicker than Gentle Black. They call it Gentle for a reason. It's their base. It's their base ink. It's very good all-around ink. And it's going to be those. So, I would recommend the Kiwaguru. It's one of the best black inks I've ever used. And it's really, really enjoyable to write with. And shockingly easy to maintain for an ink that has some permanence to it. But they're going to ship you the basic black cartridge with it. Same with Platinum and anyone else who does this. You're going to get the basics.

Myke Hurley: And Abigail asks, what is the best extra fine 0.4 or smaller refill that I could use of a Mark 1 or Russia 51? Would love a blue-black, but would sell for black.

Brad Dowdy: You know, maybe this needs to be my next invention, Myke. I mean, there's things out there, but there's nothing out there I can wholeheartedly recommend. I thought we were getting that with a refill called the Premac, which is, I want to believe it's a Swiss brand. They come in a Parker Style 0.4 gel ink refill. I need to get some more of them because the two that I've used have been exceptionally scratchy. I feel like it's more of a trend, not a one-off type of thing. I feel like, okay, that's what they are, which makes them not enjoyable to use. I wish I had the best answer for this. And after all the years of doing this, we do not have the best answer for this, Myke. So that just means I need to make it.

Myke Hurley: Can't get any better than that.

Brad Dowdy: That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. Pro tip, that's not going to happen.

Myke Hurley: That's a different endeavor for you completely.

Myke Hurley: Thanks so much for our sponsors this week. The fine folk over at ExpressVPN, Moo, and Pen Chalet for their support. You can find Brad's work online at PenAddict.com. He is on Twitter. He is at Dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. And PenAddict on Instagram. I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. You can find this show at Relay.FM, Relay.FM. And go there and look at the other shows that we have. You might find something else that you like. Maybe you should try out. Make Do would be a good... We were talking about Tiff Armin earlier on in the episode. Tiff and Julia actually recorded an episode in Atlanta like we did. But it was in a hotel room, kind of like our first time, really. I enjoyed it. So yeah, you should go and listen to that one. It's a great episode about like complimenting yourself and understanding your skills. It's a really good episode to go and listen to. If you've never listened to Make Do before, you can because there's a good crossover with kind of what we were doing in Atlanta too. So that's there for you if you want to listen to it. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.