The Pen Addict 582/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	582
Title:	Fried Egg Jellyfish
Release Date:	September 20th, 2023
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 582
Audio File:	Audio Episode 582
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 582
Length:	4747 min <br />0.783 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 582. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: What's up, Myke Hurley? How are you?

Myke Hurley: I'm very good, my friend. Very good. We're recording this episode from the past, because as this episode comes out, I will be in Memphis, Tennessee. And I think at the exact time that I'll be recording, we are doing what is on my calendar as podcast-a-thon tech setup. We have two days of rehearsals for the podcast-a-thon this year. So we have a tech setup rehearsal day. Then we have a let's check these things work rehearsal day on Thursday. And then on Friday, this is the main thing I want everyone to take away from this episode today. Friday, September 22nd, twitch.tv slash RelayFM from 12 to 12 US Eastern Time. So 12pm to 12am US Eastern Time. Yes, that is a 12-hour podcast-a-thon for St. Jude will be happening. We want you to be there. We're going to be doing some wild stuff. It is games galore this year. Stephen and I are going to be competing in a vast selection of games as we accrue points to be crowned RelayFM co-founder champion at the end of it all.

Brad Dowdy: Who's the reigning champ? This will be the inaugural.

Myke Hurley: Oh, inaugural. This will be the inaugural RelayFM co-founder champion. I would say I have had greater success in our co-founder showdowns in the past. But this one, usually it's just like a memory game, but this will be testing mind, body, and soul throughout the 12 hours.

Myke Hurley: Look, if you've ever tuned into the podcast-a-thon before, it's a good time. It's super fun. And you'll notice that over the years, it's gotten better, like higher quality. The jump that we are taking this year in production is bananas. We have like three sets. We had a set designer. It's going to be huge. So please tune in. The fifth annual podcast-a-thon for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 12 to 12 U.S. Eastern. Check what that is in your time zone, but it is a 12-hour period, so we should hit... Basically, every time zone should at least be able to see some of it, you know, like no matter where you are. So tune in to what works best for you. We will be there, Stephen and I, and we have some in-studio guests. So Kathy Campbell from Conduit and Roboism, Jason Snell from Upgrade and The Incomparable, and Downstream on Real RelayFM. They're going to be hanging out being adjudicators, referees, and sometimes participants of our various games. Nice. We've got so much cool stuff planned. It's all to support the work of St. Jude. Please go to stjude.org slash relay. You can find out more information there. You can also find out more about donating. Please join us.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, just I'll say it again at some point, but thank you to you and Stephen and the entire RelayFM team. The amount of work y'all put into this is just unbelievably huge, and y'all do such a good job to rate. Yeah, like it's important to y'all. It's important to all of us. Yeah. Yeah, but y'all are really putting yourselves out there doing this, and it's all for a great cause, and it's just like I can't thank you enough, and you and Stephen, for everything that you do.

Myke Hurley: It's our pleasure. Yeah.

St. Jude Raffle and Fundraising

Brad Dowdy: All right, so over at the Pen Addict, we do have the St. Jude Raffle underway. We'll have a link in the show notes. You can check the main post to find out all the awesome prizes you could win, you know, from your donation to St. Jude's. All the details are in there on how to participate. You know, you make a donation to St. Jude's. You send me your receipt. You get raffle tickets. I raffle away. All of the amazing stuff that you see. I can't even go through this list, Myke. It is just unbelievable the amount of pins and stationery and fun stuff we are raffling off, thanks to all of our wonderful supporters and friends of the show who have sent us goods to help us raise money. It's just fantastic, and I look forward to the podcast-a-thon this week.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: All right, Myke. So since you're currently in Memphis, as people are listening to this, we decided it is time to catch up on all of the Ask TPA, and by all of the Ask TPA, I mean some of it. We're going to do some of the Ask TPA today, yes. We never get to all of it. But I appreciate you so much for sending in all these questions, everyone. It's awesome, and I apologize if we don't get them in a very, very timely manner. It turns out we have a lot of pins to talk about every week, which is kind of astonishing at this point. But it's really great stuff. I love doing this. So let's go.

Budget-Friendly Planner Recommendations

Myke Hurley: All right, writes in and says, It is new planner time, and this year I can't afford the Hobonichi, so I'm looking for something comparable-ish, but on a budget. I need a daily planner. I'm not expecting to mow a river paper, of course, but any other suggestions would be great. Are there actually even budget options for a daily planner?

Brad Dowdy: There are. And the one I'm going to recommend isn't the purest budget planner there is, just from a price perspective. But I think the Leuchtturm 1917 has so many options at half the price of the Hobonichi. You should be able to get something pretty great, a great layout that suits your style for in the $20-something range, as opposed to the $50-something range for the Hobonichi. I would definitely look at Leuchtturm, because the paper is good, not great. As you're mentioning, it is not Tomoe River, but it is good fountain pen-friendly-ish paper, right? You're broad and double broadness.

Myke Hurley: It's in best of the bunch category, you know? Yeah. You're having a good time.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and their layouts are some of the best, right? Because they don't stick with one layout, right? They just kind of have, you know, they go all into all the different layouts, weekly, monthly, daily type of layouts. You can find a layout you want. Now, if you want a more roll-your-own option, the Stalogy 365s are generally an open notebook page, and they have a real faint kind of border on the edge where you can, like, circle the date, right? So if you want to just, like, mostly, like, an A5 size or an A6 size where you have most of the page that's unformatted, right? And you can just put in a little mark on what the date is. I would look at the Stalogy 365s and the A6s or A5 sizes, and those are also, like, in the $20 range. Anything, I don't know many, like, less expensive options for that that are going to meet, like, your stationery nerd needs. So I'd be at least looking into something like the Leuchtturm and what they have to offer because it's really, really broad in what they do offer, and the quality is very, very high.

Myke Hurley: Lyle writes in and says, Myke, my family is visiting England in September, generally staying in London with day trips around the area by train. I've heard you mention Choosing Keeping as a great stationery store. Are there others I should visit? So, yes, Choosing Keeping. You've also got the graphic design center around the corner, which is just fun for little bits and bobs. Could be some interesting stuff in there. Choosing Keeping is my, like, number one recommendation. Present and Correct is one of the classics. They just moved to a new store that I haven't been to yet, but I want to see that. But I will include in the show notes a link to the Perennial Stationary Shops map from Tessera All Things Stationary. This is the whole place to find things.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's a great map, great locator. I have a question for you.

Brad Dowdy: W.H. Smiths. Is it Smiths or Smith? Smiths. Smiths. Can you go in and, like, test paper? Like, if you just, like, if Lyle was just, like, happened to run by a W.H. Smith, maybe not made, like, a dedicated trip to, would that be worth, like, rolling into?

Myke Hurley: Let me just correct myself. We call it Smiths, right? But the actual name is W.H. Smith. Okay. But anyway.

Myke Hurley: I reckon it's going to depend on the size of the store. I wouldn't rely on it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I was just curious, because I know in the past we've talked about, you know, picking out some paper there. This is way, this is, like, pre-Cortex brand and all this stuff. So, yeah. Just curious. Okay. Just checking.

Expensive Vintage Pilot Fountain Pen as a Retirement Gift

Myke Hurley: Richard writes in and says, I am looking at buying a significantly expensive vintage Pilot fountain pen as a retirement gift for myself, but I have not yet used a Japanese fine nib. Is there a relatively inexpensive cartridge fountain pen that would let me see if the fine Japanese nib is my jam or not? Thank you for any insight and assistance.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. There's a couple of options here. So, the obvious one is the Pilot Metropolitan. Now, let's just say that you're not going to get an inexpensive cartridge fountain pen with a gold nib, right? But you can test these steel nibs, at least for the line widths. And if it was something like Pilot, even the vintage pens, I think their lines are, they're a very consistent line width manufacturer, right? Like, there's not, your expectations should be reasonably similar whether you're having a steel or gold nib or modern or vintage, right? They're always in the ballpark. I've never found anything weird. As far as line widths go. So, Pilot Metropolitan is your easy choice for the standard fine steel nib. They run about $15. You can check them out. It's a classic style fountain pen. If you want something, you know, just fun to play around with, the Kakuno is another option. But it's a more, you know, youthful, modern, silly type of fountain pen that's actually very, very high quality. Um, and then finally, the extra fine nib, I have to give out, give a shout out to the Pilot Plumix. Um, that's probably too fine for like your vintage pen. Like if it just has a Japanese fine nib, like you are, if you already know it has a Japanese fine nib, you don't need to necessarily try the Plumix. But if you want to try a Japanese steel extra fine nib, they're pretty spectacular. And they're like $8, something like that, right? It's a very, it looks like a drawing pen, right? It's got a long barrel, weird cap. It's just kind of funky. But the nib quality is the same as like you're going to find in the Metropolitan. And all of other, all of Pilot's lower end steel nibs, it's the same nib that's in the Plumix. But I don't think they have a fine version. I think the Plumix, or no, no, I'm sorry. I'm making a mistake here. The Plumix only comes in the cursive italic. The Penmanship is the name of the pen that has the extra fine. And so I apologize. Rewind that a little bit. So the Plumix has the cursive italic. You can skip that one. The Penmanship has the extra fine nib, I believe. So my mistake. But yeah, I would probably look at the Pilot Metropolitan. That's going to be your best bet.

Myke Hurley: So the Plumix would not be helpful in this?

Brad Dowdy: Not for Richard. For me, it's amazing. But no, because it only comes in a cursive italic shape. So it's not going to help with that, with the fine, the more traditional fine nib shape. So no, scratch that one.

Myke Hurley: Scratch it out. Don't even think about it. Rebecca asks, I'm a fountain pen newbie on a limited school teacher budget. I tried a Sailor recently and it was amazing. The smoothness, the weight, and balance, the look. But I don't care for the look of their budget pen, the Compass 1911. Any suggestions, recommendations for buying used or another brand that offers something of the same appeal or a lower price point?

Brad Dowdy: So shout out Rebecca for dogging the Compass 1911. I hate that pen.

Brad Dowdy: Sailor makes the worst entry-level pens. Right after the Pilot praise I just gave and Platinum has amazing entry-level fountain pens, I despise Sailor's entry-level fountain pens. They're just not good enough for what they charge. They're not bad pens. But in a broader comparison of that market, they don't even rate. So anyway, just a shout out to Rebecca for noticing that like really, really quickly. So you want a Sailor, but on a budget.

Brad Dowdy: So buying used is always an option. Sailor has a lot of good options. The other brand that offers something of the same appeal at a lower price point is probably going to be the Platinum's that I mentioned before. You're going to get a really, really good quality. They don't necessarily have the barrel shape feel, like the barrel feel of like Sailor's.

Myke Hurley: It's just a fun design too, like if you're not going to get that there either.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but like the Procyons and the Plaisirs are both Pilot brands and they range from like $20 to $50. They're aluminum barrels, but not plastic barrels. But the nibs are awesome. And they're cool looking, right? But in a different way from Sailor. They don't look like Sailors at all. But just the feel and the quality of those pens is really, really good. That's going to get you that same type of writing feel, even though if the aesthetics are not a perfect match to that. And then after that, you're going to look. So that's like your $20 to $50 range. Then you can start going into the Pilot Custom 91, which is Pilot's low-end gold nib. That's going to be very close. But that's going to be over $100 for the 91s. But that's going to be really close to the Sailors. But it probably half the price, to be honest, right? So the 91 and then on up from there is the 74, which is more shaped like the Sailor 1911s with the rounded ends, not the Progares. And those are like in the 160 range. So I think that's three different levels of pens that you can at least look at. So the Platinum, Plaisir, and Procyon. They're just two different styles, two different price points in the $50 or less category. The Pilot Custom 91 is in the low $100 range, I believe. I haven't looked at those in a little bit while. Like a little over $100, maybe $125, something like that. And that's very similar to like the Sailor Progear style and shape. And then you get into the Pilot Custom 74, which is about $160. And they get into like the colorful demonstrator styles of like the 1911. So I think that's my recommendations. And if you have like more specific questions, I'm totally open to like discussing this further.

Myke Hurley: Pilot Custom 91 and 74. I prefer the look of the 74 myself. Yeah. The 91, I don't like so much. I think the 74 isn't too far away from some Sailor stuff. But if you don't like the 1911, you might not like this.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, because it's rounded finials.

Myke Hurley: Similar-ish, I think. I think there's some similarities there in those kinds.

Brad Dowdy: Where the 91s are flat, but they're less stylish, if you will.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Yep. Yep.

Refills for the Retro 51 Pen

Myke Hurley: All right. Next up, we have a question from Steven who asks, Are there any good refills for the Retro 51? I've had nothing but hassle with Schmidt refills. They always stop writing in one direction for me, so my writing always looks patchy.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, that stinks, honestly. But those Schmidt refills do, I know, cause problems for people like more leaking than like the writing. I've never had like a writing problem with them, but I've had some like messiness problem with them. So I know people, I ordered some refills, like Parker style refills can fit into the Retro 51. So if you're looking for like a good Parker style refill, you can get the Jetstream SXR007, I believe is it. That's a fantastic refill, but it's a ballpoint, like a hybrid ballpoint ink. So it's not the rich rollerball ink like in the Schmidt's. But anything that's a Parker style should fit in the Retro 51s. In the past, I've used the Oto Flash Dry, which is a needle tip gel ink pen, and it fits in there perfectly. And it's a 0.5 millimeter black gel ink needle tip. That's probably one of my favorites to just kind of hot swap in there. And then I've just recently ordered some colorful refills, I think from Monteverde. So like the Parker styles, but I bought like a pink and a purple and a green that I haven't not tested out yet. But, you know, anything in that Parker style that you like, it should be hot swappable into the Retro 51. If you want to swap out of the Schmidt, my first recommendation would probably be the Oto Flash Dry. Just because I've used that one a bunch in there. If you want a needle tip gel ink pen. So it may not be your style, that's not for everybody, but that's a great refill.

Myke Hurley: I find it so strange sometimes that like people, I've come into it, right? People like, oh, this refill isn't working for me. Or like, you know, like I bought one of the Mark 1s and it's not working. And I've tried it multiple times with multiple refills and it's like skipping a bunch. I don't know what goes on because like people have consistent issues with the refills in a way that I don't. And I find it very peculiar.

Brad Dowdy: I think it's because they're constantly exposed, right? There's never a seal on any of this stuff. And like a lot of mine stay in the house and are pretty tame. Like if you're traveling with one and it's just constantly open and changing, like, barometric pressures.

Myke Hurley: So I wonder if maybe like there are certain conditions in which some people would use these pens, like the Red 51s and the Mark 1s. And those conditions would result in the refills drying out or skipping or something.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's probably just less consistency, right? Because it's more unstable. But I mean, that's just, I mean, who knows, right? Like, but that is a choice. That is a thing. I know if you bang around these Schmidt refills, you know, a lot, like if you're carrying your pocket, you're liable to end up with a leak on your pants, right? They're just, you can't be rough with them because they're not sealed off.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's interesting. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All right, next question comes from Chris who says, It's been a while since we heard anything from Myke regarding his pen or ink usage and or purchases. Has he lost his pen mojo or fallen out of love? With the awesome hobby. Yes, this is my final episode of The Pen Addict. Goodbye, Brad. It's the end for me.

Brad Dowdy: That was one of our goals for St. Jude. Just getting rid of me. Getting rid of you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Myke Hurley: No, I mean, look, here's, I have a couple of things that's going on with like why I buy less. I found a new hobby, which was keyboards, and I put kind of my hobby money into keyboards, but I have also stopped that now. Like I had a couple of friends come to the studio a couple of days ago, and they were remarking about how it feels like the keyboard, like stuff that I have has grown. And I'm not actually buying anything more. It's stuff that I bought in 2020 and 2021 that is all arriving, and it's arriving at an amount which is kind of like unbelievable. Like I need to start getting rid of some of this stuff because also like over the last three years, my tastes have changed and all that kind of stuff. So it's actually a thing that I'm thinking about, like, oh, how can I do this in a way that is easy to deal with?

Myke Hurley: But so that was kind of where my hobby money had gone. But now I'm like, I've cooled that down significantly. I think the bigger issue for me is that even before then, I wasn't buying a lot of stuff online. I was buying more stuff at pen shows. That's exactly what I was going to say. And I've not been to a pen show since 2019. So that has been a significant factor in the fewer purchases that I've made where now, like, I'll buy some Canalea pens because I know the quality. I'll buy the occasional platinum. I stopped buying Sailors. I buy, like, you know, I bought a couple of Tactical Turns. I've bought some Mark 1s. It's like, basically, I've bought more new models of pens that I know rather than things that I want to try out new. Because the things that I like to add to my collection, especially in fountain pens, are now just like the more expensive stuff, things that are doing something new or different. Because I have got such a great collection that I'm content with it. So when I add to it, I feel like it needs to be a substantial thing for some reason or another. And I'm less comfortable with making a lot of those purchases online. Because I want to be able to try them myself now if I'm going to be stretching my wings and trying something new. So, yeah. I don't know. This is just something that, like, I have not felt the pull so much recently because I just don't feel like I have the same exposure that I used to. Yeah, it's a refinement phase. Right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, it's a refinement phase. So, like, I'm in it, too. Like, I came home from the Orlando Pen Show with, like, one new pen for me. Like, I bought two pens. But one is for me, like, to go into my collection and something I'm going to use for a while. Where normally, or a lot of times, that might be, like, five pens, right? Like, but I was just at the DC Pen Show, right? And I'll always have, like, access to a lot of things. So I'm trying to work on, like, my personal refinement of, hey, what are the pens that are most important to me? And, like, we spoke on that last episode, like, I just inked my Kasama, which I've owned for a couple years. I've just inked up my Aboya, which I've owned for five years, right? As opposed to, like, always inking up, like, the brand new pen all the time, right? Something that I'm acquiring. It's cool to, like, look at your own personal collection and realize why you bought some of this stuff in the first place and get them back in use. So, yeah, I definitely think there's some refinement going on. Just a different scale with me than you, for sure. But I do, I'm glad you mentioned the comment about the pen shows. Because I was going to bring that up, for sure, about you.

Myke Hurley: It's obviously the difference between me and you is, like, you're just getting some stuff all the time, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Which I don't have that. I have, I have tons, I have infinite access, honestly. Like, I can get, like, whatever I want when I want it. I will say, I don't want that. But I try to.

Myke Hurley: Like, I know I said, but I also don't want it. Because it's not, this, that's not my job. Like, for this show, my job is here to facilitate our conversation. Like, to be here for you. And we can talk and you can talk to me. And we can bounce things off each other. And I feel like I have, like, a base knowledge now, which gets me through everything. But just, like, I am not in the acquisition phase of the hobby at the moment. Yep. Yep. Exactly. Good question. Jacob writes in and says, for Japanese gel pens, is there any difference between the capped gel pen and retractable gel pen? For example, the Signo DX and the Signo 207. They use different refills, shape, and dimension. But is the ink any different? Is the writing experience any different? Why not just use the exact same refill for the capped and retractable gel pen?

Brad Dowdy: Such a good question. I love this so much. And, like, Jacob, I'm not going to be able to give you, like, I just want to lead with this. Like, I'm not going to be able to give you an absolute definitive answer. But I can tell you what I believe. And I can tell you some factually correct statements that some of these gel ink pens refills are different. Even, like, let's take the Signo 207. There's Signo 207. Signo 207 Plus. There was Signo 307. And there might even be one more I'm forgetting about. Just in the 207 lineup. Guess what? Every one of those is a different ink formulation. So, you have to figure out and look at some of the marketing of some of these pens. Because, like, just in that one lineup alone, there's three different ink formulations at least. Right? So, the Signo DX, rewinding back to that one, which is the pen that I praise so much, it doesn't have some of the more modern Signo 207 ink properties. But it does have the same standard base level 207 ink properties. The one question I've always had, and this is related to your overall question, is there a difference between the Signo DX and the Signo RT and RT1? And I don't think there's any ink difference, but I think the tip manufacturing is different, right? I think the way it applies the line to the page in the same .38mm tip, it feels different to me. Now, that just might be a me thing. And if I go to Uniball and ask them, I would bank on them telling me it's the same manufactured tip between the two pens. But I personally think they're different. That was always one of my big hangups on why I like the DX so much, even though the RT and RT1 should theoretically be the exact same refill in a retractable pen. I always found the line to be different, which is why I always preferred the DX. So, I don't know if I'm totally answering your question. I don't think I can answer your question perfectly. But with Uniball, they have many different ink formulas, many that they use in the same lineup. So, you do have to pay attention. I do think, and this is just my opinion, I did not ask them or get clarification on this, their base gel ink pens, and by that I mean the DX, the RT1s, and the base 207 is the same ink. But there's variances outside of those three definitive models. And I think there might even be some tip manufacturing variance between like the DX and the RT1 like I was speaking about. But since the 207 is the popular shelf brand, that's the one they experiment with the most with nanoparticles and pigmented inks and saturated inks. And then they've morphed that into the Uniball 1 line, which just adds in more confusion. So, out of all these lines, I think the Signo 207 product lineup is the most confusing for consumers with at least three different ink formulations that you may not notice when you're buying them. So, I think this is a good question. I'm sorry I can't give you like a complete like exact chart of clear black and white facts on this. But that's my take on those specific inks.

Myke Hurley: This episode is brought to you by Pen Chalet. Pen Chalet have the greatest product selection around. You can buy products from your favorite brands, whether you want something from Pilot, Sailor, Caverco, Platinum, Monteverde, many more. The list goes on and on and on. Like if you go to the Pen Chalet website and you hit the brand link, there's always stuff that's being added new there. And the list is just huge. They have rollables and fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, inks. They have carrying cases, pen holders, refills, so much more. So, you can get the pens that you want and the accessories that keep them running. They're always adding new styles of pens every month and they have discounts every couple of weeks. Pen Chalet believe in fast and reliable customer service and they want to give Pen Addict listeners great deals. Pen Chalet have low prices and high quality pens. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, free shipping on orders of over $75 in the U.S. and reasonable shipping rates for international customers. Go to penchalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password Pen Addict where you will get your eyes on this week's special offer and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything over at Pen Chalet. What have you found, Brad? There's some new stuff in there I spoke to run and he added some new deets.

Brad Dowdy: So, I'm going to do a big tease, Myke. I'm not going to tell you what's on there, but I'm going to tell you an anecdote from the Orlando Pen Show that I had someone come up to me and say, Brad, thank you for telling me what was on that Pen Chalet sale page because I was able to go get one of those Pelican nibs that you mentioned was such a huge outlier on there at a great price on Pen Chalet. And I wouldn't have known it was there unless you scrolled all the way to the bottom of this page. So, you got to go to this page yourself and find out all the magic that's on it because, you know, I can tell you all the secrets that are on here and I usually do. And in that case, I got some feedback. It's like, hey, thanks for sharing those secrets with us. So, y'all got to dig through this page. There's some cool stuff here. So, yeah. So, go check it out. That's the best selling point I can give you is that that's the feedback I got just last week at the Orlando Pen Show. It's thanking me for sussing out some of the great deals on this page. And thanks to Ron for putting it together.

Myke Hurley: That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T dot com. Hit the podcast link at the top of their website. Use the password of Pen Addict for this week's special offer. And to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pen Chalet. Our thanks to Pen Chalet for their continued support of this show and RelayFM. All right. Our next question comes from Joe. And Joe says, my favorite gel pens are the Zebra Sarasa Clip 1mm and the Pilot G2 1mm, mostly used for writing addresses on postcards. I've been trying and failing to find a multi-pen that accommodates these refills. I feel like I must be missing something obvious. So I thought I'd drop you guys a note in the hopes that I have just been oblivious. If there's something that fits those refills specifically, any recommendation for a similar broad, preferably gel, multi-pen would be appreciated. If there's nothing that fits them specifically.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So Joe is completely missing something obvious. Whoa. And it is... Sorry, Joe.

Myke Hurley: Get ready to have your mind blown, Joe.

Brad Dowdy: No, no, no. No, no, no, Joe. It's a technical problem. You can't fit wide tips in a multi-pen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I thought you were going to say that.

Brad Dowdy: It is a technical problem. So there are no multi-pens over like 0.7mm. And a lot of the 0.7mm aren't even gel, they're ballpoint because they can narrow those tips even further. The gel ink pens, like when you get into the 1.0s and even the 0.7s, you need a wide tip to get a good flow for the ink. And then the problem is you're laying so much ink on the page, even if you could fit like two or three 1.0mm gel ink refills in there, you're going to run out of those inks in like a day because the capacity is going to have to be so small to fit in the barrel. So, Joe, you can't have it. Thank you, Joe. You don't get nice things, Joe. But no, it's a technical problem, right? Like the key for multi-pen refills is they have to be narrow enough to fit throughout the opening in the barrel. And when you get those wide tips, even for like a two-pen or two-refill multi-pen, which theoretically should be possible, you're going to have such a poor refill size that you're going to end up having a bad experience because you're going to use the ink so quick. So, yeah, it's a technical problem. And that's just – I'm sorry, that's not the answer that you wanted, but that's all you're going to get.

Finding the Right Pen, Ink, and Paper Combination

Myke Hurley: Peter asks, as pen enthusiasts, we all love being in the sweet spot with the right pen, the right ink, the right paper for the job. But what do you do when you have to write on non-friendly paper like a birthday card or something like signing a credit card?

Brad Dowdy: You find a ballpoint pen you love. Yeah, me too. And they're out there. I'm a massive ballpoint pen fan. I'm the biggest ballpoint pen fan I know. I love ballpoint pens. I love basic BICs all the way up to your fancy Jetstreams. You basic BIC. You basic BIC. So, yeah, like – but you can find – like if it's like something you want to use continuously and just have one of and make sure you have one nice one, find a ballpoint pen you like. Again, I prefer Jetstreams, but they – that is the option, and you have to be open to – I hate to say this because I don't believe in it – lowering yourself, right, to, you know, from your Mont Blanc 149. You know, you're going to have to get – you're going to have to bust out the basic BIC sometimes and find you a good one. Find you a good one. So, they're out there. You have to embrace the ballpoint, Peter, and I just think that's what you're going to have to do.

Myke Hurley: Like, sometimes you can make a rollable work, but you've got to be really gentle with it. And I would say for birthday cards, I try and write with nice pens and birthday cards. I use it as a way to show that I care about a person.

Brad Dowdy: I also use Sharpie Ultra Fines when I need that.

Myke Hurley: That's a good one. That's a good tip.

Brad Dowdy: That's like a ballpoint pen and a Sharpie Ultra Fine pen are two good pens to just have laying around the house.

Myke Hurley: Anonymous. Anonymous, even anonymous person or the anonymous organization.

Myke Hurley: Oh, no. Is it possible to buy refills for the Jelly Roll 06 Classic that I could use in another pen body? I only recently discovered the Jelly Roll. I'm way too old to have used it in school and find its writing qualities to be exactly what I like. But the plain tube body isn't. I've looked around about success.

Brad Dowdy: I believe they're proprietary. I'm trying to double check while we go through here. But Secura refills in general are proprietary. I'm just trying to see if I can come up with something offhand.

Myke Hurley: I can't imagine you could take this out very easily.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They, yeah. These are essentially built into the pen. And the way the tip design is, it's integrated with like a, like a nose cone on the refill. Like I don't think it slots through. So actually I don't even think they're refillable with their own refills. I think they're just standard sticks. And like you could probably like have some kind of hardcore hacking to get this, get this done. But I don't think these are really compatible with anything. So I'll double check. And if I, if anyone has any feedback on this, definitely email me. Hello at penatic.com. But I don't think these are swappable with anything, even themselves.

Myke Hurley: Doesn't look like it. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So I know that's not the answer you wanted, but.

Myke Hurley: No. But it's sometimes you just get what you get, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep.

Myke Hurley: Martin writes in and asks, for my birthday, I've got an ARC hole punch. What's ARC? Do you know?

Brad Dowdy: ARC is a brand. Oh, it's ARC. Like those? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Oh, the staples ones. Yes. Because I know like, is it Levenger? Levenger. Yeah. Yep. Yep. I knew the beginning and the end of that word. But I wasn't sure what was in the middle. I got an ARC hole punch, says Martin, and matching discs. And I've learned that disc-bound notebooks are definitely my thing. I've only used regular printer paper, though, and I'm looking for an upgrade. What are some good options for fountain pen-friendly paper, preferably loose sheets, when price and quantity are my top priority? Quality needs to be decent, but not necessarily to the standard of Tomoe River paper. I feel like I know the answer.

Brad Dowdy: What? Life. No. Ah. Kokuyo.

Myke Hurley: Nemanine, Nemesine, Munumine. Nemesine. Nemesine. Morroman.

Brad Dowdy: No, we want loose leaf. We want loose sheets. Okay. So Kikuyo makes basically like the 500 packs of printer paper, and they are very high quality. I use them for my own hole punches. They work great with fountain pens. Like this is kind of the go-to for a lot of people. They come in a lot of different default sizes. So like if you have an A4, A5 arc system, you can just go ahead and buy like the properly sized paper. I don't know if Staples Arc System uses international standards. So you might have to trim the edges or something like that. But this is like the best bulk paper you can buy for being fountain pen friendly. I literally have some sitting on my desk right here. It's really, really good quality. So like I wouldn't even send you anywhere else. Like the HP 32-pound LaserJet like gets a lot of recommendations, but I prefer this Kikuyo. It's great.

Myke Hurley: I didn't know about this at all. I don't think you've ever brought this up before.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep. I bought the – did I buy an A5? Like I bought an A5 pack of it, I believe. I think it comes in A5. Does it? Yeah, A5. I bought an A5 pack. And then I can – and I have a hole punch, and I can put it like right in my William Hanna. And it's a stark white page too, right? Like it's not cream or ivory colored. And it works exceptionally well with fountain pens. Like what happened was someone brought this and brought it to a pen show like DC like years and years and years ago and was handing out sheets. And it was like fantastic. And it's like so cheap, right? Like it's really, really dirt cheap for what it is. So that's exactly what you want, Martin. I would not search any further than that, to be perfectly honest.

Myke Hurley: Job done. Mm-hmm. All right. This next question comes from – oh, no. I've lost the page. I've lost my new page. Here we go. I got it again. This next question comes – I was looking at this Kukuyu stuff. So Brittany writes in and says, I'm looking for a fountain pen that handles shimmer inks well. I know they require more care and attention than standard inks, but I plan on using them for occasional letter writing with a thorough cleaning after. I've considered a dip pen, but they don't seem very consistent, which is something I would like to work on in my handwriting. I'm looking for something under $100, but I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Brad Dowdy: Maybe the easiest question I've gotten today, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Love it.

Brad Dowdy: I think it's the TWSBI Eco or 580. Like, either of the TWSBI's are really popular for shimmer ink because, one, let's be honest, it looks cool. Yeah. It's really cool looking. But more importantly, they're easy to disassemble to clean, right? They're super, super easy to clean. You can get the feet – the nib unit is just unscrewed. You can take the nibs off the feeds. You can soak everything, clean everything. You can rinse out the barrel very, very easily. And as a bonus, those come with stub nib options. So you may not want that. You might just want a medium or, you know, a broad or extra fine, a standard nib. But they both come in stub nib options, which are great for letter writing, especially when you want the shimmer to go down on the page and get a lot of ink on the page. So they just kind of check all the boxes for what I'm looking for when the shimmer ink. And honestly, my TWSBI 580, I have a Prussian blue 580 with a 1.5 stub nib. And that is where my shimmer inks go nine times out of ten. Like, it's just kind of the perfect setup for using shimmer inks.

Myke Hurley: I want to make a slight amendment to your suggestion here. TWSBI Go.

Myke Hurley: It's cheaper. Maybe. Yeah. It's cheaper. Right? So it's 20 bucks. Yeah. So if you do eventually – Also stub nib. Forget to clean it. Right? You're only at $20. And if you're going to be filling and emptying it frequently, spring, baby.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It just – yeah. That might be a good option. I have not personally tested that. But I would agree with you there. And a clarification in the chat, the Eco nib does not unscrew, but it's a friction fit. So you can just pull it out, which might even be easier than the 580 nib, to be honest, which does unscrew as a unit. And then you have to pull the nib out from the unit. The Eco is just friction fit. It just slides right out. Nib and feed. It might be even easier to clean. So yeah. Those are my go-tos.

Nib Crud Phenomenon and Orange Ink Issues

Myke Hurley: Anne Harmony asks, I experienced something fascinating and new to me. Nib crud. I filled my new Sailor 1911S fried egg jellyfish. What is that, Brad? Yeah. What is that? I don't know, but I'm ready for lunch now. 1911 fried egg jellyfish.

Brad Dowdy: Let's go.

Myke Hurley: What is that? Okay. I see. It's like a kind of ambery colored.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Well, they said they haven't put in a matching dark orange ink.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's got a kind of amber color to it. Oh, it's got some like. Oh, sweet. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Some like. Oh, I know. This was a series. So they did five of these, I believe. Okay. Yeah. Purple. There you go. Yeah. Like there's like a purple, a magenta, a blue. Yeah. Okay. I remember these. Yes.

Myke Hurley: Oh, they were the jellyfish pens and they had fresh water, fried egg. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: They're under moratorium, I think.

Myke Hurley: Sure. So. So. We missed them. Coming back to Harmony's question. Let's get to the question, Myke. I filled it with a matching dark orange ink, Monteverde's Joy. I accidentally left it uncapped for a minute. Looked. I would say you don't need to worry about leaving your pen uncapped for a minute, right? Like I don't say it's an accident. You just left your pen uncapped for a minute. It's okay. I think anyway. But Harmony says, I looked down and I saw gross dry ink bubbles literally oozing out of every crevice on the top of the nib. Gross description. Especially like considering this is a fried egg jellyfish. And we've got like oozing crevices. Disgusting. Honestly terrifying, says Harmony. I read the orange. I read that orange inks in particular are prone to this. This is very interesting. Have you experienced it or heard of it? Harmony, welcome. This is orange ink town. You love orange. This is the price you pay.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this is the price you pay. So just for people who are not familiar with this, the dyes in orange, red and yellow inks, obviously are very related.

Brad Dowdy: Tend to have this phenomenon called nib crud. Not every ink does it. I've really never, as much as I use fire on fire, shout out me. My Robert Oster fought on fire, fire on fire. I don't get nib crud. Never had it in that one though. But my Mont Blanc lucky orange is like instant crud. They should just call that ink insta crud.

Myke Hurley: The luck is if your pen does not get full of like just crust. Yes. But it's a fantastic orange. But yeah, it is instant. It's a great orange.

Brad Dowdy: It happens instant. So the thing to know here is you're not going, it does not damage your pen. Okay. So let's, let's just be clear on that. It's just kind of an effect of the atmosphere you're in combined with the dyes of the ink lead to this nib just kind of oozing some places. A lot of times like on top of the nib or you'll see it in your feed, it looks like a growth like, oh, this is terrible. You know, but it's actually, you can just, you can continue to use your pen. And you can rinse it off. It's just bothersome in appearance. It's not really going to cause any damage, but it is legitimately a thing you're going to experience. Diamine's ancient copper, I believe is another popular ink that has like the bad crud problem. So that and lucky orange, I think are the two that I always get emails about. And that's still in that orange, red, yellow category. There's something about that dye and the way it works. It's crystallizing. With, you know, the air, right? And it tends to do that. And yeah, it kind of stinks. Like I don't like it either, Harmony. Right. Yeah. Like I don't like it either. I tend not to reach for lucky orange because I know I'm just going to be bothered by it. But just, it doesn't damage anything. Um, and that's just unfortunately like one of the fortunate side effects of some of these inks. So there's, there's no way to mitigate it. Really. If you have one that cruds, it's going to crud. And if you have one that doesn't, it's not going to like, I know if I'm going to use Montblanc lucky orange, one day I'm going to uncap it and it's going to be all on top of the nib. Right. So you just don't use it or try to find something else. But there are a few famous inks that are known for this and they're all going to be like in the red, orange, yellow category. So apologies, Harmony, that, uh, that is part of the deal with some of these inks. And you might just want to switch inks if it's going to bother you, which it honestly it would bother me too.

Myke Hurley: Thank you so much to everybody that sent in an RSTPA question. As expected, we did not get to the end of this list, but if you want to get your question onto the list to be answered in the future, please go to penaddictfeedback.com and you can send your question in there. Go to penaddict.com, which is where you can find Brad's work. Spokedesign.com is where you can find his products. He is penaddict on social media and over at twitch.tv slash penaddict where Brad streams three times a week. You can find me at imike, I-M-Y-K-E. This show is a part of Relay FM where I host many shows myself. And you can find my work at cortexbrown.com. But the most important thing, go to stjude.org slash relay. And please join us for the fifth podcast-a-thon for St. Jude on September 22nd from 12 to 12 U.S. Eastern Time over at twitch.tv slash relay.fm. We'll love to see you there. Thank you to Pen Shelley for the support of this episode. Thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. I'll see you there.