Editing The Pen Addict 284/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. And the next one from sister, you want to build a fountain pen gift set that includes a pen, a single ink and a notebook journal notepad. What would you select for a newbie, a confirmed enthusiast and a hardcore user? So this one kind of answers a lot of questions for a lot of people, a lot of good, um, good things. For some reason, I keep putting myself at the top of these questions more. I must've done a bad job sorting, uh, the answers who goes first, but I'm still going to go first for the newbie. I chose the TWSBI eco with a bottle of pilot, a Roshizuku Kanpeki, get that bright blue sloshing around. And that pen would look pretty cool and all on a Rodea ice pad, which I think is a really good way to show off. That ink looks good with the pen. It's just kind of a nice kit that all works together. So why don't we all do our newbies first? Anna, what's your newbie?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Okay. This is where I'm going to get in trouble. Cause I said, I said the wing sun six 98,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' which are you talking about?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I'm sorry. It's essentially a knockoff of the TWSBI eco, but I like it better. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Tell us why you like it better.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Okay. It has, instead of actually having a, the TWSBI nib, it has a pilot nib on it or a knockoff of a pilot nib. And I actually like the clip on it better. And there's a locking mechanism on the piston so that it doesn't come undone as easily. I know it sounds really silly, but I have one and I've been using it basically since the San Francisco show and it works really well. And I have terrible luck with TWSBI's. I always get a scratchy nib and pilot nibs aren't scratchy. So not even knockoff pilot nibs aren't scratchy. I'm with you. So for, from all of the knockoff brands, this one I've been very happy with. So it's kind of a knockoff, but kind of not a sort of an improvement. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's got some changes, some different, different features.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And it aesthetically doesn't actually look like it. The TWSBI eco, it had, the cap is different. So I feel like they improve change, made it different. So anyway, but yeah,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' it's an inspiration.

'''Ana Reinert:''' It's an inspiration. It's about $24. So a little bit, a little bit less expensive. And then I put it with a mini bottle of Diamine. So pick your favorite color because they are demonstrators. So whatever your favorite color is, and then put it with a life, either a vermilion or pistachio. So either the lined or the grid notebook for the newbie.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Myke, how about you for the newbie?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I would say for the newbie, maybe a rodeo web notebook, because it's kind of in a style that most people will be familiar with. Right. So you kind of, yeah. The one up on the, on the Moleskine. That's what I would go there. And then also a pilot metropolitan. It's just a good all round accepted as a, as a good starter. So that's kind of where I would go for that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. That's a pen you can't really go wrong with. Even like when I, I don't use them, but every time I pick them up, I'm like, oh yeah, I see why this is such a good pen. Like it's just really well made. And like Anna says, the pilot nibs are really, really great. All right. For the enthusiast, I picked a pilot custom nine 12 with a FA nib, which is their super flexible nib. I figure if you're an enthusiast, you're ready to branch out a little bit. And while the barrel of the pen might be a little simple, it's a larger pen. So it's got a really good feel to it. And that FA nib, it's just a really neat, different type of feel than what you would normally have for maybe just, you know, your basic pen. Like if you're coming from a TWSBI or like a Pelican M205, it's just a different feel. And I'd want to put a bright ink in that. So the sailor apricot, I think it's perfect for that pen to see the colors and the shading and it'll perform well with it. And then I chose the Apica CD premium notebook, which is my personal favorite notebook. It's very expensive. So you want to, you want to get it as a gift because of the cost. It's not exactly a reasonably priced notebook. They're $35 where you can get things like the web notebook or the Loitch term for $20 or less that are really, really nice. But if you're going to the enthusiast route, I think you want to expand their horizons a little bit, do something a little bit different. So what do you have, Anna?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I put the sailor pro gear or pro gear slim. Cause again, you're kind of going up in the category and then a sailor gentle as well for the ink. And then the Rhodia heritage book block, which is the, um, Rhodia is new line that has the sort of exposed spine, which I think is, Oh yeah, those are cool. Really nice. And I like that the, they're either aligned or grid on the inside and the lines and grid are orange instead of, um, they're either gray or purple marks. So they're not kind of as sort of vivid. They're kind of a little bit more subdued. I really like those. So I think that's a nice change and they're not super expensive, but that's still got the really nice Rhodia paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Very cool. All right, Mr. Hurley, how are you going to enthuse somebody?

'''Myke Hurley:''' But Lamy 2000. Yeah. If you get a good one, it's going to be one of the best pens you ever own. It is just, it's an all-star. Um, and I love it. Uh, it is a good way, I think, to take somebody who is becoming interested and turn them into, like a devotee, right? Like it's, it's cause it is a, it is a really, really good fountain pen that you can use anywhere and it always fits in and it just, it performs great. So a big fan of that. And then I guess if you're on the train at this point, you've probably picked up some pocket notebooks along the way. Um, and I think that one of the best performing all around pocket notebooks is the story supply edition 407. Um, and I think if you're going to give somebody a Lamy 2000, do you want to give them a good pocket notebook that can, can take it perfectly? And the story supply will do that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah,

'''Myke Hurley:''' that's perfect. Perfect.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. For the hardcore user, what would I get them?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The pen was actually pretty hard. And then when I thought about it, I was like, Oh yeah, that's the one I want to use. I had the exact same thought. I was like, what do you do? And then like it dawned on me and I was like, Oh, it's easy. I chose the pilot custom eight 23. I think that's probably the best all around bang for your buck pin on the market. Despite it being almost $300. It's very expensive, but it's an amazing pen that it ticks off all the boxes. It's got a great feel, great filling mechanism, great nib, great style, great look. And, um, I just think it's just a fantastic pen. And the ink I chose is a popular one. Uh, Anna and I definitely think along the same lines. I picked the, what is actually for the hardcore user, a tame color, but a very interesting ink. And that's the Kiyo no Oto number one, the Nureba Iro, which is the black. When you think about black inks, you don't think that many of them have character. This one does. It's a very interesting black ink. That's just a joy to use. It's really, really pretty. Um, and then I chose the big life, noble notebook, the big honking a four size. It's a really, really cool notebook that kind of makes a statement on your desk. Um, it's a large, very large notebook, but it's beautiful and has great, uh, great paper. So those were my choices for the hardcore user. What about you, Anna?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Um, I picked the platinum 3776 as the pen for hardcore. And I picked the soft fine, but I'm sure any nib and a 3776 would be excellent. And then for the ink, you and I were thinking the same. I said pretty much any Kyo Iro or Kyo Noto, um, ink, but I said either the, um, Kyo Iro number two or number five and the Kyo Noto, either the number one. And I was letting you pronounce it. The black. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm not.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Or the number five, which is the blue black.