Editing The Pen Addict 132/transcript (section)

== Pen Rankings ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, do you have your top five best pens? How about a top five worst pens? And I look back, I had done a post on the blog before. This is kind of a two-part question to answer both Mary's question and the worst pens question.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I actually did a post last year called the worst pens I have ever reviewed. I don't know if I've had any since then that would make me change the list, but this old list contains the Oto dude and the Oto fine and even the Oto rook. All of those Oto fountain pens are terrible. And Oto, which is sad because Oto makes good pens outside of the fountain pen market. You know, I love the drawing pen that they have is one of my favorite pens. So that's the Oto fountain pen line needs some serious help. And then I had a couple other ones like the Pentel Sleechies, which is the Sleechy multi-pen. The regular Sleechy is fine. The Sleechy multi-pen is not. The tool ballpoint is a train wreck for all of you tool fans. They make really good gel pens, but the ballpoint is a mess. And then just a couple of other more random pens like the Bic A1 gel and the Carondash 849, which I got a lot of grief on. A lot of people love the Carondash 849. The refill I had in it was terrible. And it was a huge disappointment because it was like a $25 pen or $20 pen. And it was craptastic. So that's some of my worst pens. Now, Mary's part of this was pens that I have changed preferences on. And I had to think about that. And for the longest time, I couldn't come up with anything. I was trying to think of there's something that I've used a lot that I've gotten kind of down on. And then it hit me that I've been having trouble with a certain pen for months, if not longer. And that's the Pilot Hi-Tech C. Whoa!

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Huh. I don't know if I'm not using them often enough. You know, I've got so many other pens I use. When it's going good, the .3 millimeter Pilot Hi-Tech C is the best pen on the planet, I think, for me. But I've always said that's never a pen I recommend because it's so finicky, right? You have to use it. And, you know, it's sometimes hard starts. But when it's good, it's great.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've been having a hard time getting to that great part recently. I've been having to fight more and more refills than I've expected. Like, I just got the Apollo pen, which was a Kickstarter pen that was, like, super delayed by, like, a year. And I put in a blue-black refill, and I used it a bunch for a couple days. And then I set it down, and then I picked it up maybe three or four days later, and I couldn't get it to write. And that's been a recurring theme with a bunch of my Hi-Tech Cs, and I don't get it. It's been a little bit of a – I've been having more frustration with the Hi-Tech C than I recall ever having before. So that's one where I'm getting a little bit down on. So, yeah, there's that. Do you have anything in this category, Myke, that you've – you know, there's something you're just not using anymore? Just – it's out of the rotation, and it's just not been doing it for you?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, man, there's so many things. I mean, especially, like, the stuff that I don't use anymore, you know, that I once thought was amazing. I mean, like, for example, like, just as a brand, Kaweco nibs don't do it for me anymore. Mm-hmm. I just don't think that they're as good as, say, like, Twisby's nibs. But, you know, like, you know – and then again, like, the problems I've had with Twisby as well, right? So, like, their build quality, like, over time, I actually am not 100% on it, but it's good, right? So, like, I'm – probably my next pen will be the 580 AL in orange.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that's pretty nice.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's probably going to be – so the Twisby 580 AL in orange, if anyone is planning on it at home, that's probably going to be my next pen purchase. Goulet have that. I'll put that in the show notes for those guys. Yep. Yeah, that's probably going to be my next – I was looking at it again the other day. But it's just kind of like right now, I do feel pretty set right now, which is kind of scary. But at the moment, I feel okay with my current lineup. Like, primarily, I'm using the ink, the rollable. Mm-hmm. And I'm also using Retro 51, and I'm using the ink, fountain pen, and the Lamy 2000. They're kind of like my current 4. Mm-hmm. I'm using a Retro 51 again because it's easy to pocket, you know? Yeah. So right now, I'm feeling pretty good. So like I was actually – was about to buy it and then thought, nah, I'm okay right now. I'm waiting for something to totally blow me away before I make another pen purchase, I think. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What do you think about that? Does that sound crazy?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let's readjust these show notes a little bit because one of the questions I wanted to answer from the listeners was, how do you justify owning so many fountain pens and just pens in general? You know, how – and that's kind of like what you're talking about right now. Why – what's going to make me buy that next pen? You know, I'm really happy with the things that I have right now, and I have a lot of those things, and I keep going back to the same pens over and over again, and I keep not using another group of pens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So how do you justify that next purchase? And that's kind of what you're talking about, I think, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, because it's like I have a ton, right? And I'm feeling pretty good about it right now. So why – you know, I have some stuff coming. Like I have like a Kickstarter project that I backed, which is late.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do you remember that pen, the Nexus pen? You're a backer of that too, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I am an anxious backer of that, and they just sent an update today. They're going to be shipping in January.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Which is later and later again. I can still complain. You can't.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I can't complain. And Dan Bishop cannot complain.