Editing The Pen Addict 187/transcript (section)

== On Fountain Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, Maybelline Tan over at On Fountain Pens, which is a great blog if you're not following it, you should, does a feature every year called The 12 Days of Christmas where she invites other bloggers and writers and pen aficionados to write an article for this series that she does. She does one every day for 12 days and she asked me to participate this year and I wasn't sure what to write about. And, you know, I took a few days to think about it and then it hit me that pretty much every ink or every pen I had inked up at the time had a steel nib in it and I realized how much I enjoy steel nibs. So, I wanted to, you know, explain a little bit why I love steel nibs, why people should not discount steel nibs. Like if they're, you know, kind of new to the whole world of fountain pens and, you know, you don't have to buy a gold nib to get started to have an amazing writing experience with a fountain pen and things like that. And I always have Brian Gray's, you know, article in the back of my head and I've linked to it a thousand times on, you know, why steel nibs are such a good option for fountain pens. And, um, I just, I, I enjoyed writing that because I really believe that I just, the functionality of a steel nib and the way I can swap them between pens really fits my style. Um, also they're generally firmer than gold nibs, which fits my style. It has to be, you know, you have to find something to fit your writing style, but you should give, you know, steel nibs, you know, a chance, you know, the gold nibs are so different. They can be super expensive in, in relation to the steel. I just think, you know, I don't think really necessarily anyone that listens to this show, um, you know, doesn't already know these types of things, but I just kind of wanted to put it out there in a more direct way with, with this article.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I read it today and like, I, I kind of get where you're coming from. Like, I don't really know if I would say that one is categorically better than the other, right? And sure. Like I have some gold nibs that I love. I have some steel nibs that I love. I think that there is, for me anyway, there are a bunch of other factors at play, not just the material. Like, I don't think that one is universally better than the other. Like I have some, some of my favorite pens have gold and some of my favorite pens are steel.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sure, sure. And, you know, I, I elaborate on that. Like I'll, you know, all my Nakayas have gold nibs on it and I wouldn't want it any other way. You know, things like that. But when you're getting more into fountain pens and trying several different things, you can have several different experiences with the same pen just by changing the nib.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' With a steel nib, it's so much more cost effective than with a gold nib where you can try different things. You can try an extra fine, a broad and a stub all for, you know, half the price you'd pay for a gold nib, you know, just to see what type of things you like. So I'm just throwing those options out there for people who are looking at those things that, you know, you don't have to go nuts buying gold nibs. If, you know, if you can find some steel ones that work just as well for you. And it does, it does matter your writing style. Like my writing style definitely benefits from a steel nib because it's fast and firm and blocky. You know, it's not smooth and, you know, cursive and swoopy like, you know, a larger handwriting does that might benefit from a softer gold nib. But, you know, other factors, all things being equal, they're awfully similar a lot of times. But yeah, I certainly have pens where I wouldn't take my gold nib out of them for anything. And I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying you can be very creative with steel nibs in what you're using on a daily basis.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. No doubt.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I also wrote another article on Pen Addict where I don't do too many year end posts. I do some here and there. I'm not honestly not very consistent about doing that. And I'd like to be a little bit more consistent. But I wanted to do just kind of a wrap up of what I use the most in 2015, what pens I got the most enjoyment out of. So I did my favorite products of 2015 post. And I talked about a few things that were obvious, like my Edison Pearl G10 orange pen was probably the best pen I bought all of last year. So there was no doubt that was going to make it in the list. The Montblanc JFK ink, which I've raved about and fill it up in all kinds of different pens. That's going to make the list. But, you know, I had things like the Blackwing 602. I use the heck out of that pencil. Like it's one of those items where if I don't have it near me, which I've talked about a lot, even if I'm not using it, if I know it's not anywhere near me, I don't like that. I'd rather it be, you know, kind of within arm's reach of in my desk to where I can just grab it. And that's how, you know, like a product is really, really stuck with you. Well, you know, I also love the pen type B. I carry that every day, pretty much. It's got brought me back in love with the high tech C refill, the 0.3 millimeter and the Karis custom ink, which is not really a surprise to me, but it's I'm surprised at how much. I want to use it, you know, I don't want it to go sit uninked and me not have it ready to use. Right. So that's, you know, kind of the kind of the baseline for like these products. Like if I didn't have something, one of these items either inked up or sitting right next to me or loaded up with ink or like the paper I put the Rodia, you know, I'm always scratch padding, doodling and writing reviews and Rodia. If I don't have all of these things like right around me and available at all times, I miss them. And then I want to go get them and ink them up or use them, things like that. So that's how I knew that these were the right products for me. And I probably left some out, but like I just kept thinking, like if I could have one case filled up with all of these things, I'm golden. Like that's all I need. Like that's what kind of felt good about, you know, doing a list like this. It wasn't, you know, 50 products that I loved or things like that. It was what, six, you know, four pens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, three pens, a pencil, a pad and an ink. That's pretty good. That's a pretty good kit, I think. And it feels good. Like I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. It felt like a good usability kit. It gave me a good enough range of things to use. And it's just products I was super, super happy with last year.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's a nice selection. I saw this when it went up. That special orange Edison, though, he's just so mean for putting that in there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's totally unfair. And I think I wrote that in the comments. I mean, it's a literal, right now, it's a literal one of one pen. It doesn't mean they're not going to make any more later, but it was a prototype, right? And it's the only one they made. And that plays almost nothing into why I like it so much, right? Yep. It's basically like if I had a pen made for me, this is like what I would dream up. Like this hard G10 material and this bright, bright orange. And in the Edison Pearl shape, which is a Nakaya Piccolo shape. I mean, it just spoke to me like no other pen did. Now, did you have any favorite products of 2015? Not to totally put you on the spot. I kind of think I know what if you like chose a pen, like your favorite pen of the year. I kind of think I know what it might be. But do you have anything like this?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. The Sailor Pro gear. Yeah. That's such a good pen. It's one of my favorite things of the year that I came across. The Colt Pens Mechanical Pencil. Yeah. Is another one. For me, definitely. I think they're the two things that I added to my collection this year that have made me the happiest, have made the biggest impact.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's like the repetitive use. Things kind of, it's like a natural selection thing that happens on your desk, right? You just keep grabbing the same thing over and over again. Then you realize that you don't want to use anything else. Then you realize that, wow, this is a really great product. Yeah. You know, that's kind of how it comes about. And everything else gets pushed to the side. And that's what those products did for me. Now, coming up next year, or I guess we're in this year now, like 2016. Like, we don't have any big, like, thing planned, you know, for the show to talk about, like, our stationary resolutions like we have in the past. But do you have any, like, goals, plans, anything like that for 2016? Is there anything you're looking forward to buying? I mean, obviously, you're looking forward to coming to the Atlanta Pen Show. I know that. But do you have any plans for going forward in 2016 on things you'd like to do in the stationary realm?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have some stuff that I want to maybe talk about next week. Things that I want to do a little bit differently. Yeah. Just with the current stuff that I have.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But in regards to, like, stuff that I'm looking for, I don't know. Like, I don't know. Maybe I need to buy less field notes. Yeah. I need to stop buying extras, I think. Sure. I think they – I redid my membership, right, my colors. And I think they screwed up something with the order because they sent me more of the current ones, what are they called?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Snowblind.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They sent me more Snowblind.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's happened to you once before, hadn't it?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. They always send me extra stuff. But now I have more – I have, like, eight packs of Snowblind now.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And so I just need to stop buying extras, I think. I need to stop doing that because it's just building up.