Editing The Pen Addict 273/transcript (section)

== Platinum Pen ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Maybe so. Maybe so. So, the pen I reviewed this week, and I've already talked about on the podcast before how much I liked it, the Platinum 3776 Shunggyu. Yep. You wanted to talk about my review on that one? Because I got that posted this week.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I just found it interesting because there's kind of these two parts of the review, these two lines, which I thought were interesting when put together. You said, I never used a stock nib that felt like this, and it fit my writing style perfectly. And this is the Pilot Hi-Tech C 0.3mm gel ink pen of the fountain pen world. Because you're talking about the soft, fine nib, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, it's almost two different reviews. It's like the style and look and feel of the 3776 and this beautiful red and rhodium-bladed limited edition barrel, and then the nib. So, because I tried the soft, fine nib. And I mentioned it when I first got it, how unique this nib felt for me. It's really soft, but doesn't flex. I mean, it's got some spring in it, and there's a little bit of line variation if you push it, but it's by no means a flex. But it's got like a bounce to it. But I thought my line would be wider in width than it was. It ended up being a very fine, thin line, and I enjoyed it. I was like, wow, this is great. And I've always been asked, you know, what pen, what fountain pen can I get that writes like one of, you know, my favorite super fine gel pens. And a lot of times, anything you can get, like Pilot had the best extra fine steel nibs. If you could find them and you could modify some existing pens, move, you know, pens around from, they had the Pilot penmanship with the extra fine nib that a lot of people would put those in a Metropolitan or a Prayer or something like that to get that extra fine style. Or you'd have to get the extra fine nib unit for the vanishing point, which wasn't all that common years ago, but now it's become easier to get. And those were always kind of my go-to answers for if you wanted a super fine gel ink line and a fountain pen, that's what you get. Well, this one is even different than those because of the softness, it requires very, very little writing pressure to make a very fine, clean, neat line. And I enjoyed it. But the more I used it, I realized, you know, it's by no means a perfect nib. Um, and there's some gotchas. And I wrote and wrote and wrote. I wrote a ton with it because I was very curious about it. And if I had my writing angle wrong, it wouldn't write well, you know, or. Like if I twisted my hand a little bit and the angle wasn't right, I couldn't hit the sweet spot right. And it was very, very particular. And then it hit me that that's exactly what the, this is how I feel about the Pilot Hi-Tech C, which is my favorite gel ink pen, but a lot of people hate because it is so particular. Sometimes it's a little bit dry. When you start, it needs a little bit of priming to write with. But when it's going well, it makes my letters look better than any other pen I own. And I'm kind of getting that feel from the Soft Fine Platinum nib. And I wanted to be sure in the review that I talked about how particular this was. This is not, I'm not going to go out and just rave about this nib and say, everyone should get this nib and it's awesome and wonderful. Because it's not, like it's not going to work for a lot of people. And I saw that in San Francisco. Anna wanted to try my pen. And she is a lefty like you. And she just started writing with it right away. And she's like, oh, this is amazing. And I'm going to go try to find one. And then she'd hand it around to a few other people. And I would watch them physically not be able to get ink to come out of this nib. Like they could not write with this pen. I was like, oh. And Anna saw the same thing. And she's like, you know, I've given it to this person and that person. And like, they hated it. Like they couldn't even write with it. But look at me. Like I have this and look at the line go. And it feels awesome. And I'm going to go get one. So there wasn't a lot of middle ground in the soft fine. And I even had our good friend Dan Smith at the Nibsmith tweeted at me yesterday after he read the review. And from someone who, he number one sells platinums and number two repairs nibs and modifies them. He said Brad's experience is spot on with the SF nib out of the box. Right. So having, you know, someone who has to deal with these nibs on a multiple user basis, he sees the same thing. So it's an interesting nib. It's one of those products. And we all have products that are particular to us. And this is one that's very particular to me. I really enjoy it. I love it. I'm going to use it a lot. But it's hard to recommend to other people in that nib. So that's just kind of wanted to say about the soft fine nib. Because in general, I would recommend the 3776 as a pen in a normal nib to anyone. I think it's great. But this nib is super particular. And there's a chance you might not like it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It always underscores the benefit, like underscores the message of if you are able to try a pen before you buy it, that is always a good thing. Yep. Right. Especially if you're buying something you've not had before. So like if you want to buy one of these soft fine nibs, try and find a way to try it or buy it from a place that has good return policies. Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. I don't think this one would work for me. Like if the Aurora didn't even work for me, right? Like I literally just couldn't get ink to come out of it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I assume this is probably very similar. Right. And unfortunately for you, that's kind of my style. So when you grab some of the pens that I use regularly, you're going, ew, gross. I hate this thing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That might be why whenever I use a pen of yours that I love, I immediately buy it. Right? Because it's like if we can both use the same pen, it must be incredible.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's true. That's true. You know what else is incredible, Myke?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I most definitely do. It's Squarespace. Enter the offer code INK at checkout and you'll get 10% off your first purchase. Make your next move with Squarespace. They'll let you easily create that website for your next idea. Or if you're like me, not even necessarily an idea. It can just be an important thing in your life. I am working with creating a wedding site for our upcoming wedding on Squarespace. So I've known about this for a while. I remembered when Squarespace introduced like the template specifically for weddings. So it's always been in the back of my head and it's awesome. So like one of the best things that we've been able to do so far, we set up an RSVP page. So whenever we get around to actually sending the RSVPs, which is a whole story for another time, because it's it turns out this stuff is really difficult to do, especially if you have international guests. But when they do finally get to our Squarespace website, there's a little form that people will fill out. They'll click a button and then because Squarespace is so amazing, it's integrated with Google Sheets and it just fills everything out into a spreadsheet for us. It's just so cool. Squarespace, think of everything. They do it all. No matter what type of website you want to make, whether it be a blog, portfolio, an online store, a page for an event, a page for your business. Squarespace have all of the tools right there. They are the all in one platform. It's nothing to install, no patches to worry about, no upgrades needed, and they're always adding amazing new features that you can take advantage of. They have award winning 24 seven customer support. You can easily and quickly grab a unique domain name. And there are loads of fantastic templates. Some are general purpose. Some are really like tailored for a specific thing, but you can use and work with any of them. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month. You can sign up for a free trial, no credit card required. Just go to squarespace.com to do that. Then when you decide to sign up, use the offer code INK, I-N-K, and you'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the pen addict. We thank Squarespace for the continued support of RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I wanted to hit on a couple of email follow-ups and questions that we've had from previous episodes, including this one. The original question was from listener Logan, who's talking about what to use when he hikes the Appalachian Trail. And we have a listener who did just that and documented the entire trip. So let me read this email. It says, I just listened to the latest pen addict podcast with regards to the AT pen recommendation. I through-hiked the AT in 2015 and carried a Kaweco AL Sport fountain pen with me the entire trip, filled with Faber-Castell carbon black cartridges. I always carried two cartridges, with my mom sending me a replacement when I put the second into the pen. So let me stop right there. We talked about how you're through-hiking, you know, like a 2,000-mile trail, you have people send you things in advance. You know, where you go off the trail, you have off-trail days, you go pick up supplies and things like that. So that's what he means when he had cartridges sent in advance. I wrote in my journal every day of the trip and went through about 12 cartridges in my six months on the trail. I also had a pencil just in case, but never used it. The fountain pen worked like a charm, even when the paper was damp. Obviously, if it was wet, I wasn't writing, but my journal did get damp from humidity and such, but I never had a problem. About halfway through, I took a week off-trail to go on a motorcycle trip, and while at my apartment, I washed the pen and nib, but I don't know that I needed to as I was having zero issues. If Logan or you want to read more or have any questions, the blog is at spendthecompass.com, where I documented my trip. And if you have any questions, you can get in touch with Jason there. So thank you, Jason, for sending in this real-world feedback from what you used. Number one, I didn't know Faber-Castell had carbon black cartridges, so that was new to me. So I'll have to look into those. It's another option. But I'm glad the Kaweco AL Sport worked. You know, it's a little heavier than just the Sport or Sport Classic. It's the aluminum barrel, but it's going to be awfully durable, and it was a good idea to have those cartridges shipped to future destinations so you can pick them up and didn't have to carry them. So very cool. This is the awesomest kind of feedback, right? When someone's done the thing, that's like the big thing that you want to do.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So good suggestions, and obviously, it comes with great weight, as you say, if you've already done it, right? Like, how much better can it be? Like, we can sit here and make our recommendations, but we have no real experience and context for it. So thank you, Jason, for writing. Just dreams. We just have dreams. Yeah, just dreams. Grand plans.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, so this next question is from Michael, and he sent me an email, and I said I wanted to handle this on the show because I thought it was an awesome question. It says, Hello, Brad and Myke. I have a fairly small fountain pen collection consisting of two sailors and four platinums. They are all extra fine or ultra extra fine, except for my Platinum Cool, which is an F nib, so you can tell where my tastes run. I've tried some Western nibs before and haven't found one that I really liked yet. My question is regarding the standard Yovo and Bach nibs that so many pen manufacturers use. Companies like Franklin Kristoff and Edison and Ryan Krusek are making some fantastic-looking pens, but my concern is those standard Yovo or Bach nibs that they are all using. What are individual pen makers doing to make their nibs stand out from the crowd like Platinum and Sailor do? I just can't see spending hundreds of dollars on a fancy pen body when the nib is a regular old Yovo, especially when they don't get as fine as the Japanese extra fines that I like. For me, the nib feel and writing experience is the most important in choosing a pen. The pen body is a distant second place. Thoughts?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So can I start?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes.