The Pen Addict 263/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	263
Title:	Optimus Prime in My Pocket
Release Date:	June 28th, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 263
Audio File:	Audio Episode 263
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 263
Length:	7070 min <br />1.167 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 263. Today's show is brought to you by our friends at Harry's. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by the man on the beach, Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Today's show is also brought to you by Brad's Vacation.

Myke Hurley: Brad's Vacation.

Brad Dowdy: So we're on the travel setup today, which is cool. I just sent out a picture on Instagram, by the way, and Twitter. You look good. Of my bedroom setup. But hey, it works good. I'm glad, you know, like my vacations are relaxing enough to where I can, I'm able to do this and I like doing it. And, you know, we hate missing episodes, so it's cool. I'm just happy to be sharing a room with you again. That won't be long, will it? I know. Oh my, it's coming up, man. Pretty much a month away.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, we'll be talking about that. AC Penn Super Show.

Myke Hurley: We're going to do some serious prep for that, that this is no like Atlanta show, right? Like, I don't know what I'm truly getting myself in for yet, I don't think.

Brad Dowdy: Well, here's the thing. No one does. Oh yeah, it's all new. So we're all in the same boat. Otherwise, you know, I'd know lots of things and, you know, we can do this, we can do that. I know nothing this time. No one does.

Myke Hurley: So that's going to be the excitement. You can look forward to how that unfolds over the next few weeks for sure.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So your video will be quite enjoyable because people will get to learn a lot from it. So yeah, it'll be cool.

Myke Hurley: Sure will. We were talking about FlexNibs last week, right? We were talking about the Edison FlexNibs. And I think at the time we brought up the Franklin Kristoff FlexNibs because they're coming from the same place, right? They're the same design. Right. Is that right? Yeah. And then they're just kind of branded with the FC or they're branded with the Edison logo. Joe-o. Joe-o. Exactly. Joe-o.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I went with the Franklin Kristoff one because it was number one, cheaper. And number two, had a grind already done on the nib that I like. It's called the SIG grind, which is kind of, it's a soft italic grind. So it's like an italic, but without the sharp edges. So, you know, a lot of people enjoy that type of grind and I very much enjoy it. And I wanted to, I was getting one of these nibs no matter what, just to test with. So I bought this one, you know, in the disclosure bucket. I paid full price, just ordered it from Franklin Kristoff on the site. And when I first put it in my, my Pen Addict Model 02 Franklin Kristoff, I got like a huge grin on my face because it feels so different than any other nib, even a flex nib that I've used. I noticed that it has more bounce in it, which means like a, like a vertical, like an up and down when I'm using it. Um, it's a weird feeling, but weird in a good way. I was kind of like giggling. I was like, Oh, I like this. It's kind of funny. So it does flex, but there's not much line variation, like very little, no matter what I do, like I can get just marginal line variation. So this isn't going to solve anyone's flex problems.

Myke Hurley: That's a shame.

Brad Dowdy: Flex needs. I still say you got to go with something like the Pilot FA nib. That one's going to get you some line variation and a gold nib. They don't sell the nib separately, unfortunately, but they come in pens now in the 150 to $200 range, you know, which I paid 125 for this nib alone. So, you know, it's a, it's a really good price for a 14 karat gold nib with an added grind and added, you know, cutouts on it. So I know it's a more expensive nib. The price seems completely fair, but there's just not a lot of flexing. And I've watched Aziza's videos and I see the same thing with her, you know. There's minor variations. It's more of a soft writing experience than a flex writing experience. So, you know, that's what you're going to get with this pen. You're not going to get some nudely flex. You're not going to get some crazy line variation. You know, I'll get more line variations with just a standard steel cursive italic grind than I do with this flex nib. That said, it's really enjoyable to write with. Like, I just enjoy writing with it. You know, it's a, it's got an interesting feel. None of my other nibs feel like this one.

Brad Dowdy: It's kind of cool in that aspect, but don't go into it. Think you're going to get some crazy flex. And I've pushed it a little bit, not crazily, but it doesn't matter. Like, no matter how soft or hard I go at it, there's very little range in the line, at least that I get. And I'm not an artist or a professional flex writer like someone like Aziza. But even in her videos and writing samples, it looks like mine. Like, she's not getting a lot out of it either. So keep that in mind. Other than that, it's a fun nib. Like, I'm going to use this nib all the time because it puts down a lot of ink. It makes some cool lines. There's slight variations you can see. But to me, it's no different than a cursive italic or a stub nib as far as the variation that you can get. Other than it's a softer writer. It's got that bounce to it. So it's cool. It's, you know, I'm glad I have it and I'll only need one of them.

Myke Hurley: This is, I mean, I feel like I'm always making these arguments, but like, you know, you said that you think that, you know, for what you're getting, like, it's worth the money because it's a nice nib and it's, you know, it is the cost, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, like, it's a gold nib, et cetera, et cetera. It's got the cut out. But the thing is, it's not performing the job that you purchased it for, right? It's not flexing. So I can't see that as being worth $125.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, it's just a different feel. It almost shouldn't be called a flex nib. That's kind of unfair, but that's what they're marketing it as.

Myke Hurley: Right. Let's say that you went to a pen show and somebody had one of these pens and you tried it and you were like, oh man. And you know what? This reminds me of that the Nakaya nibs that have a cut out in them, right? I tried it for the first time and I'm like, this is the nib I want because it's bouncy and weird and feels awesome. So like, I assume that's what you get out of this nib. So if you went somewhere and you tried it, but I mean, like let's say you get an experience, right? So you went somewhere and you tried it and you're like, oh, this is different. I like the way this feels. Then you might want to pay $125 for it. But like, if you're buying a nib that's called a flex nib and it doesn't offer line variation, then it's not what you wanted. Right? Yeah. Do you see what I'm saying?

Brad Dowdy: Well, and that's the purpose that I bought it. Like I'm not a flex writer, right? I don't ever write in that style, but I buy it to test it out so I can talk about it. And it doesn't flex like I expect it to. It bends, right? There's movement in the nib. There's literal flex in the nib, but it doesn't provide a flex line. Where the Nakaya elastic nibs do provide a flex line. I wonder if it's a nib thickness thing because those Nakaya nibs are very thin and these Franklin Kristoff nibs are not thin. You know, they're just a standard thickness. So yeah, I mean, no, that's fair. And that's why I'm bringing this up. You know, I bought it as a flex nib. It doesn't write like a flex nib to me at all. I mean, the Falcon nib has more flex than this, and that's not a flex nib. It has more line variation, I should say.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: The FAA, Pilot FA nib is better than both of them.

Brad Dowdy: And that's the same thing I said about the Aurora flex nib. The Aurora flex nib has more line variation than this pen. Mm-hmm. But the Pilot FA nib has more than the Aurora nib. So it's a, this is a new thing manufacturers are trying to do, and I think they're trying to solve a problem, and there might be some changes. There might be different ways they can do it. I notice that when I look closely at the nib, when I'm writing with it, I get more, this is going to be hard to explain. So tell me if you have a question about what I'm going to say. So you have the nib and it's hitting the paper, right? Mm-hmm. And normally on a flex nib, you'll see the tines spread. Yep. So like with this pen, you see the tines spread, but you also see them lift off of the feed. And I think that's where you're losing. I see. The line variation.

Myke Hurley: So basically the metal's leaving the plastic, right? Right. Like it's not connected anymore, which probably means that there isn't a lot of ink flowing through it, I assume?

Brad Dowdy: Every now and then that's a problem if I push it too hard too long. But what happens is as that part lifts, you lose the spread, right? So the spread is only going to continue to widen and give you the line variation if there's no lift. And this nib has lift, so your line variation is limited. Okay. I don't, I'm not a nibmeister. I'm not a flex nib writer, but I see that when I use this. I, because I'm, I'm pushing the nib on the page and it's bending. I was like, I should see more line variation, but I'm not getting it because the actual nib is lifting off of the feed instead of the tines spreading more. Does that make sense?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. No, I know it's complicated, but I'm pretty sure that I'm following you.

Brad Dowdy: This is why no one does this, right?

Myke Hurley: Right. Because it seems like a really hard thing to crack, but the problem is right now flex nibs are cool. So a lot of companies are trying to do them, but it seems like if you don't have the history or you don't want like reliability problems, you're not going to get what people are looking for, right? Like it's just not possible. You either have to have been doing this for a really long time, like pilot, or you have to go old school, right? And then they might break on you, which I understand why Aurora and Franklin Kristoff and Edison don't want to go down the route of providing a product that may be unreliable. But then at this, then you're actually not giving the customers what they want. This is like a real tricky tightrope walk right now.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, very much so. Very much so. So again, I don't really see this as a flex nib.

Myke Hurley: Man, flex nibs. They're like a whole thing. It's like a whole thing, right?

Brad Dowdy: It's a bouncy soft nib and it's enjoyable. It's going to be in use for me constantly because it provides a very enjoyable writing experience. It's just not a flex nib. I mean, there's literal flex in the nib, but it's not a line variation nib, I guess is what you should say.

Myke Hurley: I feel like there needs to be a different name for what these do.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think that's why Pilot never called the Falcon nib a flex nib. They called it a soft nib. This is more like that. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. But you could actually get line variation with the Falcon. It just wouldn't spread that much.

Slick Wraps

Myke Hurley: So I think it was maybe last week or the week before I was talking about Slick Wraps, right? That they were offering custom Apple Pencil skins. Mm-hmm. And I mentioned that I was working with our fantastic designer, Frank, who does all of the amazing work for RelayFM. He's done some stuff for you. He does stuff for everyone he should do because he's the best. Mm-hmm. We were working on creating like a custom skin for me. But we went one little step further in that we printed it ourselves instead of going to Slick Wraps. Frank had the ability to go somewhere to get it printed. Mm-hmm. And it's a work in progress because we have some design things that we want to tweak and some size and stuff that we want to tweak. But I tweeted some pictures a couple of days ago, and I'll put a link in the show notes, of the design kind of that we're going with. And I'm really excited about it. I can tell. It's great. He came up with all of it. Obviously, it's orange. It's got glasses. Myke Co., which is not a real thing, but it should be. And the number 88, which is my birth year. And then, of course, he said, is there anything else you want on there? I was like, put the hashtag on there. I want the hashtag Michael's right just for funsies. And yeah, I'm really pleased with how it's come out. Yeah, right. And we're going to do some tweaks to it because we found a template. But we believe we can actually make it better than what some of these companies are doing. So the template that you'll notice when you look at the – I mean, okay, my application wasn't perfect because I was kind of just rushing it because I have like three of them and we knew we were going to tweak it. So I didn't apply it as well as I would have. But there's a couple of things that are not fantastic. Like the wood area, it's too long, right? Because I don't know if the intention is you're supposed to put it down further, but you don't want to cover up that tip. Yeah, right. And on the cap, do you see where like it's meant to cover around and they put those little notches in? We actually think we can improve the design of both of these things to make it cover better. So we're working on that. This is a real work in progress. Honestly, at this point, I'm thinking it might just be a work in progress for me. Like I can't imagine selling these. I don't see why people would want them. Like honestly.

Brad Dowdy: You're stupid and you're stupid for one. People would want these. No, no. You just sold 200 dental floss stickers.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, but okay. So here's the thing about the dental floss stickers. Right? Like I think more people have AirPods and I think that more people are willing to like put a sticker on their AirPods. Like a vinyl wrap on an Apple pencil is a real like niche tricky scenario. So I don't know. I don't know. Absolutely disagree. Okay. Well, we'll see. I'll wait until we perfect the design and then we'll work on it from there.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, that's fair. It looks challenging. It's really tricky. That's going to be challenging to get exactly to where you're happy with it to have someone give you money for it and not be, what is this? Like why doesn't this work right? Yeah. So we're still working on it.

Myke Hurley: And honestly though, like the way that I feel about this, if this is just a thing, which I have 20 of them, so I can put them on all the Apple pencils I'll ever own. That's more than enough for me. I'm totally happy with that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's cool. I like it. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's. Harry's is all about a great shave at a fair price. And this is exactly why over 3 million people have switched to Harry's. Harry's founders, Jeff and Andy decided to create Harry's because they were fed up with overpriced razors. So they bought a German factory with over 100 years of blade making experience to ensure the highest quality for their blades, which they sell at half the price of the leading five blade razor companies directly to you over the internet as well. And all of Harry's products are backed by a 100% quality guarantee. Now, Brad, I have no doubt that you packed up your little travel kit.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, no doubt. Even using the Harry's dop kit. I'm into the gray handle now from the Father's Day kit. I said I was holding off on that because I always use the orange handle. But it's been a problem because all four of us in our family share a bathroom and the two ladies in my family use the Harry's razor and they both have orange handles. So I keep seeing the orange handle laying around the sink and I'm going, what is my razor doing being used by someone else? And then I realized that mine's actually still safely hidden away. So yeah, it's fantastic. And we're all in, obviously.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, the whole family, the whole Dowdy clan is in on the Harry's train.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. We're actually at Harry's house right now.

Myke Hurley: So yeah, of course. Harry's is so confident you'll love their blades. They want to give you their free trial set for free. That's why it's called a free trial set. You need to just cover $3 for shipping. This trial set includes a weighted ergonomic razor handle, five precision engineered blades of a lubricating strip and trimmer blade, their rich lathering shave gel and a travel blade cover as well. This is a $13 value that you get to try out for free. Stop messing around and get started shaving with Harry's today by claiming your free trial offer. Go to harrys.com slash penaddict right now to get yourself started. All you need to do is cover a small fee for shipping. Thank you so much to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: So did you like this Edison Perlette review I did? Do you own an Edison Perlette?

Myke Hurley: I have two, actually. Yeah, that's what I thought. I have one of my own and one that was given to me as a gift. Oh, do you have that? Which one is the gift one? From Thomas Hall I got, he gave me a gift for one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I'm wondering what material is that one, do you recall?

Myke Hurley: Not off the top of my head.

Edison Perlette

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I was just wondering if he's had this purpley celluloid one for a while that I thought was cool.

Myke Hurley: I think it's a purple, purpley color. Yeah, yeah, I believe it's a purple color one.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I love this pen. And the reason you asked me in the notes here why I reviewed this pen, because I've already reviewed it and I've already professed my love for it. It's because Brian Gray, the man behind Edison pens, takes a long time to introduce new production line colors. And I was happy when he finally, this was a finally kind of thing because the production line colors, they sit there for two, three years. And kind of once you buy your one per lead or one Beaumont, you're kind of done. And, you know, you can order him. He's so back backlogged in custom stuff. You know, he doesn't introduce production colors at a very high rate. And I thought he just really killed these colors. Like all the new colors look really good. They're based on, you know, colors that he, the vacation in Arizona and some of the colors he sees out there, you know, when he's in the mountains and deserts. And I thought he just really killed it. And this blue, this blue color that I reviewed is just fantastic. You know, what's it called? Azure skies, I think.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's really good guys. Yeah.

Kaweco Sport

Brad Dowdy: It's kind of the, it's kind of the, uh, the big brother to like a, a Kaweco sport, right? If you're like, if you're like in the Kaweco models, the sports, the AL sports, this is kind of a step up from that. You get a, an acrylic material, but it's thicker and more durable. You get more depth of color in your pen and the size is compatible to smaller pocketable pens, but it's really a full size writing experience. It does have a number five nib instead of a number six nib. So it, it is designed around a smaller barrel, but it's just, and it's one of those pens. That's just always a joy to write with when I pick it up to use it. And I really, really like the colors. So yeah, I just think it's an all around great pen. And, you know, the only thing you have to consider is the size, you know, is the size right for you? And this is definitely not a too small of a pen, you know, I think that's what people worry about with the Perlet and that's not, not the case at all.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I feel like it kind of sits in the middle. Like it's, it's small because it's smaller than the Pearl or the Edison, you know, any of the other Edisons like, but it's not a, it's not a pocket pen per se, right? Like it's not what I think you would consider a real pocket pen to be like a Koveco or something. Like it's not like that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I would actually, you know, if I ever, I, this is something I'd never do because I don't necessarily need it, but that's never stopped me before. Like I wouldn't mind an all black clipless Perlet for my pocket. I would do that in a second. I think that would be killer. I think that would be sharp as heck and just super useful, but you know, there's other pens in this range that aren't the tiniest pens like a, and light, like the Koveco sports, like the classics I'm talking about, the plastic barrel ones, you know, the Franklin Kristoff pocket 66 is in the same Perlet range. And maybe that's why I love the 66 so much. It's kind of in that same ballpark. It's not teeny tiny, but it's small and, but still gets you a full size writing experience, which is what I enjoy with these smaller pens. That's why I like the Koveco so much. Cause when you post them, they're a full size writer, but you know, go down, you know, into a pocket size. These don't Perlet and something like the P 66, you know, don't collapse that far down, but they're still pretty close. They're really great. I like them. Plus you could probably, I haven't done this with the Perlet, but you could eyedropper it. I'm sure, you know, it's a cartridge converter, international cartridge type filling system, Yobo nibs, you know, but I'm sure you could eyedropper it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I think one of the good selling points of this pen is that if you want to get into trying or you just want to own an Edison, which I recommend cause they're fantastic pens. This is like the only one that you can really kind of just easily readily get your hands on.

Brad Dowdy: I think the Beaumont is. Okay. Yeah. Sorry.

Myke Hurley: The Beaumont too, but like the, but also like price wise as well, right? Like it fits in a better bracket and it's, it's really, really good value for money. Were they retail for like 150 or something?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I believe it's 149. It's right in that range.

Myke Hurley: They really are fantastic for the money. I think too.

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely. Absolutely. And as it so happens, I am, I'm giving this one away. My, my review. Oh, I was able, able to do that. So that's up on the blog. If you haven't seen that yet, that'll be in the show notes. You can click over. You have until Saturday. Give this, give this beautiful pearlet away.

Myke Hurley: It's a great color. Really, really good color.

Brad Dowdy: It's a really good color. It's a really good color. It was actually hard to choose the colors, but I mean, I'm always going to go with bright blue.

Myke Hurley: I think the blue is the winner out of the three of them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. But they all look good. I think they all, uh, they all painted the picture. Well, that Brian, Brian was going for on the opposite end of the scale. Myke, I reviewed one of my all time favorite gel ink pens. I guess I should say the all time favorite gel ink pen of mine. I shouldn't say one of mine because the Uniball Signo is the DX model. The kind you can only get in Japan, which I complained about in the, uh, in the post is updated with a needle point. Um, now I guess it's not a huge update, but some people do prefer a needle point over a conical point. And really that's the only difference between this pen and a little bit of the paint job on the pen from the standard UM-151, which was the original DX. And, um, I, I just adore this pen. It always works. It always writes well. And sometimes gets forgotten in my sea of fountain pens. You know, that, uh, a simple basic gel ink pen that's really good can make a huge difference in your writing. And I really enjoy writing with these. The colors are awesome. Um, and you know, people, um, definitely love this pen.

Myke Hurley: Great colors. Wow. Yeah. Really lovely colors. Colors.

Brad Dowdy: Colors come out great. Uniball has always been probably my favorite color ink manufacturer. Like all the oranges are right. All the light blues are right. All the lime greens are right. You know, um, actually I think where they, they're not the best is actually blue black. I think pilots blue black is better, but I think Uniball is pretty much everything else is, is better. Um, it, it's, um, I don't know what to say about this pen because it's already been said before, but it's, it is that good. This is one of those pens that is that good. It's $3, you know, and you can't get it on the store shelf. So just, that's a point of frustration for me. You know, it, uh, Uniball has lots of great pens on the store shelf. The 307 is awesome. They have larger size signals that aren't the UM 151 models. I forget which other models they are, but they usually started by 0.7 and 1.0 millimeters. There's, they won't bring these 0.5s or even 0.38s into the, uh, to the mainstream market in the U S you know, I guess you don't want to understand.

Myke Hurley: That's why, you know, you, you Americans, you don't need school pens.

Brad Dowdy: I know. I know. I just, we just need our, our, our corporate express pens from the, uh, from the generic catalog.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah, I mean, you know, I'm assuming, you know, we spoke about it so many times, you know, they're not, they're not silly company. They know what that, they know what sells, right. But it's just a shame. But, but that's it. You can at least go to somewhere like jet pens and you can get it right. Like at least you can do that. Yeah. It's easy. They don't stop that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's, I mean, if you're listening to the show, they're very easy to get, but it's one of those pens I want people to discover on their own. Like if they see it, something cool on the store shelf and try it and go, wow, this is really better than everything else I've been using. That's, that's cool to me. I like, I like to see those things happen. So, and that opportunity is not available with this pen. And it's been the best pen. It's been the best gel pen on the market for years and years and years, but it's not a mainstream pen outside of Japan. And actually I even had someone tweet me or email me that they're in Tokyo and they can't even get these pens. Wow. Wow. You're buying them all up. That's the problem. No, no.

Field Notes

Myke Hurley: I only bought five. That's all I need. Mm-hmm. Only five. All right. Speaking of buying more. Okay. Let's talk about Field Notes, the Campfire Edition. It came out a little bit later than we expected. We thought that it would come out last week, but it actually came out this week.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Was it on a Monday or Tuesday? Was it Monday? It was weird. Something like that. I think they were running late. So they dropped it whenever they could.

Myke Hurley: So I wanted to play a game this time where I want me and you to try and guess what the other one thinks about these notebooks. Right? Okay. So we can maybe flip a coin or something to see who will go first, unless you have a preference. And I will say what I think of yours. You will say what you think I feel about the Campfire Edition. And then once the guesses are out of the way, we can say how we feel about this edition. So that might be something new to try.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So we'll make it easy. I'll go first. Okay.

Myke Hurley: So what do you think I think about the Field Notes Campfire?

Brad Dowdy: I think you love them. I think you think that they have the Americana vibe that Field Notes is traditionally known for. Even though the campfires are not an American thing, they harken back to the America the Beautiful editions. The patch is one of the coolest things they've done.

Brad Dowdy: And you're just not sure about the colors of the grids inside the notebook.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Otherwise, I think you love it.

Myke Hurley: So I think a lot of the same things for you that you've said for me. I think that you will love the Americana vibe to them. I think that that will appeal to you, that outdoorsy thing. I think that you will really like the inside colors. I think you'd really like the patch because that's so up your street. It's unbelievable. And I think that you're excited about different colors of the grid paper. That's what I think. So why don't you go first? What do you think about the Campfire Edition?

Brad Dowdy: You're 100% accurate. Like this is a, I think this is a hard one to do unless you're going to really shock me that I think we're going to think a lot of the same things. But I could be very wrong about what you think. You're dead right on what I think. If Brad was designing a Field Notes edition, this is going to contain a lot of the things that Brad would do. This is what I figured, yeah. It checks all the Brad boxes. This is a perfect edition in my book. This is what I want every quarter from Field Notes. It's beautiful. It's challenging. It's neat. It's fun. It's got a story. It's got a cool accessory. And it's nailed. I mean, this is a perfect edition in my book. Doesn't mean it's the best ever edition, but this is a perfect Field Notes release, according to me, and what I want from the brand. Perfect.

Myke Hurley: So talking to you has made me more excited for these. Because this set doesn't push my buttons.

Brad Dowdy: I figured that you were up to something when you said, let's do this.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. A couple of things for why. I don't, I'm not an outdoorsy person. So campfires are not my thing. Right. I think that this is focusing on a slice of Americana that's not the slice that I enjoy.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Because you didn't grow up, you know, sitting around a campfire. You don't have those stories. I have none of that. A lot of us may have those stories, right?

Myke Hurley: Exactly. And then the other part of it, for why it isn't really speaking to me, is because I've seen this before. Like, they've done this before. Right? Put pictures on the covers.

Brad Dowdy: So I thought that too. But they did do it differently. They have done it differently. I mean, this is essentially a.

Myke Hurley: Right? With the half tone.

Brad Dowdy: A painted picture. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And I bet when I have them in my hand, I'm going to be like, oh my god, these things are incredible. But when I see the pictures, it's like, I've already had Field Notes with pictures on the cover. So, like, the fact that the theme doesn't speak to me, plus the, I've kind of seen them do some of the technical stuff before, it hasn't blown me away. For that reason. I think that's completely fair. The two parts of it, they don't speak to me as much as usual. But, I mean, I know so many people that are, like, going gaga over these. And I think it just speaks to who you are as a person a little bit more, as to whether you would find the design, like, really speaks to you. Because, I mean, I tend to be more interested in the mechanics of the production. Mm-hmm. And, you know, so I love it when they push the envelope. And so, like, the original, was it America the Beautiful that had, that was the pictures? That one, I absolutely adored that addition because the paper was when they really kind of drilled down on making the paper even better. Plus, it was like, oh, wow, pictures. I mean, so I feel like I've seen pictures before, you know. So, I'm not as excited about these as I have been some more of the recent releases.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, one of the things that always makes me excited is when I get three different covers in the three-pack. That's always fun. That is good.

Myke Hurley: That is good. And I like that they've done that again because that is cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Those are some of my favorites. Even if it's just three different of the same color, like Shenandoah, you know, three shades of green. I always like that. That's a fun thing for me. So, yeah, I think these are going to do really well. I do think all of your points are very valid. And, you know, as far as, you know, definitely not for everybody. But this is such a Field Notes feel to this release that I'm excited. You know, this is 100% Field Notes.

Myke Hurley: This is what they're all about at the core, right? Right. This is what they're all about. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And not that they don't attempt that every time. You know, they take chances and risks. They have different things.

Myke Hurley: They have different parts of the personality of the company that expresses itself in certain ways. And, like, the Americana is a big part of the company, a big part of the brand. And some of their best notebooks have come from that. Like, the Tradesman edition or, like, the Workshop edition, right? Like, it is this Americana feeling. But I don't get the nostalgia for that in that way. Like, the Americana stuff that I like is, like, when it's being big and American without being, like, brash. You know, that's the kind of stuff that I enjoy. Sure, sure. And this is just, like, a slice of life that isn't mine.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. That makes complete sense. And I didn't think about it from that aspect when thinking about what you would think about. So, that's good.

Pano Book

Myke Hurley: So, I want to talk about another notebook. One that I am incredibly excited about. Which is the Pano book from our friends at Studio Neat. So, this is a Kickstarter campaign for a notebook. A notebook for your desk. So, I feel like I need to make, like, all of the disclosures possible that I can possibly make about this. So, here are my disclosures. Tom and Dan of Studio Neat are two of the people that I love the most in the world. That's disclosure number one. Part number two. Right behind me, right? Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay. Of course. I want to make sure to get that in there. Okay.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'm worried about that. Of course, we have a podcast together called Thoroughly Considered on Relay FM. Which, by the way, episode 27 we recorded just before the Pano book went out to the world. So, you should go and listen to that if you want a lot of the background about the notebook. Another part is I have been a part of this process for the entire time that they've been working on it. And have been providing assistance and thoughts and help in any way that I can. I know that you have been, too, providing assistance. Like, I know that when the guys were asking me about stuff, I would always say, this is my opinion, but check it with Brad. That's kind of the way that I would say it. Like, this is what I think, but you should also ask Brad because Brad knows everything. And I will also say, a couple of weeks ago, I said there was a notebook that I was using that I couldn't talk about. Well, it was the Pano book. And I have been using the Pano book on my desk to take my show notes for, I feel like, a couple of months now. I absolutely love the notebook for the purposes that I use it for. If you want to sit and take out your Flex nibs and use it, you're going to get bleed through, right? Like, the paper is really good. I'm jumping ahead now. The paper is really good, but it's not, like, the most incredible paper that you've ever used before, right? Like, it handles basically anything regular that I throw at it. And outside of that, it doesn't because otherwise it would be making the product worse for everybody else, I think. Because it's not meant for few-day nibs or whatever.

Brad Dowdy: It's not a fountain pen notebook. Yeah. But I thought all my fountain pens handled it fine. It does. Same disclaimers, you know, that Myke just said. I was very involved in, you know, testing this out and picking papers and things like that. And I compared it to, like, a Leuchtturm-type paper where, like, my fountain pens handled it very well. They dried quickly. You're not going to get sheen or anything like that. But there's no bleed or feathering. But if I threw something crazy at it, yeah, it's not going to handle it. But that goes for most- You can break it, right? Any paper, yeah.

Myke Hurley: You've got to go for- Otherwise, you're going for Tamoe River paper, right? Like, that's- Yeah. You know, and then what are you doing, right? You know, it's like you're going into another plane at this point. But, like, of all of the notebooks that I own, this stands up there with- Can handle pretty much anything I throw at it. But for me, personally, what I'm using this notebook for is, like, scribbles and little doodles and stuff like that. And they've made it- What I really like about the panel book, the way that it's been made, it's to fit so many different purposes.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: So you can, like, sit with it on your computer desk, right? That's kind of what it's meant for. It kind of sits between you and the keyboard or whatever, and you can take whatever notes on it. But you can also design apps in it, right? Because they've got this cool little gridline stuff. I recommend you go watch the video. So you can use it as just this scratch pad, but they also include this slip case. So if you want to keep it, you put it in a case and put it on the shelf. It's really- As with Studio Neat, as they always do, they have thought of some little extras to make their product different to anything else you've used before. And I think that it is absolutely fantastic. And I am so excited and blown away by the incredible success they've had so far. It was a $20,000 goal, which they met in two and a half hours. And at the time of recording, with 30 days to go, they've raised $63,000. I'm so enthused by this because I love all of the products that they make. I think I maybe own everything that they've ever made. And I was buying their products before we even knew each other, right? And the thought for me of Studio Neat potentially making more pen and paper related products is very exciting. Yeah. Right? But I think I read in the update that they posted that this was like the most money they've ever made in 24 hours from a Kickstarter campaign. Really? So, yeah. So they hit on something.

Brad Dowdy: Wow. So I do have one confession to make. I never saw the guide marker lines in my prototypes. But that's good, though. Yeah. Right. Like, I never saw that until I watched the video. I was like, wait, what?

Myke Hurley: Because that's one. The good thing about it is they've created these like specific cases, like use cases, right? Where they've created these little guide markers so you can draw rectangles and stuff like that. But then they're out of the way. Right? Like when they were originally talking about this, I was like, oh, you should make those a different color so they stand out. But they were like super standing firm on, no, we don't want them to stand out. And I think they made the perfect decision because then it doesn't pigeonhole the notebook to be used in just to design iPhones.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. Right. So I think the biggest question, and it's come up in when I shared that I backed it, you know, it came up in my Twitter feed. It's come up in the chat room here is why is this different from any other, you know, notebook, you know, top bound notebook. I can just turn it sideways in front of my on my desk. And it's not if you from that perspective, you know, this is how I've always used my A5 pads when I was working my IT job. I've always kept a notebook below my keyboard and then typed around it or above it. So, yeah, any notebook will do that, you know, if you want, you know, if you just need that aspect of it. But the build and style and shape and dimensions and quality just really fit, do all of that.

Myke Hurley: The cover, the soft touch cover. Oh, my God, I love it. This is the thing. Yeah, it's like, sure, you know, but then why do we buy Field Notes, right?

Brad Dowdy: Like, yeah, well, you know, you open you open my eyes about the pencil sharpener. Last week, you know, the pencil sharpener is no different than, well, do I buy the fancy brass click pen on Kickstarter or do I buy a Bic at the store? Either one's fine. They're both going to write. It's just, you know, what you want for the style and aesthetic that you want to use. There's probably there might there's going to be better products for lots of people. And, you know, then some people see this and say, oh, this is exactly what I need. And like this is it's funny for me when they told me about this design. I was like, this is something I've been doing for years, which is like regular notebooks. But I would rather have a skinnier notebook. And there's been some attempts at like wrist rest pads and things like that for that location on a desk. But I just love love the style of this one and the feel and the durability. This is a strong notebook.

Myke Hurley: It's the combination of the elements. Right. That is what I like about it. Right. Like that it is built to be panoramic. Right. So it's longer. It's taller. Right. Then. And why? Like I've never seen a notebook in this exact format before. Right. So it's like taking the maximum amount of space on your desk that it can without getting in the way with it also having spiral bound, which I really like because it can allow it to lay flat. And just an FYI, I use the notebook upside down because I'm less handed. Yeah. Yeah. Works perfectly. Right. You just flip it. And then you can. But then it also comes with the idea of storing it. You know, like all of these little things together make a great product. And again, like, look, as I've said, Brad just said it. Like I am incredibly tied to this company, like emotionally. Right. But this is a genuinely good product that I would, you know, one of the reasons I think it's so good is because I've been able to help shape it in a little way. So like I considering what I do, like if Studio Neat just dropped a notebook on me and it wasn't good, I can't recommend it because of this show. Right. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like I actually do think this is genuinely an excellent product because if it wasn't and then everybody starts buying it, my credibility is gone. And I wouldn't do that because I think, you know, this is very important to me. Like my credibility is important to me. I genuinely think this is a very, very good product. Like I am so happy with it. I've used it for a long time now. And I can't, you know, over time, the notebook that I've used when I'm taking my show notes, which is one of the big things that I do, has changed. Right. Like it was arts and sciences. Then it became byline. And now it's this. And the reason I keep changing over time is I keep finding a better and better notebook for the purpose. And this is the best notebook that I've used for this purpose. This idea of having a notebook that sits on my desk, which I can take notes with and then stand up to sit under my monitor so I can use the notes to edit in. This is the perfect notebook for that. And it's just lucky that that's the notebook the studio need decided that they wanted to make. Like I said, it's fit right into the use case that I spend most of my time writing in a notebook. So I really love it. I think that people will really enjoy it. And I think you should go listen to episode 27 of Thoroughly Considered where we get into a lot of detail.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I thought the podcast was really good. You know, I love hearing them talk manufacturing. Like I get a lot out of those conversations. So it's always good to hear them, you know, explain. Like getting into the manufacturing, like the deep details. Like going to the printer and learning about paper sizes and how things are constructed and things are made. And shipping these things. Yeah, I get a lot out of the Thoroughly Considered podcast. I took a bunch of notes from that episode.

Myke Hurley: There's smart cookies, those two. Yeah, yeah.

Subscriptions

Brad Dowdy: So, and I really like it. So I'm looking forward to this. All right. So the next thing. Got to talk about it. And I was messaged a week, week and a half ago. I said, hey, where's the subscription page for Baron Fig? I was like, I don't know. It's on the site. And I went and looked and it's not on the site anymore. No, no. None of the products had subscriptions available. Archer, Squire, Confidant, Vanguard. No mention of subscriptions anywhere. I found the old subscription link. They're all redirected to like the main notebook page.

Brad Dowdy: You know, just for like the confidant, I think it was. Or just the main notebooks in general. So I tweeted Joey. I said, hey, where'd the subscriptions go? And he said, I said, did you stop offering subscriptions for your products? And he said, more info coming soon. And I said, okay. People were asking me, just trying to figure out what's up. So yesterday, I get an email. Says, I'm going to read this real quick. It's not very long. It says, I hope this is the generic. Like, this isn't to me personally. This is the, or to all subscribers, assumedly. It says, I hope this email finds you well. I'm writing because you subscribe to one or more of our limited edition subscriptions. And I want to personally let you know that we'll be discontinuing them late next year. Subscriptions to classic editions will still be available. Fear not. Those of you who have current subscriptions will receive your goods. Once your subscription is fulfilled, it will not renew. There's nothing extra you need to do. We're a small team. There's only six of us. And while we don't have difficulty releasing several limited editions per year, time becomes tight when we try to create editions for non-subscription products, which are requests we're getting more frequently. This changed that you'll see more variety in the limited editions that we release. Thank you for being a customer. I can't emphasize this enough. You're the reason our team works so hard every day. Feel free to respond to this email. Talk me, to talk with me directly. Best, Joic phone. So, this is fine. Except, they did it weeks after they pulled subscriptions from the site without telling anyone. Especially subscribers who have already paid them money. That's my problem.

Myke Hurley: Well, why is that a problem, though?

Brad Dowdy: Because you announce it publicly, you end it publicly. That way, subscribers don't have to go wonder, where's my subscription stuff? I can't access any of this stuff.

Myke Hurley: I don't know how many messages you were getting, but was that a lot of people, do you think? Like, were wondering?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, I had three or four. I mean, shouldn't they answer the question before they take it down from the site?

Myke Hurley: Like, I mean, probably.

Brad Dowdy: Like, if the Pin Addict podcast ends, are you just going to take it down from the site and not say anything?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, okay. That's a really good way of putting it. No, that's a very good point. Like, if we go away, would I take the website down before we release the final episode? No, probably not.

Brad Dowdy: Right. And they already have my money.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's the bigger problem, I guess, because even if it's only, say it's like, say 10% of your audience are asking that question, that is 10% of people that have paid you up front.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. So I don't care that they ended the subscription. I care how they handled it.

Myke Hurley: Especially because the way that they've decided to end it is really good, right? Like, look, we're going to try and do our best with the people that are giving us money, but like, it's not working for us. Yeah. You're going to get everything you paid for, but then that's going to be it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And we're going to keep making a limited editions and we're going to keep doing, making good products and on and on and on. It's all good, but except for the way that they handled it. You shouldn't, when you're dealing with people's money, they have to be the first to know. They shouldn't be coming to you asking the question, right? They still owe me half a subscription. I should have that information before I find, before I have to question myself, wait a minute, what's going on here?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And I guess the weird part of it is you've obviously made that decision. Like, you don't just like, oh man, this isn't working, take it down. We need to think about it. Like, I don't know. Well, unless that was the thinking, but that would have... So my only way of going through this is like, something catastrophic has happened. They had to stop, but didn't know what they were going to do. That's the only other option that I can see here. I know I get it. I'm just trying to like, think like, why could this have occurred?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So, and to this day, well, I'll say to this day, it's two days later. This is still not public. They haven't made a blog post. They haven't linked to a tweet that said, hey, here's the information on why we're canceling subscriptions.

Myke Hurley: So this was emailed out to all of the subscribers, right?

Brad Dowdy: Assume it. I assume.

Myke Hurley: Okay. Because you got it, but not direct. Like it came to you from a mailing list.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I just feel if you, I mean, if you're, if you announce something publicly, you end it publicly. It shouldn't be a secret. People shouldn't have to ask. There should be, I mean, you know, and it should be before anyone ever asks, you know, that's all. I just see it from a business standpoint. It's, it's, it made me very uncomfortable how they handled it to that end. And in the, I guess in the full disclosure bucket, we've had a lot of disclosures today. I've asked to be removed from their PR list. I can't in good faith continue to receive free products from them. You know, if there's products I like that they make in there, I'm sure, you know, I would love to subscribe to the Squire. I think that's a great pen. And, you know, so if there's a Squire I like in the future, I'll just buy it. But I can't in good faith continue to receive products from a company. I'm, I have to question everything they do. That's the thing. It's like, I like them. I like them personally. I like their products. But every time something lands in my mailbox, aside from like the vanguards, I have a question. Like there's something business related that I have to question why this was done. And I, it's, it puts me in a bad position. Um, so I would just not, I would rather not receive anything free from them to be put in that position. And if there's anything I want, I'll just pay for it myself.

Myke Hurley: Hmm. I agree with the thinking, but like, that's really interesting.

Brad Dowdy: It's essentially a load off. Like I don't have to think about that bear and fig anymore because every time I do only more questions come up and that annoys me. You know, they're frustrating to work with in that aspect. Not, not directly. They're great to work with directly. You know, and part of it is when they just recently, um, changed their marketing to say, Hey, anyone who has a blog, you know, we'll send you free stuff. They're, they're doing things in a way that I don't really approve of, but that's, it's a personal decision, right? They're obviously hugely successful. They make really good products. I have no issues with the products themselves. Generally, they're really good. I mean, I have questions, you know, they, I think the, the subscriptions sent them into a spiral. I don't, I think they did. They did too many. Lost some quality control. They lost some quality control.

Myke Hurley: Surely me and you, I think both saw this coming eventually. Right. You know, it's why we've, I think it's why we put so much focus on it. It was too many things. It was too much. Right. A company that was already making too much decided to make even more. And I mean, I'm surprised, honestly, that they kept it up without having anything catastrophic happen. Right. Like they, as you said, there's been some questions. We've addressed them on past episodes, but they haven't had something where like, I don't know, you open the notebook and all the pages fell out. Right. Like, you know, it's, it's not been a, they haven't had any disasters and I'm just assuming that they're like, they just can't come up with the amount of ideas that you need to, to, to have four subscription products plus trying to come up with regular products. Right. Like, how do you do that?

Brad Dowdy: Well, like when we talked to Joey, they said they had all four, like the first four of all of the subscriptions done essentially designed, you know, but that does take away from your day to day.

Myke Hurley: And then it also means you can't, you know, you maybe have less ideas for the regulars and then also thinking next year. Right. Like, and I assume it's just like, we just can't do this. Like, I don't know if six people could have that many ideas, honestly. I look how big a team field notes is, right? Like the, the amount of work that it takes for them to come up with four issues of one notebook. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And they were clearly late this time. It seems like, right. You know, that's hard. It's hard to do. So yeah.

Notebook Market

Myke Hurley: So if they really wanted to, I think because everybody is trying to compete with them, right? Like if you make notebooks and you put them on a subscription, there's one company you're competing with. And to try and, to try and play at their level, you really have to focus and trying to do four subscription products plus running a regular business where you're trying to come up with new stuff, like making bags. Like, I don't know. It feels, I'm not surprised, right? Like, and, and honestly, I will say this, my heart goes out to them because I feel bad for them for this. Like I'm a small business owner. I know how hard this stuff can be. You do too. I mean, and I agree if you like.

Brad Dowdy: I think this is why I'm so interested in it, right? Because I see myself in it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: You know, I have to put my business hat on when I think about them instead of just a product reviewer hat.

Myke Hurley: But like putting aside the issues with communication and stuff, right? Like if I look at what I think's going on here, I feel bad for them because they overstretched. I've done that so many times, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Oh my God. I've made plenty of mistakes, but I think it's the open and honesty. You have to be open and honest on the front end, not just when you're questioned. And that's where they're dropping the ball.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: And like. You have to be open and honest all the time, not just when it's convenient.

Myke Hurley: Even if there was a reason where they had to take the subscriptions down before they could talk about it, maybe they should say what that was. Because if they do do it that way, like what they've given out doesn't seem to be their answer. But, you know, everyone chooses to do their things differently. And like, you know, this could just have been a mistake on their part. But I agree with you that like this hasn't been handled perfectly, which honestly, I think is a metaphor for their entire subscription. Right.

Brad Dowdy: You know, I want to feel empathetic towards companies I support, you know, allow me to feel your pain and your empathy and have empathy for you. But when you are not upfront and not getting out ahead of things, it makes me question you not feel bad for you. Right. Like I want to, you know, I want to, you know, anytime we choose to spend money with a company, we're committing to them on a personal level. And I feel like it's not being reciprocated in this case.

Company Honesty

Brad Dowdy: You know, despite, you know, they're really good at answering the questions later. They're open and honest when questioned. Right. They're not open and honest upfront.

Brad Dowdy: Despite their best efforts, I think they feel that they are, you know, talking to Joey. I think they feel that they're doing everything right for their customers, but it's not showing in the end. And this is just, this is another thing on its own. It's, it happens, not a big deal, but this has been since day one. And I've finally just gotten to the point where it's taking too much of my brain capacity to think about their products because I can't just focus on the products. So I'm not saying I'm done with them because I'll buy products from them if they're fit me like the Squire. Like I said, it's a great pen. They make good products, but. It takes too much, too much brain power for me to work with them, you know, on a frequent basis. I need a break.

Brad Dowdy: So, you know, I hope that makes sense.

Myke Hurley: I think it does.

Brad Dowdy: All right. We're ready to move on to more fun stuff. Sure.

Myke Hurley: Let's wrap up a couple of our TPAs today.

Brad Dowdy: Because I can business ramble for like a half an hour more. I know. You know, but it's saying the same thing over again. Over and over again. So, yeah. You know, best of luck to those guys. I mean, I hope they continue to succeed. They need to succeed. You know, they need to be in our space. They're a successful business. They're a good partner to the community. But they need to do things differently in my book. And that's maybe that's just me. So. All right. I'm moving on. All right. This this STPA list, Myke, starts with several of your country mates. We're going to go with TJ Cosgrove first. So he says, pens that transform. What are your thoughts? I just picked up a Lamy Pico and it's like having Optimus Prime in my pocket. Suitably impressed. And TJ's a pencil guy, right? You know, he's a he's a huge, huge pencil guy. And the Pico is one of my personal favorite pens. It transforms into ballpoint awesomeness. I'm a huge fan of pocketable ballpoint pens. Not all transforming pens work well. The Lamy Pico is one that does. So highly approved. They can be a problem because they make limited edition colors. And the next thing you know, your one turns into three. You know, you have your regular black one. Then, oh, hey, look, fluorescent orange. Ooh, that pink one's nice. So they're going to get you. Just be careful with the Picos. They're going to get you. They're like jelly beans. All right. Country mate number two, Tessa. Tessa Sauri says, I just had to choose a small selection of stationery to keep for the next few months while I temporarily move house. What would you both choose in this situation? So practically what you need rather than necessarily just for your faves. What do you think about this, Myke?

Myke Hurley: If I'm moving, right, I have two thoughts. Well, I mean, I did, but I didn't need to do what Tessa's doing. Do I take some of my favorite stuff because I don't want it to get damaged or lost? Or do I take the things that, like, I need to be workhorses, right? So if I'm moving, I also want to have a small pack, right? Like I don't want it to be big. So I'd probably grab a pack of field notes, right? That would get me through. And I will most likely take a roturing for mechanical pencil requirements. I'll take like a roturing 600 or something like that. And then, obviously a retro 51 standard. But then my struggle would be I would want to have a fountain pen with me, right? And I don't know whether I would go for the M90 because great all-rounder every single day for me. Also, I would die if it breaks or I lose it. Or do I go with the Sailor Pro gear, which I think would be able to withstand a bit more of a beating? That's why I'm not sure.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I look at it. It kind of, this question landed at a good time for me because I think I would take what I would take on a vacation trip for a week. I kind of, like you, I kind of want one of everything. You know, it's, in the end, it's too much. I'm not taking like one or two pens and a pad. But I'm taking, if I'm away for, you know, she's gone for a few months. You know, I'm taking enough stuff. The only kicker for me is ink. You know, whether I'm going to take things like the M90.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm taking the M90 then. I'm taking the M90 because I want cartridge, right? Not a bottle.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. You can get cartridges for your Sailor. So, like, I would take, I would fill up, like, maybe three fountain pens and then bring one bottle of replacement ink. Or whichever my favorite of those three fountain pens, whatever ink matches that, I'd take that bottle of ink. And then the other ones, I'd make sure they're cartridge pens so I could swap them in and out. You know, I'd take a pencil. I'd take a hardbound notebook and then, like, two small pocket notebooks. You know, I just want to have a pencil, a rollerball, a fountain pen or five.

Brad Dowdy: Some good paper, some portable paper. And then my only question would be, do I take a bottle of ink? I would try not to, but I would take one if I know, you know, I'm going to be away for a few months. I'm definitely probably taking a bottle of ink, maybe two. If I have some small, some small bottles. But you don't want to take too much, but I, like, whatever I fit in my, whatever I.

Myke Hurley: You don't want to take too much, huh? Mr. Three fountain pens, one of every other type of pen, two bottles of ink and six notepads. Not too much, Brad. That's, like, half of what I took on vacation. I'm not going to lie. Oh, my word. See, I'm thinking, like, pure survival mode situation.

Brad Dowdy: No, no, no, no, no, no. No, I'm not, this is not a survival mode thing. It's a travel mode thing, right? I'm going to be somewhere for two or three weeks. I'm going to take stuff that I may not use, but it's going to make me happy to take it. That's how we operate, Myke.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: All right. Nick. Nick's hitting me up on Twitter a lot this morning. Nick Piddick says he carried on this question into several tweets, and I told him to settle down because I had an answer for him. He said, do you know any NotCo grade A5 cases that can also carry pens non-touching safely? Not Instagram grade, the real deal.

Brad Dowdy: Nick, I hear you, buddy. And NotCo is making the exact case that I think you're describing. And it's, cross my fingers, going to be ready in September. I'm going to have more about it soon, but it's a NotCo case in our durable nylon materials. It's going to zip all the way around. It's going to have pin slots on the inside where the pins don't touch. And it's going to fit your A5 notebook perfectly. So, patience grasshopper. We're going to have that plus A6 for Hobonichi Techo fans. And we're going to have the Midori size for Traveler's Notebook fans. These are all going to be zip notebook cases.

Myke Hurley: I've seen these in person. I've handled them. I've played with them. I think it has the potential to be the best product you two have ever made.

Brad Dowdy: We're really excited.

Myke Hurley: Because it's everything you've learned into one product.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. We'll do a manufacturing show in maybe a month or so, because this has been one of the hardest, longest things that we've done. Because we've grown so much, the scope of this project has become huge from a commitment perspective. So, we'll talk about that stuff later. So, this is coming. It's coming from us. And it's coming soon, if you can wait two to three months. So, that's where we're at. And I'll have more to share. We're almost... Our final production version prototypes are being made next week. And once I get those in hand, that's when we'll be able to talk about it more. I don't want to share any more... I've shared some really early prototypes. I've carried prototypes. People have seen it at pen shows. Those are not the colors. They're not the finished labels. When we get the finished product, what it's going to be in production, I'll start sharing pictures. So, look for those in maybe two to three weeks, where I can start talking about them a little bit more. But we're almost there. We're in the home stretch. So, hang in there, Nick. And thanks for the question.

Brad Dowdy: And just to answer the chat room, and I think a lot of people... I will go ahead and spill this beans. One of the color exteriors will be purple. So, there you go. That's a big question we always get. People want to know our colors because we do like crazy colors. All right. William Chamberlain wants to know, what pens, pencils would you recommend middle school students to purchase to use at school? Price is a very important factor. I'm living through this right now. My daughter is starting middle school this August. And I troll around the Erasable Facebook group, which is a wonderful group of people. And if you don't listen to the Erasable podcast, you should. And if you're on Facebook, you should follow the Erasable group on Facebook. The popular school pencil that you can find at places like Staples and Target and office supply stores, Walmart, things like that, seem to be the current Ticonderoga models. They seem to meet all the needs of the super pencil nuts in the Erasable group. And they're cheap. You can get a 24-pack for about $5. So, that seems to be the going rate. That's the ones I'm going to get my kids for school. And, you know, I think that's probably where you want to start. And if not, join up the Erasable group, Facebook group, and ask the question. You'll get a lot of good answers. You'll probably see a lot of Ticonderoga recommendations in there.

Myke Hurley: That is a wild name for a product. That is wild. Could you pick something trickier to type and say in Ticonderoga?

Brad Dowdy: Well, no, I mean, that's been around the U.S. for as long as I can remember. My word. It's basically like saying orange for me. Yeah, that's a, you know. So.

Brad Dowdy: You got it? Do I need to hold? No, I got it.

Myke Hurley: I got it. Like, wow. Ticonderoga. Yeah. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Istanbul, not Constantinople.

Subscription Choices

Brad Dowdy: Whatever you say. All right, Rob. Rob wants to know, given all the subscriptions you have for analog items, if you had to choose just three, which ones would they be? I actually had to think real hard on what subscriptions I have because I have too many. I feel like I've left something off this list. So this is what I came up with. Y'all tell me if I'm wrong because I'm not thinking straight. I have Field Notes, Blackwing, Baron Fig, CW Pencils, and Write Notepads. What am I? I feel like I'm missing something.

Myke Hurley: I mean, I'm sure you are. I mean, so I think mine are Field Notes, Foot Cardigan, and I have two sticker subscriptions. I think that's all I get.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So for my stationary subscriptions, Field Notes, for sure. Blackwing, for sure. And Write Notepads, for sure. This is actually a pretty easy decision because Baron Fig is going away and it's the same pencil core every time. CW Pencils is the difficult one because that's just a fun box. But I enjoy, I can always get that stuff later. Most of it. You know, there's some of it that's limited to the box. But a lot of those items I can get later. I might not can get the Field Notes, the Black Wings, or the Write Notepads later. Plus, I think they're the best of what they do in that realm. Field Notes, Notebooks are awesome. Blackwing Pencils are awesome. Write Notepads are awesome. Those are the three I'd go with. If I'd have to pick two, I'd have to, I would still stick with Blackwing. I would probably still stick with Field Notes just because I've been with them the longest. It would be hard to not have those Write Notepads because I think they're fan-freaking-tastic. I mean, I think they, I've said this before, I think their just standard notebook is better than Field Notes. It's a really good notebook. So I would be hard-pressed to give that one up. So I'm glad I could pick three and that was one of them. All right. Brian wants to know, do you have any information on the new Lamy Ion? Aon Felton Pen? What do you think? A-I-O-N. It's got to be Ion or Aon, right?

Myke Hurley: I would say Ion. Yeah. Like Zion.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Now I've got Bob Marley in my head.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's what I was going for.

Brad Dowdy: So Lamy introduced this, the marketing for this, I don't know, in the past month or so. It looks cool. It looks like a new mid-range entry point that's kind of a mashup of the 2000 in the studio, maybe something like that. It looks interesting. I'll definitely want to get one to try it out. I like the look of it. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's standard Lamy. It's not going to, the design's going to be nice and clean, but it's not going to be wild. Sometimes I like my pens to be a little bit more wild, stand out a little bit more.

Myke Hurley: Nah.

Brad Dowdy: But I would still get this to try out. I'll definitely be getting one of these. Kim wants to know, any advice for nice pen displays? Well, we obviously love Dudek Modern Goods if you want like the vertical desk type display, but if you're wanting like a flat, you know, glass lid, that type of display, I'm not sure. I mean, I haven't figured out what the best is for that. I've seen some really, really good quality ones. But, you know, hit me up with a further question and tell me specifically what you're trying to do. Because you can get things like converted cigar boxes. You can get some really nice handmade stuff that I've seen with different pen trays in it. Do you want them, you know, do you want it to be able to see inside of it? Do you want it fully closed? So it depends on what you're trying to do. And we'll finish this up with Jane. She says, is it wrong to encourage pen addiction and friends so I have people to talk to in real life?

Brad Dowdy: If not, what's the best way to do it? It's never wrong to encourage anyone to try pens more and get into stationery. Because a lot of times you're going to figure out that they already have some deep-seated secret that they're keeping from you in the beginning. And they're going to go, oh my God, this is great. And you're going to have a new best friend to talk to, IRL. And then they can become one of us. So you should do it. Anytime you can, any chance you get.

Myke Hurley: Agreed. All right, we're going to wrap up for today?

Brad Dowdy: I think so. You know, I didn't bring the water to quench my thirst at various points. So I'm actually quite parched. Bad news. And, you know, you never want to risk the vacation recording to run too long. And even though we've gone pretty long as it is. So I think that's pretty good. I think we're in good shape.

Myke Hurley: If you want to send in questions for a future episode, you can tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. As-A-S-K-T-P-A. And they'll go into a lovely spreadsheet for us. Or if you're in the Pen Addict Slack, you can hit up Brad and send them some questions. If you want to submit some information for the wiki, go to stationary.wiki and you can help keep control of that. You can go to reddit.com slash r slash penaddict for the Pen Addict Reddit community. My word, there's so many things now. The Pen Addict community just keeps on growing. And we love every single one of you. So thank you so much for continuing to make this show so much fun for us to do every week. If you want to get in touch with us personally, you can hit us up on Twitter. I am at imike, I-M-Y-K-E. Brad is at dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. Brad is penaddict on Instagram. I'm imike. And you can find more of Brad's work over at penaddict.com and noc.co. Thanks to Harry for supporting this week's show. And thank you for listening. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, Brad.