The Pen Addict 244/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	244
Title:	Club Safari
Release Date:	February 15th, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 244
Audio File:	Audio Episode 244
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 244
Length:	7474 min <br />1.233 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Pen Chalet

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 244. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet, Blue Apron, and Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley, and I am joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Hey, buddy. How's it going?

Myke Hurley: Good. Did you get any Valentine pens?

Brad Dowdy: I did not get any Valentine pens this year. I got some pretty sweet Valentine's candy. I like the strong dark chocolate stuff, so I always get a good batch of the dark chocolate stuff. But that was about it. We take it pretty easy on Valentine's.

Myke Hurley: We don't do anything.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably the right move. It's just, you know...

Myke Hurley: Our birthdays and Christmas and our anniversary are all too crammed together. But Valentine's Day is just like, we just can't. We just can't.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, like our anniversary is in December, along with Christmas, so, you know, we're rolling out some pretty big things during that time. So Valentine's is just like, hey, cards and candy, which is great. Just what we name.

Myke Hurley: Cards and candy.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So how's the Valentine's Day in your inbox right now? It should be an inbox party based on the link I just saw tweet out before the show, which is... It was something interesting. Number one, RelayFM is hiring. Number two, you have a URL slash jobs on the page. RelayFM.com. And thirdly, you have a jobs at email address. Like, this is a thing. Like, did you... When did you see this coming from Relay's perspective? Like, we'll get into the pin stuff in a second. But this all just happened, what, 20, 30 minutes before we started to record? Yeah. I was like, uh-oh, Myke's going big time here.

Myke Hurley: In August of 2016, we decided that we needed to hire an assistant.

Myke Hurley: And after a particularly busy and tough Christmas season, from a workload perspective, we kind of put the gas on. And if you've been hearing me talking about time tracking, this is why I started time tracking. So I could work out how many hours does it take me to do things that we think an assistant could help me do. And we're confident that we have the amount of hours that we wanted. And we've now put up a job posting for an administrative assistant. And it's Relay.FM slash jobs. This is just... I'll be honest, I feel like I just want to vomit everywhere right now.

Myke Hurley: Because this is just one of those things where it's like, okay, here we go then. I guess we're going to hire someone? Yeah. So we're looking for somebody part-time on a freelance basis. We can do... I reckon we can hopefully give about 8 to 10 hours a week of work. Especially in the beginning when somebody will be kind of working with me to learn the way that we do things. We have some projects we want them to complete. Yeah. This person will basically work mostly with me from an administrative perspective of trying to help me just wrangle our systems and our calendars around sponsorship.

Brad Dowdy: Cool. It's very daunting. Congratulations. Yeah. Congratulations are in order.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I didn't put the email account into airmail because I just don't want all that email with my email. So I downloaded the Gmail app and it's on my phone. My phone is in another room. But the Gmail app is sending notifications to my watch. And there's kind of nothing I can do about this. So they're coming in. If it keeps happening the way it's been happening over the last 10 minutes, I'm just going to take my watch off and just deal with it. Yeah. This is going to be like, this is one of those funny things where it's like, I need somebody to help me lighten my workload, but I have added significantly to my workload in the hopes of trying to make this better.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. And you just need someone to hold your hand to get through this until it's done. Yeah. Then it'll be all better.

Myke Hurley: I need an assistant to help me hire an assistant.

Kickstarter

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well, we might need some assistants planning this Kickstarter thing we got going on here.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Honestly, like I was thinking, oh, if I have an assistant, maybe they can help me with stuff like this too. So, you know, this is the thing. I'm backtracking now, but we're calling it like a sales thing. And that is like most of the admin that we do. But I think that there will be and would be more exciting projects as well. But we just don't know what they're going to be yet, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well, it's a growing business. Things are moving. It's a moving target a lot of times, which is the difficulty. You know, it's not static every day.

Myke Hurley: Nope. So, yeah, we're approaching the home stretch for the Kickstarter now. We have 10 days to go. We're now over $25,000, which is flat out bonkers. Like, really is just an incredible thing. I am so thankful for everybody who is giving us money for us to do this little thing that we're excited about. And we love you all and you're the best and the best.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. It's awesome. We'll have one more wrap up, I guess, next week. Next week, yep. We'll get down to the wire. Everything's going as planned. The planning for all the future events is happening. And we're just excited. It's pretty cool how everything's worked out.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Lamy AL Star

Brad Dowdy: Amazing. So, following up from the last, I don't know, two weeks of Lamy AL star discussion, Pacific Blue, Ana put her review up of the pin. And she had some not nice things to say about me, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yep. She thinks that you have bad taste, I think. I know, right? That's what I took from it.

Brad Dowdy: No, it's funny. Ana and I, we like to, well, I won't use the British term, but we like to go at it a little bit. And we have fun with it. And she disagrees. If you have two pin choices, one is the Lamy Safari, one is the AL star. She thinks the right choice is the AL star, where I think it's the Safari. So, she had fun playing that through her review, which was very good. The pin is very, very good looking. The ink looks awesome. The Lamy Turquoise. Ana always makes the inks shine in her posts. And I just thought it was funny. So, if you haven't read that review, go read it, because she really takes us to task. Although, I will argue with you, Ana, on one point. I don't think the AL star is near as durable. As the Safari. I have dings and dents in AL stars that I don't have in Safaris. That light, thin aluminum and anodization scratches off dings and dents. So, I will go with that one point. But everything else is just, you know, purely taste-driven. I like the plastic durability of the Safari. She likes the metallic style of the AL, which, hey, they're both pretty awesome. A lot of yours, I'll buy both of them. Usually, I just buy the Safari. But it's a great pin, and it's a funny review. You should go read that review, because she gets after me and you pretty well. It's hilarious.

Myke Hurley: I'm in Club Safari. Yeah. And, you know, one thing that Ana was talking about is that she was unhappy that it was going to be, like, the textured finish on the petrol Safaris, the same as there was with the dark lilac one. But I'm excited about that, honestly. Like, so it clearly is just, like, a difference in taste of materials. Right. You know? And I'm excited about textured plastic.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, smooth or textured, Safari, I'd take both of those, either over an AL Star. It's just, I like the feel of it better.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I like the matte colors as opposed to the shiny colors.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep, yep, yep. So, we talked about the ink and the AL Star and the Pacific Blue, how it's just lamy turquoise. But this next link that we would like to share with you pretty much covers all the inks in the world. Ever made. Ever made. I haven't watched the video yet, but this link made the rounds in my inbox and made the rounds in the Slack channel. Thank you, Catherine and Slack, for sharing this out. There is a link that came, I think, from Reddit, and it's called a visit to one of the largest private ink collections. This is just like eye candy for y'all, and we wanted to share that.

Myke Hurley: It's just unbelievable. Like, as well, they've got some pens in here as well, like a tray of Nakaya's. Who is this person? Is this Leigh? I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this is Leigh's house.

Brad Dowdy: But there's stuff in here I've never seen before, like the old Mont Blanc bottles, or like seeing some of these plastic bottles. What do you think about this? What do you mean, what do I think about this? It's amazing and awesome, and I wish it was me. What do you mean, what do I think about this?

Myke Hurley: Do you think that this is a practical collection for an individual?

Myke Hurley: No. Like, this looks like a museum.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but it should. I mean, who of us that listen to this show are practical?

Myke Hurley: Oh, I completely buy that. I just, you know, I just, I'm not, I think this is, honestly, I think this is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Like, and this person clearly has the space, so bravo to them for having the space. I mean, it's clearly museum level. Yeah. Yeah. But, so that's why I'm like, I feel a bit, I'm like, not unhappy, but like, I wish that people were able to go and see it and try it, you know? Like, that's kind of what I wish. And I don't know what this person's arrangement is, like if that is a thing that you can do. But it just feels like there's all this ink, like it's more ink than this person would ever use. So, wouldn't it be amazing if people could play around in there, like a big candy store?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So, I haven't gone to the video yet because the image post is huge. Yeah. So, it's taken me enough time to go through that, but we'll link to the images and to the video so you can all see what we're talking about. I mean, I know we're not doing it justice on talking about it on the podcast, but it's, what's one of those things has to be seen to be believed because it's unlike anything I've ever seen in this community. It's really, really cool. So, I mean, anything that, you know, it's just like we're rolling through these images and a tray and a kia's and just like, yeah, whatever, you know, just one of those things. Some really old Visconti bottles that look like, you know, straight out of a pharmacy, you know, very huge, huge bottles. This one series, like if I could reach through the screen and grab anything, I've never seen this before. There's an image called Young Lady Series Taiwan Exclusive, and they're in the old Sailor Vase bottles, the Bung Bok style bottles. They look super interesting. I've never even seen a picture of these before. There's a dozen of those inks. They just look fantastic. And all the old vintage stuff.

Myke Hurley: I like the huge bottles of Mont Blanc ink.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Like basically a growler.

Brad Dowdy: A growler of ink.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy.

Brad Dowdy: That's how it used to be, right? I mean, those were the times where you're just filling and dipping. Yeah. Why would they be smaller? And just using them constantly. Right. Right. You know, right. These days, I'm pretty happy with the smaller 30 milliliter bottles. Because I don't use them enough. But back when you just had blue or black, and you were just writing all day. Yeah. Those huge bottles came in handy. Kind of incredible. So, kind of incredible. So, anyway. We had to share that because it's really amazing. It's one of those things you can spend a lot, a lot of time just looking through that and see how it goes. So, yeah. Very cool. Watch the video. Check out the pictures. It's awesome.

Myke Hurley: Talking about amazing collections. Pens. If you're looking for an amazing collection of pens and pen-related paraphernalia that you would like to purchase, there is nowhere better than Pen Chalet. They have all of our favorite brands. Pelican, Lamy, Pilot, Namiki, Monteverde, Sailor, Kaweco. It doesn't matter what you're looking for. Pen Chalet's going to have it because they're always adding new styles of pen every single month. They have all of the brands that you love and they have all of the things you're going to need. You need inks. You need pen holders, carrying cases. Maybe you need converters. It doesn't matter what you're looking for. Pen Chalet have got it. And with free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States and great shipping rates internationally, they're a perfect choice. Pen Chalet has low prices on high quality pens with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So, you want to go to, as always, penchalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. When you go there, click the link at the top of the website. This is podcast. And enter the special password, Pen Addict. This way, you will get access to the special offer of the week and also the code that you need, which will allow you to save 10% on absolutely anything at Pen Chalet. This week's special offer is on the limited edition Coral Safari ballpoint. This is one of the previous limited editions. So, they do like a fountain pen, a ballpoint, and what else do they do?

Brad Dowdy: I don't know that they do the rollerball in it. I think they just do the Safari ballpoint. I don't remember. They usually almost always do the ballpoint, which I've seen. You know, we had Dark Lilac ballpoint and Turquoise ballpoint. And I know the upcoming ones are coming in ballpoint as well. So, yeah, the Coral ballpoint is definitely one added to the collection if you're a Safari and a ballpoint pen fan. That's one thing I don't have is the Safari ballpoint. I need to try it because I like, I actually like, I prefer Lamy's ballpoints more than their rollerball cartridges. I think their ballpark cartridges are very, very good. Everything from the tiny ones they use in the Pico up to the ones they use in the Lamy 2000, which is probably the same really fill as this. It's a great, great ballpoint. So, I should look at getting one of these just because I do like the style because I like the Tipo. I like the lower end Lamy stuff. They do a really good job there with the plastic barrels and the colors and the shape. So, yeah, it's a really good ballpoint.

Myke Hurley: It's a seriously awesome price. Like, the discount on this one is awesome. So, go check it out. Go to penshalet.com. And you want to sign in with the special podcast link, the password penaddict, to get access to these special offers. Thank you so much to Penshalet for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: So, Penshalet have something new up on the page, which I think came out since we've last spoken. And I got a lot of links sent to me, sent my way. This is apparently a North American exclusive from Sailor. It's in the 1911 model. It's called Fresca. Fresca Blue. What do you think about this pen, Myke?

Myke Hurley: She's very pretty, isn't she?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, extremely pretty. When I saw it, I was like, ooh, that's pretty.

Myke Hurley: I don't recall seeing a pen in this kind of color.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I've seen some lighter blues. You don't see it very often. But I love the rhodium furniture on this pen. All the silver with the lighter blue looks great. You know, I don't know how limited it is, but it looks fantastic. And I actually got a question in Twitter once this pen launched saying, well, would you buy the Sailor 1911 Fresca Blue? Or would you buy the Platinum 3776 Nis Lilos, the pink one that has just been released? Like if those are like the previous Safari AL star question. If you only choices on the planet were this new Fresca Blue or the pink 3776, which pen are you buying, Myke?

Myke Hurley: I'm still going to go with the pink one.

Brad Dowdy: Me too. I mean, there's absolutely no, I replied saying it's an impossible question to answer because they're both stunning. They're both, you know, top tier performers. They're both just amazing. It just depends on what you're looking for from the design perspective. You know, from a performance and functionality perspective, there's no difference. They're both elite. So do you want a demonstrator type pink barrel with rose gold trim? Or do you want a solid light blue with rhodium plating? And even me, I think I would pick the Platinum because it's just a stunner. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Also, the 3776 is a pen that everybody tells me I need to buy. Yeah. But yeah, the blue is really beautiful, but I don't have a pink pen. You know, I have dark blue pens. Like I don't have a pink pen and I want a pink pen. Yeah. Because it's the kind of guy I am. You know, I want a pink pen.

Brad Dowdy: And so I'm going for it. Yeah. Pink pens are awesome. I have pink pens and I would buy another pink pen. So it's a good pen. I'm still waiting on that one.

Myke Hurley: I'm still waiting to get my email from Ron to tell me that he's got it and then I'm going to buy it.

Baron Fig Alphabet

Brad Dowdy: Cool. Cool. Yeah. I like it. So going from the bright and bold to the black and classic, we got the Baron Fig Alphabet release this week. What were your first thoughts when you saw? This is the new Squire limited edition from Baron Fig. Same shape, same, you know, overall style, aesthetic in a new matte black finish with the alphabet etched up and down the barrel. A through Z on one side and then just the Baron Fig name on the other side. What were your thoughts on this?

Myke Hurley: I like it. I like it. Yeah, me too. Me too. I'm not blown away, right? Sure. I'm not like taking my wallet and throwing it at the screen. Right. But I also don't have any ill feeling toward it at all. Right. You know? Right. I think that what they have done is what I was asking for.

Myke Hurley: You know, like what I wanted to see from it, basically, which is it is good looking. They haven't done anything completely wild. And there is a good theme that runs to it. Right. Right. The alphabet is a good theme for a pen. It looks pretty and it's in a color they've never made the Squire in. So, like, for me, I'm like, yeah, okay, I'll buy this. Like, you know, I haven't bought it, bought it, but I mean, like, I'll buy it. I probably will get it, actually, because I do really like this pen. Like, the Squire in general is a very, very good interpretation of a pen that uses that refill, the Retro 50-way refill, which of which there are many pens now. And of all of the ones that I've tried, the Squire is the best that I've tried that fits that refill other than the Retro 51. Right. Like, there are many, many pens that try and use that now. And I think that this is the company that's made the best other option for it, like the more expensive, more premium option for it. So, yeah, I mean, I like it. I like it.

Brad Dowdy: But, yeah, I think that's fair across the board. Like, where with the Askew release, the range of opinions was fully to the left side of the ledger and fully to the right side of the ledger. I mean, like, pinned. Like, all the way love, all the way hate. All the opinions on this are very refined right into the middle. Right? It's either, okay, I like it. Okay, maybe not for me, but it's good looking. And so, it's a very, you know, in the middle pen, which I think is good. The feel of the pen, it feels...

Myke Hurley: Are you a gold one?

Brad Dowdy: I do, yeah. All right.

Myke Hurley: Tell me what you think.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, I love it. I like it better than the original. The finish of this one feels slightly different, even though I think it's probably just the color. Like, I think they attempted to finish it the same, like kind of that satiny. I wouldn't call it matte, but it's more like a satiny finish. I like the fact that they've committed to the 8126 refill instead of the 8127, so it's a little bit finer. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: It's basically the same performance, but just a finer line.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Which, it's still a wide line if you're used to micro gel pens. Because it's liquid ink, too, so it spreads differently. Anyway, it's the preferred refill for me. The etching is really, really nice. All right, so it is etched. You can feel like a... Okay. Yeah, you can feel like the texture of it as you run your finger up and down the alphabet. And same with the Baron Fig logo. It almost feels raised, but I think it's just because you're just feeling the difference in level there.

Myke Hurley: So what are the logos on it? Aside from the alphabet, how is it branded?

Brad Dowdy: Just the name Baron Fig on the 180 degrees from the alphabet. No sword.

Myke Hurley: I think I would have preferred the sword. Yeah. Because I really like that little logo. Well, the sword logo is really cool. Yeah. But I'm cool with it just being the one thing, right? Just like Baron Fig on one side of the alphabet, on the other side, that's totally cool with me. Right. But it's a shame to lose that sword. Like, I love the little sword. You know what I'd really love to see? Like, I think it would totally work to put the sword on the end, like on the very tip of the pen. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you call it a finial, right? Because it's not that... But I don't know what you call it. The twist mechanism. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, I could see that. So yeah, it's good. Like, I have two squires now. This is the one I will pick up every time. Oh, interesting. I just like it better. All right. I mean, you know how much I love the other pen. But the black on this looks really good. So I enjoy it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I think I'm going to get one of these. I do. I like it. I'm toying now whether to subscribe or not. I don't know. I think I'm going to buy this one and then still wait and see.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. I'm holding off on the sub. I did sub to the pencils, which is the last release, but it should be coming next. So that's my one subscription to Baron Fig Products is the Archer pencil. So we'll see how that goes. But if they keep doing something like this, yeah, it'd be cool to have a set of squires.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I'm cool with that. They did a good job of it.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So I am heading to L.A. tomorrow, as you know, as I won't shut up about. And we're going to do a couple of topics kind of related to that. But the first one is some new products that I'm hopefully going to get to see in L.A. Two of them for sure. One of them I'm not positive I'll get to see. But this first one for sure is the Aurora Flexnib that Aurora is introducing. This is compelling. I haven't seen the price on it. They're going to be showing it off at the L.A. Pen Show. I think it might be available for preorder, but I haven't seen the price for it. I've become a fan of Aurora pens. I don't know. Oops. As I click play on the video, there's a link to the video in the show notes. Autoplay YouTube. Thank you.

Brad Dowdy: So you can see it in action. And so I'm anxious to play with this a little bit to see what the level of flex is. Right. Because you have something like the Pilot Falcon, which I don't really think is a flex nib. I don't think it's fair to call that a flex nib. It's more of a soft nib. You get some line variation with pressure. It doesn't compare to a traditional Waterman 1930s flex nib, which is probably an unfair comparison. It's just not super, super flexy. So I want to see how you can push this pen a little bit with my own hand. You know, what's the feedback and firmness or softness of it like. And we'll get to talk to Aurora about the pens. Kenro's bringing in some of the Aurora people to the show. And I'm going to get to sit down and interview them for the blog for a later date. So I'll get some hands on time with the flex nib. And we'll be able to report back. But now that I've drank the Aurora Kool-Aid, I want to see what this nib is all about and see if it's something that'll fit my style. Because I've had the Omos Extra Flexibile nib. And I didn't like it for me. It's an awesome nib for a lot of people. But it was pretty flexy and pretty wet. And it just kind of didn't fit my writing style. And in general, flex nibs don't fit my writing style per se. So I would like to see where this falls in the line of something like the Pilot Falcon compared to the Flessabile nib. Compared to, you know, an older flex nib and see where we're at. Because Aurora's gold nibs in general are thick. Like they're firm, which is why I fell in love with them. So where this flex nib lands, it'll be interesting to see. The product I don't know if I'll get to see or not. But I'm maybe the most interested in is Aurora Blue Black Ink. Which Aurora makes essentially two ink colors, blue and black. They're two of the most widely respected blue and black inks on the market. Everyone praises Aurora Black especially as the darkest black ink. So it's very, very popular. So for them to combine these two seems like something they should have done a long time ago. But I'm glad they're doing it now. And that'll be very, very high on my radar given my love of blue-black inks. I want to see this in action because I love Aurora Black. I don't love Aurora Blue. But that's because I don't use standard blues very much. And it's a very saturated, pure, rich blue. Combining these two and seeing what the ratios are like in Aurora Blue Black. They've teased some images and it looks very dark. It's kind of hard to see. So I want to see that in person. I don't know. They were mentioning like in some of the marketing stuff that it's coming out in March. So I'm guessing they have samples though. They've taken these pictures. Kenro has. So I really want to try that out.

Brad Dowdy: And then...

Myke Hurley: Are they ramping up some stuff at Aurora?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, that's what I want to talk to them about. Like...

Myke Hurley: What's going on over there?

Aurora Pens

Brad Dowdy: Starting like a year ago when they lowered their prices on their mainline pins. Yep. Like the Optima. I remember that. They've like... Like it seems like the switch has flipped for them a little bit. So some of my questions for them... And I asked in the Slack channel to, you know, give me some questions. And you can still go in there and, you know, give me some questions to ask Aurora. But a lot of it was how do they see the market now? And where do they see themselves fitting? Because they've made some clear changes to address, I guess, what they saw as a perception of their pins. And they've changed that perception in a pretty quick fashion. Like they've had always been around and always been well respected. And now they're in the general conversation, which I don't know necessarily that they were before. Unless you were shopping in the very high end of the marketplace.

Myke Hurley: So it's not a name that I like am immensely familiar with. Right. You know, like my knowledge of Aurora really goes back to just you talking about the pin you bought.

Brad Dowdy: Right. And I only bought that pin because it went down to a proper price point. Like the exact same pin I purchased was $200 or $300 more expensive than it was when I purchased it.

Brad Dowdy: So what has gone into that change in the business is something, you know, I want to talk about with them when I get a chance to sit down with them. I'm going to be able to do that on Friday. Okay.

Myke Hurley: Great.

Brad Dowdy: So hopefully I will be able to ask them and then I'm going to write something up about it. So it should be good.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'm interested. I'm interested to see how that comes across.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, me too. And I want to get their input on where they see themselves in this entire market. You know, where do they stand? Yeah. So it'll be good.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'd like to know who they think their competition are now.

Brad Dowdy: Right.

Myke Hurley: You know, that would be kind of, that would be a very telling question, right? Like what market do they consider themselves in?

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. So we'll see. We'll see. I will break my no buying ink. You know, I wouldn't say it's a resolution because I don't do those. And I know at some point I'm going to buy some ink, but I think it's going to break. Definitely.

Myke Hurley: You're really far into the year there, Bob. Well done.

Brad Dowdy: I made it. It's almost March. It's 15 days till March. So no, I'm these Kyoto inks that Van Ness Pens is carrying now. They're going to have them at the LA Pens Show. I'm going to have probably two to three bottles of those purchased and coming home with me. All right.

Myke Hurley: Why should I know about these? I'm not familiar with these.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know. I'm not extremely familiar with them. So the colors look great though. They're kind of muted color range.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like a pastel color.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But they have some depth to them, right? They're not light. They might be a lighter color. They're not pure green or pure pink or pure orange. They're muted, but still strong on the page. Yep.

Myke Hurley: My gosh, these boxes with the ink splotches on them. They are beautiful.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I just want to get, this is one I want. Like this is something I want to see how it performs in my pens. What these colors add to colors I already have. And like, as soon as I get there, I'm going to pick out the colors that I want. And I'm going to, I'm bringing some pens just so I can ink up with these colors so I can share them throughout the week. Because I'll get asked about them constantly. Because they're new to us, new to our market. And they're cool looking. And, you know, I'm always, always on the lookout for new inks. So, you know, I haven't, I haven't bought any inks. So it's time to, time to come home with a few bottles from LA, which is always a risky proposition. But I think I did that last year too. So it's going to be cool. I'm looking forward to that very much. Like all these Aurora Blue Black, if I can get my hands on one, I don't know if they're going to be available. And these Kyoto inks, I will definitely come home with some. So I'll probably have three or four new bottles.

Myke Hurley: I'll be keeping an eye out to see if these are any shows like that we're going to. Because I'm interested to see how they look in person. Just because they're like, they're really peculiar.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah.

Myke Hurley: In a good way. Like the blue one is very interesting. Like lavender-ish, kind of dark blue, purple. It's very, yeah, they're very interesting colors. So yeah, I can see, I can see how you would end up with some bottles of these, honestly.

Brad Dowdy: Right, right. And it's like, I've never done like the whole set thing and I won't with this. But it's very, all these things are very complementary to each other while being different throughout the line. It makes you want to go, one of each, please. Which I'm sure, which people do that a lot. Like I've sold people that before, which is kind of crazy. Yeah, yeah. One of each. And I'm like, okay.

Myke Hurley: How many can that be? Like that you've seen? Like how many bottles is one of each? Like five bottles, ten bottles? No, no, no. Yeah, more than ten. Wow. Really?

Brad Dowdy: We've sold, when Oster came out, I think we had 33. And we've done one of each of those.

Myke Hurley: 33 inks, somebody came and bought a bottle of all of them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Was that the person who had that collection that we were looking at earlier?

Brad Dowdy: No, no, no. But I've definitely sold, when the first batch of Oster came out, I've sold one of each. Of whatever the number was that we have, it was in the 30s.

Myke Hurley: That's a lot of ink.

Brad Dowdy: It is a lot of ink. It's good ink, though.

Myke Hurley: I love my Fire and Ice one. Is it called Fire and Ice?

Brad Dowdy: It is. Yeah, I really like it. And I've gotten several Inco-Rymo letters in Fire and Ice, and it looks spectacular on the page. I bet. I bet. Such a good ink. Such a good ink.

Myke Hurley: All right, should we take a break?

Bag Dumps

Brad Dowdy: Let's do this, yeah, let's do this, because we have more kind of LA-related, because we're going to talk about bag dumps, and I'm packing now, so I'm perfect to talk about this.

Myke Hurley: You're in the bag state of mind. Yes. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace. Use the author code INK at checkout, and you'll get 10% off your first purchase. Hey, make your next move for Squarespace. They let you easily create the website that you have for the idea that you've got rattling around in your brain box. With a unique domain, award-winning templates all at your fingertips, and so much more, you'll be able to get your ideas out to the world. Maybe you're looking to create a blog, a portfolio, an online store, a page for your restaurant. Maybe you want to set up one of their cover pages for your upcoming wedding or a big party. Maybe you're looking to promote the music that your band makes. You want to make a page where people can come listen to it, and maybe where they buy it as well. So it doesn't matter what you're looking to build, Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you do it. There's nothing to install, no patches to worry about, no upgrades needed. Everything's drag and drop, and it's super easy to build their pages. You don't have to worry about any of this stuff. Squarespace have got you covered, even with award-winning 24-7 customer support in case you do need any help. Squarespace will let you quickly and easily grab a unique domain name to give your site the name that you really want it to have. And all of their beautiful templates, the award-winning templates that they have, all feature responsive designs that are going to look great on all types of devices. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month, but you can sign up for a free trial with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com, and this will give you full access to go and try it all out and build your site before you commit to a plan, so you know exactly how it's going to look and feel. And when you do decide to sign up because you're going to love it so much, use the offer code ink, I-N-K, at checkout. You'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for The Pen Addict. We want to thank Squarespace for helping us out today. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: So I've always wanted to do a bag dump website, and I've had, it's one of those, along with any other thing I mention on here, like the database and the wiki, I've had a domain name forever, and I've just never done it because it's going to take a lot of time. What's the domain name? And plus dailyarsenal.net. So it's, you know, but you know, this is kind of done before, you know, with the everyday carry, and you know, there's lots of sites out there now that do bag dump type stuff, so I've never felt totally compelled unless I had something to do different. So we'll see, but I love, I just love bag dumps. You know, I could look through those type of posts all day, and you know, I just, you know, everyone likes to see what everyone else is carrying. I just think it's kind of cool.

Myke Hurley: All right, you ready to go first?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so this is, I guess Carlos suggested this, that we needed to, we've done this before, a while ago, more than a year, I think. So we've done this before, and it's funny, a little bit has changed, but not a lot, I don't think. So what do you have?

Myke Hurley: So I kind of, in my selection, I have three bags that I would use, two more regular than the third. So the third-

Brad Dowdy: I'm laughing because I'm totally the same.

Myke Hurley: This is kind of funny. The third, I will just mention the third first, and the third is the Lanyard, because I have one. And my not co, Lanyard, how is that coming, by the way?

Brad Dowdy: We'll talk about, let's save that for another show.

Myke Hurley: That's a whole story on its own.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it is, it is, because there is news, and I need to put an update in the Kickstarter, and we should talk about that separately. All right. That would be a good topic for next week. We'll hold that for next week.

Myke Hurley: I'm literally writing this in my personal document right now. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: No, that'll actually be good timing, because I'll have time to put an update into the Kickstarter. So yeah, there you go.

Myke Hurley: So I use my Lanyard for purpose-driven reasons. Like, it's not a daily thing for me. It's like something that I would take to a conference, so I can carry around conference materials. Yep. And so the bag is empty. It's always empty, right? Because when the conference is done, I will empty the bag out, because there shouldn't be anything left, and then it's ready for its next use. You know? Right. Right. Because it really is, for me, the perfect use case for me, which is a use case that I needed to be filled, which is going up and down from hotel room to the ballroom where the conference is happening to the restaurant. And being able to carry around a notebook and my iPad and some paraphernalia is perfect for that. Yep. But my two kind of regularly-use bags. The Topo Mountain briefcase is still in use. However, I'm getting the pull to change to an actual backpack.

Myke Hurley: Okay. I really don't use it very much as the briefcase anymore, mostly because it's effectively my travel bag, and I think I'm overpacking it. I mean, it fits, and I will never understand the amount of stuff I'm able to get in that bag. That's really true. It's like the TARDIS of bags. I don't understand it. I'm able to fit way more stuff in there than is humanly possible. And I've been watching... So my friend Chase Reeves, he does the greatest backpack reviews. Right. I'm going to put a link to his YouTube page in the show notes so you can go and find them. And there's just a few that he's been talking about recently, like the single travel bag type thing, the single bag travel bag stuff that I'm interested in. So I've got my eye on maybe getting a backpack down the line. But the difficult thing is that the Topo is so good, it's so good that I'm hesitant. But I just want something that's built more to be what I'm using it for. Like the Topo has backpack straps, but it's like it also has backpack straps. Right. Like it is a briefcase that is also a backpack. And I'm thinking that maybe I should just get a backpack that's meant to be a backpack.

Field Notes

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But anyway... Listening to you right now is hilarious.

Myke Hurley: You're in the same boat?

Brad Dowdy: It's hilarious. So yeah, keep going. This is good stuff.

Myke Hurley: So let me tell you what is always in this bag. So like bear in mind, this is my travel bag. Like when I'm going on a trip, this is what is in this bag. And all of the stuff that I'm talking about here stays in there. I'm very much of the mindset of just buying the majority of things and just leaving them in the bag. So I have a regular Mophie, like one of the little Mophies that you can just plug in. And you can like take it out with you or whatever. So when I'm at a conference, say I'm out. I know I'm going to be out all day. I can use my phone a bunch. I'll just grab that thing out of the bag, put it in my pocket, and I'm good to go. Right. I also have one of those huge Anker batteries. Like one of the big ones that will charge my iPad like seven times or something. I got an Onward Friday deal from Amazon. Amazon. I've used it a bunch and I've never charged it. And it's still like, it's still, it's just like no problem. It's like no big deal. I got this, bro.

Myke Hurley: I also, and then when I'm using those bags, I'll have my iPad or my MacBook in the Topo. And then I'll also carry field notes. I have a Colt Pens, mechanical pencil in there and a Sharpie. I have one of the Pen Addict Sharpies. Retro 51 always because it's just the best. Sometimes I'll carry headphones. The AirPods are doing a really good job for me for most of the stuff that I need. But if I'm going to have headphones currently, it's the Beats Solo 3. I don't love them, but they're really good battery life and it's Bluetooth, which is just like the thing that I have to do now because I don't really have a choice. I have a big old bunch of cables. Cables for everything, adapters for everything. I have like US iPhone plugs and stuff in the back. Like, so it's just ready because I travel to the US so much. I have this Anker 6 port USB doohickey, which is just a thing that you plug into the wall and you can power 6 USB devices. Like, it's just got 6 USB ports.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think we used that in Atlanta. Last year we shared that. Yeah, that was super useful.

Myke Hurley: Steven got one. We shared a room. We could all use the things and then I bought one immediately. Yeah. Because now, like, I need a minimum, just me, of three USB ports because I will have my phone, my watch, and an iPad. Like, they have to be charged like every day. So if you're sharing a room with someone, it's basically impossible to have that amount of plugs. So these Anker things are amazing. I'll put a link in the show notes for that in case you're looking for it. And I also found this little thing called the Cocoon Gridit, which is just like one of these little pouches with a bunch of elastic. So, like, I can just put all the cables and stuff in there for a bit of cable management.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's one product I bought years ago and never bought into completely. Like, I thought, great idea. And then I just don't like how it's all exposed.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it goes in the front pocket. And so I'm kind of good. You know, like, just put it all in there and just shove it in there. And it just keeps that from being just like a snake pit.

Brad Dowdy: Right. No, I definitely understand why it's a good thing. And I've recommended it before. I've just never been able to get into using it because I just don't like the things touching it. Yeah. It would have to be segregated. And then that kind of defeats the whole purpose. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I get it. I get you. Oh, there is one other bag, which is kind of a bag. Like, this is a sponsor. But I have one of those Away suitcases, the carry-on things. Yeah. And I really, really love it. Like, for just small, actual trip trips. But I don't keep anything in there. I treat it like a suitcase. But I feel it maybe fits more in, like, the bag thing. Like, I have, like, a big suitcase as well. Sure. But, like, for little trips, the Away one is really nice. I like it. And, yeah, they are a sponsor. Yes, they did send me one for free. But I was very happy when they emailed me because I was about to buy one. So that all worked out well. Then my other bag is a Tombin Ristretto. And I bought this bag because the Topo is full of so much stuff all the time that it's too heavy to just take into town. Right. So I wanted something small and light for, like, if I'm going into town, I've got a meeting, and I want to take an iPad. So whenever I'm using that bag, I'll pretty much always have an iPad in there. I may have my camera in there as well, like, if I'm going out to shoot some vlogging stuff. Or I might have, like, the gimbal thing that I use. Like, I could just throw them in there. It all fits in there, Stretto pretty well. This is another bag, like the Topo, which fits an amount of stuff which doesn't make any sense. I always have in there a Field Notes, a Sharpie, a Retro 51, an iPad charger, like the big honking iPad charger, the powerful one, and a small Mophie as well. That's what I keep in that bag. So batteries everywhere, man. This is one thing, like, I'm finding with just, like, bag stuff. You just got to have – it's just going to be full of batteries all the time. Batteries, batteries, batteries.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, for sure.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah, that's my bag situation.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's a – you know, it's – three seems to be the magic bag number. I think so. Because I put down two here, but it was purposeful because there is a third. So what I use on the most – what I use the most frequent, I guess, is the Lanier, the Nock Lanier. That's, like, the perfect day bag, just enough stuff bag, right? It just – it's very purposeful. It does very specific things. I don't travel with it. Yep. But day in and day out, that's where my things live.

Myke Hurley: It's kind of the perfect bag for somebody who has a car. Right. Right? Because you can just – you don't need to keep it on your body. Right.

Brad Dowdy: So that's exactly how I use it. And it fits my 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is my lone computer, in the main pocket. And that's the only thing I keep in there generally. But this is basically a dump as of today. In the front pouch, I have actually removed the A5 pouch because I'm testing out our Traveler's Notebook prototype. That's what I carry with me every day. Mm-hmm. And in that contains three inserts, which are just the basic Traveler's Notebook insert, graph paper, the Traveler's Calendar insert. I think it's number 19. And then a Notco notebook that we've just cut down to size. We have an A5 notebook that we just cut to see how it would fit in this. So it's all kinds of prototyping going on in my daily carry, which is kind of how it has to be.

Brad Dowdy: And in this –

Myke Hurley: Sometimes it just catches fire.

Brad Dowdy: So if I said the phrase, he hate me, would you know what I meant?

Myke Hurley: No.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So I just watched the – have you ever heard of the XFL? I know you're into a little bit of the wrestling. I know all about the XFL. So Vince McMahon – and I just watched the ESPN 30 for 30. They make great documentaries.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I want to watch that. I've heard the good things about it.

Brad Dowdy: It's wonderful. It's wonderful because the product was so awful, the XFL as a product. One of the things they allowed this extreme football league to do was the players, instead of putting their last name on their jersey, they could put anything they want. And the most famous player to come out of the XFL, and he actually went on to the NFL, was a guy named Rod Smart. And on the back of the jersey, he wrote, he hate me. And no one got it until they interviewed him. And they interviewed him after the first game. And they said, why do you have he hate me on the back of your jersey? He says, well, when I run by that guy, he hate me. And when I run by that guy, he hate me. And when that guy misses his tackle, he hate me. And those fans up in the stand, they hate me. And it was just – it was hilarious. So I feel like when I talk about these prototypes and share them on the thing, I'm like, he hate me because I keep sharing this stuff that you can't get yet. So I just thought that was hilarious. So I carry that all the time now. And in that, it's got two pen slots. I carry the Y Studio Brassing Fountain Pen. And today, when I did the bag dump, the Baron Fig Alphabet Pen was in the second slot because I've been using that for the past few days because I enjoy it. And then also in the front pocket, I carry my AirPods. So when I'm taking phone calls and doing different things like that, I like to use them. I don't necessarily use them for music, but I use them for phone calls. That's it in my Lanier. That's everything I need to get me through a day. I don't bring extra cables because, you know, I'm charged enough for the day of work I need to do. There's just no extraneous stuff. And everything that I put in there can be just like you said. When it's time to move into a different bag, it all goes. Right? Everything that's in there right now, the bag gets completely empty when I'm moving into a different bag for travel. So I'm leaving tomorrow for LA. Everything's going to go into my Bow Gear backpack. Which is the model. It's called the Bull Pup. The specific one I have was custom made for a friend of the guys at Bow Gear. And he had an extra one. He had two made and sold one to help fund the purchase. So it's got all kinds of extra bells and whistles that they don't normally offer. But this backpack ended up being such the right size that I got rid of a bunch of other backpacks that I no longer needed because this fit everything that I need. So everything that was in my Lanier is going to go into the Bull Pup. And then I'm going to add in a Brasstown full of pens. I'm going to add in my iPad. I'm going to add in my Bose noise-canceling headphones, which I use when I travel, especially on longer flights if I like to try to sleep. It's like I'll probably sleep a little bit out to LA. And then I have a couple of different pouches that we've made at Nock just to hold the loose stuff. Charging cables, extra batteries. I do have one of the big honking battery packs like you have, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: And that's kind of it. So any extra pens I use are going to go in the Brasstown. I probably won't carry an extra notepad. I might pick something up in LA. I usually don't travel with paper. But if I, you know, I'll have it already in my traveler's notebook prototype. But I won't carry like extra pads and extra notebooks. If I need something, I'll buy it there and carry it home with me like in my suitcase. So I don't necessarily travel light, but I don't try to pack too much. You know, I'll have things like granola bars, things like that in there. So that's kind of like my travel bag dump. Now, what's not listed is my Topo Mountain briefcase. So if I was doing more local travel or shorter travel, I would take that. Those are the three bags I use, the Lanier, the Bowgear Bullpup, and the Done Paper version of the Mountain briefcase.

Brad Dowdy: I love the briefcase style of it, obviously, because I like it in the Lanier. But for longer travel, I want good double backpack straps. And that's what the Bowgear has. And that's what the Mountain briefcase pretends to have. But as you mentioned, it's not the best implementation. It's a briefcase, and I use it with a shoulder strap, a messenger strap that I've added on, because the one that ships with it is not very good. That Michael last year from the Chicago Pen Show got me onto this wonderful strap that you can add on. It's the same Tom Ben strap that they use for some of their bags. It's got that neoprene kind of soft feel. So they're very, very good. And those are the three bags I use when I travel for more days than a single day. I go with the good double strap backpack, and that's the Bowgear Bullpup. Those are really the only three bags I use these days. And everything, I don't keep separate kits for each one, because what goes in one gets removed and goes into the other. And then if it's going into a smaller bag, the cables and extra battery backups and things, those just stay home in a drawer. So that's kind of my low doubt.

Myke Hurley: Minol. You heard of Minol?

Brad Dowdy: No.

Myke Hurley: M-I-N-A-L.

Myke Hurley: They've done a couple of successful Kickstarters, and this is one of the companies that Chase really, really raves about. Okay. And they make a couple of bags, a carry-on bag and a daily bag. And I keep opening the page and closing it. Like, this is, I think this is, well, I want to get one of their bags. I'm just not sure which one yet. Like, it looks like it's built really well, and it has a lot of, like, consideration for the way that people pack and what they pack. And they do all these, like, packing cubes and little inserts and stuff that you can buy. Right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but I think the one of them, are these not the hard-lined ones? Do they have the firm exterior lining?

Myke Hurley: I'm not sure. I don't think so.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'll have to look. Okay.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah, this is what I keep opening. I'm going to leave that tab open again. Because I'm traveling a lot this year. Maybe it's the time to change the bag.

Travel Bags

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'd just go with something from Tom Ben. When I use a carry-on, the Aeronaut, this is way too big compared to that. But the Aeronaut's 48, the big boy, it's really good for just, like, a carry-on type stuff.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I also fight with that because my Tom Ben bag is so good, and I only ever hit good things. I don't know. I'm struggling. I'm struggling. But the Maldi looks like they're my aesthetic.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, I've gotten down. Like, I'm really happy with my bag situation. A few years ago, I would just buy bags left and right. I've got it down. Like, I'm really happy with the three that I use, you know, on the most regular. And I haven't seen anything come on the market that's been compelling enough for me to go, let me try that. That's going to replace something I already have. So, I'm very happy. I'm very content with what I have. So, that's a good place to be.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'm not in that place right now. Yeah. I am in the, like, I can't, I feel like I need to make a change to the Topo. I think the Topo has seen the end of its time, I think. I've beaten the ever-loving crap out of this bag. Like, and it has stood the test of time. And I think that I've just, my needs have changed for what this bag was initially. Right. It was more of, like, the, hey, this is my bag that I'm just going to grab and run around with. Like, it was what the Ristretto is now. But it's so good that it just morphed into my travel bag. But it's not really built for that. Like, with what I'm doing to it and the amount of stuff I'm trying to squeeze in it every time I get on a plane. Whilst it can take it, I think it might be time for a backpack.

Brad Dowdy: I hear you. Yep. That's why I use a backpack.

Myke Hurley: Oh, man. I'm going to watch Chase's videos again and make a decision.

Myke Hurley: Today's show is brought to you by Blue Apron, the number one recipe delivery service that has the freshest ingredients. For less than $10 a meal, Blue Apron delivers seasonal recipes along with fresh, high-quality ingredients to help you make delicious home-cooked meals. Blue Apron makes sure that whilst they're giving you this fantastic food, they're also supporting a more sustainable food system. They set the highest standards for their ingredients whilst helping build their community of home chefs. Blue Apron's seafood is sourced sustainably under standards developed in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. Their beef, chicken, and pork comes from responsibly raised animals. And their produce is sourced from farms that practice regenerative farming. Every single Blue Apron meal comes with a step-by-step, easy-to-follow recipe card and proportioned ingredients that can be prepared at home in less than 40 minutes per meal. How are things in Shea Dowdy?

Brad Dowdy: Shea Dowdy. I haven't had any more Blue Apron meals, but it's funny that I constantly think about the meals that we had because they were that good. So I'm going to have to get back on something semi-regular with them just because I enjoyed it so much. It actually comes in really handy with the way my wife and I's schedule are. Like just today, the way our schedules are, it's like, hmm, we don't have anything planned for dinner. It'd be perfect to pull out a Blue Apron from the freezer and let me cook it for her when she gets home so we don't have to deal with anything else tonight. So I have to get back on that bandwagon.

Myke Hurley: You gotta. And I mean, it's a great thing because you can get free meals for free with your first purchase. I'm going to tell you about that in a moment. But let me give you an idea about what some of those meals can be. So every single recipe that Blue Apron's culinary team comes up with is amazing. And they have a variety of new ones every single week. You'll be able to try things like udon noodle soup with miso and soft boiled eggs, vegetable fried rice bowls of cauliflower, gai-lan and fried eggs, or cheddar cheeseburgers with frizzled onions and romaine salad. Now that is some variation in your life. Blue Apron delivers to 99% of the continental US. It's no weekly commitment. You get deliveries when you want them and their freshness guarantee. Make sure that every ingredient arrives ready to cook or they'll make it right. Check out this week's menu and get three meals for free with your first purchase, including free shipping. By going to blueapron.com slash penaddict. You'll love how good it feels and tastes to create incredible home-cooked meals at Blue Apron. So go to blueapron.com slash penaddict and we thank them for their support of this show and RelayFM. Blue Apron, a better way to cook.

Brad Dowdy: All right, so we're going to wrap this episode up with some Ask TPA. And I put the last note in, but I've jumped it to the first spot, Myke, because it's topical and I want to make sure we get to it. Because I just got this IncoWrimo letter out of the mailbox this morning. After I dropped the kids off to school, hit the P.O. box, had a handful of letters in there. I read this one and I was like, I have to read this on the show. Because it's actually related to a story I've told on the show before. I'm almost positive I've told this story. But regardless, it's something that me and you'll see who we talk about this all the time. And it's related to pen shows. So to Brad Dowdy. Greetings. My name is Andrew and we met awkwardly at the DC Pen Show. One night while skulking around the lobby, too shy to approach anyone, I saw pink hair. However, I was too shy to say hello to Anna Reinhart. Then I saw no hair, or that is the bald head of Matt from The Pen Habit. But I was hesitant to say hello. Finally, after wandering around the second floor of the hotel, I saw both of them by the elevator and decided to approach. I shook each of their hands and explained how I've enjoyed their content online. Then I asked to the third person standing at the elevator, are you her husband? No, I'm Brad from The Pen Addict. Oh, I think I have heard of you before. I felt kind of bad after that unintentional burn. Sorry about that. I am happy to say that as penance, I committed to listening to your podcast when I got home. I have been ever since. Thanks for your great content. I am not sure if I will be at DC this year, but I may just to say hello properly. Plus to meet Myke. Sincerely, Andrew. This was one of the highlights of the DC Pen Show.

Brad Dowdy: When this happened, me and Anna and Matt were all standing at the elevator, just exactly as he said. And I'm pretty sure I told this story before. It was Matt and Anna didn't let me live down that moment for the rest of the show. And I absolutely ate it up. When people who didn't know any of us or knew just Anna and not me or Matt, I would always introduce myself as Anna's husband the rest of the show. It was so good. And Andrew, poor Andrew, he like came by the next day. He's like, oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like, look, there's no reason you should know me. You know? So funny. That's so funny.

Myke Hurley: Because everyone there is like, well, you know, it's Brad Dowdy. You know? It's Brad Dowdy. Come on. He's a pen addict.

Brad Dowdy: So me and Anna and Matt, just like the rest of the time, they were asking like, who are you again? Like to me, it was the best. And I wanted to point this out because this is what we do at pen shows. We have fun. No one cares who anyone is. Nope. No one cares if you're embarrassed, shy. Everyone is so open, welcoming, has the best attitudes. I mean, we just, I mean, now Andrew became our friend the rest of the show because he gave us a moment. We can now tell this story over and over again. And it's just wonderful. So if you're at LA and you're listening to this, just come say hi. You know? You can tell me I don't know who you are and we'll get the biggest kick out of it. And we'll just think it's hilarious. But it's just, that's what I take away from these pen shows. Stories like that. Like I couldn't wait to tell this story like on the podcast last year when it happened because it was so funny. And we don't take ourselves seriously at all. It's the best. We just don't. I love it.

Myke Hurley: I love it. It's so funny.

Brad Dowdy: Like I got more traction out of this story. And to him to write this letter and for me to get it out of the inbox today, the timing was perfect and that he still remembers. Like what he says is exactly how it happened. It was priceless. And it was just a wonderful, wonderful moment that I'll never forget. And Anna and Matt, we won't forget that. And, you know, now Andrew's, you know, a permanent part of our, of our storytelling history at one of these shows. That's what these pen shows are about. And that's what you should know if you've never been to a pen show. It's not about the pens. It's about the people and the stories that you can tell afterwards. So thank you, Andrew, for making my show last year and for making my day today and reminding me to tell people to just do it when you're at the shows. Just do it. We're all shy. We're all introverted, but we're all there for the same reasons. And that's to have fun and to meet people and to tell stories. So it's great. Thank you.

Myke Hurley: It's just, just brilliant. I love it so much.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So let's get into the traditional STPA. We got a few, we can, we can run through these real quickly. So Logan, this is perennially one of the most difficult questions we get.

Myke Hurley: Yep. That's why I put it in there.

Brad Dowdy: It is the question. It is the question and it is the hardest question to answer. So high school graduation recommendation for my cousin. I'm thinking fountain pen, opaque, elegant, refined, and beginner friendly max budget of $100 for pen and ink. This is such a difficult question. Like I, honestly, I'll, I'm tempted to go a little bit over budget because the first thing I think of in this price range that is the best for a gift is a Pelican M205 in various colors. They run a little bit more than that though. Sometimes you can find them for like 90 and then get a bottle of Pelican ink, you know, like Pelican turquoise or Pelican blue black. I think those make really great gifts. They're a little expensive. If you have to buy today and can't shop around for it. My second thought is TWSBI 580 AL in one of the colors with a cool bottle of ink. That one might be more of a wow kind of thing. I don't know that it's elegant, you know, it's, I guess it's opaque. It's fully opaque, you know, completely clear, uh, demonstrator. Um, you know, the Pelican's more refined. Um, people in the chat room are saying, you know, some of the, uh, the platinum 3776, if you can find it for under a hundred bucks, that's a no brainer. Um, they actually do have the opaque barrels, um, in the chartreuse blue and the black. So that's a really good choice. So this is a really, really tough, tough question for me to answer. Um, especially if you have to go, okay, I need to go click buttons today. So do you have anything that, um, I I'm missing here?

Myke Hurley: Like, I think I'm going more down market with mine. Like I would say, honestly, uh, TWSBI Eco. If you're buying this pen for somebody who doesn't really use fountain pens, I feel like something like a Pelican is not the right. I don't think it's the right choice because I think it's, it's too much. Um, and to somebody who maybe doesn't really get fountain pens or pens, like if this is the person you're buying it for, honestly, I think that something like a TWSBI Eco would do the job from the surprise factor. Just because it's like, wow, like what is this thing? Right? Like it's not, it doesn't look like the average pen that you find in the office supply store. So that's where I would go. Mostly because as well, like if they don't like it, you haven't spent a ton of money, but it's still enough money that it could be a gift, you know, like it's still gift, gift money. Right. And you could buy a nice ink and that kind of thing. So that's, that's the realm that I would go in. Just because like, if I'm, if I'm trying to get people excited about fountain pens, that's the pen that I go to now.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So if you want to go outside fountain pens, the ones I recommend in this price bracket are both the, or either of the Lamy 2000 ballpoint or rollerball. Those are spectacular pens for the price. Um, they're like in the 60 to $70 range. They're not fountain pens, but they're wonderful pens. Wonderful writers make stunning gifts. So this is, I like, I don't have a stock answer for this question and I get it all the time. Mm-hmm. So it's, uh, it just depends on when you're going to push the button and you know, how risky do you want to play it? So tough, tough question. All right. So next one's from Todd, who I hope to see in LA. He's making the trek down from San Francisco, may have time to swing by the show. He says, do you ever lose pens? What's the nicest pen you've lost? And have you seen my Lamy 2000? Todd, I'm so sorry.

Myke Hurley: I'm so sorry that you're going through this right now.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I have not seen it and I don't lose pens. It's not a thing for me. I'm way too anal retentive to not know where the things I have are at most of the times. I have misplaced pens in my house and they have turned up later. I have not exited my house and not returned with a pen. It's just not in my, in my, uh, modus operandi. It's just not something that even happens. Um, you know, some people are more prone to losing things or misplacing things. Um, I'm not one of those people. It just, it, sorry.

Myke Hurley: I don't lose pens.

Brad Dowdy: Hmm.

Myke Hurley: I don't lose them. Yeah. And there was that time where I misplaced a Karas customs pen for a while, but it was just, it was still in my house, right? Like it just wasn't where I expected it to be. Yeah. That happens. I don't, I don't lose pens. And even then, like that's not, I mean, it's still an expensive enough pen, but we're not talking like hundreds and hundreds. Like I don't think I will ever lose one of those pens. This is just not a thing for me. Like I'm very much at the belief that once you spend a little bit of money on a pen, you don't lose it. You know, I've said this many times because I just think that you end up just keeping your eye on it a bit more. Of course there are, uh, there are hiccups and Todd, I'm so sorry about your Lamy 2000, but yeah, I'm in the lucky crew where I don't lose anything. And as Rez is pointing out in the chat room, I probably horrifically jinxed myself now.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, that's the truth.

Myke Hurley: Someone's going to steal a pen from me at a pen show now, just to prove a point.

Brad Dowdy: Maybe that'll be me. It'll probably be Jeff. It'll probably be Jeff. It'll be Jeff. Definitely.

Brad Dowdy: Um, so this next question, we probably could have covered this around the first question, but it's actually easier to answer. Um, even though there's no wrong answer. Jason asks, which pen would you recommend for daily writing? Platinum 3776, Sailor 1911, Standard or Pilot Custom 74? Um, I'll answer this because you haven't done, uh, you don't have the, you don't, you don't, yeah, you don't have a 1911 or 74. So there's no wrong answer. Number one, if there is an aesthetic of the pen that you prefer over the others, purchase that because you're not going to get a bad writer out of the bunch. Gun to my head, put them in order. I'm going Pilot 74, Platinum 3776, Sailor 1911. But we're talking a one A, B and C thing, not a one, two and three thing here. Yeah. They're that close. Just blind picking up for anyone to write. I think the 74 is the best writer. I think 3776 is the most interesting nib performance. And I honestly, I picked the Sailor last because the 1911 is my least favorite style, but it doesn't mean the nib's not good. Um, but that's, there's no wrong answer here. Like I said, it's a one A, B, C thing, not a one, two and three thing. So, and I'll let you take this next one. So Kate wants to know what UK based pen retailers do you recommend? What you got, Michael?

Online Retailers

Myke Hurley: Uh, I have four. Um, I have Colt Pens, uh, Tiger Pens, The Writing Desk and Bureau Direct. So there'll be links to all of those in the show notes. These are companies that I've used, um, and I've had good experiences with, with all of them. Um, you know, I will mention, right. There are, you can get stuff from, from US places and you can get like good, good prices on them. But of course you can get hit by customs and stuff like that. So sometimes it can be easier or quicker to grab something from the UK if you're in the UK or in Europe. And they're four places that I've had good experiences with.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And in, in the grand scheme of getting feedback from other people shopping at other places, all of those like rank really, really well with what people, um, tell me about their, their purchasing in the UK. I obviously have experience with Colt Pens, um, their past sponsor, their customer of Knock. Um, they do great job. Um, I've shopped from them, um, in the US to get things that I couldn't get over here. And, uh, the experience has always been wonderful, but Tiger Pens, Writing Desk and Bureau Direct, all, uh, rank really, really highly with the feedback that I get online. All right, let's wrap it up with this one question, which I do get from time to time. So Kathy says, my retro 51 tornado is great 70% of the time, but it keeps skipping. Is this normal?

Myke Hurley: Normal is a funny word.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's where I'm starting. Normal.

Brad Dowdy: No. It's a refill problem. Yeah. And it tends to happen with the Schmidt refill from time to time. Um, you have to replace the refill. Unfortunately, it's, uh, I don't want to say it's the cost of doing business, but there's bum refills out there. It tends to happen in the P81, 27 and 26 from time to time that you get a bum refill. I've had one, I've scrapped it, put in another refill. Unfortunately, you're going to have to take that two or $3 hit, replace your refill. Um, you just get bum ones from time to time. And that's one I see it with, unfortunately, probably more often than others. Wouldn't you say?

Myke Hurley: Oh, a hundred percent. Like this is the thing. It's not normal, but it is, it is a problem that occurs. It is a thing. So like it is a normal issue, but it's not normal performance. Normal performance with the retro 51 refill, the P126 refill, the P127 refill, it should be as smooth as you like. There should be no issues. And if there are issues, it's a bad refill. So if you've had the pen for a while, you know, sometimes they dry up a little bit and that can cause it. Um, so just get some new refills. Um, other than if it's new, contact the person you bought it from. Um, most companies in my experience will, will help you out. Like if you've just received it and the refill wasn't great, um, and you, you have no plans of like buying a bunch for your own safe anyway, like, because maybe you want to just have some, um, then I would just say, just, just drop an email to, uh, to the company that you bought it from. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. I'm sure they'd be happy to shoot you out a new refill if it's a recent purchase. Yeah. But yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's an unfortunate issue with that refill. Sometimes I've had one, um, out of all the ones I've had just straight up, um, not right properly and swapped it out and it's been good to go. So it's just the thing with that one, unfortunately. So, yep. All right. I think, uh, that wraps it up for this week. Myke, uh, next week should be interesting. I'll be back from LA. Um, I have to go finish packing today because I leave tomorrow and, uh, I'm really excited for my first pen show of the year and I hope to meet a lot of listeners and readers out there this week.

Myke Hurley: I've got that jealousy.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's, hey, Atlanta will be here before you know it. I know, man. Like, it's crazy.

Myke Hurley: And then as soon as we're done with that, then we're on the road to DC.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's, it's, uh, the years go by fast these days, but it's all fun.

Myke Hurley: So go find our show notes today, relay.fm slash pen addict slash 244 huge list today. And of course, uh, right up the top there, you will find a link to the Kickstarter. If you want to contribute, we would be very happy with that. And we very thankful. Uh, we have 10 days left as we said at the start of the show. If you want to find Brad online, there's a couple of places you can do that. Go to pen addict.com or knock.co for his writing and for his products. You can find him on Twitter. He is at dowdyism, D O W D Y I S M. And he is pen addict on Instagram. I am I Myke. I M Y K E on pen addict on pen addict. I keep doing that on Instagram and Twitter. That's where I am. I guess I'm I Myke on pen addict as well, but like, I just don't show up very often.

Brad Dowdy: Forward slash jobs.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Relay.fm slash jobs. If you want to work with me, I don't know if you do.

Brad Dowdy: I just find that I find this hilarious and I'm going to make your life harder.

Myke Hurley: I know. I don't know if like, I mean, I think, I think I'm nice to work with. Am I nice to work with?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, I can put up with you for like an hour and a half a week. So yeah, I'm good.

Myke Hurley: Thanks for listening, everyone. Thanks to our sponsors. Squarespace, Blue Apron and Pen Chalet. We're back next time to then say goodbye, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, Brad.