Attack of the $2 Jinhao

I'm not an economist by any means (luckily there is a blog specifically about the economics of fountain pens). But pricing is an endlessly fascinating topic to me. I've ordered several Pilot pens direct from the Japanese domestic market, and paid half what I'd have paid from a UK retailer. Why? There are many reasons …

Review: Say Nice Things FlipFlop pocket notebooks

I consider myself a connoisseur of pocket notebooks (I give some background to my experiences in my review of the Whitelines notebooks). I have high expectations in terms of design, execution, and price, but most of all in terms of paper quality. For me, a pocket notebook must be fountain pen friendly, in that it …

My Hobonichi streak

About a month ago I completed my first full year of journalling in my April-start Hobonichi Techo Cousin. In fact, I couldn't wait to start it on the official day-per-page pages, so I got a headstart in February, but that's by the by.   Like most people, I've tried and failed to keep a diary many times. …

Three ways to freshen up your pen life

Stationery is a hobby that's full of joy. Writing can be art, and so can the objects that produce it. But stationery is also a tool, a means to an end... in other words, work. And we all get bored of work from time to time. If you're finding that the spark has gone from …

Review: Pilot 92 smoke, fine medium

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm a fan of Pilot pens. Although I recently sold my Elabo and Vanishing Point, my 91 and 912 are in regular rotation. Regular readers will also know that I put a Pilot 92 on my top-five pen wishlist. Well, I'm a man with no self-control, and …

Of titanium nibs and the expectation of perfection

I took the plunge last week and ordered a titanium extra-fine nib unit by Bock to put in my Tactile Turn Gist. Titanium nibs seem to be one of the "hot topics" in stationery right now, promising a space-age aesthetic with a little bit of flex, at half the price of gold. I paid just …

What the hell is EDC, and what does it have to do with pens?

My gateway to the world of stationery was perhaps a little unconventional: a little three-letter acronym called EDC. Allow me to draw back the veil... If you've never heard of it, it stands for Every Day Carry, and it's basically a mix of a hobby, a fashion, and a philosophy of preparedness (although most EDCers …

Birmingham inks: delightfully different

I'm always on the lookout for new ink brands. I'm secretly hoping to discover the next KWZ, Oster or Blackstone. So I was really pleased to stumble across the Birmingham Pen Co (indirectly after our Birmingham, but the store is in Pittsburgh!) some months ago, and to find that it makes its own line of inks, …

The road to enlightenment

I follow a guy on Instagram who has found happiness with the Platinum 3776, with EF, F and M nibs. He's abandoned the double-broads and stubs and gone thin. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTq5elRBJQA/?taken-by=scratchynib I'm noticing a similar trend in my own pen collection. I still own and love a number of wider nibs (like my 3776 Music or …

The wishlist: my top-5 practical pens

Every self-respecting stationery addict has a wishlist, haven't they? Whether it's written down, open tabs in the browser, or just in the back of the mind, we all have that shortlist of pens that we want but haven't yet pulled the trigger on. Here's mine. I've got a few criteria to stop this being completely …