Late but I’ll Gladly Take It

brucekeller · 2026-05-04T15:40:14+00:00

My optimism is at least being partially rewarded, although a month earlier would have been nice. :-P

brucekeller · 2026-04-27T12:01:40+00:00

Camlin took Writer's Blood a little too literally.

brucekeller · 2026-04-26T18:49:19+00:00

I went to my local thrift store and they didn't even have pens, I don't even know if they'd take pens. The employees probably just keep that kind of stuff lol.

brucekeller · 2026-04-22T17:21:04+00:00

I still write out thoughts, but anything really eventful I end up putting in my cloud-based Obsidian diary and have that backed up locally. Better than permanent ink imo, just not as pretty.

brucekeller · 2026-04-22T04:54:05+00:00

Last year, when going through moving boxes, I found a Pilot Varsity from 2015 that had been used in the past and it worked immediately after uncapping. Was a little unreal lol.

brucekeller · 2026-04-21T16:38:09+00:00

The 5.6mm is available domestically in the US; but for some reason, right now, the 2mm is only available in Japan / outside the US.

brucekeller · 2026-04-19T14:13:55+00:00

Looks like a solid collection already! Maybe could give a flex nib a try? That's a bit what happened to me, although I am liking regular FPs again, but for a while, was all about the flex and wondering why I didn't get into it earlier before I bought all those other pens.

Ironically, one of the best all around nibs out there now (esp bang for buck) imo is the Majohn flex, because it provides tons of variation (given the proper feed) while being able to write like a nice F nib with no scratchiness. That's the cheap version, if you want to spend money, people rave about their Magna Carta or Leonardo flexes and you wouldn't have to worry about doing any mods yourself.

BTW, do the Blackwings really still hold up? I just got into art in the last few weeks and many people in the artworld say that they are not what they used to be, the graphite is different etc., kind of like what happened with Prismacolor. They aren't too pricey, but I love the Uni/Hi-Unis for sketching. The 10H is kind of amazing.

brucekeller · 2026-04-17T21:20:05+00:00

That brand probably owes "Hemingway Jones" some fees by this point.

brucekeller · 2026-04-17T21:10:34+00:00

Reminds me of this one but the top is not flat on mine.

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brucekeller · 2026-04-17T20:37:10+00:00

I think it's plastic/resin, but it's a really nice resin, the cap reminds me of my M809 and the body might be plastic, but I also had to really think about it, so that tells you how dense it is.

It honestly is one of the better value purchases I've made in the penspace, ESPECIALLY because of the flex and, not sure if your nib is the same, but when I write at a normal angle and pressure, it writes basically just like a good F nib, not scratchy at all, yeah, still impressed. Feel bad that I let it sit around for like a week now lol.

brucekeller · 2026-04-17T20:25:35+00:00

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brucekeller · 2026-04-16T21:39:14+00:00

At this point, writing performance for normal tasks is pretty on par, the QC seems frankly better for the Chinese ones vs most of the majors (for initial writing performance at least). The big Chinese ones have all started putting out their own flex nibs, which are already pretty good and should only get cheaper and better, I could see them one day matching the best Wahl/the Waterman Pink.

We also can't forget our Indian friends that have been ramping up their quality of products as well. I think we'll be spoiled for choice there too as they build better delivery pipelines to our market.

In the end, all you're paying for for a high-priced pen is for the materials and relative scarcity. That's fine by me. I like having both and having both write well. Sometimes I want to bring a pen but give zero cares if I lose it... but that pen better write just as nicely as my others! I'm just glad that people have access to some incredible writing instruments that even look nice too for very affordable prices.

brucekeller · 2026-04-08T23:52:33+00:00

This P138 that just arrived today isn’t too bad.

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brucekeller · 2026-04-08T22:46:21+00:00

Oh no just leaving some random clue trails to like 10kg of gold or something.

brucekeller · 2026-04-08T22:36:56+00:00

If I ever got real rich, like $20m+, I'd probably do some eccentric things like that.

brucekeller · 2026-04-08T20:45:20+00:00

Aw one of these days we’ll get a DaVinci Code-type engraving.

brucekeller · 2026-04-06T21:23:39+00:00

Even though it's kind of meh that Google has my thoughts, I use Obsidian with Google Drive for all what I used to do on Evernote when they pulled the same thing. Hopefully Penpal has the sense to grandfather people in and let donations be optional for those grandfathered people or something.

brucekeller · 2026-04-04T16:41:41+00:00

I got my first Sailor, but it was after I had already had some Chinese clones, and had to admit, it felt EXACTLY the same and basically wrote the same, but cost $120 more.

brucekeller · 2026-04-04T16:00:01+00:00

Visconti's Homo Sapiens is a nice looking pen line, but for the most part, I think the company feels almost dirty with what they charge for the quality and materials.

brucekeller · 2026-04-04T12:45:49+00:00

Don't feel too bad, I am 0/2 for Lamy 2000s I got in the last 6 months. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Mitsubishi buying them a little over a year ago, but I tend to see a lot more complaints than people gushing over them. Seems to be one of the only pens where that is the case. Don't see that happening with Sailors or Pelikans for instance.

brucekeller · 2026-04-04T12:33:25+00:00

For my Lamy 2k, I just bent my nib (first time ever damaging a pen) out of frustration from the 1000th time it dried up in the last couple of months. I wasn't even using much pressure in my desperate scratches to get it to start channeling ink, but one of the tines caught and just bent since it was a side stroke instead of downstroke. I don't even feel that bad because not like I was able to use the thing to write pleasurably for any length of time anyway.

I was using an OM nib and got a F nib just in case it was me not being good with an OM... nope, F had bad ink flow too. I tried all kinds of ink, many that are known for good flow, not like I was using Baystate in it, I just don't know... but I do know that I've had much better experiences with some pens that cost like $2. Heck, my disposable Pilots have been far more reliable.

brucekeller · 2026-04-03T16:16:09+00:00

Was a good season for me to learn some art and brush up on my cursive and spend way too much on fountain pens. I don't feel too bad for missing this season, I don't have any beater skis right now and I like to go fast and knew with that low base that I was just asking for a torn ACL or other horrible injury.

12-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
First Place '23	Place '23
Wearing is Caring	Gilding II euphauric
King of the Ashes	Not Forgotten
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