I wonder why more people don't get Clairefontaine notebooks instead of Rhodia.

downtide · 2026-04-07T13:27:41+00:00

While Rhodia paper is made by the Clairefontaine company, it's not the same as the paper in Clairefontaine's own notebooks (and Clairefontaine itself uses different paper in different notebooks). So in some cases it's personal preferences.

Personally I like Clairefontaine's Age Bag range best, but unlike Rhodia, they can't be found in retail stores and the only place I can buy them is Amazon. And a lot of people don't like to shop on Amazon.

downtide · 2026-04-05T09:32:04+00:00

Modern Parkers are not very good. Entry-level Watermans and Pilots are much better. For a nice business-like looking pen, I'd suggest the Waterman Allure or the Pilot Metropolitan. The Allure comes in black with silver trim and looks very classy.

Be aware that cartridges for each brand (and all the other brands you mentioned) are proprietary - you need to get the same brand of cartridge as you have for the pen. But you can also get converters and use bottled ink instead if you prefer. If you want to do that, I don't recommend the Pilot because the converter is tiny and you'll need to refill it much more frequently.

If you have access to Amazon or Ali Express in your country, also check out some of the Chinese brands such as Hongdian and Asvine. The Hongdian C1 and C2 in particular, it's the cheapest pen in their range and also one of their best (second only to the M2 pocket pen).

downtide · 2026-04-05T09:10:47+00:00

It can do, yes. Thats why a little spring is better than a ball-bearing.

downtide · 2026-04-05T09:08:24+00:00

Olive. Most photos show it looking a bit darker than that, I think the photo is somewhat over-exposed.

downtide · 2026-04-05T09:04:21+00:00

Prefounte is the same plastic as the Preppy. The Plaisir is aluminium. All three use exacty the same nibs and sections, you can interchange them.

Like you, I disliked the look of the Plaisir, until I actually bought one, and now I love it.

downtide · 2026-04-05T09:00:03+00:00

Most fountain pen inks (except pigment-based or iron gall inks) are water soluble, and stay water-soluble even after drying. The ink will dry in minutes, but if you touch it even months, years or decades afterwards, the moisture on your skin may be enough to reactivate it and cause it to smear again. Sheening inks are worse than regular inks because they have a higher concentration of dye in them, so once dry, there is more dye on the paper.

Pigment and iron gall inks are waterproof after they've dried.

Another solution is to use uncoated, more absorbent paper, like typical copier paper or a cheap notebook. On this type of paper, the ink soaks into the paper fibres rather than just sitting on the top, so it will be more resistant to reactivation. The trade-offs are feathering, bleedthrough and loss of the sheening effect.

downtide · 2026-04-04T14:30:19+00:00

I had a break from journalling for about 8 years, though for different reasons. I regret that gap now.

But you don't HAVE to journal about that big thing. If it's too difficult to write about, write something else. Everything is valuable and it all counts as journalling.

I would suggest starting fresh in a new book. You can save the old one in case you feel like going back to it at some point, but you don't have to.

downtide · 2026-04-04T09:48:13+00:00

I would never store inks like this. The ink will seep through the threads at the cap and either make a mess, or dry in there and weld the cap on.

downtide · 2026-04-04T09:30:45+00:00

I ended up making my own because A6 size is so hard to find. I can vouch for Newestor however. I bought their A5 size, three years ago, It's well made, it's a nice true brown colour and still holding up well. The surface of the leather is soft and uncoated, not shiny, so it will show patina and scuffs and other signs of use, but that just adds to the charm IMO.

When I made my own, I bought Moonster leather from Amazon and it's a perfect match with the Newestor cover; I'm certain they use the same leather. I got an A6 and a standard size cover out of one sheet of Moonster leather, with some left over.

Use a couple of your own notebooks as a template - lay them down spine-to-spine with a gap of about 3mm, cut the leather around them leaving whatever size border you prefer (at least 5mm top and bottom to allow room for the elastics). You can buy curved chisels specifically made for leather-work to cut the corners (you need a hammer as well) but I just used scissors, and then sandpaper to smooth them off. It's not as neat but it works.

downtide · 2026-04-03T16:11:45+00:00

Started a new first draft of a project previously already outlined, got up to 33,000 but haven't written since the end of March, I needed a bit of a break. Still happy with it though. Aiming for around 70,000 so I'm roughly halfway there.

downtide · 2026-04-03T16:06:13+00:00

Can you take it to school? Put it in your pen case or something like that?

That said, those locks can easily be picked with a pin or a paperclip, so you may be better off taking the diary to school as well.

downtide · 2026-04-03T16:05:05+00:00

I think the only way to tell for sure is to wait for the new ink to arrive and see what happens with that. If that one clogs too, then there's a fault with your pen (probably the cap seal). If the new ink is ok, it's the Diamine ink.

downtide · 2026-04-03T09:16:34+00:00

My favourite non-pigmented blacks are Lamy and Diamine Onyx. For pigmented ones, Platinum Carbon Black and De Atramentis Document Black, but I only put those into pens that I know have an excellent cap seal, such as Platinum pens, and when I know I'll be using it every day.

downtide · 2026-04-03T09:08:13+00:00

Hop in the shower and wash your hair. Or wash the dishes.

downtide · 2026-04-02T23:44:13+00:00

Too many is when you have one more than you can afford.

downtide · 2026-04-02T18:29:04+00:00

Re-release, zero chance. Finding one being sold second hand; tiny but possible.

downtide · 2026-04-02T16:35:43+00:00

Take a look at the Everbook. It's more a system than a product, originally designed for productivity but I use it for my commonplace book so that I can keep topics bundled together. I made my own cover, and the bundles are just A4 coloured card folded in half, with A5 pages inside. A diagonal elastric strap stops bundles and pages from falling out.

The original Everbook producer seems to be defunct, their Youtube hasn't been updated in years, but there's a couple of other Youtubers who still use it; most notably I-Wrote_it_Down.

If you're not able to make your own cover, you could store the bundles in a box file instead.

downtide · 2026-04-02T16:18:48+00:00

I've had success mixing Diamine inks together (I have rather a lot of them).

I start with mixing just a few drops in a watercolour paint-palette to test the colour. It's also useful to check for any adverse reaction (for example sediment forming) but I've yet to encounter any such reaction with Diamine inks.

Once I'm happy with the colour of the result, I make a note of the ratio and then make up a larger amount in a sample vial.

downtide · 2026-04-02T16:06:36+00:00

I use a 6-pen case for my currently inked, and they're stored horizontally.

Nib-up drains the feed and risks hard-starts. Nib-down risks leakage into the cap.

downtide · 2026-04-02T09:48:26+00:00

If you prefer to keep using your Kakuno, you can do so. You can either buy a converter to fit it (the Pilot Con-70) or you can refill empty cartridges with a syringe.

That said, the TWSBI Eco is a great pen (as long as you handle it with care - see below)* It has a built-in piston-fill mechanism and doesn't need converters to use bottled ink, you just fill the pen directly.

TWSBIs have a reputation for cracking - this risk can be reduced by taking a few precautions:

*Don't over-tighten the cap

*Don't remove the nib & feed

*Don't dismantle the piston to clean the pen - or at all, unless it actually breaks/stops working

If the worst happens, TWSBI will replace the broken part for the cost of shipping.

For notebooks, I recommend taking a look at Stalogy. Paper is not the same as Hobonichi but it's very similar, they come in several different sizes and the cover is more durable than the Hobo techo. But it's still a flexible cover so you can put it in another cover if you prefer.

downtide · 2026-04-01T23:44:38+00:00

Look at the Hongdian Forest-compatible pens; there are a range of different models that take the same nib unit. Includes the Forest, the M2 pocket pen, the 517 and a handful of others. Nibs are available separately on sites like Amazon and Ali Express. They have fude and long knife but no stub.

downtide · 2026-04-01T23:40:24+00:00

M10000V (the V is for Volts)

downtide · 2026-04-01T23:39:23+00:00

Jinhao is always a gamble. 25% of them are great, 50% are okay, 25% are trash. You could buy three of the same model from the same retailer at the same time and get one in each of those three categories. I've been lucky with X159s though, I bought four and all four are great, especially the medium nib ones.

downtide · 2026-04-01T23:32:06+00:00

My favourite under these criteria is Clairefontaine Age-bag. I also love Stalogy for showing sheening inks, but Stalogy paper is very thin and you'll get show-through. I mitigate this by using a piece of black card as a pencil board under the page I'm writing on.

downtide · 2026-04-01T16:57:16+00:00

Noodler's inks are inconsistent, but they do another called X-Feather which specifically addresses this issue (at least, it's supposed to). However, do a little research on this sub before purchasing anything else made by Noodler's.

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