#21PenQuestions
Hopping onto this pen questionnaire introduced to the community by Ana at Well Appointed Desk, here are my answers to the #21PenQuestions. It’s been a lot of fun reading everyone’s answers!
One. What is a pen they’ll have to pry from your cold dead hands?
That would be my Kaweco liliput fireblue (especially when equipped with one of my 14K nibs) This pen has been a constant companion since I got it in early 2018. This pen has traveled around the country, gone camping, canoeing, on trains, planes, and automobiles. Where I go, it goes. When I first got it, I reached out to Rickshaw Bags to see if they could make a solo pen sleeve for a pen that small… and they could! The fireblue lived in that solo sleeve until it was joined the next summer by my Kaweco liliput in copper, so I upgraded to the duo pen sleeve the pair live in today.
Two. What’s your “guilty pleasure” pen?
Whenever I put a 14K gold nib in a standard Kaweco Sport. There’s just some fun to be had with a $200+ nib on a $25 pen.
Three. What’s the pen you wish existed?
A Kaweco liliput in bronze. I’ve been drooling over the special edition Sport model, but I know it’ll be too heavy for me.
Four. What pen would you give to a new enthusiast?
While I absolutely adore Kaweco pens, I think of them more as a second pen. I would probably give someone a Lamy Safari. They are easy to maintain, write well, and can be used with either cartridges or bottle ink with a converter. A white Lamy Safari with a F nib was my only fountain pen for my first two years of getting into stationery as a bigger hobby.
Five. What pen (or stationery item) do you want to get along with but it never clicked?
Big resin pens. They are so gorgeous. They look beautiful on Instagram and in real life. I have owned a few and drooled over more. Yet, anytime they are in my hand for any extended period of time the shape just does not get along with me. Or something about the material starts to irk me. It’s possible I am just waiting for the right shape and material combo for me, but until then I’ll just admire them from afar.
Six. What pen do you keep only because it’s pretty?
I actually don’t have any at the moment. I cleaned out a lot of my pens to make room for the Art Sport I got this spring and let go of ones I thought were pretty but rarely used. Ink on the other hand… * cough * we’re not going to talk about that… in this post anyway, haha.
Seven. What pen (or stationery item) did you buy simply because everyone else did?
TWSBI pens when I was still really new to the hobby. I can see why they are popular in the same way that Kaweco Sports are popular - lots of color options and special editions. When I first got an ECO and not long after a Diamond Mini, it was because everyone seemed to be gushing over theirs. There was something about the shape of them that never clicked for me. Also, I never need that much ink in a pen since I’m constantly switching out inks. I probably would have liked them more when I was a college student… but unfortunately I didn’t really start using fountain pens until after I finished graduate school.
Eight. What pen (or stationery item) is over your head or just baffles you?
Writing long entries with dip pens (glass or metal). I just don’t have the patience for them beyond a swatch. I really admire the dedication of those that use them regularly.
Nine. What pen (or stationery product) surprised you?
Onion skin and other translucent papers. I thought they were a little gimicky when I first became aware of them, but then I picked up a notepad from The Onion Skin Journal when they were having a sale. I was hooked and am never far away from a pad or notebook with this paper.
Ten. What pen (or stationery product) doesn’t really work for your but you keep it because it’s collectible?
I have quite a lot of limited edition ink that I haven’t gotten rid of even though I never use it (or rarely… looking at you Colorverse Standard Model set, but I love you anyway). Overall, I think I’ve gotten better at letting go of things I never use, but it’s an ongoing process.
Eleven. What is your favorite sparkly pen (or ink)?
I have to pick just one? Maybe I can pick a brand? I really enjoy quite a few of my sparkle inks from Ferris Wheel Press, notably Queen Allium and Velvet Ballet. They are fun colors and are pretty well-behaved as far as shimmer inks go.
Queen Allium in foreground (purple with gold shimmer) and Velvet Ballet in the back (red with silver shimmer) on Onion Skin Paper.
Twelve. Which nib do you love, but hate the pen (or vice versa)?
One of the reasons I love Kaweco pens is how easy it is to swap the nibs. If I don’t like a combo I switch it out. Some pen/nib pairings are almost always the same, but there are others I like to switch around from time to time.
Thirteen. What pen (or stationery product) gives you the willies?
Notebooks that cost more than $40. I don’t know what it is about that price point, but once we start creeping up higher the notebook just doesn’t feel like something I can just dump words on. They tend to sit until I’ve had them a few years and decide to use them or sell them.
Fourteen. What’s your favorite pen for long form writing?
Believe it or not, I like writing with my Kaweco liliputs. They have a great form factor for my hand and aren’t too heavy. I also just love seeing words come out of them onto the page. Since I have mine outfitted with tuned 14K nibs, they are really smooth and easy to write with for long or short periods of time.
Fifteen. What pen (or stationery product) do you love in theory but not in practice?
Sparkly resin pens. I see them all of the time and they are so beautiful, but every time I buy one I find myself not loving it. I think it’s a size thing, a lot of them are large to show off the materials. The only resin pen in my collection that I vibe with is my Art Sport, and that’s probably because I already loved Sport pens, this one is just a sparkly resin material instead of injection mold plastic.
Sixteen. What pen (or stationery product) would you never let someone else use?
I’ll let other pen enthusiasts try all of my pens and loan out steel nib ones to newbies. That being said, I have my heart in my throat any time someone else is holding one of my liliputs. They are special and personal, so it’s hard to let those ones be in other people’s hands.
Seventeen. What pen (or stationery product) would you never use for yourself?
I don’t see myself ever owning a pen that costs more than $500. I would just be too worried about losing it or breaking it when I was outside of the house and a pen that cost me that much should be enjoyed everywhere I go. I definitely like looking at them though.
Eighteen. What pen (or stationery product) could you NOT bring yourself to buy?
So far I am not buying a Plotter. There is a lot of hype right now (and there was a LOT at the Chicago Pen Show too), and they are tempting. I like small notebooks already, I like papers/notebooks that I can switch in and out, I like leather covers… but I just don’t have a use for one. At this point my hand-tooled A6 raven cover from Chic Sparrow is practically a security blanket. That might change someday, but at the moment I am holding strong.
Nineteen. What’s your favorite vintage pen?
I don’t have a lot of experience with vintage pens, but I like the look of vintage Montblanc pens.
Twenty. What is your favorite EDC/pocket pen?
It might be the Kaweco liliput… considering I may have already mentioned them once or twice this post, haha.
Twenty-one. What’s the pen (or stationery product) that got away?
The red and black Kaweco Art Sport from 2018. That was a pretty pen and it was there and then gone. Never seen one come up on the secondary market either.
The Gentleman Stationer added #5MorePenQuestions so here we go!
One. Why do pens and stationery continue to play such an important role in your life, especially when everything is supposed to be going paperless and digital?
I got tired of staring at computers all day and then coming home to write/create on more computers. I’ve always liked pen and paper ever since I was a child. When my family would go on road trips I always asked for a fresh notebook. These usually 10 cent spiral bound notebooks would be scribbled in with my then favorite pen (usually one of the colorful Bic Cristals). Thoughts, snippets of stories, observations and more would go into these notebooks. Really not much different than now.
I was always attached to a favorite pen or pencil. I actually still have one of my favorite mechanical pencils from middle school that was found in the middle of a hallway and no one ever claimed. Now it’s a full on lifestyle - create on paper and then move it to the computer to share with others. If time allows, I always prefer to write by hand.
Two. What do you view as the benefits of writing by hand?
Remembering. When I was in college I would take my notes from the semester and sit down with a fresh notebook, pen, and study guide. I would then write out all of the notes that were related to topics on the study guide. That was how I did my studying. It refreshed my memory and helped me feel prepared. In grad school, I went digital with my notetaking (stylus on iPad), but I would still copy those notes physically when studying and wrote the first drafts of many papers by hand (including my master’s thesis).
Today, writing by hand helps me find what I want to say. It gets my brain into a thinking mindset, whether that’s for reflecting on my day, brainstorming, creating a story or an article for work, etc. It’s a chance to get away from the screen and play with something beautiful and practical all at once.
Three. What is your favorite thing about the pen/stationery hobby?
All of the different entry points and the ways to engage with the community. There is a spot for anyone and everyone who loves putting pen to paper. The stationery community is amazing and I love being a part of it.
Four. What is you least favorite thing about stationery?
FOMO is the most challenging thing for me in this hobby. It causes unnecessary stress. I think that limited editions have gotten a little out of control. I’m fine with the concept of them, but when it’s every other week, and the quantities are “blink and you’ll miss it,” it can get a little frustrating. I think it’s more egregious when it’s a large company that has the capacity to make a lot of product. I try to remind myself that I don’t need all of the inks (my particular weakness), but I still get nabbed by FOMO from time to time.
Five. If you had to choose one combination of stationery items to use for the rest of your life, exclusively, what would those be and why?
My Kaweco liliput fireblue equipped with my 14K B nib (tuned by Custom Nib Studio). That pen is my favorite and the B nib is a solid round nib for all kinds of writing. The other two choices are harder. I would probably go with Colorverse Office Blue for the ink, it’s a standard color, but with enough character to keep it interesting. For paper I would have to choose Kokuyo Business Paper (the one that comes in reams) because it’s fountain pen friendly and I can run it through a printer for different layouts.
Thanks everyone for this fun questionnaire! You can leave the answers for yourself in the comments if you’d like. If you are interested in any of the products in this post, you can use my code DIME10 at Atlas Stationers for a 10% discount, or DIME at Ferris Wheel Press to get a free ink charger with any purchase.