A Decimo in Duluth
It appeared on my doorstep on an unassuming weekday - a package from the Pen Addict. I’d been expecting it eagerly. My little house in downtown Duluth, Minnesota was the first stop on what is planned to be a multi-year project for the Pen Addict membership. My house was the first stop on the Midwest tour of the #travelingdecimo. Brad had the idea when he was searching for his own Pilot Decimo. A member had sent him one to try out, but he ended up purchasing one earlier this year at a pen show. However, the member was nice enough to let Brad try the pen geek version of Flat Stanley. He would send the Decimo around the world for other pen addicts to try out. The Decimo arrived in a Seed case from Nock Co. filled with a take one, leave one sticker pack and a blank Midori MD notebook to document the journey. Honestly, one of the most intimidating parts of being first was cracking open that notebook and writing something in it, haha!
Chilling outside on a lunch break.
I’ve been lucky enough to hold Pilot Decimos and Vanishing Points at pen shows, from what I can tell the big difference between them is just the barrel diameter. At a pen show, it’s usually a minute, maybe two that you get to experience a pen. It’s really a different experience to have a pen for a little while to see how it functions within my actual workflow. I’d been intrigued by clicky fountain pens and it was fun to finally have one in my hands for a longer period of time.
After I got it unpacked, the first decision was to decide what ink to put in the pen for its visit to Duluth. I wanted to choose something straight forward without any shimmer or sheen so that I didn’t risk clogging up a pen with an unfamiliar filling system. After hemming and hawing for a bit I decided to go with one of my favorite blue inks - Colorverse Apollo 11. Next was a quick stop on the internet to figure out how to fill it and we were good to go. Tucked into the pen loop of my A6 TN, the Decimo went everywhere with me for two weeks. I worked through two converters full of ink during my time with the pen.
During it’s time with me, this pen went to the beach at Park Point (involving a drive over the famous Duluth lift bridge) and a ride on the North Shore Scenic Railroad on the Summer BBQ train. The Pilot Decimo travels extremely well.
I feel like railfans and pen fans have a lot in common.
Some random train facts because I’m a history geek: This is the SOO 700, a retired freight engine that now pulls excursions for the scenic railroad. In it’s hey day the Soo Line Railroad ran from Minnesota to Michigan, ending at the Sault St. Marie, Soo comes from the phonetic spelling of Sault. It’s full name was the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault St. Marie Railroad… quite the mouthful.
I really enjoyed the 18K M nib. It was soft and bouncy, a different experience than any other pen in my collection. The lines were consistent and smooth. The click mechanism fascinated me. I’m amazed how the soft gold nib doesn’t get caught up in any of the other parts. It’s impossible to put the nib/converter unit back in the barrel wrong since it’s got a nice little notch. The click made it easy to pick it up and set it down while I was working without having to get out my Good Made Better Traveling Penwell, which I use for quick access to my capped pens.
Ultimately, however, I don’t think I will be adding a Pilot Decimo to my collection. The reason? The clip. I had two challenges with the clip. The first problem is that it causes me to hold the pen unnaturally because the clip is right where I would normally rest my pointer finger. It forced me to hold the pen differently than I normally would. Not the end of the world, but I did have to be conscious of it. The second is that I kept trying to insert the pen the wrong way into my pen loop because my brain is wired for click gel pens and ballpoints where the clip is near the click, not the writing end. It led to some hilarious moments of confusion when I was absentmindedly trying to tuck it back in the pen loop and completely failing. It’s probably something I would learn over time, but it wasn’t immediately intuitive to my brain.
I’d like to thank Brad Dowdy, the Pen Addict, and the Pen Addict Member community for offering this chance to try this pen! It’s off to Ohio now and I’m interested to see what adventures the #travelingdecimo has next!
Currently Inked
Colorverse Milky Lavender - Esterbrook JR Paradise Purple B - One of my favorite purples is back in a pen! I think the Project series never got a lot of attention, but there were some really great colors in it. This is a lavender purple with a lot of shading. It’s one of those inks that just works and fits a niche where it can be a spring, summer, or autumny toned color depending on what other colors are used around it.
Diamine Midnight Hour - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye B premium - The feeling that I needed a sheening blue came into my mind and I wanted something moody, enter Midnight Hour from Diamine’s Blue collection from the 2019 Inkvent calendar. A nice blue-black with a copper sheen.
Colorverse x Goulet Pens Witch by Starlight - Kaweco liliput copper 14K B - This one is getting added to my “buy a bottle” list. I’m on the last fill from the sample and it’s such a cool color. It’s on the cool blue spectrum as the base color with some shading and a dual shimmer.
Ferris Wheel Press April Showers - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K “journaller” - Another week with this ink. A straightforward sparkly gray.
Colorverse Eagle - Kaweco Sport Macchiato 1.5 - Really enjoying it as a header color this month. It brightens up the pages when I’ve been craving moodier inks for the day to day.
If you are interested in purchasing a Decimo at a 10% discount, you can use my code DIME10 at Atlas Stationers and help support this blog. Thanks for reading!