42 Answers to #21PenQuestions
We have been meaning to get around to the 21 Pen Question challenge, as posed by Ana at the Well Appointed Desk. As happenstance would have it, when you post 21 question to 2 Penquisitioners you wind up with 42 answers, which is either a prime number or the answer to everything, depending on whom you ask.
With our own Touchstone fountain pen launching very shortly, and very much on our minds, it would be all too easy for us to make half of the answers about that pen, so as an added wrinkle in the works I set the additional rule for myself and my father than no more than one answer each could be about the Touchstone, just so that we don’t get repetitive.
1: What is the pen they’ll have to pry out of your cold dead hands?
Evan: My Mayfair Pens Vanyar in Dupras Throne Room and red Diamondcast, with a BB SIG 14kt F-C nib. If I had to choose a pen to be buried with (and I won’t; when I’m gone I’d rather someone else enjoy them) that would be it.
Julian: MB Boheme
2: What’s your guilty pleasure pen?
Evan: The Visconti Iopenna. There’s nothing practical about it, but it makes me so happy to see it waggling around as I write.
Julian: Homo Sapiens
3: What’s the pen you wish existed?
Evan: Alright, I’m playing my Touchstone card here. A year ago I would have said that I wanted a compact pen with a wide section that fit a full converter. And now I’ve wished that pen into existence (as well as a whole lot of work going in to it by myself and others.)
Julian: I have to agree. A usable pocket pen.
4: What pen would you give to a new enthusiast?
Evan: The Monteverde Ritma. I think the larger number 6 nib and airtight magnetic cap do a good job of demonstrating something different from a lot of other starter pens.
Julian: I would suggest they buy almost any Lamy
5: What pen do you want to get along with but it just never clicked?
Evan: Dip nibs, both glass and steel, including the Kakimori dip nip. I can never seem to get the right amount of ink to load on them, it’s either too little or it’s so much that I’m just making ink blots, not writing. I’m not ready to give up yet, though.
Julian: Conklin
6: What pen do you only keep only because it’s pretty?
Evan: “Keep” isn’t quite right, because I don’t really get rid of pens, but the Waldmann Tango Imagination gets inked up and put into rotation more often than I would have expected just because of its beauty, even though the grip section is narrower and the nib is shorter than I prefer.
Julian: Diplomat Aero
7: What pen (or stationery product) did you buy because everyone else did?
Evan: Tomoe River paper. It’s fun and all, but it takes forever to dry, and I’ve found other paper that I personally enjoy more. I could live just fine without Tomoe River.
Julian: Lamy Safari
8: What pen (or stationery product) is over your head or just baffles you?
Evan: Flex nibs for most people. For a skilled calligrapher I think they can be amazing, but I just don’t see the appeal for every day writing. An italic or architect gives great line variation without having to worry about varying your pressure or risk springing your nib. But I don’t have to understand what other people like; I’m just happy they’re happy.
Julian: Any pen over $400
9: What pen (or stationery product) surprised you?
Evan: The Esterbrook Estie. I was actually kind of turned off by the style of the Estie, and couldn’t really find a material I loved at first, but everyone else was raving about the pen so I thought I’d give it a try. And I was impressed by the Estie to the point where I’ve purchased three other modern Esterbrook pens since, as well as their vintage nib adapter and three of their modern specialty nibs, and I’m very much looking forward to their new release slated for the DC show. Sometimes following the crowd pays off.
Julian: pads of paper Pelikan gives out at its hubs. Very nice paper.
10: What pen doesn’t really work for you but you keep it because it’s a collectible?
Evan: Cross Townsend Star Wars Chewbacca. The grip is slimmer than I’d prefer, and the nib is kind of small, but I would never ever let that pen go.
Julian: MB Andy Warhol
11: What is your favorite sparkly pen (or ink)?
Evan: Jacques Herbin Shogun. I like the idea of sparkly inks and rarely used them, but Shogun is just so good that I have to face those fears.
Julian: I’m afraid of sparkly ink. I’m afraid it will clog.
12: Which nib do you love – but hate the pen?
Evan: The pens aren’t made anymore, but the Nemosine Singularity had a couple of my favorite nibs of all time, the 06 and 08 stubs (still available sometimes from Birmingham Pen Company), but the singularity itself would drive me crazy because the cap threaded on to the section, meaning half the time I would try to uncap it I would end up unscrewing the section instead.
Julian: There are a lot of nibs I like. I can’t think of a pen I hate except for all the pens that imitate MB.
13: What pen (or stationery product) gives you the willies?
Evan: Iron gall inks. I really want to use them, but I also don’t trust myself to keep my pens clean enough, and I’m afraid of destroying a pen a love through my own negligence.
Julian: Any eyedropper fill pens. Always afraid to make a mess I can’t clean up.
14: What’s your favorite pen for long form writing?
Evan: It changes time to time, but right now I’ve really been enjoying a Gravitas dyed Delrin pen (the same size as the Sentry) with a titanium section and a number 8 Jinhao nib.
Julian: Pelikan M800 or M1000
15: What pen (or stationery product) do you love in theory but not in practice?
Evan: The Kaweco Liliput. I love the idea and the look, and there are some great finishes that Kaweco still hasn’t made available in the Sport, like the brass waves, the copper, and the fire blue. But there’s just no way I could ever fit that tiny pen into my giant hand comfortably.
Julian: Many of the Kaweco are beautiful pens but too small for me to use for long periods of time.
16: What pen (or stationery product) would you never let someone else use?
Evan: I try not to yuck other people’s yums. That said, I do make sure that my less pen-knowledgeable friends know that certain inks (India ink, calligraphy ink, etc.) aren’t safe for fountain pen feeds.
Julian: To each their own.
17: What pen (or stationery product) would you never use for yourself?
Evan: Pilot Con-40 converters. I’d rather just use cartridges in those pens, especially not that Iroshizuku cartridges exist. The Con-40 just doesn’t hold any ink for me, ever.
Julian: There isn’t any that I am not willing to at least try.
18: What pen (or stationery product) could you NOT bring yourself to buy?
Evan: The various Tactile Turn seasonal releases. There have been a few that I’ve come very close to, but there is always something that is just slightly off for my taste. If the pens were a little bit cheaper I might not mind, but at their prices (which I think are reasonable, to be fair to them) I’m not going to collect all of them, so I just have to keep waiting for that one perfect release.
Julian: Many of the MB homage pens are priced out of sight. I can’t see paying the price for what is just a pen.
19: What’s your favorite vintage pen?
Evan: The rOtring Core. I said what I said.
Julian: Rotring 600 Rollerball
20: What is your favorite EDC/pocket pen?
Evan: I carried a Kaweco Brass Sport clipped to my shirt for something like two and a half when I first got in to fountain pens. When I look back at photos from my daughter being born, or family vacations, etc., I can see it there, either in my shirt pocket, or clipped between the buttons up by my collar. But that more and more pocket pens started coming out with number 6 nine, which I find more comfortable to write with, so I retired my trusty Brass Sport and moved on. Most recently, I’ve been carrying an Axel S in my pocket for the last year or so.
Julian: MB Boheme
21: What’s the pen (or stationery product) that got away?
Evan: The Kuru Toga Dive. I missed the $40 price on Uni and the $60 price on Yoseka, and when Uni offered me a $20 coupon off of their $99 price I refused it because I thought $79 was still too much. The way things are going, I suspect I may live to regret not just accepting $79 if I ever want to get the pencil.
Julian: Any old Rotring
