A few weeks ago on her podcast (join the Patreon to hear it!), Ana gave her spicy hot takes about stationery. Today I decided to share my 5 hot takes!
NUMBER 1: Pens with plastic barrels and steel nibs with prices of $300-$400 are too expensive for me. Look I’m a fan of a lot of different kind of pens, and I’m not going to name specific brands. But at base, I have fallen out of love with plain plastic barreled pens with steel nibs that have huge price tags. Note, I’m not talking about resin blanks that artisans in our community are making. Pens I once idolized are now completely out of my price range. That’s ok, but it also leaves me questioning what the value of some of these pens really are?
NUMBER 2: As a corollary to that, I’m really getting back into the less expensive pens I was into at the beginning of my pen collecting. Earlier this year I wrote about using my Pilot Metropolitans again. I had a great time adding nail decals to my Kakuno and using it. I have always loved my TWSBIs because I ink them up and they continue to write, no matter how long I put them down for. And I don’t personally enjoy Lamy Safaris, but I know SO MANY people who do. The bottom line is you don’t have to buy expensive pens to love this hobby.
NUMBER 3: I’m kind of over shimmer inks. They are SO pretty, but they always clog my pens. And, given that I write with fine and medium nibs most of the time they never show the shimmer that I so love in the swatches. Most recently I was disappointed by Dominant Industry Sunset in my Jinhao with a medium nib. It barely writes and shows up only as light purple with none of the rust sheen. Give me a shading ink, or sheening ink like Waterman Tender Purple.
NUMBER 4: Miss me with Tomoe River 68gsm. Sure the paper shows all the properties of the ink beautifully. But it’s so thin I can only write on one side. And now it’s in rare supply, and some batches are questionable. I’ll stick with Midori and Rhodia.
NUMBER 5: I’m over my collecting phase. When I first came to fountain pens, I was excited. I wanted to try everything. I had a decent amount of disposable income to spend and a huge case of FOMO. These days, I look at everything I have and worry a bit about overconsumption. I have a drawer full of ink, more pens that I could ever use. I’m more selective now. I’m weeding out the things I desperately wanted and then don’t really use. I’m trying to buy all things with more intention. I don’t say any of this as criticism to anyone else’s habits. You are wherever you are in your journey and as long as that’s good for you, then go for it. But as for me, I’m less tempted by what’s new these days and more interested in using what I have.
So there are my thoughts. What are your hot takes?