Top 5 Pens - Fall 2013 Update

There have been many changes to my Top 5 Pens list since the last update, mainly in the fountain pen area. I say lists plural because I have broken things down a bit differently to better address the fountain pen market related to what I am using. There are now two fountain pen Top 5 lists: One I am calling the "Easy To Buy Division" and the other I am calling the "Hard To Buy Division". Let me explain what I am trying to accomplish with these two lists.

With the Easy list, I have included more common, readily available fountain pens. Pens you will find easily at most online retailers or in local pen stores. This list also encompasses some of my most recommended fountain pens for beginning and moderately experienced fountain pen users.

The Hard list is a bit of a misnomer. These pens aren't hard to come by or hard to use. There is just something extra you need to take into account with each pen on this list. It could be price, it could be availability, it could be a different nib style. These are pens I would recommend to more experienced fountain pen users, or at least people who know what they are getting into when buying one of these pens.

I think both lists are valid and necessary to relay the information I have learned over the years. The only thing I don't care for are the names of the lists. If you can come up with something better to describe what I am trying to accomplish with the two lists I'm all ears.

I have also added a brand new list of my Top 5 fountain pen inks. This was the most requested list since my last Top 5 post and was fun to put together. Look for constant change in this one.

There were a few minor tweaks to other lists, namely the Overall list and the Micro Gel list. I also added a running list of my favorite Field Notes editions on my Field Notes Collection page so be sure to check that one out as well.

Lists are fun and I enjoy putting them together. If you have any feedback please let me know!

Kaweco Allrounder Review

Brad was kind enough to send me one of the Kaweco pens he recently received so that I could play around with it for a bit. The Kaweco Allrounder is a thing of beauty, seriously. The brushed metal finish, a nicely weighted cap, the vintage style-clip…and I really can’t ever see picking up the pen again.

Like Brad, I’m a Kaweco fanboy through and through and pretty much everything in the Sport line has been a favorite of mine forever. I’m pretty envious of the ART Sport Brad just got his hands on. The Allrounder, though, is an entirely different pen. Full sized, heavy, all silver trimmings - the thing is a walking talking writing specimen of German industrial design. It is sleek yet solid, which is a tough feat to pull off in a pen. However, I still don’t end up wanting to use it.

I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that makes the pen not work for me. At first, I wondered if the problem might be, well, me. I tend to over-rotate my hand when writing with fountain pens so I’m almost writing with the nib sidewise, and that ends up resulting in a great deal of skipping with some fountain pens. With the Allrounder, I tried my normal rotation and forced myself to write with the nib at the proper angle to the paper. Nothing really worked. It isn’t so much that the pen skips - there isn’t that usual feeling of scratching or catching that accompanies that terrible moment in fountain pen writing. Rather, I just can’t get a consistent line out of the thing.

If you press too hard, you get a line that ends with more ink than you started with, which leads to some unintended shading. If you hold the pen lightly…well, it is hard to hold the pen lightly. The weight and the girth of it mean you have to grip it fairly firmly. Light-handed attempts just left it skittering across the page.

I asked Brad to kit this out with an EF nib as I almost never write with anything larger than a fine, except with italics. I actually found myself wondering as I wrote whether I should have gone with a bold nib. With a wide nib, I think the ink variation would actually look expressive rather than accidental, and you might be able to hold the pen with a lighter grip and let it skate atop the paper.

I certainly wouldn’t advise against trying out the pen, though it is at a relatively hefty price point for an experiment. I will say, though, if you have small hands and prefer thin nibs, you’re likely better off with something from the Sport line.

(This pen was provided by Kaweco for review purposes.)

Field Notes "Drink Local" Edition Winners

I was in love with the Field Notes Drink Local Edition the first time I laid eyes on it and with continued use that hasn't changed a bit. Hopefully the two winners below feel the same way:

Congratulations to both of you! The first one to leave a comment below can pick the 3-pack of their choice. But don't worry, there are no losers in Field Notes. I also need you to send me your shipping address via the Contact page. You have one week to claim your prize.

Thanks to JetPens for offering up these great notebooks!