Three Questions With Chad Doane

Chad Doane is one of the longest standing friends and supporters of The Pen Addict. I'm glad to call him a personal friend as well, and of course, I am a huge fan of all of his work at Doane Paper. My thanks to Chad for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

Pens, Pencils and Paper play a monstrous role in my day to day life right now. I'm constantly thinking about what the next Doane Paper product will look like or what pen or pencil should we add to the online shop. It's cool to be completely surrounded by analog tools for the majority of my day but some mornings I walk through my studio and say "Chad what did you get yourself into?!". Ever since being a kid I've always been into pencils, notebooks and sketching plus my dad was an industrial engineer so we always had mechanical pencils and graph paper laying around the house. There's just something both dependable and comforting about your favorite writing instrument and notebook.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

Right now as far as writing instruments go I have a uni-ball 207 retractable (micro tip) and a Sharpie medium tip marker on me at all times. We've done a couple notebook collaborations with uni-ball over the years so I'm pretty loyal to all the Newell Rubbermaid brands. I'm always filling out customs declarations forms at the post office and need a solid gel ink ball point for that and I'm always marking on the tops of order boxes with a Sharpie before they go out.

My "go to" notebook these days is the doane paper - large utility notebook. The standard sized 3.5 x 5.5 utility notebook was always a bit small for me so in 2013 I decided to produce a slightly larger 5 x 7 large utility notebook. I'm a die-hard Kansas City Royals fan so box scores of the Royals' epic 2014 post season run (curse you Madison Bumgarner!) filled up my last large utility notebook. Now I'm starting a new one filled with plans / strategies to broaden doane paper's distribution channels in 2015.

3. What creation or design of yours are you most proud of?

Nope it's not the grid + lines pattern or the flap jotter notebook, the creation I'm most proud of is my daughter (who is now sixteen) had a 5th grade science project where she had to turn a pizza box into a solar oven. I'm not exactly the diy sheriff but one Saturday afternoon we took our time and made the solar oven together. Crazy thing is it actually cooked a hot dog, we were so stoked! The diy solar oven now has a permanent spot on the Doane garage top shelf.

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Three Questions.

Levenger True Writer Select Fountain Pen Review

When I think of Levenger the first things that pop into my mind are their amazing leather accessories and, of course, their famous Circa notebook system. Pens have always been part of the lineup too, and they are becoming part of Levenger’s focus now more than ever.

I was impressed with the L-Tech Stealth I reviewed last year, and when Levenger offered up another pen for review I wanted to branch out a bit, choosing the True Writer Select in the beautiful Mediterranean resin barrel.

My pictures do not do this pen justice in several areas. For one, the Mediterranean blue swirl pattern of the barrel is stunning. It looks great in the hand, great on the desk, great anywhere really. The chrome accents really make it pop. Secondly, this is a large pen. Larger than I imagined when looking at it online. And that may be my favorite feature.

I don’t have many large, heavy fountain pens so using the True Writer Select was a bit of a new experience for me. Size wise, it is in the range of the Pelikan M1000 series - another popular large pen. I had concerns that it was too large, but those concerns were completely dismissed when I started writing with it. The pen is so well designed and balanced - it took Levenger over a year to perfect it - that the size isn’t noticeable when writing. That’s good design.

The True Writer Select is a cartridge/converter fill, using standard international size accessories. I inked it up with Pilot Blue Black and the ink flowed smoothly and consistently from the fine steel nib. My lines were clean and sharp right out the box with no adjustments necessary. It is a joy to write with.

There are no downsides as far as form and function go. The True Write Select is a fantastic pen all the way around. The only hangup I see is the price. At $169.00, you are paying more for a steel nib pen than some popular 14k gold nib pens. Nib material isn’t everything though - one of my favorite pens runs $350 and has a steel nib. The total package is what counts, and Levenger has put in the time and perfected the details to make an exceptional pen.

My thanks to Levenger for sending me this True Writer Select Fountain Pen for review.

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Levenger, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.