Sunday Reading for February 8, 2025

1. DWRDNet Stationery Feed Season Two with Nick Dominguez (via dwrdnet). Derek has kicked off season two of his series of interviews with people from around the stationery community, and in this episode he sat down with Nick Dominguez, with whom we’ve collaborated on our recent Rickshaw release.

2. February Inks (via Pen Addict). Kimberly has 14 more pens inked up with red and pink inks for February! In addition to her already-impressive currently inked lineup.

3. What Are You Taking to Work? (via SBRE Brown). I enjoy seeing what people take to work with them and use in their day-to-day life. I need to do a video like this at some point and walk through my work carry.

4. Esterbrook Estie Raven Oversized (via Figboot on Pens). The Estie Raven was a popular standard release, and the oversized version has now hit stores.

5. Why the Pentel Sharp Mechanical Drafting Pencil Is Perfect for Me (via Pen Addict). Brad reviews a stationery classic from the world of mechanical pencils. These used to be everywhere, and I probably have a dozen or so around my house.

6. Feed Your Creativity - Live with River City Pen Company (via Feed Your Creativity). A chat with Rich from River City on what he’s working on, new inks, and more.

7. Wearingeul Reservoir Thread Note B6 (via Well-Appointed Desk). Another ink-friendly notebook in the increasingly popular B6 size. I can vouch for the growing B6 fan-base, both in standard B6 and the “café” size B6 slim.

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Just a wee bit chilly in NYC this past week. Ice-in-the-river type of cold.

In Case You Missed It…

We focused on thawing out a bit this week in Nashville, and I managed to get away for a couple days to attend the NYNow and Shoppe Object trade shows in New York City, both of which have strong stationery components. I also wrote a bit about my travel kit for 2026, as I’m definitely gearing up for a lot of travel in the coming months with three shows on the horizon.

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This week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

It’s restock season, as all of the post-holiday reorders we placed are arriving! We have fresh shipments of Midori MD, Nakabayashi, and Lochby, as well as new Life Noble Note 6-ring binder refills and some new journals from NOLTY. The latest Pilot Explorer releases also arrived, which feature matte finishes in four new colors. Finally, we welcome Benu fountain pens to our lineup, with the new “Haute” series of squared barrels and several gorgeous new acrylics. Be sure to check out each week’s “Weekly Drops” post for a full list of new arrivals and restocks.

We will be open this week normal hours, from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday and from 10am-6pm Saturday. Please note that the following week, hours will be modified as we will be attending the California Pen Show. I will post updated hours later this week once I finalize support for the in-person shop when I’m out.

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Yamamoto Paper

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Pilot

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Kakimori Inks

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Rickshaw Bags

How to Support T.G.S. and Our Various Projects

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. As of this morning, ALL Patreon supporters (including non-paying free members) have access to one or more initial “practice” episodes of “On the Paper Trail” which have not been publicly released.

Ask TGS: What's In Your Travel Bag for 2026?

Since I’m gearing up for a fairly significant round of travel over the next two months, and just returned from two trips, I thought it might be fun to break down my “go bag” travel stationery for 2026. Sometimes I bring more than the items on this list, sometimes less, but I’ve made an effort to dial in my travel kit according a few basic preferences for stationery travel:

• If I don’t know that I’ll use it on the trip, I’ll usually leave it at home.

• One fountain pen for non-pen show trips, to use for journaling or longer-form writing projects.

• Use modular cases that pack flat or roll, and minimize paper as much as is practical to reduce weight.

• On pen show trips, all the rules go out the window, since the purpose of the trip is to share pens.

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I know it’s not packing “light”, but it’s a lot less than I used to carry! From top, journal, planner, and 6-ring binder for work notes.

My 2026 Travel Kit From The First Two Trips of the Year

1. Mechanical Pencil (Uni Kuru-Toga). I rarely take multiple fountain pens with me on an airplane unless I’m traveling to a pen show. If it’s a true work trip, and especially one where I have to work on the plane, I’m using either a mechanical pencil or some sort of multi-pen. On a bumpy flight, it’s nice to be able to erase your mistakes with the pencil, and there’s nothing worse than having a much-loved pen roll off your tray table and having to dive for it before it slides under someone else’s seat. Lately my pencil of choice has been one of the Uni Kuru-Togas, since the rotating lead mechanism helps keep the point sharp.

2. Gel or Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Multi Pen (Pilot Frixion 3 or Pilot 4+1). A good multi-pen allows you to have multiple ink colors readily at hand, and if you have a 4+1 design, you also have the mechanical pencil in the same pen body. While low-viscosity ballpoint ink is my default, lately I’ve been experimenting with Pilot’s line of Frixion gel pens, which I’ve enjoyed for many of the same reasons I like using mechanical pencils - erasability! The Frixion is hugely popular in Japan, and has increasingly made inroads among planner enthusiasts because, well, sometimes plans change.

3. Sticky Notes or Document Flags. Even though I’ve moved many of my larger work documents to pdf format, I still mostly read physical books, and I tend to annotate my personal notebooks so that I can find things later. Cloth & Paper and Craft Design Technology both make highly versatile lines of document flags and sticky notes that I enjoy, and lately I’ve discovered Japanese-style memo rolls, which are essentially rolls of paper tape that you can cut to size and write on. That said, there’s not really a specific format I prefer, and sometimes I’ll even roll with classic Post-Its since I’m usually writing with a pencil or gel pen and I don’t need excellent paper.

4. Pen Roll or Pen Case. I’ve moved towards pen rolls and smaller pen cases as opposed to zippered pouches or bulkier album-style storage. I find pen rolls to be the most versatile for those of us who travel with a heavier kit, since they hold a lot yet still roll up to a compact size that fits in a carry-on travel bag. On this last trip, I was testing out one of our new Rickshaw 6-pen Coozy Rolls as well as the new Fillmore zippered pen case. The Coozy Rolls are a classic that I’ve talked about before, but the Fillmore is a newer design that I like because this layout holds up to six pens in individual slots plus a larger slot for a notebook - or more pens. Best of all? The Fillmore unzips flat to form a tray that works great on a hotel desk.

5. Two Notebooks: One Personal and One Work. If there’s one area where I’ve cut down on bulk when traveling, it’s been paper. I used to travel with several journals out of a misguided FOMO-like fear that I would find myself without the exact notebook I wanted to write in. I finally realized that it made little sense to take five notebooks on a three-day trip, so now I’ll usually carry my personal journal and planner. Sometimes I’ll add a 6-ring binder if I think I’ll need to take work notes that I don’t want to permanently add to the planner. This past weekend was a three-notebook trip.

I have a lot of trips on the horizon, so this topic was particularly timely for me. If you come see me at this year’s California Pen Show (which is just around the corner) I’ll probably have much more than this in tow. How many pens do you travel with? Do you have a dedicated travel notebook that you only use for trips? I’m interested to hear from you, and this may even make it into a future podcast episode as a topic for discussion.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Traveling with the Coozy Roll (or any pen roll for that matter) is convenient because it serves as a pen tray on your desk when not being used as storage.

Weekly Drops: New Pilot Explorers, Life 6-Ring Paper, NOLTY, and More!

ALL the restocks seemed to arrive this week, from the new Pilot Explorer to NOLTY notebooks and Life 6-ring binder paper. In advance of three upcoming pen shows in which we’ll be participating, we’ve also restocked on our Rickshaw exclusive collaboration, adding six-pen Coozy Rolls in both the standard and deluxe formats. Finally, Lochby cases are back in stock, including multiple sizes of the zippered Field Folio and the Field Sling. We have boxes stacked up the wall right now, so if you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by and shop with us in-person and see all of this up-close!

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Nick Dominguez’s “Clouds” patterns were hand-drawn with multi-shading fountain pen inks,

We are open this week normal hours this week! Please note that the week of February 16 we will have modified hours. Because we will be traveling to the California Pen Show, we may open Monday-Tuesday with reduced Saturday hours, so stay tuned if you are looking to visit us in Nashville.

1. New Matte Pilot Explorer Fountain Pens and Rollerballs. Pilot has revamped the Explorer lineup, swapping out some of its glossy colors for these new matte ivory, turquoise, navy, and coral. And, yes, these new colors feature a new logo, foregoing the larger Pilot imprint for more subtle branding on the cap.

2. NOLTY PAGEM Freelog Notebooks. NOLTY is a popular line of Japanese notebooks and planners that feature both dated and undated layouts. The PAGEM “Freelog” has minimal structure and can be used as a planner or a standard notebook.

3. Life Noble Note 6-Ring Binder Refills. We’ve been working to fill out our selection of 6-ring binder paper that is compatible with binders from Plotter, Brelio, MeePlus, and any other brand that uses standard 6-ring spacing. Life offers A5, Bible, and Mini (6 hole) refills in their standard Noble Note paper, which is quite Fountain Pen Friendly.

4. Rickshaw Bagworks “Cloud Series” Pen Cases and Pen Rolls. Our collaboration with local-to-us artist Nick Dominguez has been restocked, with Fillmore, Sinclaire, and Coozy Rolls available for order in three different colorways.

5. TRAVELER’S Notebook Starter Kits. These have sold briskly in the shop, but we still have a handful of Standards and several Passports in stock. The shortage from late last year appears to be easing somewhat.

6. Lochby Field Sling. Lochby’s popular A5 Field Bag is back in stock in all colors. These sling bags combine the size of the Field Journal and Field Folio with a shoulder strap, allowing you to carry one or two notebooks with a phone, pen, and other small items.

7. Mnemosyne Hardcover A5 Journals. My personal journal from this year is the dot-grid version in Mint. I walked through how I plan to use this and my other notebooks for 2026 in this recent YouTube video.

8. Stálogy Planners/Notebooks. The Stálogy 365 and 1/2-year notebooks are designed to be used as day-to-a-page notebooks, journals, or even an undated planner. It’s a flexible system that fits most standard-sized covers (A5, A6, B6, etc.).

9. Lamy Swift Retractable Rollerballs. We’ve had increasing demand for rollerball pens lately both in-store and online, and one of my favorites is the Lamy Swift retractable rollerball. These have a nice matte texture with a retractable clip. See our full writeup here.

10. Ohto CR01 and CR02 Rollerball Pens. These capped rollers from Japanese brand Ohto feature a .5mm tip (something of a rarity in the rollerball world) and come in both a thicker and thinner format.

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The NOLTY Freelog, in two different pastel colors and featuring a .3mm dot grid ruling.

I Didn't Know There Was a Pen Show Last Weekend! Pen Shows and Stationery Fests vs. Trade Shows

I had a couple of people write in to ask which pen show I was attending over the past few days in New York City, and the answer is that there wasn’t one! Sunday through Tuesday I attended both NY Now and Shoppe Object, which are two “to-the-trade” shows, meaning that they are open only to retailers, distributors, and sometimes to the press. I initially attended NYNow years ago as “press”, when I was running T.G.S. primarily as a stationery enthusiast website, reviewing products, and keeping track of all the new product releases. Now that I have both brick-and-mortar and online retail operations, I can attend as a buyer.

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Yes, those are Leuchtturm1917 “Master” Size Notebooks in multiple colors!

What’s the Main Difference Between a Pen Show and a Trade Show? No Buying on Site.

Think of these shows as exhibitions - manufacturers and distributors bring samples of their goods, including their latest releases, for retailers to see and handle in person before ordering. Why is this important? Because many brands have large minimum order requirements and there’s a lot of risk involved if you have to order 50 units of something without ever having seen it in person. Traditional trade shows minimize that risk. It can also be quite helpful to have direct access to sales representatives and be able to ask questions in person, especially as some tend to be nonresponsive to e-mail and telephone inquiries by smaller shops as they nearly always focus most of their service and attention on larger internet retailers. While you can place orders at trade shows, there is no purchasing on site. Products are delivered later.

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Notem - a brand from Denmark that makes clothbound undated planners.

I Can’t Talk About Much of What I Saw

Most of what I saw - or at least those things readers would be most interested in - are forthcoming products that will be announced in the coming months. While there were a lot of interesting items on display, both NY Now and Shoppe Object seemed sparse this year, which has been a trend as these sorts of shows get pushed online to wholesale marketplaces like Faire. It’s a double-edged sword: while I appreciate getting to see things in person at trade shows, the shows themselves are expensive to attend, and online marketplaces typically allow you to order smaller quantities and even tester/sample products before committing to larger orders. It remains to be seen whether the traditional trade show will continue to exist in its current format with twice-a-year frequency.

I will likely continue to attend these shows in addition to the normal pen show circuit because over the years I’ve discovered some unique products that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. For example, brands like Anecdote Goods, the distributors of Toyo Steel and Braun, and even Leuchtturm exhibit at these shows, and the relationships cultivated in person make it easier to expand my offerings. I hope you enjoyed this quick look “behind the curtain”!

Our shop is open normal hours this week! Come see us 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday!

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NYNow had some company in the Javitz Center this year!

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Lot of dogs on site!

New Arrivals: Introducing the Benu Haute Collection

Benu fountain pens have traditionally been a little too, well, nontraditional for me. While I’ve long admired the artistry, I’ve never found a specific shape that matches my aesthetic. The recently released “Haute” collection might change that, since it pairs Benu’s unique materials with a more traditional, yet still unique, squared barrel design. Each pen features a No. 6 Schmidt nib and uses a standard international cartridge/converter filling system.

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We currently have a handful of the Benu Haute fountain pens in stock and available for purchase both in-store and online. Look for additional colors and nib sizes in the future, with possible new additions from Benu in the future!

Please note that while orders are shipping within our normal 2-3 business day time frame, UPS and USPS may still have a bit of a backlog due to the severity of the winter storm in our area and resulting damage. We appreciate your patience as the Nashville area continues to recover this week. We currently plan to be open normal hours this week, Thursday and Friday from 1pm-6pm, and Saturday from 10am-6pm. Since we are trying to get caught up after having to close for much of last week, no appointments are possible outside public hours.