It's been a while since I updated the EDC feature of the blog, and I've written through all of the pens I had previously inked up, so for today's post I thought I would explain the refresh a bit. Here's my current daily carry:
This week's EDC, clockwise from the top: (1) Pilot Razor II Ultra Fine; (2) Pilot G2 LImited with black .7mm refill; (3) Zebra F-701 ballpoint with black .7mm refill; (4) Pilot V-Razor Extra Fine; (5) TiPen with Blue Black .4mm Hi-Tec-C Refill; (6) PIlot Hi-Tec-C .4mm in red; (7) Doan Paper Utility Notebook; (8) Waterman Hemisphere with fine nib, filled with Waterman blue black; (9) Pilot Custom 74 Violet Demonstrator with Masuyama extra fine, filled with Pilot Blue-Black; (10) Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black Edition with fine nib, filled with Sailor Kiwa Guro Nano Black.
There's some stability in what I've been using recently: the Pilot Razor II and the Pilot V-Razor are still seeing heavy use. I'm glad I rediscovered these pens, as they're incredibly handy daily users and the archival black ink works fairly well on all papers I use on a daily basis. I've also kept the Pilot Custom 74 with the Masuyama Extra Fine in the rotation. It continues to be loaded with Pilot Blue Black, although I'm thinking of switching this up after my current cartridge runs dry. I finished my classic Field Notes and moved on to my final Doane Utility Journal, and my Nock Co. cases are still getting heavy use. (Sassafras pictured)
Two new additions of note:
First, last week I received my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black Edition back from Mike Masuyama, who was repairing the bent nib. The drawback to Sailor's super smooth, super fine 21K nibs is that they bend very easily, even with a minor slip or drop (i.e., an inch onto a pad of paper). As expected, a super-reasonable $30 later the pen is as good as new, and I loaded it up with Sailor's Kiwa Guro Nano Black, which I had not used for a time. Over the two days that I've used this ink, it's performed flawlessly on a variety of papers, including Doane without the slightest hint of feathering and bleedthrough. Doane typically handles fountain pen ink pretty well, but this was like writing with a Sakura Pigma Micron. Now that I think of it, the two pigmented inks are probably pretty similar.
Second, I inked up another of my favorite pens, a Waterman Hemisphere with a fine nib that was a gift from one of my mentors when I made partner at my firm. Sentimental value notwithstanding, the pen is an excellent writer, and reminds me to ink up my Watermans more often. I personally think that they have some of the best gold plated and stainless nibs on the market, in terms of consistency and value. The Waterman blue black ink is a classic, and works perfectly in this pen.
Enjoy the weekend everybody, and you can probably guess from this post what's in store for the near future!