Fountain pens and fine writing instruments

[Patronus]

Can't put my hands on them at the moment but remember when Cross Pen and Pencil sets were so cool?
The company logo was often added to the pocket clip making the extra "special".

I still have a couple of the sets. So damn skinny you couldn't hold onto them but Industry leaders nonetheless. On the other end was the Townsend, which was heavier than trying to write with a jack handle. You could only write short notes or you have to slather up with Bengay after every page. Now they have some really nice pens...Bailey, Aventura, etc...but they are all made in China.

 

[DinkyDau]

Can't put my hands on them at the moment but remember when Cross Pen and Pencil sets were so cool?
The company logo was often added to the pocket clip making the extra "special".

I still have both of my Cross pens, One Silver and the other Gold when I retired.

 

[Revolver]

I want to get into some calligraphy so I figured I'd play with the flex nib as a half measure until you can actually read my writing. Then get a calligraphy set.

That Baystate Blue looks like a beautiful color. Which black do you have?

Mine is the Bad Black Moccasin and it's great. I originally wanted to get the Bulletproof Black but the Bad Black was a couple of bucks cheaper. That time cheaper was still good. The other time I got a bottle of Higgins Eternal Black and it is dry and scratchy.

I have the bulletproof black, which I think they renamed to just noodler's black. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, it's a great all-around ink that does well on any paper better than the very cheapest stuff (it works fine on copy paper and nicer notebook paper). Only downside is that it dries out very quickly with the cap off. Not the ink for you if you tend to leave your cap off while not writing for more than 10 seconds at a time or so.

The BSB is beautiful but it requires nice paper. It writes like a dream on Rhodia but it looks like paint pen or some **** on crappy paper. Also, I think mine may have been a bad bottle because I watered it down quite a bit before it would stop dripping out of my pens' nibs. It was such a wet ink, it would literally drip out of the nib. Tested on 3 different fine nib Pilots. (Counter-intuitively, adding water to an ink dries it out)

 

[Patronus]

Is it unhealthy that I use "I can't believe it's not butter" for breath spray?

 

[Gadgetsrfun]

Not high end but fun are the pens made from exotic woods, gems etc. The Patriot Pen is crafted from spent rifle casings. Dig the bolt action with walnut too.

 

[Revolver]

Not high end but fun are the pens made from exotic woods, gems etc. The Patriot Pen is crafted from spent rifle casings. Dig the bolt action with walnut too.

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Get out of here with those dressed-up ballpoints!

I use ballpoints all week at work. Too much scribbling and chicken scratch for serious writing.

 

[Patronus]

I have the bulletproof black, which I think they renamed to just noodler's black. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, it's a great all-around ink that does well on any paper better than the very cheapest stuff (it works fine on copy paper and nicer notebook paper). Only downside is that it dries out very quickly with the cap off. Not the ink for you if you tend to leave your cap off while not writing for more than 10 seconds at a time or so.

The BSB is beautiful but it requires nice paper. It writes like a dream on Rhodia but it looks like paint pen or some **** on crappy paper. Also, I think mine may have been a bad bottle because I watered it down quite a bit before it would stop dripping out of my pens' nibs. It was such a wet ink, it would literally drip out of the nib. Tested on 3 different fine nib Pilots. (Counter-intuitively, adding water to an ink dries it out)

Thanks for the heads up on the BSB. I've been wondering why I ordered the Diamine Matador and Montblanc Toffee Brown , but I just wanted them. Maybe in the future I'll look for a more artistic blue than the Royal blue but for now I'll wait. And it probably won't be the BSB now that I know it's finicky.

 

[Gadgetsrfun]

Get out of here with those dressed-up ballpoints!

I use ballpoints all week at work. Too much scribbling and chicken scratch for serious writing.

I spend countless hours on useless conference calls so Chicken Scratch instruments are perfectly paired with my present state of interest. I realize that an agreement can be effectively executed with the red pen borrowed from the Marriott front desk.

 

[Revolver]

Thanks for the heads up on the BSB. I've been wondering why I ordered the Diamine Matador and Montblanc Toffee Brown , but I just wanted them. Maybe in the future I'll look for a more artistic blue than the Royal blue but for now I'll wait. And it probably won't be the BSB now that I know it's finicky.

BSB is the king of finicky- just do some Googling. The color is unmatched (so vibrant that it fatigues the eyes, according to some), but it's absolutely finicky. I think you're making the right decision. I would trade the pizazz of the BSB for a more non-descript workhorse ink in a second. BSB stains like a mother****er too. Get that on your hands and it's there for a day or so. Stains sinks as well and takes some effort to get it off.

 

[Patronus]

I spend countless hours on useless conference calls so Chicken Scratch instruments are perfectly paired with my present state of interest. I realize that an agreement can be effectively executed with the red pen borrowed from the Marriott front desk.

I've stolen so many pens from my bank I singlehandedly lowered the interest rate on their CDs.