Hand Over That Pen

Katherine: As many of you know, I’ve been “upgrading” my collection at a pretty rapid clip over the last year. The SF Show quickly approaches and about a year ago, my most expensive pen was a Danitrio… but other than that, I’d never spent more than $120 on a pen. That’s changed quite a bit, so this month I thought I’d revisit the cheaper side of the hobby — I inked up a Lingmo blue demonstrator with some Hero Pink ink (the entire set of ten colors was $30!). It’s a slim pen, but I love the pairing of a bright ink on the clear feed of the Lingmo! A bright and sunny combo for the summer!

Pam:  July is the peak of the summer months here in California.  My inky homage to the cloudless (and hot) days and swimming pools during this time of year is Sailor Souten!  I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Pilot MYU with a Fine nib.  (Thank you Andrew!) The feed has a chip on it that creates a wetter ink flow.  (It writes more of a Medium Fine to me.)  With the extra flow of the pen, and the unique design, I had a hard time finding an ink and pen combination that I loved…until I tried Sailor Souten.  Sailor Souten is reminiscent (if not identical) to Sailor Sky High.  The bright color and sheen really comes through with the extra wetness with this Pilot MYU.  The bright color of the ink is a great compliment to the minimalistic design and color of the MYU.  It’s like the unexpected bright pocket square to a gray suit.  Or maybe this is a pen-ink version of the mullet:  The pen looks like it means business, but the ink is a party.

Franz: Aww man! July has been a busy month for me and I’m “grateful” that I have my pen friends and my pens to keep me going. #hotpGratefulInJuly! It took me a while to decide which pen and ink pairing I’d be highlighting for July for I have a “few” pens inked up. I’ve decided to feature my 2016 Limited Edition Stealth Glenmont from the Edison Pen Co. I acquired number 101 of 150 last October of 2016 and I was lucky because this pen was sold out less than 12 hours when it was announced by Brian Gray. Being that this is a black pen, the ink options are unlimited and I initially inked it up last year with a blue-black ink.

This month, I was reminded of what my friend Gerald (@mycoffeepot) once said. “Stealth pens crave pink ink”, April 2013. (And by the way, he does pen reviews on YouTube) So, I got myself a bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Tsutsuji and satisfied my stealth pen’s craving. With the broad cursive italic nib customized by Dan “The Nibsmith” Smith, the juicy ink flow brings out Tsutsuji’s gorgeous color. And that sheen! =) I’ve been happily journaling with this pen and it’s almost time to refill the converter.