This review is proof that, sometimes, you need to give things a second chance. This is not my first Pilot 91. After falling in love with my 912 FA, I ordered a black 91 with soft fine nib. I ended up finding it a bit dry, and in pursuit of the soft nib's line variation, … Continue reading Review: Pilot Custom Heritage 91 Tsuki-Yo

I have been a pocket notebook addict since before the fountain pen bug started to bite its hardest. I've worked my way through countless Field Notes, plus a fair few of the lovely dot-grid Calepinos, and various books from other brands like Word, before settling on the Tomoe River books from Taroko Designs and Goulet. … Continue reading Review: Whitelines pocket notebooks

Most people buy a bottle of ink for what's inside. But, as with wines and spirits, the bottle plays an important role in selling the ink — establishing its brand, quality and heritage. But, unlike with wines and spirits, the experience of actually using an ink bottle to fill a pen can make or break the … Continue reading The lure of the bottle

This is far from the whole collection (ran out of paper) and it's definitely not in the right order... but it does give a nice indication of the diversity of colours and properties available in fountain pen inks today. I plan to recreate this on a sheet of A4 with all the greys, blacks, yellows, … Continue reading Do you think I might have overdone it?

Why I'll always have a shelf full of ink and a bag full of pens Some people stick to just a few pens, or just a few inks. In fact, some elite disciplined few on the forums I frequent say they've found just one ink, often a black or blue-black, that they're content to use … Continue reading The ritual

For a brief period a week or so back I managed to get down to three inked pens. Unfortunately, I'm back up to eight. I have no self-control. The Lamy 2000 doesn't feel quite at its best with Aurora Black, which means I rarely use it — and with its large ink capacity, it's taking … Continue reading Currently inked: February 2017