Digital Divide Volume 13: Strategic Paper Replacement, Revisited

Just over a year ago, I published a piece titled "Strategic Paper Replacement," in which I talked about using the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil as a way to remove "junk paper" from my life. Curiously, this remains one of the most popular posts on the blog, and one that receives a lot of comments and e-mail. More than one person has reached out to me recently to ask how things are going with "the big iPad," so I thought I'd post an update. In short, the iPad Pro has become a tool that I use situationally, for very specific things. Most of my day-to-day computer work continues to be done on a laptop or a desktop, and for most of my notetaking I've continued to revert to pen (or pencil) and paper. While the iPad Pro something that I'm glad I have, it's probably NOT a piece of technology that I'll update on a regular basis.   

Originally, the purpose behind this purchase was to get a device that I could use to help me digitize notes and easily organize and circulate annotated documents to other members of my team, which makes up a huge part of my day job. To a certain extent, it's worked as expected. I use the iPad Pro a fair bit to do quick mark-ups of short letters, forms, and other things that don't require a lot of deep thought or analysis. The Apple Pencil writes small and legibly enough so that others can read my handwriting. In an industry (law) that often still requires a physical signature, it's also incredibly convenient to be able to sign documents directly on the iPad when I'm on the road and instantly attach them to an e-mail, rather than have to find some place to print, sign, and scan. The iPad Pro also keeps me from having to carry a separate briefcase (or suitcase) to lug around multiple three-inch binders of documents when I'm headed to an out of town hearing or deposition.  

But as an overall organizational or serious productivity tool, the Pro is a fail. Some of this is due to the nature of my job - I work with a lot of sensitive data and protected information, so security is an issue and we can't rely on commercial cloud storage providers (i.e., iCloud or Dropbox). In light of these restrictions, I can't simply take all of my notes in Goodnotes (current favorite) or the native Apple Notes app and sync them across all of my devices. I'm always going to have a large volume of material that either needs to be stored in my company's proprietary file system (which operates only on an older version of Windows and is about as Apple-incompatible as you can get) or in hard copy, if I want to store it at all. For this type of stuff, I almost always take hand-written notes and then either destroy them, lock them up in a file room, or scan them to secure electronic storage. 

But there's also a larger issue at play here. As I touched on in my earlier post: 

“The guilt at wasting paper has always been outweighed by my inability to “think on a screen.” ... Many ideas and revisions to thought-intensive pieces such as longer briefs or articles only come to me when I’m curled up in a chair with a pen or pencil and a printed draft (and, depending on the time of day, a cup of coffee or a whiskey).”

— Strategic Paper Replacement, Part I

I thought this might change with the iPad Pro, given the more tactile nature of writing with the Apple Pencil. It hasn't. Writing with a stylus on screen simply doesn't engage my brain in the same way as writing on paper, and an iPad (or any phone or tablet) is an endless invitation to distraction. The New York Times recently published an Op-ed titled, "You're Too Busy, You Need a Shultz Hour", which talked about former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz's practice of carving out an hour each week to sit alone in his office with a pad of paper and a pen and seal himself off from any distraction - which, in his day, fortunately involved only avoiding phone calls and "pop-ins" from office visitors, not e-mail/IMs/Slack/Twitter/Facebook, etc. This "hour of solitude was the only way he could find time to think about the strategic aspects of his job. Otherwise, he would be constantly pulled into moment-to-moment tactical issues, never able to focus on larger questions.... And the only way to do great work, in any field, is to find time to consider the larger questions."

I enjoyed the article, and it goes to the heart of why I will never (voluntarily) give up pen and paper. It's too central to my workflow and the analytical process that allows me to do my job well. If that means I have to sacrifice having the perfect organizational system for my notes and handwritten brainstorming sessions, or that I occasionally accumulate an unruly pile of paper, so be it. I'd much rather focus on the end result than the process. 

What's Up With Digital Divide? 

If you subscribe to my mailing list, you may have wondered what happened to the monthly "Digital Divide" e-mail newsletter, in which I discuss topics of interest to those of us deeply invested in the analog world. Well, after a lot of consideration, I decided to kill the newsletter because publishing in two different formats was causing me a lot of unnecessary stress. Digital Divide will continue, but as a series of posts on The Gentleman Stationer, ideally on a monthly basis but I'm not going to force it if I don't have anything interesting to write about. Also, as of now all previous editions of Digital Divide are now archived on the site. Some of them don't look as pretty as they did in newsletter format, but hey, it's about the content, right? 

I also have a couple guest posts that people have submitted that will eventually work their way into Digital Divide.  If you have an idea, or if you'd like to submit something for publication, just drop me an e-mail to joe (at) gentlemanstationer.com. 

Thanks for your patience as I worked through the future of Digital Divide. I enjoyed writing the newsletter and believe this will give me a way to keep it alive without losing my sanity. 

Workhorse Inks and Refills: When You Just Need to Get S*&T Done

I've been going through a particularly busy time in my "other" life and job, with several days that stretched into the wee hours of the morning. While that's unfortunately taken away from the time I've been able to spend with my more "fun" pens, it's also given me a chance to reflect on what I turn to when I don't have the time or the desire to think about what it is that I'm using. Sometimes you just want to reach for something easy, that you know will work, and most of all, that isn't distracting to you or the people that you're working with. Here's what I've been favoring over the past month, ranked in order of preference:  

1. Schmidt Easyflow 9000 Ballpoint. I find rollerballs too temperamental, including the Schmidt P8126 and P8127 that ships with the Retro 51 Tornado and the Baron Fig Squire. I prefer ballpoints and hybrid ballpoint pens, and typically will carry multiple pens loaded with Schmidt's ballpoint refill in my work briefcase. Currently, I have a blue Easyflow 9000 in my Squire, and a black version in my Steel & Flint pen. These smooth writing refills are great for writing longhand, and don't require much pressure to use at all (which can be a drawback for some ballpoint pens). 

2. Sailor "Chalana" D1 Refill. I've been using a LOT of multipens lately, and the one that's received the most use has been the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black, mainly because it has a mechanical pencil function. And at under $40, it's a relatively sturdy and inexpensive pen to travel with. Sailor's Chalana ballpoint refill is also excellent - it's a traditional ballpoint but writes smoothly and leaves a dark line, even with a very fine point. One of my purchases from the past few months that has served me well.

3. Uniball Jetstream D1 Refill. It hasn't received as much love as the Sailor Imperial Black, but my Lamy 2000 Multipen is loaded with these Uniball Jetstream D1 refills and they're great. I prefer the .5mm. 

4. Blue Fountain Pen Ink. I've gone with a generic category here because when I get really, really busy, I don't put much though into what fountain pen ink I'm using other than "will it write on most papers" and "will it be distracting for other people to look at?" Currently, I have pens loaded with various blue or blue-black inks, including Bung Box Sapphire, Blackstone Barrister's Blue, and Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. (For an in-depth look at some other "workhorse inks" that I rely on, check out this list I did a while back.)  

5. Orange Ink. Lately, I've been editing in orange ink, as opposed to red, because I've been working on a project with five or six other people and I wanted them to be able to distinguish my comments and annotations from everyone else's. On the fountain pen side, I've favored Sailor Jentle Apricot, though I've also been using the Orange .38mm Uni Style Fit refill and the Orange Uniball Vision Elite (Micro Tip).  

But what about the pens? Honestly, when I'm this busy, I pay more attention to inks and refills than I do to the pens themselves. If I'm rushing out of the house in the morning, whichever pen is convenient and/or full will probably end up going with me to work. (On a really busy day, I can empty two standard converters.) As I mentioned, my Baron Fig Squire and my Lamy and Sailor Multipens have been busy, and on the fountain pen side I've stuck to workhorses like the Lamy 2000 and my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black (fountain pen). I still have a ton of pens inked at the moment, so I'll have to mix things up next week. 

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

The Gentleman Stationer 2016 Year-End Review

Another year rolls to a close, and here at The Gentleman Stationer I'm about to celebrate this blog's third full year! I have a lot of exciting stuff planned for the coming weeks and months, but today I wanted to take a brief moment to recap what's been an eventful year (in stationery and other "analog-related" topics - I don't get into that other stuff). After some consideration, I've organized this piece into several different sections: (1) my five best purchases of 2016, (2) the most intriguing/innovative products that hit the market in 2016, (3) most popular posts from 2016; and (4) some personal reflections and goals for 2017.

Top 5 Pen Purchases of 2016

My pen acquisitions slowed significantly in 2016. After a somewhat crazy 2015, I sold off a large chunk of my collection - mostly pens that I wasn't using very much - and for the most part invested in a smaller number of higher-end pens. I've found myself using and enjoying what I have much more than before, and I'll continue this collecting "strategy" in 2017. Here are my five favorite purchases from 2016, based on nothing other than my own enjoyment and opinion. 

1. Lamy 2000 4-Color Ballpoint Multi Pen. I've only owned it for a month or so, but I haven't put it down since. I enjoy multifunction pens for their convenience, and since so much of the daily writing that I do is notetaking for my day job, having both ballpoint and gel pens (and even highlighters!) in a single pen body is awesome. 

2. Pilot Custom 823. The pen that everybody waits too long to buy. This pen has a massive ink capacity and a sweet nib. It's become one of my most-recommended pens, especially for people who write a lot and are looking for a single "daily driver" workhorse.   

3. Pilot Myu. I have Thomas to "blame" for my acquisition of not one, but two, Pilot Myus this year. The Myu was Pilot's integrated nib pen from the 1970s that people are clamoring for Pilot to bring back. Look for a review/write-up soon. (Link via Clickypost)   

4. Pelikan M800 Burnt Orange. Like the Custom 823, I held off on purchasing a Pelikan M800 for a while, mainly because I didn't find a version that spoke to me. At this year's Atlanta Pen Show, I came across the Special Edition Burnt Orange M800, which hooked me. The review has been in the works for a while, since I want to do the pen justice, but it's coming. (Note: These pens are now starting to sell out as we move into a new special edition cycle. Act quick if you want one.) (Link via Pelikan's Perch)

5. Sailor 1911 Black Luster. An absolutely beautiful Sailor that is up there with the Imperial Black Edition as a possible best-of-all-time pen for me. Yes, it has a metal section, but the pen is well-balanced, and the ion-plated coating on the section avoids many of the slipperiness problems that plague other metal pens.     

My Favorite New Products from 2016

The analog resurgence led to what, at times, seemed like near-daily releases of new pen, paper, and ink-related products in 2016. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to try out many of them. These stood out to me. 

1. Steel and Flint Pen. I love everything about this Kickstarter pen, from the light weight to the knurled grip to the Schmidt Easyflow refill.  Following a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign, it will be interesting to see what Steel and Flint does next. 

2. BigiDesign Ti Arto. Somebody finally did it: a universal refill pen that lives up to the hype. If you're an EDC aficionado or someone who likes to have only one pen, this may actually be the last pen you ever need. 

3. Moo Hardcover Notebook. One of the most beautifully designed notebooks I've seen. I have this book waiting in the wings as the "next up". 

4. Slice Planner. An interesting undated planner/notebook that borrows heavily from the Chronodex system. If you buy into this type of planning/time logging, I highly recommend that you check this notebook out once the company finishes Kickstarter fulfillment. It may not be for everybody, but the Slice Planner was one of those products that met an immediate need in my workflow. 

5. Write Notepads Pocket Notebook Subscription Service. On the other end of the spectrum, here's something that I didn't need at all, but ended up giving me endless amounts of enjoyment. I like what Write Notepads is doing with their limited edition pocket notebook series, and can't wait to see the upcoming Winter quarterly edition. 

Most Popular Posts from 2016

This quick list is based solely on the amount of traffic these posts received, and nothing more. It's interesting to see what my readers are interested in, and we definitely share an affinity for Pilot and other Japanese brands. 

1. Five Best Fountain Pen Inks for Everyday Writing. I still stand by all of these ink recommendations. I haven't used Skrip Red or Diamine Oxblood in a while, though. A good reminder to break these out!  

2. Pilot Custom 823 Review. Already linked to above, but people are (rightfully) interested in this pen. 

3. Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo Review. A beautiful dark teal Iroshizuku ink that often gets overlooked in favor of Shin-Kai and Kon-Peki.  

4. Pilot Custom Heritage 92 Review. An excellent pen that saw heavy use this year. I say this all the time, but I wish Pilot would introduce the blue, orange, and smoke demonstrators into the US market. 

5. Platinum 3776 Review. I use Platinum's Ultra Extra-Fine nib much more than I thought I would for everyday notetaking. Following a tuning by Mike Masuyama, this nib is remarkably smooth for how fine a line it writes. As for the 3776 itself, the understated design probably causes it to fly under most people's radar, but the nibs on these pens are exceptional writers.  

Personal Reflections and Goals  

A few things that I want to talk about don't really fall into any of the previous categories. Here are some quick reflections on my own past year in pens and where I think I'm headed in 2017. 

1. I bought a lot less ink this year. Not due to lack of interest, but because there is SO MUCH new ink being released. It's almost intimidating - I've basically given up trying to keep up with and review all of these new brands and colors. I also realized that because I already own so much ink, I probably have a close approximation of any shade I could possibly be looking for, so other than super unique colors that grab my attention, there's really no incentive for me to keep loading up on ink.   

2. I plan to move even more into "analog" and away from "digital" in other areas of my life. Chalk this up to recency bias, but I finished David Sax's The Revenge of Analog last night and found it quite inspiring. My life could definitely benefit from incorporating some of the benefits and enjoyment I find in pens and paper into other areas of interest, such as photography, reading, music, watches, etc. I'll definitely write more on this topic in the future. 

3. I plan to scale back on pen acquisitions even further. I'll probably continue buying fewer pens, and worrying less about spending money on those pens I really, really want. Interestingly, I purchased much more expensive pens this past year, but spent less money overall on this pen hobby. 

4. I want to enjoy new aspects of the pen/stationery hobby. This year I dabbled in things like wax seal stamps (thanks to Kustom Haus), and I'd like to give both journaling and regular letter writing another shot. The trick will be finding out how to work them into an already jam-packed day. 

5. Use more notebooks. An annual promise to myself, but I did better this year (especially with pocket notebooks) and want to keep things rolling forward. I really, really need to burn through my backlog of A5 journal-style notebooks. 

Finally, thanks to all of you who read this blog and make it fun to write. I've enjoyed corresponding with many of you by e-mail, letter, and social media, and meeting many of you in person at pen shows. The pen and stationery community is a great one, and I'm proud to be a member and contributor! 

A Quick Guide to Coping with Crappy Office Paper

The hardest thing for me about being a stationery enthusiast in the modern world isn’t other people’s insistence that everything “be done digitally.” Frankly, I’m in a pretty technologically backwards profession, and my office is full of technophobes. Using a paper planner isn’t something that’s going to cause you to stand out. No, the quality of the office supply-closet stationery probably gives me the most grief. I’d venture to say that it even impairs productivity at times. Paper is the worst offender. Nothing offers a worse writing experience than a cheap legal pad that can barely handle Bic ballpoint ink. Sure, I bring my own notebooks to work, but at the same time, I go through so much scratch paper - for things like useless meeting notes that I can't put in a notebook because they need to be shredded, electronic documents that I need to print and edit, etc. - that supplying all of that myself would create a financial burden.

So how do I deal? I know nothing about my situation is unique, so I thought it might be helpful to do a quick post discussing how I address “cheap paper problems.” Honestly, you really only have three options: 

Don't Use Fountain Pens (or Rollerballs)

I know, heresy, right, but there are certain very low grades of recycled copy paper and legal pads that simply won’t take fountain pen ink at all. Other liquid-ink pens will often fare the same, so if you’re working on this type of paper I’d recommend going with a hybrid ballpoint pen or a pencil. Lately, I’ve been favoring the Pilot Acroball, Uniball Jetstream, or a classic retro Bic Clic or Bic Crystal. On the pencil side, my favorite remains the Palomino Blackwing 602 (or another Blackwing based on that graphite core.)

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There's got to be an ink or paper I can use in there somewhere, right? 

Choose the Right Nib and Ink

If the idea of using a ballpoint simply isn't something you can live with, choose your fountain pen ink carefully, and match it with the right nib. I generally use nothing broader than a medium nib at work because otherwise it applies too much ink to the page and leads to excessive feathering and bleed-through. Here are some of the fountain pen inks that I've found work best on cheap paper: 

1. Sailor Pigmented Ink. By far, the best cheap paper ink is Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black. Sailor's pigmented ink is more expensive than Sailor’s regular "Jentle" line, but there's very few papers it won't work well on. It even functions in a Moleskine! There’s also a blue-black pigmented ink, Sei Boku, which I haven’t tried. Some people worry about this ink clogging, since it contains particles of pigment, but I've never had an issue with it. It's made for fountain pens - just don't go months without flushing your pen.  

2. Sailor Jentle Ink. Sailor makes some of the best fountain pen inks out there, and one of the reasons I like the line so much is the way the inks handle thin copy paper. For this reason, 75% of what I use on a daily basis at work is Sailor ink. In addition to their regular line, check out the special (and more expensive) colors made for Japanese retailer Bungubox. 

3. Montblanc Ink. Montblanc’s standard inks perform very well on office paper, so they also get a lot of use at my desk. The performance of some of the special or limited edition inks may vary. For example, I found the new Ultra Black limited edition ink very wet, with a lot of bleed-through on cheaper paper. 

4. Iron Gall Inks. Rohrer and Klingner's Salix and Scabiosa, as well as KWZ's entire line of Iron Gall inks, are another good option. You do need to remember to clean your pens out frequently, however, as iron gall can corrode stainless steel and some other metals. The blue-black inks from Pilot and Platinum have some iron gall content, and are other good performers. 

5. Other “pen company” inks. Pelikan, Pilot, Sheaffer, Waterman, Lamy, Parker, etc. A good rule of thumb is that if the ink is a “basic” color (i.e., blue, black, blue-black, red) and is made by a “boring” old-line pen company, it probably will perform at least decently on cheap paper. Larger pen companies want to sell their pens to a broader market, and they assume the majority of their customers are writing on garbage recycled office paper. This “rule” shouldn’t be applied to the “wilder” colors like green, purple, etc., since the dyes used in those inks can cause performance to vary.   

Stay away from highly saturated inks like Noodlers, Private Reserve, Levenger, etc. Though there is some variability across the brand, these inks typically require heavier, coated paper like Clairefontaine or Rhodia to perform their best.    

Supply your own paper.

For cost reasons, mainly, I refuse to go all-in and import ALL of my own supplies, but I've explored some of the cost effective options beyond Rhodia, Clairefontaine, and Leuchtturm. If your situation allows, or if you simply can’t stand the thought of raiding the supply closet any longer, try these: 

1. Sugarcane Paper (Staples Sustainable Earth and similar brands).  Traditionally this has been the best budget option for fountain pen users, though lately I’ve found that the quality varies a lot between batches. It’s getting harder to find in stores.

2. Tops Double Docket Gold legal pad. These are pretty good if you need a standard white legal pad, and come in packs of 2 pads at 100 sheets apiece. The problem is, they’re not THAT cheap. In fact, if you shop around for Rhodia, you may be able to get the overall cost pretty close to the cost of Tops Double Docket.

NOTE: Don’t buy the yellow Tops Double Docket if you’re a fountain pen user. For some reason, yellow legal pads don’t handle fountain pen ink very well at all. The yellow Sustainable Earth pads work OK, but the white is still better. 

I hope you find this "mini guide" helpful. This past summer has been fairly busy for me at work, and on countless occasions I've found myself sitting in a meeting with paper of dubious quality, or stuck on an airplane where the only paper I have is the pad I stole from the last conference room. You could say that I've had way to much time to think about these things.

Please share this post with anyone else who might find it useful. I plan on pinning this to the "Best of" Lists on the front page, and will try to update it periodically along with my other guides and lists. 

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Kickstarter Update: Nock Co. Lanier Briefcase

Last I checked, the Kickstarter for the Nock Co. Lanier briefcase was only about $1500 short of unlocking the first stretch goal: new Nock side-stapled notebooks! If you haven't yet backed this project, I'd strongly recommend checking it out, and definitely don't miss Matthew Morse's review over at Nib and Ink.   

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I'm currently leaning towards the black and aqua colorway, but probably won't make up my mind until I get the backer survey. 

Other Projects and New Products to Keep an Eye on: 

Pen Vise Kickstarter. An interesting concept out of Japan, but it looks like too much of a specialty drafting tool as opposed to a writing implement that I would get much use out of. The project is about 30% backed with 24 days to go. 

Jinhao 599A Fountain Pen (via PenChalet). Despite a somewhat spotty history with Jinhao in the past, I've been very impressed with this $4 pen that Ron is now stocking at Pen Chalet. I have one of the clear demonstrator models, and while I have no idea how durable it will actually be over the long term, it's a more than serviceable knockaround pen that writes well. I've been using it on and off this week for editing and testing inks. (Affiliate Link). 

All photos in this review are courtesy of Nock Co.