2023 Bag Dump: What Do I Carry to Work?

July 19, 2023

Bag dump posts are insanely popular, whether on the internet or social media. I think mainly it’s because people (1) are generally nosy, and love to glean insights into other people’s lives via the things they carry with them; and (2) at least in the stationery community, would like some reassurance that they are not the only insane person who carries 12 fountain pens, three pads of A4 paper, a traveling inkwell, and 300 Post-it notes everywhere they go.

The main reason I’ve not done many true “bag dumps” in the past is because they can be difficult to photograph, and also because I have to be careful to protect the confidentiality of a lot of the papers, etc. that I carry with me for work. This is less of an issue recently since I’ve successfully taken a more paperless approach to certain work materials and try not to retain nearly as much in hard copy. More on that later! Meanwhile, here’s today’s bag dump:

Bag: Filson Original Twill Briefcase.

My go-to work carry remains my standard Filson briefcase in Otter Green. I love this bag not just because of its durability - it’s going on at least six years old - I find the interior well-organized and just big enough to fit all of my “daily needs” gear without becoming unwieldy. If I’m traveling for work or there’s a day when I need to carry larger physical files or other larger, heavier items like a bigger computer, I also have a Filson Zippered Tote.

Rickshaw Three-Pen EDC — My fountain pen carry from yesterday, from left: Pilot Custom 74 in Blue Stone, Sailor 1911 Large Black Luster, and my personal T.G.S. x Hinze Elementar.

Pens and Pencils: Versatility Is Key

For my workday, it won’t surprise you that I use many different pens, pencils, and highlighters. Currently, I’m carrying either a Rickshaw Bagworks three-pen sleeve or six-pen roll (both my own customized designs), or one of my Nock Co. Sinclair pen cases. As I’ve mentioned, I keep a lot of different fountain pens inked up, so if I want to switch out what I’m using on a daily basis I’ll typically just grab a different pen case that has new pens in it and rotate between them throughout the day. This week I’ve been carrying my Rickshaw Bagworks 3-pen sleeve with a Pilot Custom 74 in Blue Stone, a Sailor 1911 Large in Black Luster, and my personal T.G.S. x Hinze Pen Elementar (complete with the now-available Crimson nib).

Hinze Pen Crimson Nib Rickshaw Match — Subtle matching.

Permanent residents in my work bag include a fistful of Pilot gel pens (currently Frixions, which I’ve enjoyed using, especially in the .4mm tip size), a Penco “Prime Timber” leadholder in Navy Blue, two Anterique click ballpoints, a Caran d’Ache “Black Code” ballpoint, a Caran d’Ache striped Paul Smith collaboration (no longer available, sorry!), and a pack of Kokuyo “Beetle-tip” Highlighters, which are a specialized Japanese highlighter that allows you to highlight in different line widths.

Notebooks and Paper: Paring it Back

One major difference you’ll notice is that I’ve pared back the number of notebooks I carry with me to work. Not only did I find that I wasn’t using them during the workday, but I felt less enjoyment mixing work and play by bringing my personal journals, etc. to the office, which isn’t really a “happy place” for me. I have a dedicated “work planner,” which is my William Hannah A5 in Agave/Mustard. While I plan to do a fuller write-up of this particular notebook system in the future, I generally love ring and disc-based planners/notebooks, and this one is mostly compatible with the Levenger Circa and Filofax refillable systems I use to archive work papers.

My Cortex Brand “Sidekick” covered notepad has been traveling to and from home with me, and it typically sits under my keyboard and serves as a repository for fleeting ideas and action items that I need to archive elsewhere. Once the page fills up, I’ll transfer these notes to another notebook/planner or digital app. I also carry one A4 pad (currently a Midori MD Grid) and one A5 pad (currently one of the Color Pads in blue), and I tend to burn through these pretty quickly so there is a lot of turnover.

Blue Stationery Matching — I’ve really been leaning hard into the blue stationery lately, especially blue paper. From left, two Patreon thank-you notes on the way courtesy of G. Lalo Vergé de France, and the recently arrived Midori Soft Color Pad.

What I won’t get into here in any detail is tech/electronic products that I carry. It’s beyond the focus of the blog, though I may talk about it over on the Patreon in the future. That said, the computer sleeve (for my 2020 MacBook Air) is a Rickshaw Bagworks Horizontal Sleeve. My tablet of choice these days is a Remarkable 2 with the Typefolio (which I’m enjoying so far).

It looks like my last detailed bag dump post was from 2021, and while certain pieces of stationery I carry have been rotated out (probably not permanently), it’s comforting to see general overall consistency, which I take as an indication that I’m sticking to stuff that I use and not chasing trends. I’m on the road for a long weekend starting tomorrow, so Saturday’s post may look at my travel carry!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid third-party affiliate links.

Pen Problems: Do You Feel Compelled to Match Pens and Inks?

July 15, 2023

So despite my best efforts to limit the number of pens that I keep inked at any given time, this (see above) happened. Again. Honestly, it’s kind of unavoidable given the nature of what I do. I’ve come to accept that things will get out of hand, and that periodic “resets” are required. The good news is that many of these pens are almost written dry, and I’ve already rinsed and cycled out three or so this morning.

My Mid-Year “Currently Inked” list. This needs to get cut in half quickly.

Which brings me to an interesting question (to me, at least), that I considered as I wrote out this mid-year “Currently Inked” list: Do most people try to match their pens with specific ink colors, or even specific inks? I’ve definitely noticed certain patterns to how I tend to ink pens:

Black pens or clear demonstrators (but not color demonstrators) are typically “inkable” with any color.
Any delicate vintage pen or pen with stainable material such as celluloid tends to get inked with a blue, black, or blue-black ink.
Brightly colored pens are almost always matched with the same color ink. For example, in the picture above, my Sailor Pro Gear Kure Azure is inked with Caran d’Ache Hypnotic Turquoise - an almost perfect dead-on pairing. Similarly, purple pens are almost always matched with purple inks. (The TWSBI Diamond Mini in Grape gets Waterman Tender Purple. I say “almost” because my Jason Neil Penworks Tucker, which has purple accents, is currently inked with Laban Hera Green, and for some reason this pairing really seems to work.)
The closest I have to a “dedicated ink” for a specific pen is Pilot Blue-Black for all of my Pilot Vanishing Points and Decimos, and either Iroshizuku Shin-Kai or Tsuki-Yo for my Lamy 2000 100th Anniversary Bauhaus Blue. For whatever reason, these specific inks fit the “workhorse” nature of the pens, and I rarely deviate.

Do you have “rules” for inking pens? Feel free to share them in the comments! And for those curious, here is the full typed list of the pen and ink combinations in my “Currently Inked” list pictured above, if you can’t read my handwriting. :) Where I’ve reviewed the pens or otherwise have a listing/content on the site, I’ve linked to it here. Otherwise you may be able to guess what I’m working on and what might be coming soon!

Montblanc 146 UNICEF Edition, Medium “Perspective” Nib with Laban Hera Green Ink
Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary fountain pen, EF nib, with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai
TGS x Hinze Pens Elementar Special Edition, EF nib, with “Sangria Red” Ink
TGS x Hinze Pens Prototype, medium nib, with “Sangria Red”
Opus 88 Jazz with medium Platinum 3776 Nib, with Herbin Poussière de Lune
Conid Bulkfiller Kingsize, medium titanium nib, with Nahvalur Dark Forest
TWSBI Diamond Mini in Grape, fine nib, with Waterman Tender Purple
Desiderata Pens Soubriquet in Briar Ebonite, Zebra G dip nib, with Vinta Armada
Vanness Pens x The Good Blue “Titanium Blue” Special Edition, fine titanium flex, with Papier Plume “Iron Lace”
Nakaya Decapod in Kuro Tamenuri, soft medium nib, with Platinum Blue-Black
Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with PO Nib, with Iroshizuku Shin Kai
Platinum Matte Curidas in Matte Blue, medium nib, with a Platinum Mix-Free red mix
Franklin-Christoph Model 66 Stabilis, medium SIG stub, with Iroshizuku Asa-Gao
Sailor 1911 Black Luster, fine nib, with Sailor Souboku Pigmented Blue-Black
Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black, fine nib, with Sailor Souboku Pigmented Blue-Black
Sailor Pro Gear Kure Azure, medium fine nib, with Caran d’Ache Hypnotic Turquoise
Red Dragon Pen Company Custom in Parker Blue Velvet Cellulose Acetate, Franklin-Christoph medium SIG, with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo
Pilot Custom 823 in Amber, Bacas medium blade grind, with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo
Pilot Mustard Vanishing Point (Import), fine special alloy nib, with Pilot Blue-Black
Pilot Custom 74 in Blue Stone, medium nib, with Pilot Blue-Black
Newton Pens Orville in Conway Stewart Turquoise Fleck, medium nib, with Laban Demeter Brown
Jason Neil Penworks Tucker, medium nib, with Laban Hera Green

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

#5MorePenQuestions: What I Really WANTED to Answer

July 8, 2023

As I was drafting out my answers to the #21penquestions challenge from earlier this week, I found myself really enjoying the exercise but also wanting to take it a step further. The original questions, while thought-provoking, focus a lot on stuff and the tools we use. After reading everyone else’s answers, I'm especially interested in hearing more "behind the scenes" backstories! I'll start.

1. Why do pens and stationery continue to play such an important role in your life, especially in an age when everything is supposed to be going paperless and digital? The "why" of things might not be as important to some people as it is to me, but because I've devoted a now-significant portion of my life to running this site and have since decided to go even bigger, it's worth my time to think hard on this. For me, it's always gone beyond the things themselves. Sure, it's fun to shop and track limited editions and even design my own stuff, but the act of writing things down - regardless of what I'm using - has far more significance to me than any specific pen or piece of stationery. Stretching back as far as I can remember, writing has been what centers me when I need to focus (or refocus), such as trying to understand difficult, increasingly complex concepts as I made my way through school or worked through thorny personal and professional relationships. I think I value it even more today because thoughtfulness and introspection weren't just disregarded in my home growing up - I would say they were actively devalued, even denigrated, in 1980s and 1990s go-getter America, and my family was no exception. Being labeled an "introvert" was quite possibly the worst “insult” you could hurl at someone. From talking to many of you, this experience isn't at all unique even today: despite countless studies and books about the immense value of quiet reflection, mindfulness, and, yes, introverts in the world, our culture - especially here in the states - seemingly stops at nothing to destroy any attempt to build a peaceful inner life, either through intrusive technology or office workspaces designed to destroy any opportunity for independent thinking. As I’ll discuss a bit more below, this is more than a bit ironic given the benefits. Moreover, writing things down, in a medium I alone control, is to me the purest form of independence and freedom. You own your own thoughts, if nothing else.

2. What do you view as the key benefit of writing by hand? Writing by hand forces you to focus your thoughts and attention, and enables you to distill your ideas into more usable form. Another personal anecdote: I attended an all-boys middle and high school that taught according to an educational model (since updated) that hadn't changed much since the 1920s. We didn't have regular computer access until the mid-to-late 1990s, so all of our writing was done by hand in a strict five-section format: Introduction, Three-Part Analysis, and Conclusion. While I hated this forced methodology at the time, it’s an invaluable part of my life today. As a practicing litigator (trial/arbitration/appellate attorney), I always outline (and usually draft) every single written or oral legal argument by hand. If I had to name my single core strength and professional advantage, it would be my ability to quickly identify key issues and develop targeted responses. You can't do this without an ability to focus on what’s important, and I track this skill - which I find in short supply in a world of constant distraction information overwhelm - directly to my handwriting practice. There may be other solutions for other people, but writing by hand serves as my failsafe and my brain doesn't really work any other way.

3. What is your favorite thing about the pen/stationery hobby? The realization that there is a LARGE community of people who care about this stuff as much as I do. It's been fulfilling to watch not just my own readership grow, but pens and stationery as a whole become far more mainstream as people look to escape from their digital devices and carve out reflective time for themselves. I also love the extent to which this hobby builds connections and friendships between people who otherwise never would have met, simply because their paths wouldn’t have crossed or, if they did, they would have have assumed nothing in common. It's a common complaint that your circle of friends shrinks as you get older, and I've been blessed to have experienced the opposite. Even where acquaintances begin online, traveling to shows and other events to meet people in person confirmed for me that these are genuine friendships that have endured over the years, and that even much-maligned social media apps can be a force for good if they're used in the right way.

4. What is your least favorite thing about the pen/stationery hobby? Easily the FOMO and hype-driven marketing that occasionally rears its head on stationery social media, typically driven by those manufacturers and retailers who don't really engage in the community and value it in the same way that many of us do, seeing it only as an opportunity to profit. In the same vein, like many hobbies, there exists a level of toxic fanboyism that can devolve into trolling and pointless sh*t-stirring, such as, for example, attempting to get people worked up by pressuring them to "choose sides" over largely meaningless controversies and business conflicts involving corporate brands. I have no interest in this and generally choose to ignore it.

5. If you could choose one combination of stationery items to use for the rest of your life, exclusively, what would those be and why? A Lamy 2000 fountain pen with either an extra-fine or fine nib; Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo ink, and Midori MD Cotton Paper in either pad or notebook form. No surprises here. The Lamy 2000 has long been my favorite fountain pen, and the EF and F nibs usually feature a subtle architect-like grind. Tsuki-Yo is a reliably good blue-black ink with a touch of reddish undertones/sheen to keep it interesting; and Midori MD Cotton paper is all-around excellent.

Will this catch on? Who knows, but I always enjoy sharing my personal backstory from time to time, especially as it adds context to why I do what I do here at T.G.S. Feel free to "steal" these questions for your own blog, social media, or even to answer here in the comments!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

#21PenQuestions from The Gentleman Stationer

July 5, 2023

At long last, you have The Gentleman Stationer’s responses to #21penquestions! I had to think pretty hard on some of these, but I hope people find these useful. Many thanks to Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk for adapting this “tag challenge” for the pen world.

What is the pen they'll have to pry out of your cold dead hands? It's a toss-up between my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black (which I received in the mail the day my daughter was born so I associate it directly with that event) or my Waterman Laureate fountain pen/pencil set that was my first "nice" fountain pen over $10.
What's your "Guilty Pleasure" pen? I don't really subscribe to the notion of "guilty pleasure" in things like pens because I actually do use them every day and the reason I use them is because I think they bring a lot of value to my work and personal life - so no "guilt" here! :) That said, if you interpret "guilty pleasure" as referring to relatively inexpensive pens that I tend to purchase without thinking much about it, it's probably one of each new TWSBI ECO as they are released.
What's the pen or stationery that you wish existed? In terms of a specific product category, there isn't one. I don't currently have any stationery needs that aren't being met. That said, I do sometimes find myself on various "quests", such as looking for a particular pen in a particular shape in a particular color with a particular trim, but I've never really been unable to find something I'm looking for, and these change all the time.
What pen would you give to a new enthusiast? These days, one of my favorite recommendations is the TWSBI Swipe simply because of the value you get at the price point. The pen includes a cartridge and two different converters, so you can give a new user a fountain pen that allows them to experience the ease of use that a cartridge offers, and sets them up to move to bottled ink without having to spend any extra money on the converter.
What pen (or stationery item) do you want to get along with but it just never clicked? Anything OMAS. I tried for years before the brand went kaput, writing with friends' Paragons and owning an Ogiva and a 360. The nibs wrote far too wet and I always had some quibble with the build quality. I have similar issues with Visconti, and the style just doesn't vibe with me. In my opinion, SCRIBO and Montegrappa both do a better job of justifying their higher price points by offering a more reliable, quality writing experience.
What pen do you keep only because it's pretty? None. If I enjoy the looks of a pen but there are writing issues and/or it just doesn't work well for me, it typically doesn't stick around and gets sold or given away. The overall aesthetic is honestly the least important factor in whether I keep a pen, though sentimentality and personal meaning will sometimes trump practicality.
What pen (or stationery item) did you buy because everyone else did? So many. I can’t really answer this because I've reviewed pens as part of a "hobby business" for going on ten years. I've purchased and reviewed many "popular" pens on a catch and release basis because they are popular and people want to know my opinion.
What pen (or stationery item) is over your head or baffles you? Double broad round nibs or 1.5+ stubs for everyday writing. How am I supposed to use up my S.A.B.L.E. hoard of .4mm dot grid notebooks writing with a nib that big?
What pen (or stationery item) surprised you? Pilot Parallels and Folded-nib dip pens. I'm very much a "within the lines" type of person most of the time, and didn't expect to enjoy the spattering and imperfections that are so much a part of what makes them fun.
What pen (or stationery item) doesn't really work for you but you keep it because it's a collectible? I have a Montblanc Charles Dickens Writers Edition pen that I rarely use - not because it doesn't write well - but rather because it has a giant sterling silver cap that makes it difficult to post and sort of unwieldy to carry around. But it's a rare pen that I got an insane deal on years ago, and is inspired by one of my favorite writers, so it's in the collection!
What is your favorite sparkly pen (or ink)? I'm not a super fan of shimmery pens, though I did buy one of the Esterbrook "Rocky Top" editions (for obvious reasons). A few years back, Vanness also released an exclusive collaboration with Vinta Inks, Sodalite Kislap, which is a shimmer ink that I sort of inexplicably love even though I rarely use this category of inks in general.
Which nib do you love, but hate the pen, or vice-versa? I love the giant, springy nib on the Pelikan M1000 but the pen itself is just too large and heavy. That said, it has been a while since I've given it a try, so maybe I'll seek one out at an upcoming pen show and see whether my opinion still holds....
What pen (or stationery item) gives you the willies? This one is pretty easy for me: the Lamy Aion. People went nuts over this pen but I just don't see it. It looks like a blunt object (a lead pipe?) and doesn't resonate with me aesthetically in any way, even from an ultra-minimalist, Bauhaus perspective.
What's your favorite pen for long-form writing? The Lamy 2000, and it's the pen that I recommend to anyone looking for a quality writing instrument they can use as an all-day, everyday workhorse. I also love that the form factor doesn't change much, whether you're using the fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, multi pen, or even the mechanical pencils.
What pen (or stationery item) do you love in theory but not in practice? I'll have to go back to the Pelikan M1000 here. I've really, really wanted to like it but it's never worked for me due to the size and heft, even though the nib is exceptional.
What pen (or stationery product) would you never let someone else use? I have two nibs with Spencerian grinds (EEF-Flex) by Gena at Custom Nib Studio that are fairly delicate. I typically let anyone use any of my pens if they ask - that's part of this hobby and the goal of the blog - but these are easy to damage so I limit sharing to those who are experienced with pens or flexible calligraphy dip pens.
What pen (or stationery product) would you never use for yourself? I couldn't think of a single thing. I generally love stationery and can find a use case for pretty much anything, even with only so many hours in the day to use stationery!
What pen (or stationery product) could you NOT bring yourself to buy? I've been eyeing a vintage Sheaffer PFM for years. I love the snorkel-filling system, but the standard Sheaffer Snorkel is too slim for my writing preferences. At the same time, I haven't been able to bring myself to pay the current going rate ($400+) for a PFM. I guess I don't want it that bad, especially when I already have a couple of Legacy Heritage fountain pens?
What's your favorite vintage pen? The Parker 51. You'll notice some parallels between my preference for this pen and the Lamy 2000, with the hooded nib, excellent postability, and the fact that both of these pens disappear in the hand when you need them to be inconspicuous at work. Parker 51s are rock-solid vintage pens, and the aerometric (“squeeze”) filler versions often need little more than a cleaning to write properly, even if you purchase them unrestored.
What is your favorite EDC/pocket pen? The Schon DSGN Pocket 6. Ian has built a great pocket pen platform that not only accepts JoWo No. 6 nibs for maximum versatility, but feels great in the hand and allows him to work with different materials and finishes without dramatically altering the excellent writing experience.
What's the pen or stationery product that got away? I try not to spend time worrying about FOMO, and these days there are so many great pens being released that it's impossible to acquire them all (and if you do, you'll never use them). My main "regrets" are certain pens I sold on a catch-and-release basis in the early days of TGS (typically a lot of now-rare Sailor Pro Gears), not because I disliked the pens but because I wanted to grow the blog and didn't yet have the relationships or monetization to fund acquisitions for new reviews. Now that I'm at a place where the site is self-sustaining, I'm trying to do better about making sure that I still purchase pens that I enjoy for my own personal use, not just for "work," and keep those separate.

This was fun, and I’ve been enjoying reading the responses from other bloggers and creators out there! If I had one wish, I would add a few questions targeted to provide more insight into the “why” and “how” of people’s relationships with pens and stationery. To that end, I’ve come up with four or five additional questions that I found myself wanting to answer and which I’ll be addressing in a follow-up post!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

2023 Mid-Year Recap: Reader Favorites from the First Six Months of 2023

July 1, 2023

As part of my annual mid-year review, I always take a look at the blog statistics and see what type of content readers have enjoyed. The five posts featured here are the ones from 2023 that either received the most traffic and/or comments (relative, of course, to how recently some of them were posted). In terms of overall popular content, our posts on Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper, Picking a Workhorse Pen, and Fountain Pen Inks for Everyday Writing continue to be popular among T.G.S. readers, especially those new to fountain pens.

Many thanks for all your support and readership! For additional installments of our 2023 Mid-Year Recap, check out this post on my own personal favorite posts (with minimal overlap), as well as the favorite new product releases from the Curated Shop.

Workhorse Pens: Considerations and Pitfalls of High Capacity Pocket Fountain Pens. It’s extremely interesting to me that this particular post is among the most popular new content from the first six months of the year. The TWSBI Diamond Mini and Vac-Mini, as well as smaller Opus 88 pens, get very little attention, generally in favor of their larger counterparts. TWSBI at least has started paying some attention to the Diamond Mini, with the recently released Mini AL Grape.
Schon DSGN Full-Size Fountain Pen with Monoc Nib. Well, this is timely, because Schon DSGN announced recently (and posted pics last night) that they are working on anodized versions of their in-house Monoc nib. These look absolutely stunning. Follow them on Instagram to learn more and see what might be coming down the pipeline!
Ark of Pens (Guest Post from R.B. Lemberg). We had an outstanding response to the first T.G.S. Guest Post in a while, where R.B. went through their personal pen collecting story and discussed how they came to the hobby and collecting in general.
Triangular Grip Pens: Love ‘em or Leave ‘em? Nontraditional fountain pen sections are a love/hate proposition. Either people love the added structure intended to “guide” their fingers into writing position, or it simply doesn’t work for them. Personally, I’ve come to appreciate the slightly rounded triangular shape of the TWSBI ECO-T, and the Safari and AL-Star have never bothered me all that much. I never could use those molded “pencil grips” though….
Fountain Pen Basics: Five Best Practices for Fountain Pen Users. This post sparked the most comments, all of which I enjoyed reading! Everyone uses and cares for their pens in different ways - there really is no “right” or “wrong” way (other than anything that results in a puddle of ink in your bag, pen case, or pocket). I’ve made an effort to do more “Fountain Pens 101-style” posts, since I know we have a lot of readers who are coming to fountain pens for the first time this year!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We greatly appreciate your support! If you’ve been considering the Patreon, now is a great time to join, as we are preparing to launch a new exclusive fountain pen release, and are in the middle of the Patrons-exclusive “Gently Used” sale.