Rite in the Rain Blaze Orange Bullet Pen — Image courtesy of Rite in the Rain.

Thursday Drops: Penco Perfection Alternatives and Inky New Arrivals!

June 12, 2025

After yesterday’s New York Times Wirecutter article declaring the Penco Perfection Bullet Pen to be the ideal pocket ballpoint, we had a run on those and the plastic Penco Perfection Light like never before after the Hightide site sold out of both models. While I question whether the Penco Perfection is the “best” pocket ballpoint out there, it is a very good option, and I do agree with their comments about D1 refills being versatile and inexpensive. In light of the internet’s overnight fixation on this little pocket pen that we’ve carried with moderate success for more than 5 years, I thought it would be fun to dedicate today’s “Thursday Drops” post to a few other pocket pen recommendations in addition to the Penco pens, since those are quickly on their way to selling out and I expect it will be quite some time before Penco/Hightide is able to restock.

Product restock box arriving, incuding ink and rollerballs — I’m constantly behind on all the restocks showing up. I may not specifically feature them below, but we have more Taccia Ink as well as Ohto CR series rollerballs.

As noted with this week’s “New Arrivals,” we’ve added all sorts of new items from Rite in the Rain, including not just the All-Weather pens but heavy duty mechanical pencils, more Rite in the Rain Paper, and the “Monsoon” line of pen cases and notebook covers.

Come see these and more in-shop! We will be open this week from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Be sure to check the shop page for up-to-date hours.

Lamy Pico Pocket Ballpoint. Lamy’s retractable pocket ballpoint expands from the size of a tube of lip balm to a full-size writing instrument with a click. The M22 ballpoint refill is available in black or blue, and multiple tip sizes.
Anterique Mini Ballpoint and Brass Mini Ballpoint. The pocket-sized versions of the Anterique low-viscosity ballpoints feature a miniature version of the same excellent “mach ball” refill.
Rite in the Rain All-Weather Pocket Pen. These lightweight plastic bullet pens are sold in a pack of 2 and feature Rite in the Rain’s pressurized refill cartridge. Multiple colors are available.
Rite in the Rain All-Weather Metal Bullet Pen. Rite in the Rain’s version of the classic bullet pen features a modified formulation of the Fisher Space Pen ink, tweaked to perform optimally on Rite in the Rain’s all-weather paper. I enjoy this refill because I find it slightly less viscous, and capable of writing a cleaner line than the Fisher cartridge, but that’s a matter of personal preference.
Fisher Space Pen Bullet Pen. The all-time classic pocket pen, now available with Cerakote finishes!
Traveler’s Company Brass Pocket Pens. Whether you want a classic ballpoint or a refillable rollerball or fountain pen (or even a bullet pencil), these sturdy brass pens are built to last.
Penco Drafting Ballpoint Pen. Ok, so if you’re stuck on Penco, and the Perfections and Perfection Lights have sold out by the time you’re reading this,
Platinum Prefounte Fountain Pen Restock. The excellent Platinum Prefounte - a exceptionally good choice for those just starting to explore the fountain pen segment - is now back in stock.
Papier Plume Bottled Inks. We’ve now added our own ink swatches of tbe Papier Plume Classic Collection, including personal favorites Moss Green, Midnight Blue, and Burgundy!
Anderillium Ichthyoformes Inks. If you’d like to check out the most recent releases from Anderillium, be sure to take a look at this recent YouTube walkthrough in which I swatched all of the inks, and I’ve added the swatch cards to the product listings.

All the Papier Plume Fountain Pen Ink Swatches Side-by-Side — All the Papier Plume Ink Swatches

Rite in the Rain Click Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencil

New Arrivals: Rite in the Rain All-Weather Pens, Mechanical Pencils, and Cases!

June 10, 2025

I’ve been aware of Rite in the Rain for a long time, mainly due to their “all weather” line of notebooks and notepads (including some really nice hardbound field notebooks) that are a favorite of field researchers, backpackers, boaters, and really anyone who needs a notebook that will perform under non-standard conditions. While the paper doesn’t work with writing instruments that use water-based ink (since the paper is designed to repel water), those looking for an all-weather solution typically use a pencil, ballpoint, or marker, so it tends to be a non-issue in this specific case.

Write in the Rain Monsoon Dirtbag Waterproof Case In-Use — Shown here is the Rite in the Rain Monsoon “Dirtbag” (Yes, that’s the name :) ) which is a waterproof/dirtproof pouch designed to protect your notebooks while offering easy access to pens, pencils, and accessories.

As of this week, we’ve also added Rite in the Rain’s line of 1.3mm mechanical pencils, click pens and bullet pens, and “Monsoon” waterproof pouches and cases. The mechanical pencils have been a frequent request, as many of you are apparently looking for pencils that use sturdier lead in the .9mm to 1.3mm range. The standard Rite in the Rain pencil uses a very dark 1.3mm 2B graphite, which I’ve found quite nice to write with. The ballpoint refills are manufactured for Rite in the Rain by Fisher Space Pen, but per Rite in the Rain feature a slightly modified ink formulation optimized for Rite in the Rain’s paper. Personally, I find the Rite in the Rain refill slightly less viscous, and that it leave a finer line.

We are an authorized reseller of Rite in the Rain products. Come see these and more in-shop! We will be open this week from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Be sure to check the shop page for up-to-date hours.

Thursday Drops: Happy Inky Thursday! New Inks from Anderillium, Papier Plume, Swatch Books and More

June 5, 2025

If last month was “Pencil Month,” maybe this month will be “Ink Month?” We’re building out our lineup of inks to offer both in-store and online, including an entire new line of Anderillium Inks (“Ichthyoformes Series”), the Classic Collection from Papier Plume, and another Iroshizuku restock. As noted last week, we have a huge shipment of new Pilot multi pens, ballpoints, and mechanical pencils, as well as the latest TWSBI ECO in Matcha Green, and the Pilot E95s in all sizes in burgundy and black!

Papier Plume Classic Collection Fountain Pen Inks

Finally, we’ve had a great response to the new Laconic notebooks and refills we received last week. While many of the A5 6-ring binder inserts are sold out, we still have lots of the new planner stickers, A5 softcover notebooks, and bookmarks, with another order of the binder inserts on the way.

We are back to normal hours this week in-store, open from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Papier Plume Ink Swatch Album Sets. These Bible-sized binders from Papier Plume/San Lorenzo contain plastic holders for 60 swatch cards, and come with a separate card holder full of Col-o-Ring swatch cards cut down to business card size to fit the album.
Papier Plume Classic Collection Fountain Pen Inks. These Papier Plume inks are from their Classic Series, and include long-time favorites such as Moss Green and Oyster Grey.
Anderillium Ichthyoformes Series Fountain Pen Inks. Be sure to check out yesterday’s epic YouTube video, in which I swatched all 8 of the latest releases from Anderillium. There are three dark red inks that I’m really enjoying, including two that would qualify as red-blacks.
TWSBI Diamond Ink Bottles. These ink bottles can function as your standard uncap-and-dip ink bottles, or you can remove the grip section of a TWSBI Diamond-series pen and fill directly from the barrel without dipping the nib.
Pilot 4+1 Multi Pens. These Acro-ink gel pens feature Pilot’s own low-viscosity ink formulation in a familiar 4-color ballpoint plus .5mm mechanical pencil format. Four muted colors complete the package.
Pilot Legno 2+1 Multi Pens in Striated and Natural Hardwood. The striated wood Pilot Legnos are what drew me to this line, but the story behind the hardwood versions (North American Hard Maple used for baseball bats?) has me fascinated by these as well.
Laconic Tokyo Undated Planner Refills, Notebooks, and Stickers. We’re almost completely sold out of the A5 6-ring binder editions, but we have the new planner stickers as well as additional planner bookmarks and A5 notebooks.
TWSBI ECO Matcha Green Fountain Pen. TWSBI’s latest ECO release is a tea-green, designed to complement the rest of the espresso-themed breakfast collection.
Pilot E95s Fountain Pens. Now available in all colors and available sizes, including EF. The E95s is the current heir to the vintage integrated nib models that include the Myu and Murex models.
Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Inks. Just today we received another shipment of Iroshizuku ink, and have the new colors (Syun-Gyo, Rikka, and To-ro) back in stock alongside most of the old favorites. I recently did a post on my personal favorites from this line.

I almost forgot to mention that this past weekend we also added the Laconic A5 Field Folio, which is an A5 clipboard/calendar pad that is customizable with refills.

Laconic Tokyo Planner Stickers Assortment

New Arrivals: Quirky Planner Formats and Anderillium Ichthyoformes Inks

June 3, 2025

As I’ve mentioned before, what I love about this job is looking for the unusual products out there that I feel get less attention than they should. As I wrote about on Saturday, one such category of products is undated planners, whether those are A5 notebooks, 6-ring binder inserts, or even planner stickers that allow you to customize your standard notebook. We’ve recently added additional items from Laconic Tokyo - including their popular 6-ring binder inserts - and will restock on the sold-out formats as soon as possible. Laconic also makes these same planner layouts in a softcover A5 notebook format that is compatible with Roterfaden, Lochby, or any other cover that accepts the A5 size.

We’ve also recently added all the additional colors from the Anderillium “Ichthyoformes” Ink series, inspired by fish! In addition to the previously announced Moray Eel Green and Whale Shark Grey, we have Piranha Red, Sockeye Salmon, Betta Fish Purple, Anglerfish Deep, Lionfish Maroon, and Swordfish Blue. I’m personally ready to dive into some of these dark red-black colors!

Come see these and more in-shop! We will be open this week from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Be sure to check the shop page for up-to-date hours.

Thursday Drops: Even More Multi Pen Madness, Plus Pilot S20s, Sarasas and Jetstreams

May 29, 2025

I guess we’re the multi pen people now, huh? This week we received a large shipment of unique multi pens direct from Japan, including the Pilot Legno 2+1 in five woodgrain finishes, Pilot 4+1 multi pens featuring ultra smooth Acro-Ink, and while not a multi pen, additional stock of the excellent Pilot S20 Ballpoints and matching mechanical pencils.

TWSBI has also released its latest ECO color: Matcha Green, which fills a gap in the current color lineup. After some prodding, we also put in a test order for the TWSBI Diamond 50ml ink bottles, which allow you to fill your TWSBI 580s without dipping the nib. Finally, we’ve reupped on all the Jetstream refills, in both the Uni proprietary formats and the universal styles.

We have slightly revised in-store hours this week: We will be open from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, per the usual, and then from 8-10am on Saturday morning and 1-5pm on Sunday, due to some scheduling conflicts. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Pilot Legno 2+1 Multi Pens. These gorgeous woodgrain multi pens match the color scheme of the S20 Ballpoint, plus add three new options (Black, Natural Wood, and Mahogany). Each pen ships with two D1 refills (black and red) plus a .5mm mechanical pencil. Because the pen uses the universal D1 size, you can customize with whatever ink/refill system you like.
Pilot 4+1 Multi Pens. The Japanese counterpart to the classic “Dr. Grip” 4+1 multi pen that you can find here in the states, this version features .5mm Acro-ink refills in four colors, plus a .5mm mechanical pencil. This series pairs four muted colors with an unvarnished wood grip that shows off the grain.
TWSBI ECO Matcha Green Fountain Pen. Looking for something a little lighter to complement darker “Breakfast Collection”? TWSBI’s latest ECO release is a light tea green (as you would expect) and available in all nib sizes.
Pilot S20 Ballpoint Pens and Mechanical Pencils. Wishing we offered a set of the Pilot S20 pens and pencils? Now you can build one! The Pilot S20 .5mm mechanical pencil feels just as nice in the hand as the S20 ballpoint.
TWSBI Diamond 50ml Ink Bottles. Enough people asked about these that we decided to do a test order! The TWSBI ink bottle allows you to fill your TWSBI Diamond 580 (or similar earlier TWSBI piston-filler model) without dipping the nib in the ink, and allows you to fill other pens using a reservoir system. If there’s an ink brand that you love that otherwise has impractical ink bottles, consider a third-party solution!
Pilot Decimo Capless Fountain Pens. All colors are now available, as we just added the burgundy and white models to our selection. Many people prefer the slimmer Decimo to the larger Vanishing Point, and if you’ve found that the Vanishing Point clip interferes with your grip, moving to the Decimo sometimes improves things.
Zebra Sarasa Grand Vintage Gel Pens. These high-end Sarasa pens actually match the refill to the anodization, which is somewhat rare. (Usually the “higher end” gel pen bodies ship with a standard blue or black refill.) .5mm and .3mm options are available, as well as additional refills in the muted “Vintage” series of colors.
Uni Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 Multi Pen. The Jetstream Lite Touch refill has, deservedly, received a lot of attention as an incremental improvement to the already excellent Uni Jetstream low-viscosity ballpoint. This 3 slot multi pen is a very nice higher-end professional option that comes in three unique matte finishes. You can read our full review of this multi pen here.
Uni Jetstream Lite Touch 4+1 Multi Pen. The standard Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pen is also available with the updated Lite Touch refills. (You can still buy both the original Jetstream and Lite Touch Jetstream multi pen refills, depending on your preference.)
Notsu Index Card Systems and Refills. We are fully restocked on all of the Notsu card sets, replacement cards, and other accessories. These are some of the best fountain pen friendly index cards out there, and are available in a wide variety of different formats.