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My 2019 Journaling Setup: Nanami Paper Cafe Note and Midori 5-Years Journal

July 17, 2019

I was on the Hobonichi Techo bandwagon for a while, using everyone’s favorite A6 Japanese planner as a one-page-a-day journal. I actually have three of them filled up from 2016-2018. Although I liked the Hobonichi, I wanted something slightly less structured, that offered me the flexibility to write more than a page on one day, and sometimes skip a day with less “journaling guilt.” Some days absolutely nothing of note happens, right, much less nothing that justifies wasting a full page of precious Tomoe River!

Enter the Nanami Paper Cafe Note B6. I’ve long enjoyed the Nanami Paper Seven Seas series, both the original “Writer” and the “Crossfield,” but a couple years back they released the “Cafe Note,” which is a smaller Tomoe River notebook measuring roughly 4 x 7 inches in what is referred to as the Japanese “Shinsho” size. You can read more about the background of the notebook on the Nanami Paper website, but what’s notable is that this size book was “created for rail commuters that spend a lot of time standing in trains and hanging out in cafes between trains or after work.” In other words, if you’re looking for a highly portable notebook that’s easy to slip into a bag and write with in a coffee shop, on a train or airplane, or anywhere else space is at a premium, consider the Cafe Note.

Small grid ruling with lots of boxes for organizing/summarizing notes? Count me in.

This layout works much better for me than the A6 Hobonichi. For starters, I appreciate that the Cafe Note is rather long and narrow, like these hardback Kunisawa “Find” notebooks, since I do much of my writing and note-taking in list or bullet format. Some people dislike the boxes at the top and bottom, but I find it convenient for organizing my notebook entries by date and topic. Finally, the grid/graph ruling is pretty small, but I have small handwriting so it works for me. Nanami Paper makes a lined version if grid isn’t your thing.

At the end of the day, I did miss having a classic diary or “daily journal” to record the mundane happenings of life. For Christmas my family gave me a Vanness gift card, which I cashed in on a Midori 5-Years Diary. To me, the beauty of this particular journal is how easy it is to use consistently. There’s a page for each day of the month (including February 29 for those years), with each page broken down into five sections containing five lines each. I don’t care how boring the day was, you can always find one thing to record, and I recall that after I had used my old Levenger 5-Year Journal for a few years it was quite enjoyable to write each day’s entry and see exactly what I was doing and/or thinking one or two years earlier. I don’t have a perfect record of daily entries, but I’ve been pretty good so far.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

This particular setup has worked well for me in 2019, and in all likelihood I will continue it next year. The great thing about the Midori 5-Years Diary is - wait for it - that you only have to purchase it every five years, and the Nanami Paper Cafe Note has so many pages that it will also last you a long time. I do use an annual paper planner, the Jibun Techo 3-in-1 A5 Slim, for tracking tasks and logging things, but I plan to hold the review on that particular tool until the 2020 versions are released in the Fall.

I purchased my Midori 5-Year Diary from Vanness Pens, and it comes with either a red or black cover. At first glance, it’s not inexpensive at $42, but then again you’re only purchasing the Diary once every five years, so that’s $8 annually. The Nanami Paper Cafe Note “Slim B6” can be purchased directly from Nanami Paper, priced at $18, which to me represents an exceptional bargain given that you’re getting 384 pages of Tomoe River Paper. A ruled version is also available. If you’d like to add the Gfeller natural leather cover shown in my pictures, you can purchase it separately for $68.

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Pen Review: Esterbrook Phaeton 300R Fountain Pen

July 13, 2019

Since Esterbrook’s “reboot", most of the attention has focused on the Estie, the Company’s first release following its acquisition by Kenro. Currently, Esterbrook only has two pens on the market: the Estie (which comes in standard and oversize versions) and the Phaeton, which I’ll look at today. In my opinion, this somewhat singular focus has served Esterbrook well, and the Estie, which I consider a well-designed, appropriately priced “daily workhorse”-type pen, has received largely positive reviews. Kudos to Esterbrook for pacing themselves and letting their reputation build around the Estie and expanding their offerings by gradually releasing new versions of that pen, as opposed to flooding the market with multiple designs and seeing what sticks. It shows confidence in their strategy.

The Esterbrook Phaeton comes in four colors: Signal Red, Mineral Blue, Spruce Green, and Midnight Black. Gold-plated trim only.

Which brings me to the Phaeton (also listed as the “Phaeton 300R”), marketed as a re-release of a vintage hooded-nib Esterbrook, the Phaeton 300, a pen you don’t hear much about save in vintage collector circles. Though I understand Esterbrook’s desire to expand the line across a wider range of price points - particularly the need to offer something in the sub-$100 price bracket - I question whether this current version of the Phaeton was the right move, mainly because this pen faces steep competition from lower-priced alternatives.

I love the practicality of this type of converter - it works better than any Indian-style converter I have used, but man does this thing stink!

For starters, many people have pointed out that the Phaeton bears a striking resemblance to much less expensive offerings sold by Indian fountain pen companies such as Kanwrite. Assuming there is some relationship there, however, I do think that it’s unfair to write the Phaeton off as a pure “rebadge” of a stock pen purchased abroad. There clearly have been some design modifications to the cap and clip, and the nibs and feeds on the Phaetons have plainly undergone more rigorous quality control than you would find on a typical $15 Indian fountain pen. Moreover, it’s no secret that Esterbrook pens are made by contract manufacturers, presumably incorporating stock parts that go into other pens sold by different companies. Esterbrook doesn’t own their own factory, and many other companies do the same thing. The end result for the Phaeton is a good daily writer with a cool vintage vibe, especially if you like hooded-nib fountain pens, as I do. At the end of the day, however, the question is still whether Esterbrook has done enough to this pen to justify the $85 MSRP/$68 street price. That’s where I have my doubts.

I love hooded nibs! Even on relatively inexpensive pens, they seem to write well, and are very practical for those times when you’d prefer to use a pen that doesn’t scream “Fountain Pen!”, such as in a meeting.

Before I talk further about the price-value proposition, a few comments on the Phaeton’s specs and usability. I had no issues whatsoever inking up the Phaeton and getting it writing out of the box. The syringe-filling converter works well, and makes it easy to flush the pen, though you have to deal with the extremely stinky plastic that Indian pen companies use to manufacture these types of converters. (If you’ve ever used a Noodler’s pen, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.) The nib writes a standard medium-fine line, which is the only nib size available, and while the pen has some tooth, I found it pleasant to use. In terms of size, the Phaeton will remind you of classic vintage pens such as the Parker 51, Parker Super 21, Aurora 88, and, yes, the original Esterbrook Phaeton. Like those pens, the metal cap is a friction-fit clutch design, which also posts easily. In short, from a pure usability standpoint, the Phaeton is a nice pen that will serve you well as a daily writer.

Overall Takeaways and Where To Buy

The Phaeton offers a retro vibe at a not-objectively-unreasonable price point, especially if you wait for a sale or coupon code. The issue I have with this pen is the increasing level of quality competition at the same or lower price, and I’m not sure that I can recommend the Phaeton at $68 over, say, a TWSBI 580 at the same price, a PenBBS 456 vacuum filler priced around $40, or a PenBBS 308 cartridge converter filler or 309 piston filler at an even lower price point. If you want a hooded nib pen, the KACO Retro costs less than $20.

I am glad to see Esterbrook experimenting with lower priced offerings than the $150+ Estie. That said, I don’t necessarily see the Phaeton gaining as much traction, given the relatively high price point as compared to pens of similar - and some would say better - quality. One reason why you may still want to consider the Phaeton, though, is the widespread availability at retail in the U.S. If you’re uncomfortable purchasing pens from eBay or Amazon sellers - a mainstay at this price point - the Phaeton can be acquired from pen retailers such as Pen Chalet or Vanness Pens, both of whom will certainly stand behind the product if you have a problem (as will Esterbrook).

Disclaimer: I received the Esterbrook Phaeton featured in this review from Esterbrook, free of charge, for review purposes. Many thanks to Esterbrook for making this review possible! This post contains affiliate links.

Pens and Stationery for Traveling: My Travel Kit in 2019

July 10, 2019

Way back when I first started this blog, I published a short post titled “The Gentleman Hits the Road” where I walked through my travel kit that I used for work. Since I’ve spent so much time on the road this year, I thought it might be a good time to revisit that post and offer some insight into what I’ve been using when I’m away from my desk. There may be some recency bias here, as you’ll recognize several things that I’ve reviewed in the past month or so, but this selection is fairly representative of my work “road carry”, with the exception of pen shows where I’ll obviously take more. Here goes:

Nock Co. Sinclair. The Sinclair remains my preferred travel pen case and general carry-all, mainly because it zips closed and holds all of the pens that I would want to carry with me on a work trip, along with room for a pocket notebook and a few other things. I’ve thinned out my pen cases over the years to where I only have one Sinclair, with black waxed canvas with red interior.
Rotring 800. I like having a pencil on me, but sharpening a woodcase pencil on an airplane or in a hotel or conference room isn’t exactly convenient. My choice of mechanical pencil typically alternates between one of my Rotrings (this time it was the 800) or the Uni Kuru Toga.
PenBBS 355. Even though I don’t carry it with me everywhere and it often never leaves the hotel room, I travel with at least one fountain pen, and preferably one that either has a large ink capacity or uses cartridges so I don’t have to refill from a bottle when I’m away from home. I’ve been extremely satisfied with PenBBS’s take on the syringe filler (or “bulkfiller”), and it likely will be at least another month of steady use before I have to refill this thing.
Baux Pen or Pokka Pen. I’m sometimes torn on whether to actually bother to pack a ballpoint when I’m traveling for work, since most hotels and conference centers will supply a functional ballpoint pen (and sometimes pretty good ones). If I do take a ballpoint, it’s one of the sturdy and portable Baux Pens or the pocketable Pokka.
Nanami Paper Cafe Note. This compact-yet-voluminous B6 notebook has been my constant daily writing companion over the past two years. Since much of my notebook writing takes the form of long lists of bullet points, the longer, narrower format of something like the Cafe Note, the hardback Kunisawa Find pocket notebook, or even the Field Notes End Papers or Front Page works best for me. I still use standard A4 or A5 notebooks, but for specific purposes such as long-form journaling or drafting things longhand.

I was pleased to see that the general format of my travel carry hasn’t changed much over the years, and that my use is fairly consistent. If I ever needed to take a truly extended trip, I might add another fountain pen and consolidate my ballpoint/rollerball/mechanical pencil carry into a multi pen like the Lamy 2000 or the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black, but I still try to limit it to no more than three pens/pencils. Packing for trips and making these decisions is all part of the fun!

From left: Rotring 600, Rotring 800, Uni Kuru Toga Roulette, Spoke Pencil Version 4, and Sailor Imperial Black Multi Pen.

Top Five Mechanical Pencils: For When You Really Want To Write Small

July 6, 2019

One category of writing instruments that I haven’t addressed much here on the blog is the mechanical pencil. I’ve reviewed a few pencils in-depth, including the well-known fan favorites Rotring 600 and 800. While the Rotring duo represents 80% of my mechanical pencil usage, there are other great options out there, many at extremely inexpensive price points. As I mentioned in my recent Rotring 800 review, I like to use mechanical pencils when I’m taking notes in tight margins and annotating books/documents in pencil. the complastic lead isn’t as smeary as standard graphite, and comes available in a range of sizes (.3mm to 2.0mm) depending on just how small you want to write. .5mm pencils are my sweet spot.

So what do I look for in a mechanical pencil? Basically the same things I look for in a pen: grip comfort and balance to be sure, but with a mechanical pencil, like a multi pen or a retractable ballpoint, the quality of the mechanism becomes an issue as well. You will be clicking this thing tens of thousands of times throughout its lifespan, so it needs to be well-built and durable. If nothing else, the pencils that made my “Top Five” list have stood the test of time for a number of years. I have provided links to full reviews of each pencil, where possible.

Rotring 600. Arguably the most famous mechanical pencil on the market, and certainly one of the best made. If you’re a fan of classic industrial design, a Rotring 600 pencil should be in your collection, alongside a Lamy 2000 fountain pen. Purchase here.
Rotring 800. A slightly larger version of the Rotring 600 that also features a retractable “pipe” for more portable carry. While I love my Rotring 600, I probably prefer the 800 for everyday use since I don’t have to worry about bending the tip in my bag or pocket. I also find the slightly larger size of the Rotring 800 to be more comfortable for longer writing sessions. Purchase here.
Uni Kuru Toga “Roulette”. If I had to make a blind recommendation of “one” mechanical pencil, to someone whose preferences I didn’t know, hands-down that pencil would be the Kuru-Toga. The key selling point is Uni’s innovative mechanism that rotates the lead in order to keep the wear uniform on all sides and maintain a sharp point. Not only are the Kuru-Toga’s extremely inexpensive, but they have the Uni name standing behind them, so the quality is there. I really need to do a stand-alone review of this pencil. Purchase here.
Spoke Pencil. Wait, if you consider long-term durability important, how can I include the Spoke Pencil on this list, as Spoke is a relative newcomer to the stationery scene? Well, because the Spoke Pencil is built around the Pentel P20X mechanism, found in one of my childhood favorites, the Pentel Sharp. The Spoke pencil takes the “guts” of the humble Sharp and adds a futuristic machined body and textured metal grip, both of which you can customize to your preference (at least in Version 4). Prefer a weightier pencil? Opt for a brass or stainless steel grip. Looking for lightweight? Then aluminum or titanium would be your best options. Order directly from Spoke.
Sailor Imperial Black Multi Pen. I’m sure that I’ll horrify mechanical pencil purists by including a multi pen here, but I use this one all the time, including the mechanical pencil component. The Sailor pen is nicely balanced - importantly, it’s not slim - and would be a great option for those who like to use a mechanical pencil but also regularly need a ballpoint and don’t want to to carry multiple writing instruments. The one knock is availability. You’ll need to order this one directly from Japan. (Purchase here.)

Honorable Mention

Mechanical pencil brands attract hardcore devotees, and there is a plethora of options out there, so I’m sure people will disagree with my decision to put certain pencils into a “top five,” but please remember that the five listed above just represent my own personal experience and preferences. If there are others you think I should check out, let me know! One great thing about mechanical pencils is that you can find excellent inexpensive options on the shelf at your local office supply store, including the Pentel Sharp referenced above, the Pentel “Quicker Clicker” (a version of which I still own from high school - 20+ years later!), or even BIC’s “disposable” version (which can be refilled). If you prefer a heavier writing instrument or like the “machined pen” look, check out the Modern Fuel Mechanical Pencil and the Inventery Interchangeable Mechancial Pen and Pencil. On these latter two, I would recommend using the strongest lead you can find, as the increased weight of a metal pencil can lead to breakage. I have had good results with Pentel Ain Stein, even in the B or 2B hardness. Happy writing!

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Which Mechanical Pencil to Pick: Rotring 600 vs. Rotring 800

July 3, 2019

Rotring makes my favorite mechanical pencils, and it’s not a close call. From the sturdy, industrial design and the clean color scheme, Rotring writing instruments are well-built and great looking. If you invest in a set, they should last you a lifetime (or at least close to it), and if you pair your Rotring pencil with a Lamy 2000 pen, you’ll have completed your industrial/minimalist writing kit.

The Rotring 600 receives most of the attention in the stationery blogosphere, but lately I’ve been looking for a mechanical pencil that was slightly more portable - namely one with a retractable pipe that I could carry in a pocket without risking bending the tip or stabbing myself in the leg. I finally decided to splurge a bit and picked up Rotring’s “deluxe” offering, the Rotring 800.

If you’re a hardcore fan of the Rotring 600, the more expensive 800 doesn’t break much new ground. More or less everything in my previous review of the Rotring 600 from a few years back still holds true. The approximately 50% price premium is driven by size and additional engineering. While the 800 does add some length and width to the writing experience, making the 800 slightly more balanced for longer writing sessions, the main difference is the retractable “pipe”, and on the Rotring 800+, a stylus tip that you can use on touchscreens when the tip is retracted. (I don’t use capacitative touch styli, so I passed on the latter.) The retractable mechanism on the Rotring 800 feels solid and works well, as you’d expect, and the pencil’s grip features the same exceptionally soft knurling as on the Rotring 600.

The retractable tip works by twisting the knurled mechanism at the end of the pencil. Some online reviewers have commented on “tip wiggle” with retractable mechanical pencils such as the Rotring 800. I haven’t noticed it, personally, but YMMV if thi… — The retractable tip works by twisting the knurled mechanism at the end of the pencil. Some online reviewers have commented on “tip wiggle” with retractable mechanical pencils such as the Rotring 800. I haven’t noticed it, personally, but YMMV if this is something that bothers you.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

A good mechanical pencil has its place in your writing kit, especially if you write small and annotate lots of books and documents, not to mention if you draft or draw. Mechanical pencil lead doesn’t ghost or smear nearly as much as standard graphite, so I like to use it when I’m making notes in books that I plan to go back through later. Though I own a handful of mechanical pencils, my Rotrings are the ones that get the most use, simply because I consider them to be that much better than anything else out there.

The Rotring 800 fits my hand better than the more slender 600.

The big question is not whether the Rotring 800 is worth the money - $65 is more than a fair price for this pencil - it’s whether the Rotring 800 justifies a $33 premium over the Rotring 600. As with everything in stationery, it depends on how you plan to use the pencil. I sometimes find the standard Rotring 600 mechanical pencil slightly too small (really, too narrow) for longer writing sessions, and as I mentioned above, portability is an issue. While it’s true that the Rotring 600 offers substantially the same writing experience as the 800 for only $32, that says more about the extreme value of the Rotring 600 than anything else. Overall, I believe I prefer the balance of the slightly larger and longer Rotring 800, and the ability to retract the pipe for a more portable carry option.

Despite Rotring having discontinued its coveted fountain pens, the mechanical pencils are still relatively easy to find. Most retailers, such as our site sponsor Pen Chalet, stock both the Rotring 600 and Rotring 800, along with the Rapid Pro, for those of you who may prefer something with a wider grip and more rounded corners. Through July 4, you can use the coupon code “FREEDOM” to get an extra 10% off your Pen Chalet order at checkout!

Disclaimer: I purchased the pencil featured in this review from site sponsor Pen Chalet using affiliate credit. This post contains affiliate links.