While I thought I wasn’t going to get any time off this summer, the opportunity came up, due to some cancelled meetings at work, to take several days and visit family I haven’t seen in over a year. So, this week I’ll be finishing my mid-year “recaps”, as I originally intended, though you may notice that the schedule is a little different. With that out of the way, the second part of mid-year review takes a look at five of my favorite posts from the first half of 2021, in addition to those featured in Part I, Reader Favorites. Don’t take these as any sort of ranking - they appear in no particular order.
Filling Systems: Pros and Cons of Piston Fillers, Vacuum Fillers, and Cartridge/Converter Fountain Pens. What draws us to certain filling mechanisms? It really depends on why you write with a fountain pen in the first place. For example, if you value ink capacity, you’ll prefer higher-capacity piston and vacuum fillers (or maybe even eyedroppers). On the other hand, if you’re a serial ink changer, you may be fine sticking with a cartridge/converter.
Review Revisited: Is the Pilot G2 Still a Good Pen? One of my major “themes” for the blog, now seven years old, has been revisiting past reviews and opinions to see whether they still “stick”. Here, I took at look at what had previously been my favorite gel refill - the Pilot G2 - and confirmed that it’s still a great option.
Take Five: Favorite Traveler’s Notebook Refills. I haven’t used many notebooks other than My Traveler’s Notebook system this year. I’ve enjoyed having everything in one compact place, and not having to worry about whether the paper will be good or not, since my favorite refills use the excellent Midori MD.
Organizing a Pen Collection: Pulling It All Together. This year, another theme has been one of consolidation and appreciation rather than additional accumulation. I’m in the process of pruning a lot of unused pens, pencils, notebooks and other stationery from my supply, and thinking hard about what it is that I want to keep.
Scribo Feel Fountain Pen and Scribo Ink Reviews. Every year I tend to discover one new brand that sticks with me, and this year it may be Scribo. While I wasn’t much of an OMAS fan, I’ve found myself drawn to Scribo, a “legacy” company founded by former OMAS employees. I’ve especially enjoyed their inks and ink bottles, and have more inks from that line in the queue for review.
A Note on Shop Orders: Due to my travel schedule, orders placed between Friday 6/4 and Saturday 6/12 will ship on 6/13, after my return. Thank you for understanding, and I’ll be sure to thrown in a little something extra for your trouble.