The Constant Scribbler

In a digital world of keyboards, styluses and fingertips, I still prefer to write on paper with a fountain pen— I have five (to be honest, I actually have more than that, but I usually use these five):— a Sailor 1911L with a “European” Extra Fine nib inked with Pilot Iroshizuku Take sumi (which translates to “Bamboo Charcoal”— a black ink), a cheap plain black Pilot Metropolitan with a “Japanese” Extra Fine nib inked with Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki (which translates to “Winter Persimmon”— a reddish-orange ink), a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 PO— a posting nib, a nib especially designed & made exclusively by Pilot for use with cheap Japanese postcards (it’s basically a rigid “Japanese” Extra Fine— or maybe even an Ultra Extra Fine, with the tip tuned downward), a TWSBI Diamond Mini with a “European” Extra Fine nib and another TWSBI— a Vac Mini  with a “European” Broad nib “re-grinded” to an “Architect” nib— a nib ideal for people who write in block letters, like I do (it’s basically the opposite of a cursive italic nib, producing wide horizontal strokes & thin vertical strokes.). The last three inked with Noodler’s Black.

Consequent to using pens I have also become a paper hoarder.  The search for the ultimate pen and paper combo had led me down to a rabbit hole filled with all sorts of paper.  I’ve narrowed down my paper choices to a few:—  among which is dotted Rhodia paper, Moleskin pocket notebooks (the old stocks), Midori Travel notebooks, dotted notebooks made locally by the Veco Paper Corporation, and a variety of relatively obscure paper brands— which are not necessarily fountain pen friendly, but which I find “interesting”. I also buy surplus pocket datebook planners, mostly from Moleskin, which are usually put on sale around May of the current year. 

And because I try out my pens on almost every paper I could get my hands on, I have become a serial scribbler (and doodler). Most times I jot down notes simply to have an excuse to write. Sometimes I just write a word repeatedly— ever mindful of my handwriting, to fill a page. I started out writing in script in grade school but gradually shifted to block using the then ubiquitous Bic ball pen, then I wrote with a technical pen for a while, then Japanese felt tip disposable pens until I discovered fountain pens.  In the late 90s, I shifted to needle point gel pens because it was convenient.  This was when Japan came out with 0.5mm, 0.4mm and 0.3mm nibs in different colors. 

The first fountain pen I regularly used (it was the 80s) was a Pilot “Birdie” inked with Quick permanent black (— there was no other ink that I know of then). The “Birdie” is a stainless steel tiny slim pen intended for people with small hands—  probably women, to use as a pocket pen (or clipped on an address book & stowed in a purse).  I also own its twin mechanical pencil. 

When the “Birdie” gave up on me, I got a plain black Pilot Metropolitan instead. Then a TWSBI.  

TWSBI pens are made by TaShin Precision, an OEM Taiwanese manufacturer. The first three letters in the TWSBI name stands  for the phrase “San Wen Tong” which, per their website, means “Hall of Three Cultures”— whatever that means. They reversed the first letters & appended “Bi”—  which literal means “writing instruments”, thus TWSBI.  What drew me to TWSBI was its modular construction. You could dissemble it to clean it or to change its parts. I like to tinker and TWSBI encourages that. It’s also made of clear acrylic, which I also like because you could see the inside and yes how much ink you still have. But acrylics crack. The grip section is particularly prone to this. The key is not to over tighten. O-rings on the pen sections & the included Silicon grease makes it possible. The nibs are made by Jowo—  a German nib company, which makes the nibs “European” as against a “Japanese” nib.  Basically, a “European” are wider than a “Japanese”—  a Euro Extra Fine is equivalent to a Japanese  Medium or thereabouts. 

I prefer Japanese nibs. And so I keep on going back to my Metropolitan.  I should say that I only stumbled on the Metropolitan by accident. I was really looking for a replacement of the “Birdie”— since it’s the first pen that I truly knew and used (and also for a nostalgic reason: I used the “Birdie” to take the Bar). I did find a “Birdie”, but I’ve outgrown it.  And so I got a Metropolitan— my new “Birdie”.  Like the “Birdie”, the Metro is cheap (less than P1k).  It’s a decent pen, it’s a well-performing pen that’s well built, sturdy and it’s made of, I think, brass.  It’s the only snap cap pen I have.  Ideal for jotting down short notes without the hassle of twisting open a pen’s cap.  The Metropolitan only comes in Medium, but the cool thing about cheap Pilot entry level fountain pens is that most of their nibs are interchangeable: you could buy a cheap “Penmanship” (Php350.00), of which I have three, for its Extra Fine nib or a “Plumix” (I have one) for its 1.1mm stub and swap them with your Metro Medium.  This means that your exploration and search for that grail nib won’t burn a hole on your wallet. I love Pilot for this.

    It wasn’t long before I got a Pilot Custom Heritage 912— a gift, for which I am eternally grateful.  What stands out with the 912 is its PO nib, it’s as rigid as a nail but is not scratchy at all and a bit on the weird side of things-- the tip has a slight bend that ends in a needle point. The PO, I think, means "Posting" (the nib is for writing on thin papers-- "papel de Hapon", that Japanese use for posting mails), it’s designed to write on bad paper— you could do newspaper crosswords  with it, which makes it a decent EDC pen.  I still dream of the luscious No. 15 nib of an 743 or the even bigger nib of an 149, but I’m okay without them.  I always treasure what I have and one other treasure I have is the Sailor 1911L— a 1911 “large” with a 24k gold Extra Fine nib!  It too is a gift which I shall treasure until I croak. 

The resurgence of fountain pens triggered a burst of ink colors that seemed like a revolt against the past where black, blue-black (and red) reigned for ages.  And dominated, as far as I know, by one company: Parker— maker of “Quink” (rumor has it that a Filipino named Francisco Quisimbing was the “inventor” of the ink and that the brand is an amalgam of Francisco’s surname and the word ink, Parker, however, says otherwise and that name is actually derived from the words “quick” & “ink”).  Quink is now a dinosaur.  Though constrained with what I want to spend for it & what is accessible I did dipped into the pool of the new colors that intrigued me. But I eventually went back to black.  And since I prefer Pilot fountain pens it’s a no-brainer that I went for Pilot ink as well. Pilot offers cheap ink but I went for the top of the line Iroshizuku series. My problem with it, however, is that it’s not archival.  It can’t stand water and  moisture. I prefer water proof (or at least resistant to watercolor wash), dries quick and will not go away for a long time— a bullet proof ink! And that is exactly what Noodler’s ink offers. I use mostly Noodler’s Black for that purpose.  But I also like Noodler’s Black for its “juiciness”— the ink streams out of the nib in gleaming blots before it bonds with the paper.  It’s cheap and dirty & sticks to almost anything, but I love it.  Noodler’s ink is produced by a one man operation company & the man behind it— a certain Nathan Tardiff, is quite a character. He holds strong political views & uses his company as a platform to express it.  He’s a Southern man, most likely a Republican and seems to be paranoid about his secret ink formula. I don’t care much about his politics and for what he stands for, being Asian, I’m far removed from his American biases.  I only care for the ink that he makes by hand— all by his lonesome self probably in a shed or a cave deep in the woods.  And because I don’t totally trust this dude I only use his ink on my “beater” pens— my TWSBIs and, after much hesitation, on my 917.  So far, I’ve had no problems.  I use the Iroshizuku Take Sumi on my Sailor, though (I have another even nastier permanent black ink— Platinum’s Carbon Black Ink, a matte black that is notorious for clogging up fountain pens. I use it solely on Platinum’s own special pen for it— the DP-800). The only other ink color I use is the red-orange Fuyu-Gaki on my Metro, which has since been relegated to highlighter duty. 

I’ve now reached an age when I don’t hanker for possessions rather I am grateful for what I have and have in fact given up some of my possessions to other people so they could enjoy them.  I have also given up my quest for grail pens and will simply enjoy writing with them…