My Pen Preferences

Published 2018-03-22 by Thomas R. Hall

Last Updated:

When it comes to pens, ink, and stationery, each person’s preferences are deeply individual. I’m not different, and quite opinionated due to my specific preferences. Hopefully the following information will help you understand why I may prefer a particular pen, nib, ink, or paper over another. None of us is identical!

For more background on why I got into fountain pens, read My Fountain Pen Introduction Story.

Pen Likes

• I’m fairly partial to Japanese and custom Pens.
• My two most common types of nibs are Japanese EF (0.2mm) and small cursive italic grinds (0.3mm - 0.5mm) with forgiving edges.
• Prefer the following filling systems, in order: western eye dropper, piston, Japanese eye dropper, converter. I rarely use cartridges.
• I prefer gold nibs, but steel is also fine. Titanium is nice as well.

Ink Likes

• Primarily, blue black inks. Pilot Blue Black is a favorite.
• Iron gall inks are nice too.
• Otherwise, generally dark inks.

Paper Likes

• Something smooth and fine.
• Dot grid.
• Rhodia dot grid is good.

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