The Pens of AcWriMo

November was definitely a month of writing, and I used it to evaluate all of my pens. I have a day-by-day analysis for the whole month, the way I did for the first week, but I do still have some reflections.

I did manage to fix the titanium nib on my Fountain K, and it has been a champ since then. I really love the feeling of capping and uncapping this pen. Those threads are perfection.

My Pelikan M200 Pastel-Green is great. I love the way it looks, and I managed to tune that nib to be a smooth as melting butter. However, the edge of its section is incredibly sharp, which really makes long writing sessions unfortunately uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I've written it dry twice.

I've relied a lot on my Parker Jotter for meeting notes, and, as always, it has performed admirably. I love how slim it is. It's always inked up with Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao, which matches its blue body just wonderfully.

The ensso's performance has been top notch. It is a great pocket pen.

Surprisingly, neither of my Kaco Edges fared all that well this month. Their useless clips have become even more of an annoyance, and I just haven't really felt much like reaching for them. I actually realized that I've been neglecting my planner in part because I just haven't wanted to use the blue Kaco associated with it. Not using my planner during a busy month was maybe not the best idea.

My Muji aluminum pen, on the other hand, after languishing in my bookbag for a while has come back strong. I've found it perfect for note-taking. That fine nib is really fine, and the Diamine Syrah in it makes for some pretty crisp writing.

My Edison Menlo with a Medium S.I.G. nib has had its ups and downs. For a while, it was inked with Sailor Shikiori Yamadori, which I found to be very dry and actually not all that pleasant to write with. Once I cleaned it out and reinked it, my love for it was rekindled. I used a random ink sample - Sailor Studio 935. I don't have many purple inks at all and found this one to be particularly enjoyable. It occasionally has a fun gold sheen.

For a while now, I've been on the fence about my Franklin-Christoph Model 20. I bought it because it was a snap cap, only it's not a snap cap. It's a slip cap. No threads, but also not distinct click. No clear indication when the pen is actually closed. And hence lots of near accidents. Still there's a lot to love about this pen. The recessed nib lets me hold the pen super close to the page, which I like. And it is comfortable. Even so, I found that I really haven't used it much. I even tried nib swapping to make it feel fresh, but this pen may well be on the chopping block.

I did try the Sailor Studio Pro Gear, but unfortunately we just didn't mesh. Still a bit bummed.

I also had another visiting pen this month - the Edison Beaumont in Fireball! This pen was much tinier than I expected. I scrutinized it in the Goulet Pen Plaza and still was not prepared for how small this pen was. And I loved it. Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of the pattern. The pen was pretty translucent. A lot of people in the pen community love that kind of thing. They dig demonstrators. I do not. I especially did not like how the silver band on the converter stuck out like a sore thumb once the pen was inked. Unfortunately, Goulet's customer service is top notch, and once my return is processed, I should be getting a darker replacement.

And of course, my Surface Pen did its daily duty admirably.