More Thoughts on (Relatively) Inexpensive Stationery

Building on Wednesday’s post and accompanying YouTube video about why many of us love inexpensive pens, I’ve been thinking more broadly about the role that the less expensive stationery products play in my everyday rotation. While I firmly believe that all stationery - even the very nice pricey stuff - needs to get used at some point, because that’s what it’s made for - even I balk at using more expensive paper for things as routine as grocery lists, meeting notes that won’t be retained, draft markups, and other “junk paper” that I never intend to keep. Similarly, when I’m forced to write on cheap recycled copy paper at work, I don’t necessarily want to use my nicer inks in a context where they’ll just feather and bleed, and where I won’t get much enjoyment from the writing experience. So although I do tend to use the more “upscale” stuff for most of my personal journaling and longhand professional writing, here are five categories of relatively inexpensive stationery that I tend to keep on hand for the more mundane tasks:

1. Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Levenger, and Maruman Mnemosyne Paper. These paper brands handle most ink types relatively well, and the paper is fairly priced so that I don’t feel self-conscious about using it as scrap paper. Sure, I do sometimes still get comments from co-workers such as “You spent $8 on a legal pad?!?”, but honestly, if you care about a baseline level of quality in the tools you use, you learn to tolerate the attitude. (Sometimes I like to gently remind people that the legal pad I’m using still costs less than the coffee/beer they’re consuming during the course of our conversation, and will last 30x as long.)

2. .5mm Mechanical Pencils. For everyday office work, I’ve been relying more and more on mechanical pencils because I can use them for pretty much anything, without thinking about how they’ll perform on the paper. As you saw in Wednesday’s video, I’m a fan of the Pentel Sharp Kerry since it has a cap and slips easily into my pocket. The Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch is an underrated writer, which also comes in a .3mm for those who write very small.

3. Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen with EF Desk Pen Nib. This particular pen requires a bit of a hack, but if you take the EF steel nib from the Platinum Desk Pen and swap it into a Platinum Plaisir fountain pen, you get an excellent everyday writer that works quite well on less expensive paper, especially when you pair it with Platinum Carbon Black or Blue-Black cartridges (both great “cheap paper” inks).

4. Standard Blue, Black, or Blue-Black Ink. Speaking of ink, I always have one or two workhorse fountain pens inked up with very basic water-based “pen company” inks that I know will behave moderately well no matter how they are used. All of the Waterman Inks, basic Pilot Blue, Black, and Blue-Black, and the Platinum cartridges linked above are all rock-solid options.

5. Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Multi Pen. Alongside my mechanical pencils, a versatile three or four-color multi pen is always in my rotation. While not the most inexpensive, the Lamy 2000 4-color is my main workhorse, supplemented by various Jetstream Multi Pens and the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto gel pen. The ballpoints come in handy for when I need to sign documents in permanent ink (not an infrequent occurrence), and the Coleto Multi Pen when I need a pop of color.

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My Platinum Plaisir Frankenpen (Top) and a green Pentel Sharp Kerry I’ve had for years.

As someone who makes a chunk of their living writing about and selling stationery, people often expect that I use the most expensive stuff available, and that’s far from the truth. Most of what I use day-to-day falls well under the $30 price point (and sometimes sub-$20). It’s one reason I’m not overly pessimistic about the future of our hobby in the face of inflation and rising costs. Even if we end up having to scale down, there’s plenty of great options to be had for not a lot of money!

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

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Workhorse Pens: Pilot S20 Ballpoint

The T.G.S. “Workhorse Pen” series is where I park all of my recommendations for those pens that I personally rely on to get work done. While this series started out as exclusively focused on fountain pens, as my interests have become more eclectic over the years, I’ve expanded the series to cover other categories - namely low-viscosity ballpoint pens.

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While the low-viscosity ballpoint pen received its own writeup as a category, I wanted to take a moment to highlight an exceptionally good take on the product: the Pilot S20 ballpoint pen. The S20 has been around for a while, in both ballpoint and mechanical pencil format, though like many of Pilot’s best products, distribution has been largely limited to Japan. Featuring Pilot’s “Acro-ink” (the Acroball refill in a Dr. Grip-style cartridge), the S20 stands out due to its unique shape and feel in addition to the excellent writing experience.

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Four different low-viscosity ballpoint pens (well, almost) that I use regularly. From left: Pilot S20, Uni Jetstream 4+1, Anterique Mach Ball in Clear Green, and the Caran d’Ache Infinite 888, which is not technically a low-viscosity ballpoint but has an exceptionally good refill. .

I won’t belabor the benefits of low-viscosity ballpoint ink, because they aren’t necessarily specific to the S20 and I’ve already written about them fairly extensively. To briefly recap, low-viscosity ballpoints are sometimes referred to as “hybrid gel” pens, meaning that they feature smoother ink flow than your typical oil-based ballpoint, while maintaining the faster dry times and increased permanence. The downside? Color selection. I’ve not seen many hybrid ballpoint pens come in colors other than black or blue (and sometimes red and green), as opposed to gel pens, which these days are available in pretty much any color you can think of.

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The combination of the gently shaped section and the tactile wood used in the Pilot S20 make for one of the most “usable” pens I’ve experienced. It’s honestly the first pen in a while that just makes me want to pick it up.

Why do I love the Pilot S20 so much? For starters, both the top and bottom halves of the pen feature a concave hourglass shape, which allows it to rest comfortably in my hand. While “feel”, “balance”, and “comfort” are highly subjective, in that they often depend on variables like hand size and writing pressure, I personally consider this one near perfect. The wood barrel gives the pen a tactile feel, making it one of those pens that’s a pleasure to pick up simply because it feels elegant - almost extravagant - despite only costing $25.

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The Dr. Grip “Cocoon” refill.

As for Pilot’s “Acro-ink”, to me this refill feels more gel-like than the Uni Jetstream or the Anterique Mach-ball refills, which have a more tactile feel akin to a pencil. Part of this might be that the S20 comes in a .7mm tip size, but I’ve always felt that Pilot Acroball pens lay down a darker, wetter line than their counterparts. This pen is a very smooth writer, so much that I’ve recently started using it for journaling - something I can’t say about other ballpoints in my rotation.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

Since I got my hands on the S20 last year, I’ve not taken it out of my personal rotation. The red and black version sits in my Plotter A5 pen loop, and has become an everyday planner pen for me. The brown and black version lives on my writing desk at home. While the Dr. Grip is marketed as Pilot’s “ergonomic” everyday pen, I tend to find it slightly too large. The S20 better fits my own hand and writing style, while keeping the same excellent refill.

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For writing samples, I used standard Target-brand copy paper, since that is how many people have to use their ballpoints at work, school, and otherwise out in the world. Of the three shown here, I think the Pilot Acroball ink is the darkest, followed by the Anterique Mach Ball, and then the Jetstream. All are very good and I use them interchangeably.

As of this week, we have the Pilot S20 ballpoints back in stock in our shop. We sold through our initial shipment around Christmas, but have plenty once again. A few of you have asked about the mechanical pencil version, and the .5mm is on the way as soon as our supplier has it back in stock. (.3mm will depend on interest, so let us know!) The S20 ballpoint is priced at $25 and comes in two colors: Red/Black and Brown/Black. Additional refills are also available. I’ve checked, and these are indeed the same cartridges that fit the Dr. Grip pens sold here in the states, though these are .7mm “Fine” refills whereas most U.S. Dr. Grip pens are sold with the 1.0mm “Medium”. Personally, I prefer the fine, and will likely try to swap one into my Dr. Grip Full Black to see if it gets more use.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Fountain Pen Review: The Pilot Explorer is a Low-Cost Workhorse

If I've learned one thing over the past 10 years of writing The Gentleman Stationer, it's how difficult it is to make a consistently good fountain pen at the lower end of the price spectrum. Often companies will release a pen with an excellent nib but a flimsy body, or a decent looking pen that doesn't write well (or doesn't actually write at all). It's still somewhat uncommon to find a pen at the $25-and-under price point that delivers the entire package. While new users and/or those looking for an inexpensive daily writer certainly have had options, the addition of the Explorer fountain pen to Pilot's lineup was a welcome addition!

While I’d probably prefer no logo, at least it matches the underlying pen color. On an inexpensive pen I’m more tolerant of visible branding.

Wait, Doesn't the Pilot Explorer Already Exist?

While your mind isn't playing tricks on you, the "old" Pilot Explorer is long gone. Pilot made a 1990's-era retractable rollerball that I'm pretty sure I used for a few years in high school after my parents bought a case of them. Discontinued long ago, Pilot has resurrected the "Explorer" name for this new fountain pen. While there is some passing resemblance in the overall aesthetic, including the incorporation of a somewhat prominent Pilot logo, these are completely different products.

I chose the matte black version for my first Explorer, but every time I unpack a new shipment or set up for a pen show, I want a grey, then a blue, then a red....

Where Does the Pilot Explorer Fit in the Current Pilot Lineup?

The Pilot Explorer fountain pen sits alongside the Pilot Metropolitan in the $20-30 price bracket. Both pens share a nearly identical MSRP and you can typically find them priced within a few dollars of each other. That said, I don't get the feeling that Pilot intends for these pens to "compete". The Metropolitan features a more modern design, while the Explorer has all the hallmarks of a classic "Workhorse Pen" such as understated looks, lightweight construction, a reliable nib, and a comfortable section that should work with most grips. But despite a relatively conservative design intended to appeal to the broadest possible audience, the Explorer still looks sharp. At the recent Arkansas Pen Show, I had a table full of Pilot Explorers sitting alongside Vanishing Points and Custom 74s, and the Explorers held their own. The red and grey pens caught the eye of nearly everyone who came by the table.

The translucent section is quite comfortable, and Pilot makes an excellent stainless steel nib.

Nib and Writing Experience

The Explorer is a Pilot pen, so it writes well out of the box. That's expected. What surprised me the most was the level of comfort. Pilot clearly designed the Explorer to be an all-day-every-day writer. Posted or unposted, it's one of the more comfortable fountain pens I've ever used. (Posting the cap adds little to no weight.) The nib is the same stainless steel nib Pilot uses on other pens, including the Metropolitan, the Kakuno (minus the smiley face), and the Prera, and is available in either a fine or medium.

Personally, I prefer to refill my Pilot cartridges using a syringe, but the press converter included in the box works perfectly well. It also makes it very easy to clean the pen by flushing it with water.

Unsurprisingly, the Pilot Explorer uses a cartridge-converter filling system. The pen ships with both a cartridge and a converter in the box, allowing you to use bottled ink without having to shell out extra money for the converter. The converter is the same press-plate sac converter that ships with the Metropolitan and certain other lower-cost Pilot pens. That said, if you want to upgrade your converter experience, the Explorer's barrel is long enough to accommodate other options, including the higher capacity CON-70 with the pump filling mechanism.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

I love the Explorer. As someone who finds the Metropolitan somewhat awkward to use due to the step-down on the barrel, I welcome this new arrival. Both pens use the same nib and make excellent everyday writers, but the designs complement each other by appealing to different users. More traditionally "professional" than the Kakuno, the Explorer won't look out of place at the office, and it's inexpensive enough that you shouldn't hesitate to leave it on your desk at work or buy a few to keep inked up and at the ready if, like me, you have several locations that you rotate between during a typical week.

This pen writes on the wet side, especially with Pilot’s high-capacity cartridge. The ink shown here is Pilot Iroshizuku Sui-Gyoku, a new favorite.

At $25, the Explorer competes with the TWSBI Swipe and offers a similar value proposition. I would recommend the Explorer to those looking for a more traditional design, and while the Swipe isn't heavy at all, the Explorer is remarkably lightweight. It was a complete no-brainer decision for us to stock both pens in our own shop, and we currently have the Explorer available for purchase, in a range of colors and both the fine and medium nib sizes.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the TGS Curated Shop and pledges via the TGS Patreon Program.

Personal Collections: The Three Most Worn Stationery Items in Regular Rotation

I’ve been doing some pruning and sorting lately, as I often decide towards the end of the year what stationery items and other “gear” I will keep in rotation, and what I plan to move on from. Given the nature of what I do, I cycle through stuff often, and the items that truly get “used” to the point where they show signs of significant wear are few and far between. That said, three particular items jumped out at me, and none of them are fountain pens.

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1. Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, San Francisco Pen Show 2022 Limited Edition in Olive Green. I pre-ordered this pen at the same show where I purchased the Plotter Mini-5, and once it arrived a few months later, I clipped it directly to the pen slot in the Plotter and it’s been in my pocket ever since. The “bullet pencil” has never really caught on with me, mainly due to having to carry a hand sharpener, but this pocket ballpoint uses the same convenient format with an excellent needle-tip refill. I do wish that Traveler’s made the color versions part of their regular lineup, but the standard brass develops a warm patina with age.

2. Lamy 2000 Ballpoint, “W. Germany” Edition. Ok, so this one may be cheating a bit, as it had some history on it when I bought it, but my early 1980s-era Lamy 2000 ballpoint pen showcases what the black Makrolon Lamy 2000 can look like after decades of regular use. The grooves are more or less worn completely smooth, lending the pen a shinier appearance, but the knock still functions with a solid click and this one remains a workhorse. For those looking for a sharp gift for a non-fountain pen user - particularly someone who might work in a stuffy office and therefore prefers something fun yet understated - the standard pens and mechanical pencils in the Lamy 2000 line are excellent options and will last a very long time.

3. Plotter Mini-5 Binder/Wallet. Believe it or not, this used to be grey leather. Compare the photo shown at the top with the photo below, taken immediately after I purchased it. All of the grey leather products I’ve owned over the years transition to a greyish brown, which may or may not be your preference but I enjoy the patina. This Plotter Mini has gone in my pocket nearly every day, and in addition to serving as my emergency notebook, I use the card holder for my work access pass and a couple of credit cards.

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What’s your most “well-loved” stationery item? I’m interested to hear different stories, as everyone’s daily users vary depending on individual needs and preferences.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party affiliate links or paid advertising.

Pocket Fountain Pens, Part II: Further Reflections on Pocket Carry

Back in January, I wrote a piece in the “Workhorse Pens” series that I had been thinking on for quite some time, titled the “Considerations and Pitfalls of High-Capacity Pocket Fountain Pens.” The specific focus of that article was what I refer to as “pocket ink tanks,” namely high-ink-capacity pocket pens with either a piston, vacuum, or eyedropper filling system. While it can be extraordinarily convenient for those of us who do a lot of writing to carry a full 4ml of ink around in our pocket - and some of these pens do indeed seemingly write forever - there are all sorts of caveats that you need to consider in order to avoid a pocket ink-splosion.

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Yes, pocket pen converters do exist! Kaweco (left) and Sailor (right).

But what about pocket fountain pens that use a standard ink cartridge-converter filling system? Are they any “safer”, and to what extent are they subject to the same risks and considerations as the so-called ink tanks? The short answer is that cartridge-converter pocket pens are fairly low-maintenance and easy to use, but still require some attention in order to ensure an enjoyable writing experience. A few thoughts and observations:

• Because cartridge-converter pens hold less ink, there’s proportionately less risk of a mess, but still a risk of a mess. Trust me, if a fountain pen ink cartridge explodes, it will cause a big mess. (Especially if you put it through the washing machine.) But it’s not 4ml worth of mess, and the ink is doubly contained, both within the cartridge, and then again within the barrel of the pen. If your pocket fountain pen has o-rings set into the cap and barrel threads, you’re even less likely to ruin your bag or clothing provided you’re always careful when uncapping the pen after travel.

• Cartridge-converter pocket pens are less prone to burping and leaking into the cap. Because the ink is held inside the cartridge or converter, which in turn is inside the barrel, it’s more insulated from temperature fluctuations, which can cause “burping” - i.e., what happens when warming ink expands and gets pushed out of the nib and feed. There’s no way to eliminate the risk entirely, especially if you carry a fountain pen in your pants pocket, but I’ve had much less trouble with cartridge-converter pens than those that use the barrel itself as the ink reservoir.

• Be mindful of condensation in the cap and the pen getting jostled around. No matter how careful you are, you can’t outsmart the laws of physics and thermodynamics. If you carry a fountain pen in your pocket, it’s really just a plastic or metal tube of ink that writes via a “controlled leak” through the nib and feed. If the pen gets bumped, or you’re particularly active, a drop or two of ink might leak out into the cap or onto the nib. If the pen warms up in your pocket, you might see some inky condensation on the nib. There’s no avoiding these things, so no matter what kind of pocket fountain pen you are using, use some caution when you uncap it for the first time to avoid getting any stray drops onto your clothes, desk, bag, etc.

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The nib on the Sailor Pro Gear Mini Sapporo - you can see some dried ink that leaked out onto the nib when I was carrying it on my Plotter Mini 5 in my pocket on an airplane. It’s minimal, to be sure, and there was no real mess, but it’s a factor to consider.

A Few Examples of Low-Maintenance Pocket Fountain Pens

I pocket carry fountain pens all the time, both cartridge-converter pens as well as the pocket ink tanks. I generally won’t hesitate to carry any of my more compact fountain pens in my pocket as long as I’m conscious of not doubling up with keys, knives, etc. Of course, the quintessential cartridge-converter pocket fountain pen is the Kaweco Sport, which has a low barrier to entry and ease-of-use, as well as tons of different materials and finishes to choose from. Honestly, if you hear the term “pocket fountain pen,” most people immediately think of the Sport, to the degree that pen has almost become synonymous with the product category.

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Two-toned grey? Sign me up.

It’s not the only option, however. A favorite of mine - though at a higher price point - is the Schon DSGN Pocket 6, which comes in a wild array of finishes, is compatible with Ian Schon’s in-house Monoc Nib, and features durable metal construction (complete with o-rings to protect against leaks). I’ve also had good luck with the Traveler’s Company Brass Fountain Pen, based on a traditional “bullet pencil” design. And of course I recently reviewed the Wingback Fountain Pen.

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So what inspired this article? This past weekend at the Dallas Pen Show, I picked up a Sailor Pro Gear Sapporo Mini from my friends at Vanness Pens, who I was helping at their table. They are the exclusive U.S. retail partner for Japanese stationer Nagasawa, and brought with them a wide range of Nagasawa-exclusive Sailor pens that included this Pro Gear Sapporo Mini in “Mouette” two-toned grey. (“Mouette” is the French word for seagull, and the pen is adorned with a couple of different seagull motifs, including on both the nib and cap finial.) This particular Sapporo Mini came with a smaller Sailor converter (win!), and it clips perfectly to the pen loop on my Plotter Mini 5. I’ve been carrying this pen all week in my pocket alongside the Mini 5, which doubles as my wallet, and so far I’ve had no issues. This version of the Sapporo Mini doesn’t have a threaded end-cap, so it posts easily for quick deployment, likely earning it a key role in the pocket rotation going forward.

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Sailor Sapporo Mini on the Plotter Mini 5, and as you can see, there are no threads on the end cap of this version.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or third-party affiliate links.