Piston-happy and chugging along
I turn to large capacity pens when my work load grows extensive. A deep well of ink in-hand is comforting, especially as my mental energy dwindles amongst balancing multiple simultaneous tasks. A comfort arising from shifting the immediacy of tracking ink levels to next week.
Thou shall not run out of ink whilst feeling strapped for time.
So: four piston filler pens this week. Four of six. Two-thirds of my currently inked kit. Each paired to a dark ink color to ensure a wide range of uses, from somber administrative meetings to personal journaling to creative drafting.
That all sounds a tad staid, so five of the week’s nibs are ground — counter-posing the strait-laced color palette with the sass of line variation. Two hybrid grinds with EF on one side (the TWSBI 580 and Franklin-Christoph). An EF “cutlass” which lends flair to the Nahvalur’s dark-green accent-work. And two generous F italics for the fun flair they lend to my scribbling.
Chugging along with a piston’s purpose.
Grey/Black
TWSBI 580-ALR Prussian Blue (Predator Hybrid EF/M, by Nib Grinder). Diamine Sparkling Shadows. I’m rolling into a third week with this pairing as my daily driver. Sparkling Shadows certainly sparkles, and writes clog-free all day after a morning flossing. The Predator’s EF makes hairline black-grey lines — excellent color for task management and primary meeting notes.
Blue/Teal
Pelikan m805 Souverän Demonstrator (F CI, by Custom Nib Studio). Taccia Ukiyo-e Hiroshige-Ainezu. Ainezu shades wonderfully between a true blue-black and a blue-grey. The stormy coloring serves well through serious meetings, straightforward brainstorms, and longform analytic journaling.
Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Black (SF). Diamine Celadon Cat. The 912’s black-and-silver suits serious meetings with students and their parents. Celadon also contrasts Shadows well, keeping an easy separation between the 580’s prepared notes and the Celadon’s in-situ scrawling. Accenting meeting notes and reading notes.
Earth Tones
Nahvalur Nautilus Primary Macchiato (Mini Cutlass, by All in the Nib). Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide. I accepting a gift full of Atlantide from my partner. A forest green with sprightly gold shimmer. The Cutlass writes wetly enough to accommodate quick note taking and slow, deliberate writing strokes. Excellent for targeted analytical tasks: reading notes, lecture notes, and teaching reflections.
Wild Cards
TWSBI Vac700R Iris (F CSI, by Pen Realm). Taccia Ukiyo-e Ume-Murasaki. Murasaki enjoys life in TWSBI’s Vac. The pair writes wet enough to remain smooth and dry enough to shade noticeably, even in the narrow F nib. Needle threaded. Murasaki’s purple-red is excellent for marking student papers, editing manuscripts, and for detailed reading notes. And the comfortable section is great for short form creative writing.
Franklin-Christoph 03 Ghost (Utility EF/B, by Monty Winnfield). Colorverse Pioneer Container. The 03 is a master class in extremes. Sharp threads at the bottom of the section force a mental reset after short bursts of writing. The crisp Utility grind gives me both detailed EF lines and generous B strokes for a wide variety of notetaking. The light combo makes for comfortable meeting notes and D&D notes.
