Lamy Safari/Vista Nibs

My opinion of my Lamy Vista seems to change from month to month. I was very happy with it when I first got it (read all about it right here), but I've moved on to different and better fountain pens. I bought the Vista with an extra fine nib, but I've grown to dislike it. It's scratchy, it skips quite a bit, and it's not very smooth. Fortunately, one great thing about the Lamy Vista (and Safari) is that the nibs are interchangeable, are rather inexpensive, and are available in several different varieties. For that reason alone, the Lamy is great for experimentation.

So, back to the nibs. I ditched the extra fine nib and replaced it with a fine nib. That worked slightly better, but it still performed poorly compared to most of my other fountain pens (I realize that it may not be fair to compare the Lamy to "better" pens like the Pelikan M205, the Pilot Custom Heritage 91, and the Sailor Professional Gear, but they do serve as valid reference instruments). After suffering with the fine nib for a while, I decided to try a medium nib - it was on sale and hard to resist.

Lamy Vista - Medium Nib

The medium nib writes noticeably wetter and smoother than the fine and extra fine nibs, which is nice. However, the medium still skips from time to time, especially on good paper like Rhodia. It just seems to be really finicky. The aforementioned "better" pens do not skip or stop writing like this at all, so I'm disappointed and ready to call it quits on the Lamy. Well, maybe not giving up on it or throwing it away, but I don't think I'll be buying any more nibs for it.

Lamy Steel Nibs (EF, F, M)

Here are some writing samples that I prepared using the Lamy Vista with the medium nib, on different paper types:

Lamy Medium Nib Sample 1

Lamy Medium Nib Sample 2

Lamy Medium Nib Sample 3

Sample 3 was written on Rhodia Dot Pad paper. This is where most of the skipping and stopping occurs. I guess the Lamy nib does not like to write on super smooth glass-like paper. I suppose I could make this a non-issue by only using the Lamy on "lesser" paper, but then I would have nothing to complain about. What fun is that?

I really wanted to compare all three Lamy nibs side by side, but I didn't want to try hot swapping the nibs with a converter full of ink. Instead, I decided to fabricate a dip pen using cutting edge technologies.

Dip Pen

I would like to say that this setup worked well, but it really sucked. It did, however, enable me to scribble some lines in a very unstable manner for purposes of a side-by-side comparison. The less than impressive results are shown below:

I don't even know if there is a point, take-away, or moral to this story. I guess the TL/DR version is: I've tried three steel nibs from Lamy, and have struck out. I prefer to use my other pens that don't like to hop, skip, and jump so much.

A Tattoo Tribute

I recently wrote about my absolutely bad ass skateboard deck, which was hand painted by Craig Driscoll. That post can be found here. Dealing with Craig got me thinking about a tribute tattoo in honor of my dad. I had the concept and design elements in mind for a long while, but never pulled the trigger or felt that the timing was right. Perhaps the skateboard artwork got me motivated or something, but whatever the case . . . I asked Craig to do the tattoo.

My dad was a draftsman: he worked by hand back in the day and then was forced by the powers that be to transition into CAD. I have very fond memories of going to work with Dad when I was a wee lad and he was still drafting the old school way, with mechanical pencils, triangles, a compass, templates, etc. It was always fun to play with his gigantic Bruning electric rotary eraser; I would draw random pencil marks just so that I could take the Bruning for a spin. That electric eraser became the central design element of my tattoo. I provided some reference photos and Craig started sketching.

I threw out some other "drafting" themed items for Craig to consider, such as mechanical pencils, triangles, a T-square, French curves, etc. Craig decided to keep it simple, so he merely incorporated a couple of French curves into the banner and background design. I also asked Craig to include an orange and/or some orange blossoms into the design; Dad was very proud of his two orange trees that produced the sweetest fruit year after year. He nurtured those trees for as long as I can remember, and they are still standing and bearing fruit to this day. So, yeah, I really wanted the design to include the orange stuff.

Watching Craig complete the sketch was a treat. I wish I could draw like that. Anyway, the completed sketch (shown in the above picture) was used to create the stencil, which in turn was applied to my lower leg. About 90 minutes later, the black line work was completed and we called it a day.

It's a little difficult to read and interpret the black outlines in the absence of any color and shading. If you look closely, there are two French curves lurking in the design, along with an orange slice at the bottom, and a few orange blossoms here and there. The above picture was taken after the tattoo had healed for about a month. The color and shading have since been completed, but the skin is far from healed at the moment. I'll publish another post to show off the finished product as soon as I can!

Green Tea From Japan: Acquired!

It's about 3:00 PM as I write this on a Monday afternoon. I usually drink one or two cups of coffee early in the morning, and Japanese green tea in the afternoon. I'm actually drinking a cup of sencha right now.

I recently received a nice little package from the Japanese tea company known as Hibiki-An. I bought a can of their matcha premium and a bag of their sencha fukamushi premium (shown below).

I've always liked Japanese tea, but never really paid too much attention to it. A few years ago, however, my attitude shifted in the following manner. First, I grew tired of the "fake" green tea bags that you find in variety packs of Tazo, Bigelow, Stash, and other brands of tea. This led me to check out the tea section in my local Japanese market. Wow, so many brands and types to choose from; I eventually decided to try some "real" green tea bags. I somewhat randomly decided to pick up a box of Den's Tea genmaicha tea bags.

Long story short, those tea bags were great. This led me to the Den's Tea website, which in turn introduced me to the deep dark world of Japanese green tea, the different types, the different tea-growing regions, how the tea is grown, harvested, and processed, blah blah blah. Moreover, I learned that it's important to brew Japanese green tea properly, i.e., with the right amount of tea, the appropriate volume of water (at the correct temperature), etc. Of course, this led to the acquisition of tea-brewing items . . .

I keep all of this gear (I prefer to call it "gear" or "equipment" rather than "teaware") in my office and at the ready for my afternoon green tea sessions. Going clockwise and starting at the 12:00 position: an awesome handmade tea cup by the Japanese artist Yamane Seigan; digital scale by Jennings; tea scoop; Tokoname kyusu (i.e., teapot); tea canister. Not shown are my electric water kettle (with digital temperature readout, thank you very much) and my digital timer device, which I don't really use anymore - I use the very cool online E.gg Timer instead. I freely acknowledge that in the real world most of this stuff is optional. That said, it's super important to control the water temperature and tea-to-water ratio, so I consider the scale and kettle to be key components here. I also consider the kyusu to be mandatory for the sake of tradition and to allow easy pouring and straining; it has a built-in ceramic strainer. I guess the canister is important, too. It's best to keep the tea in an airtight container to prevent oxidation. The teacup is totally optional, but it sure looks awesome.

Back to my recent haul . . . "fukamushi" means that the tea is steamed for a longer period of time, relative to standard sencha. This results in smaller pieces of tea, which in turn results in a different flavor profile (a little bolder and stronger, and usually less bitter than regular sencha). Here are two pictures for comparison. On the left is some standard sencha (from the Ippodo tea company). My new Hibiki-An Sencha Fukamushi Premium is on the right.

The differences in color, texture, and particle size are easy to see in these closeup pictures. I still have a little bit of the regular sencha in one of my airtight hermetically sealed canisters, but I'll be breaking out the fukamushi next.

Pen Display Case

Anyone remember that George Carlin skit about finding a place for your stuff? "That's the whole meaning of life, isn't it? Trying to find a place for your stuff." He was talking about houses in that skit. Never mind that; I'm talking about a place for my fountain pens.

I had been keeping my stuff (including a few pens) in my little valet tray. That worked well until my pen collection started to grow to the point where I needed a better storage solution. I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a 250-pen case made of African Blackwood, and I didn't want to make a DIY case out of an old cigar box. So . . . I acquired an affordable and practical item: a 6-pen display case by Royce Leather.

The case is good for what it is. The fit and finish are a little suspect, but the black leather matches my valet tray and the viewing window is made of glass rather than plastic or plexiglass. The pullout drawer and the tray insert are a little flimsy, and the drawer is not supported very well. For example, it's very easy to pull the entire drawer out of its opening (there are no features designed to prevent that from happening). As another example, the drawer tilts downward when it's pulled out too far. That said, the case is very reasonably priced, and the workmanship and quality is on par for the price point. So there.

Royce Leather also makes a larger 12-pen display case; I intentionally obtained the small 6-pen size in a feeble attempt to limit my pen purchases. The following pictures show the case loaded with six writing instruments: Pilot 78G; Sailor Pro Gear; Pilot Custom Heritage 91; Lamy Vista; Baoer 388; and Pelikan M205.

Nit Pick Alert!

I've noticed that the pens tend to slip and slide within the tray slots whenever the drawer is pulled in or out. Oh well, that's inherent in the design and it cannot be helped. Maybe that's why many display cases have hinged lids. Another minor annoyance is that large diameter pens may not fit inside this case. For example, my son's Dragon Pen doesn't fit unless I carefully position it and consult my Expert Dexterity manual before attempting to slide the drawer in.

Do Not Enter

Don't let my nit picky criticisms influence your opinion of the Royce Leather display case too much. I like the case and feel that my money was well spent. I've found a good place for my stuff fountain pens.

New Phone = EDC Nightmare!

I consider myself to be a person who likes to keep up with new technology, gadgets, and electronic equipment. That said, I had been using an ancient Motorola flip phone for ages because it worked great, it held a charge for a week, and I rarely NEEDED anything other than basic voice service and basic text messaging. Don't misunderstand, I had always WANTED a modern smartphone, but I hated (and still hate) the pricing schemes that are forced down customers' throats.

Anyway, for a number of reasons I finally had to upgrade. I chose the Droid Mini by Motorola, and I'm happy with the decision even though I have nothing as a baseline for comparison. Here's a picture of the phone:

Droid Mini

Even though this phone is relatively compact (about the same size as the ubiquitous iPhone), it has created an issue for my usual EDC scheme. My typical EDC loadout includes: wallet; phone; keys; knife; flashlight; compact pen; and pocket notebook. I had a good, dependable, and well-thought pocket assignment back in the good old pre-smartphone days. Wallet in one back pocket, notebook in the other back pocket, keys in a front pocket or hanging from a belt loop, knife in the right front pocket (tip-up carry of course; tip-down is for losers), flashlight in the left front pocket, and the pen in the coin pocket (or wherever if I'm not wearing jeans). This worked well for me, regardless of the size of the knife (within reason) carried, regardless of the size of the flashlight (again, within reason) carried, and regardless of the particular pair of pants/shorts worn that day.

That leaves the phone. When life was simple and phones were tiny, I carried my phone in a belt holster. Dork accessory? Useful and convenient? Geek flair? Yes; all of the above. My belt-carried phone meant that it was always at the ready, quick to access and deploy, and easy to hear. Plus, I mastered the one-handed action of unholstering, flipping, and answering the phone. Seriously - ring to talk within milliseconds.

The Droid Mini is small, but nobody in their right mind would hang it from their belt. I don't use a man purse and I rarely use a briefcase or messenger bag. Consequently, I had to rethink my tried and true EDC scheme to accommodate my new phone.

Everyday Confusion

Take a look at the above picture. It doesn't look like much, but it is. The main issue is that I really want the phone to have its own pocket that will usually be void of keys, coins, and other objects that could damage or scratch the screen. Moreover, I don't like keeping it in my back pocket because I don't want to lose it or sit on it and break it. I could probably keep it in my left front pocket along with the pen or a small flashlight, but there's no way I'd be able to pocket both the phone and a larger flashlight or knife.

Now I'm thinking about ditching the pen and the notebook altogether. I don't use them that often, and the phone can be used in an emergency to dictate or write down important notes (e.g., "buy new flashlight" or "research blue-gray fountain pen ink"). That would definitely lighten and simplify my EDC load. I could streamline things down to the bare essentials: wallet + phone + keys + knife + light = no fun. As an alternative, I could stop carrying my "large" lights and knives and limit myself to AAA lights and blades that are less than 2.5 inches long. As an extreme measure, I could drop the flashlight from my EDC set and rely on an Android flashlight app instead. I don't think they have a Spyderco knife app, so I'll keep carrying mine, thank you very much.

You know, as of this writing I'm still within the 30-day return period of the Droid Mini. It's not too late to make a U-turn and re-holster my flip phone.

Fountain Pen! Sailor Professional Gear (Matte Black)

Several months ago I wrote a three-part saga that eventually led to the acquisition of the most buttery smooth, awesome-laden writing instrument in my collection: the Sailor Professional Gear (matte black body with silver trim; 21 karat gold, two-tone rhodium plated nib; medium size). The backstory can be found here: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.

The backstory is nice, but what about the pen itself? First of all, the Japanese are really into the presentation aspects of their products. The pen arrived in a hermetically sealed plastic bag, which was secured within a hinged box (along with a couple of black ink cartridges, an ink converter, and unintelligible instructions written in Japanese).

Note that the hinged box shown in the picture was wrapped in tissue paper and surrounded by a nice cardboard box. It really made for a dramatic unboxing experience, and the tissue paper was effective at wiping away the tears of joy. Seriously; just look at the thing:

The silver colored trim really works with the flat black color of the body. It doesn't look too aristocratic, and it doesn't look cheesy or old-fashioned to my eyes. The thick silver band is inscribed with "Sailor Japan Founded 1911" (it's a subtle detail that is easy to miss). The clip and barrel rings are also silver colored. The body and cap are made of resin, and I like the matte black finish because it reminds me of a rat rod and it does a good job at hiding fingerprints. I'm very happy with my decision to get this finish rather than the standard "gloss" black.

The next picture shows Sailor's standard anchor logo atop the cap. The emblem is gold/brass colored, which goes against the silver trimmed theme of the pen. It's a minor aspect that doesn't really bother me (too much).

Sailor is well known for its nibs, and the reputation is deserving. The bi-colored nib is really nice to look at, and it writes as good as it looks. The gold highlights and design details on the nib are very impressive, too. The nib says "H-M" on it, and I assume that stands for "Hello Mate" or "Happy Monday" (LOL, some experts think it means "Hard Medium"). See for yourself here:

The build quality and fit and finish of this pen are top notch. It is not a very heavy pen (it weighs about 23.3 grams with the cap on and the ink cartridge almost full), yet it feels sturdy and solid in the hand. There is a thin o-ring seal between the body and the nib section to provide a stable seal after filling the converter or replacing the cartridge. There is also some type of compliant seal inside of the cap; I can feel something compressing when I twist the cap onto the body. I assume this keeps the nib from drying out.

The Pro Gear may be a little short for some people to use unposted. Although I usually post the cap, it's totally comfortable and easy to use unposted. Here's a nice picture of the pen uncapped, with absolutely no scale or object for use as a sizing reference. Sorry.

Writing with the Pro Gear is a treat. The nib is noticeably smoother than most if not all of my other fountain pens, the medium size is nearly perfect for me, it always starts right up, and it hasn't skipped or stopped writing on me yet. Maybe I got lucky, but this pen worked perfectly out of the box, and I wouldn't change anything about the nib.

I'll end this post with a writing sample on Rhodia paper. It was written using the black ink cartridge that came with the pen (Sailor's black ink is a nice, deep, and uniform black). I'm currently using the converter (by the way, the converter is pretty handsome too . . . the silver trim on the converter blends well with the silver accents on the pen) filled with Diamine Eclipse ink. The Diamine ink also performs very well with this pen.

I'm glad that my torturous pre-purchase routines and thought processes resulted in a stellar writing instrument and zero buyer's remorse. I can highly recommend this pen without any reservations. Go get one!

The Daily Rant: Cheap Umbrellas

I haven't written much lately because I'm buried at work and am busy with summer vacation activities. Speaking of which, I recently returned from a vacation in a rainy climate. Rain is really annoying when you are not fully prepared for it, i.e., all you have (for your family to share) is a cheap and already-broken portable umbrella. You know, the type that bends, breaks, and tears immediately after purchase. We had a pink one that was an embarrassment. It really sucked.

As luck would have it, crappy, fragile, cheap, and unruly umbrellas are readily available in wet tourist spots and rain forest souvenir shops. We copped a pair of them and were feeling good about ourselves. For a very short while. Forty minutes to be exact. That is how long it took for Cheap Umbrella 1 to break.

Our original pink nightmare was tossed before Cheap Umbrella 1 failed, leaving us with only Cheap Umbrella 2 for protection. Thankfully, that one held up until our last rain-soaked day. Unfortunately, my kid left Cheap Umbrella 2 in the hotel lobby, and it was long gone before we realized it. So . . . we returned home umbrellaless.

This is how my quest for a new "high quality" umbrella began. I spent a fair amount of time researching a number of offerings, such as the various models from Shedrain, the stylistic and spendy options from Davek, the high tech innovations from Blunt, etc. Truth be told, I feel that any umbrella, regardless of cost, style, and technology, will eventually break, get lost, or fail. I haven't pulled the trigger on anything just yet, and I'm not sure if I will. Are there are any umbrella experts reading this post? If so, I welcome your suggestions!

Baoer 388 Fountain Pen

I was on a family vacation a few months ago and, as luck would have it, there was a fountain pen proprietor relatively close to where we were staying. I decided to go "souvenir" shopping with my son, and for some odd reason my Garmin navigation system guided me right to the pen shop's doorstep.

I was able to resist the urge to buy another pen for myself, but I caved when my son asked me to buy him something as a souvenir. I gave him an allowance of only ten bucks and was surprised when he actually found a decent fountain pen for only nine dollars:

Baoer 388

The pen looks somewhat pleasing to the eye, and it has a body that is made of metal. The pen was not offered in different nib sizes, so I assume that it has a medium nib on it. It came with a converter, and it accepts standard international ink cartridges. The pen feels pretty solid in the hand, and it weighed in at about 25.2 grams with the converter inked up.

The nib performs in a satisfactory manner. It's not the best nib I've written with, but it's certainly not the worst. It has decent flow and writes smoothly most of the time. I have experienced some skipping incidents, but nothing out of the ordinary for a cheap pen.

My kid likes the converter and the gold tinted nib of the Baoer 388. I think its a great pen for him because I won't lose any sleep if he breaks it, trades it for a Pokémon card, or loses it. That said, he may be over this pen already because I recently overheard him saying: "I wish I had a GOOD fountain pen, like one of yours."

Anyhow, my takeaway is this: the Baoer 388 is a decent choice for a beginner fountain pen. It's a "real" fountain pen with a converter, and it's compatible with standard ink cartridges, which makes it convenient. I would still recommend the Pilot 78G as a first option (I think the 78G writes better), but the Baoer 388 is a nice alternative.

59Fifty Baseball Caps? Yes.

59Fifty refers to the flagship baseball cap model by the company New Era. 59Fifty caps are old school in that they are fitted according to skull size. New Era has been making caps since 1920, and the 59Fifty model has been around for almost 60 years. The 59Fifty is the official on-field baseball cap worn by Major League Baseball players (it is also the official sideline cap worn by NFL players).

Wait, there is a backstory here. First, I am almost positive that I owned a 59Fifty cap many years ago without actually realizing it at the time. I recall owning a fitted cap back in the day - size 7 1/8 - but don't remember the design, team, or style. I assume that it was a New Era 59Fifty, which has been the most popular fitted cap for ages.

More backstory: I used to have a collection of NBA team caps, but they were not made by New Era. They were adjustable caps (aka "snapback" caps), and I had one for every team. I rarely wore those hats, and eventually got rid of them. So, caps and I have a little bit of history . . . but I've never really been interested in 59Fifty caps per se. Until recently. Seriously, there is a lot to learn about these caps! This is fascinating stuff, and could be the beginning of a new acquisition disorder around these parts.

OK, so the frontstory goes like this: I was at the mall recently and saw a kiosk selling a bunch of caps. At the time, I was looking for a Lakers cap (even though the NBA season is over and the Lakers suck these days). I wasn't looking for a 59Fifty cap in particular, I just wanted anything that fit. I tried on a few and ultimately settled on this one:

The salesperson (she was very persuasive) convinced me to buy a cap for my son, too. He wanted a Detroit Tigers cap and we found one that fit him fairly well. We didn't know it at the time of acquisition, but the Tigers cap is an authentic and official on-field 59Fifty cap:

The return policy of the kiosk said something like: "OK to exchange within a week, but don't wear it, don't bend the bill, and keep it in as-new condition. In fact, don't even look at it." So I told my son to keep the stickers on his cap until he was certain that it fit well and he wanted it as a keeper. At this point, the sight of my kid rockin' his new cap with the stickers on them made me wonder why many people (young and old) wear baseball caps without removing the tags and stickers. I was also curious about the "flat bill" phenomena (see golfer Rickie Fowler) that has really caught on.

It didn't take much online research for me to realize that there is a baseball cap subculture (which includes baseball fans, hat collectors, 59Fifty collectors, etc.). I found a New Era fan forum, and several baseball cap blogs such as this one. I now know that there are certain techniques and protocols related to breaking in a cap, shrinking a cap, stretching a cap that is too snug, altering the shape of the crown, restoring the shape of a cap, brushing the silky smooth fabric of a cap, storing caps, etc. I've also seen videos, forum posts, and articles related to Sticker Syndrome and, to be honest, it all seems quite silly to me. The only rationale that makes a little sense to me is this one: "leave the hologram sticker under the bill of the cap because it proves authenticity if you are ever questioned by Squad 59Fifty of the New Era Police Department."

Authentic 59Fifty!

You can see a portion of the hologram sticker on the bill of my son's Detroit Tigers cap above. He removed it (along with all of the other stickers) after about a week. As the above picture shows, an authentic 59Fifty cap includes a lot of branding and labels on the inside; consequently, stickers are not really necessary as evidence of authenticity. Personally, I don't really care if a person wants to keep one or more stickers or tags on his/her cap. It's a free country, and it's not my cap, so why should it matter?

It matters because it's funny, that's why. Just ask Key & Peele: Dueling Hats (if that link is dead, Google it!).

Nomadic PE-09 Pencil Case

Nomadic: (1) of, relating to, or characteristic of nomads; (2) roaming about from place to place aimlessly, frequently, or without a fixed pattern of movement; (3) a Japanese (of course) company that makes pen cases, bags, backpacks, pencil cases, and more pen cases.

I've already written about the Nomadic PE-06 case that I got for my son. The PE-06 is a nice case, although it's rather small. My daughter has a much larger collection of pens and pencils, she NEEDED a new case to hold all of them, and she had me at "I want . . ." Of course, one thing led to another, which led to the Nomadic PE-09 Pencil Case. I acquired the navy blue version, which has a bright orange interior.

The Flap

Sorry about that crappy picture. Anyway, the PE-09 is huge - it has a large main compartment that is accessible via the main zipper on the top, a Velcro-affixed flap with a zippered pocket (shown in the picture above), and additional pouches and interior mesh pockets. The main compartment is basically a large interior volume with a little mesh pocket that is suitable for an eraser, a piece of candy, or a lucky bottlecap. I estimate that at least 30 standard sized pens/pencils could fit in the main pocket. Take a look:

Main Pocket

The zippered flap pouch is held in place with a couple of pieces of Velcro that make a lot of noise when the flap is released. This may be an issue if your goal is to extract that super special pen or pencil in a stealthy and inconspicuous manner. The next picture shows the "secret" pocket that is hidden behind the flap. Here you will find more storage space, and some mesh liners that are sure to please anal retentive organization freaks.

Hidden Pocket

I like all the pockets and stash spots in the PE-09 case. I don't like the noisy Velcro, but I can live with it. Another feature (or flaw) that I don't particularly like is the way that the main compartment remains accessible even though the zipper is closed. It's hard to describe: the primary zipper seals the top of the compartment, but leaves gaps on the two sides. These gaps are large enough to allow pens and pencils to slide out of the compartment, which may occur during extreme stationery competitions or simply as a result of tossing the case into a backpack. I admit that the likelihood of actually losing something is rather low, but still. Check out Exhibit A:

Pen Exit Hole

To be honest, my daughter loves this case, and it works great for her. I don't think she's lost anything yet, which means that I'm probably griping about a non-defective feature.

OK, so I'm not 100% satisfied with this particular Nomadic case (I'm glad that it's not mine). That said, Nomadic makes a bunch of other cases that are worth looking into if you are in the market for one.