Weekly Loadout Submission – Tim W. Of The Writing Arsenal

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Tim W. of The Writing Arsenal‘s Loadout

Tim’s Description:

Pocket Carry:

Lately I’ve been carrying a Davis Leatherworks Simple Cover modified with an extra band up the spine. Inside, I have one plain Field Notes and one ruled Moleskine Cahier. I use the Field Notes for my general “brain dump”. The Moleskine is where I’m working on a current short story. I only use pencils in my pocket notebooks, so I carry a pencil (like this Blackwing 602) that has been worn down short enough to fit in my pocket. This system has been working like a charm so far.

Pens / Pencils:

1. Kaweco AL-Sport (F nib) with Noodler’s Bulletproof Black: If I carry a fountain pen out on the town, and am not carrying my bag, this is usually the one I go with. It’s a tank and I’m not scared of hurting it.

2. Lamy AL-Star Purple (M nib) with Diamine Syrah: I’ve said it many times. This is the most striking pen I own. It’s simple, but the tone of the purple and the steel clip gets me every time. The Syrah is a wine color, so it complements the pen perfectly. I’m not usually one for matching a pen’s color to an ink, but I can’t deny this combo is a home run.

3. TWSBI Diamond 580 (M nib) with Diamine Red Dragon: At my desk, this is the pen I use more than any other. The medium nib is just right, and it’s behaved well with every ink I’ve thrown its way. The Red Dragon is a new favorite of mine too. I’m a sucker for deep, warm colors.

4. Lamy AL-Star LE Black (F nib) with J. Herbin Terre de Feu: This combo happened on accident. I’d been underwhelmed by the Terre de Feu since the bottle arrived in the mail. As soon as I got it, I realized it was too watery for my taste. But, I like to use fountain pens to grade papers at school, and when I gave this one a shot on the cheap paper we use in our copy machines, it looked great! It’s now my official grading pen/ink.

5. TWSBI Diamond 580 (1.1 stub nib) with Diamine Ancient Copper: Can’t say enough about this ink. The shading is amazing and it quickly became my favorite ink in this stub nib (and maybe my favorite ink overall). Lately, this has been my primary pen for letter writing.

6. Pilot Metropolitan (M stub nib from Plumix) with Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium: I’m still playing around with this pen. Before the Plumix nib, I had the stock nib with Kon-Peki and it was amazing. But, the Kon-Peki sample ran out and I wanted to test the stub, so I did surgery. This combo looks great, but I haven’t found myself reaching for it too often because the stub seems to write dry. I’ll likely switch the nibs back.

7. Dixon Ticonderoga Laddie: I recently reviewed this pencil, and it’s become my desk pencil for journaling. To broad for quick notes in a Field Notes, but perfect for my big cursive handwriting.

8. Palomino Blackwing 602: The rock star of the pencil world. Half the pressure, and twice-ish the speed. I’ve married this pencil to my pocket notebooks. Makes me feel like Nabokov, writing stories with a Blackwing on his index cards.

9. Palomino Blackwing Pearl: The Pearl is a great middle ground between the Blackwing and the 602. This is another journaling pencil for me. Really, this is my go to pencil out of the three pictured. I can carry it in my Nock Co. Brasstown, put it in my Dudek Modern Goods Groove, and use it for any type of writing. It writes darker than the 602, but doesn’t wear down as quickly as you’d expect.

Favorite Combo:

Tell us what your favorite combo(s) were for the week!: Tough call between the TWSBIs. I’ve been writing lots of letters for InCoWriMo, so I’ve been able to enjoy the stub nib and Ancient Copper a lot. But, the Red Dragon has really been wooing me since I loaded it into the M nib, which is my workhorse pen. If I’m choosing one, the 1.1 stub with Diamine Ancient Copper gets the KO…

Least Favorite Combo:

Pilot Metropolitan with the Plumix nib. The Metropolitan’s stock nib felt way better than this one. I’ll probably switch it back soon and put the stub nib back on the Plumix. All will be well again.

Editor’s Note:

Thank you for submitting, Tim! I still can’t get into pencils myself, especially those of the wooden variety. You have some real nice stuff here with all of your bases covered. I haven’t tried the Plumix nib, only the Penmanship’s EF which was actually quite nice.

You can find Tim blogging over at The Writing Arsenal, or talking about pencils on The Erasable Podcast!

 

Thanks for sharing!

If you would like to submit your Weekly Loadout of pens, ink, and paper, please share by clicking here and filling out the form!