My opinions on page layouts have changed a lot over the years. Probably as much as my use of notebooks have changed.

I’m not going to cover anything beyond the very basics here:

• Grid
  
• Lined
  
• Dot
  
• Blank

Before I cared I used lined. Then I got into blank, and used that for a very long time.

I think there are some valid uses for all of the layouts. But for what I need there are two superiour layouts, one acceptable substittute and one useless.

If I’m going to write I’m using lined. And for notes I prefer dotgrid or blank if dot grid isn’t available. And I have no use for regular grids.

This is my favourite portable sharpener. It is this tiny brass sylinder shaped thing with a blade. It gives a very long point that is perfectly sharp. Sharper than the masterpiece but not so sharp it just breaks when it touches the page.

I use this one a lot. In some periods I prefer my Classroom Friendly, and in periods I prefer this. Kind of depends on my mood.

This is my favourite sharpener, if I look beyond the sharpening results though. It is such a lovely object. It looks really awesome, and it has this heavy solid feel in your hand.

I would love to recommend this as a “if you want a portable sharpener get this”, but I can’t. It is really fussy about the integrity of the pencil core and breaks the point way easier than anything else. Plus that it can be a real pain in the ass to get broken points out of it.

It is my favourite, and it could be yours too. Just be aware that it will be awesome but also break a lot of points if you drop your pencils.

Not really that new at this point, but it is newer than the Ystudio. I finally got around to nagging Brad Dowdy about the size of the nib in it. And changing it to something more of my taste than the stock gold colored steel nib.

I went to Franklin Crisoph and got a 1.4 steel stub nib. The size of nib is a #5.

I’m very happy with it. Might also get more nibs from them for this pen. The only thing I have noticed is that the feed struggles a little to keep up if i drag it across the page to just waste ink. But nothing to complain about during real writing.

This pencil was what everyone was waiting for. From the time I got into pencils everyone was talking about that Blackwing should make a pencil with the extra firm core they had put in some of their limited edition volumes.

This is the firmest of the Blackwing pencils. It is smooth like a Blackwing but firmer, making it a really great pencil to write long form with.

It is as the name says a Natural wood pencil, with gold text and ferrule.

I think the design of it is boring, but it looks okay. Much better than the terrible 602 design.

The extra firm core in this pencil is the only Blackwing Core that I enjoy writing long form with. Not something I use pencils for a lot.

If I am buying a standard edition Blackwing I usually pick this or the Pearl.

The Dash/Plus System is a very simple system made by Patrick Rhone to annotate notes and tasks on paper. Kind of similar to the symbols used in Bullet Journaling. But this came way before that.

I think I started using it in 2011 or 2012.

The Blackwing 602 featrures a grey body and gold text and ferrule. It comes with the firm core, this used to be the firmest core available as a standard edition pencil when I first got into pencils.

What I have heard is that this is the pencil that is the closest to the original Blackwing pencil.

I think it is a really enjoyable core for writing. I don’t like it as much for not taking. But that is mostly because I like sharpening pencils.

Anyways.

I can probably get 2-3 pages of A5 long form writing done with this pen before it is too dull for my taste.

I really hate the looks of this pencil. I think the grey is terrible. But if I had to use a single pencil for everything this would be my choice. But if I only can pick from the standard edition selection I would in all cases buy a box of Pearl’s and a box of Naturals instead of this one because of how much I hate the design.

The Blacking Pearl is the white Blackwing. I like this one a lot. It features a very soft but yet harder than the “Matte”. Also called the “Balanced core”. It features a white body with gold text and ferrule.

I think it is the best looking of the standard Blackwings.

This is my favourite notetaking pencil. It is soft and awesome, but not so much that it is this constant re-sharpening loop I find myself with the the Matte.

For long form writing on the other hand I do not like it at all. It is just too much sharpening for my taste. I guess I can get like 2 A5 page of long form writing before it is too dull for me.

The reason I have different preferences for taking notes versus writing is that I like sharpening pencils. But I do not like it to come in the way of the thing I’m doing.

I ordered this pen after Brad Dowdy kept talking about it from time to time on The Pen Addict podcast. And I finally checked it out and loved the idea of it. So I ordered.

It was at the time the most expensive steel nib fountain pen I had ordered. The price at the time was $150, more or less the same as I paid for my Lamy 2000 and Pilot Vanishing Point.

I got the black model with a medium nib. The nib is a little bit too fine and scratchy for my taste. But it is perfectly fine. I’ve had on my list to get a different nib for it. But haven’t gotten around to it.

I love this pen. It is this heavy piece of brass. It came in this fancy box, that I threw away immediately because I hate that shit. But it also had some sand paper in the box if you want to speed up the process of making it look used. I didn’t use it. But being in a pocket with keys and coins have worn it down quite nicely over the last 2-3 years.

It was my go to pocket pen before COVID. I haven’t really had a pocket pen since then. But as things get more back to normal I’m quite sure it will find its way back to being my pocket pen.

I love how this pen feels to write with. Both how solid and heavy it feels, but also how it warms as you write with it.

I think it is fair to say that I have used everything between the Field Notes pocket size and A4 over the years.

When I was a student I loved the A4 size, because I wrote notes all day either in lectures or while reading.

These days, I use two sizes: A5 and pocket sized.

All the different sizes have their own strengths and weaknesses. And the only way to figure out what works for you is to experiment. I did that for close to 10 years and I ended up with the two things that works the best for me.

Both of my notebook sizes of choice has emphasis on portability. This is because I do end up bringing them places a lot. All my A5 notebooks are hardcover. This is because it makes them more versatile and easier to write on places without a desk. I have three of them: one lined for writing, a dot grid for notes and lists and a 5 year journal.

And I also have a Field Notes in a Bellroy cover for when I need something very light and portable. This is what I typically bring when I’m hiking or either have a small bag or no bag at all.

I have tested out both hardcover pocket notebooks and softcover ones, and I ended up on softcover. They are less practical because it is much harder to write on without a desk or table. However the pocket sized format is very flawed and the key attribute I look for in them is being portable. And softcover notebooks are thinner and more portable. Therefore I consider softcover to be the better option.