This pencil have gone by a few names over the years. For a long time the official name was just the “Blackwing”. Usually called the MMX by pencil geeks. Recently it was renamed to the “Matte”, Fucking dumb name but it works.

This is the original Palomino Blackwing and the one with the softest core.

It is a beautiful black pencil with gold text and ferrule.

For how I use pencils this isn’t a great one. It is too soft to be useful for any kind of writing. But I think it is fun to use a few of them every now and then.

But it feels great to write with.

At work I usually just write down notes either while working or in meetings. Never filling multiple pages at once. In that pace I don’t mind switching or sharpening pencils a lot. But this one is too much.

And for writing long form, I could sharpen a full 12 pack of these bad boys at both ends and end up using all 12 of them before I had written a single blog post.

With my preferences I can probably get through half of a A5 page before it is too dull for me.

This is the regular converter you can use in most of the Pilot fountain pens.

I think it is terrible. It replaced the CON-20, that was almost as bad as this one.

My problem with it is that if you want to fill it more than like half, you need to syringe fill it. And even when full it doens’t hold that much ink.

I also think that a lot of the Pilot pens that use it could without any problems have been altered for something larger.

All of us pen geeks carry multiple pens anyways. But I really wish

This is one of the larger converters that Pilot makes. And while the filling system sucks, it can hold a lot of ink if you syringe fill it.

But when I tried to fill it with the push vaccum mechanism I could never get a decent fill .

It is a little bit weird, but it is the thing I wish Pilot used in all of their pens, simply because it can hold enough ink for it to not be a problem for most people.

There are a few versions of the Pilot Falcon. I had the one with a metal barrel.

I’m not sure how, but the nib got pent really bad at some point, so I no longer have it. I do plan on getting another one when I get around to it.

The nib on this pen is not a proper flex nib, but it is long and flexible. And I had a lot of fun using it. Not the most practical pen if you plan on writing a lot. But I always enjoyed having it with me to use for writing titles and stuff like that.

The design of the pen was very much meh. Like a lot of Pilot pens.

The version of this pen I had came with the larger CON-70 converter. That in contrast to the CON-40 holds TONS of ink and is awesome. As long as you fill it with a syringe and don’t use the weird push filling system.

I only recommend this pen for people that understand what it is. But if you want something weird to make weird large shapes with weird inks this can be a lot of fun.

The Pilot Vanishing Point is a pen I kind of knew I would not love, but kind of got it anyways because it is one of those pens everyone should experience.

It is really weird with a retractable fountain pen, and for some stuff it is really awesome. Especially when you for example write in public place like a train or somewhere you might have to get up fast. And don’t want yet another thing to remember.

It could also have been awesome for taking quick notes, like in the office or what ever. But this doesn’t really work for me with this pen because in the time it would take it to start, I could have uncapped my Lamy 2000 or my TWSBI Eco in less time. And for this reason I usually just use a pencil for this.

This pen is not for everyone, for obvious reasons.

• The placement of the clip makes it unusable for a lot of people
  
• It is simply to thick for a lot of people to write with it comfortably
  
• It looks like shit
  
• The CON-40 converter doesn’t have enough capacity to make it a good option for a one pen all day option. I tried this multiple times (with my Lamy 2000 as a backup) at the end of my student days. And it never lasted me to lunch.
  
• It’s a slow starter

There are also a lot of good things about it

• This is one of very few areas where Pilot actually are creative and makes interesting designs
  
• It is retractable
  
• You can get replacement nib units for it
  
• It writes very well once it gets started

It is an interesting pen, but in no way a favourite of mine. And I don’t really recommend anyone to get it. There are much better stuff to get for the same money.

To be honest, I get more joy out of my TWSBI Eco with a stub than this.

This is the stuff I use as of July 2021.

Notebooks:

• Leuchtturm1917 A5 hardcover: Lined and dotgrid
  
• Leuchtturm1917 A5 5 year journal

Not using that many notebooks during COVID.

Pens and inks:

• Lamy 2000: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai
  
• TWSBI Eco Broad: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai
  
• TWSBI Eco Stub: J. Herbin - 1798 Collection Améthyste de l’Oural
  
• Pilot Vanishing Point: Pilot Iroshizuku Kosu-Mosu
  
• Ystudio Brassing: Pilot Iroshizuku Kosu-Mosu
  
• Franklin Christoph Pocket 66: Pilot Iroshizuku Kosu-Mosu

To answer this I’ll start with what I don’t like.

• Scratchy nibs
  
• A very thin line

In the past I have been more into medium and broad nibs. These days I prefer a stub or anything that makes my wrting be varied and look more interesting. But I have also noticed that my writing works better with finer nibs. So where I’m in the past was a borad and medium guy, I’ll probably do more fine and medium in the future.

To be honest I think everyone start out with “I like this type of nib” and then at some point they move away from that and instead focus on what attributes they like or dislike.

For a very long time I had to order everything I wanted from either UK or US stores. So ever since I discovered Tudos.no I have bought what I could from them.

There are a number of reasons why I chose to do this:

• Having it available from a Norwegian store makes this stuff more accessible and more popular
  
• I save a lot in customs and shipping
  
• Much faster delivery most of the time

Some stuff are more expensive. But usually not by that much if I include shipping and customs.

If something isn’t available from them, I usually look for it in this order:

• Goulet Pens
  
• JetPens

For pencil stuff, I usually start in this order, and look at JetPens if neither of them have it.

• CW Pencils
  
• Pencils.com

But if something isn’t available at Tudos but I can get it directly like from Nock Co or Field Notes I get it direct.

Unlike the first fountain pen where I think it is very difficult to find the perfect pen, I think we have the perfect option for your second pen.

This is for anyone who have had a fountain pen and decided that they like it.

The perfect second pen is the TWSBI Eco. There are a bunch of standard color options, plus more limited editions a few times a year. They have a standard nib line up from EF to 1.1 stub.

Of my current 5 pens in use, two of them are Eco’s. It’s kind of weird having pens I paid like $30 for among a bunch of $150-$200 pens.