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.

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.