Clik here to view.
Sailor Ink Studio 840
Sailor Ink Studio inks have been around for a few years now, but they were restricted to in-store sales and very few stores for quite a while. I've never heard a good reason for that but, fortunately,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taccia Ukiyo-e Hokusai-Sabimidori
This is the first of the Ukiyo-e inspired inks I've tried from Taccia, and it's extremely good. This is an ink whose color is a little difficult to pin down. The when it's wet, it's kind of a cerulean...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Private Reserve's New Daphne Blue
Private Reserve is an ink brand that I'm really familiar with. My first bottles of ink were Private Reserve. They were one of the only ink brands that I could get at the Paradise Pen stores in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Diplomat Deep Green
I've been a fan of Diplomat pens for the last several years. I did my first review on a Diplomat Traveller in December of 2013. It was a fine pen. Then the first Diplomat Aero in 2016. I maaaay have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
St. Louis Pen Show 2021 Ink: KWZ's Meet me in St. Louis "Forest Park Green"
The St. Louis Pen Show has sent me a sample of their show ink to review every year, and it's always been pretty cool. I think this is my favorite one yet. Thanks, Ken! A bright, planty green, Forest...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Energel's New Clothes: The Kuro
I've always liked the EnerGel pens from Pentel. They're very good gel pens, with really good inks. Their most common body style here in the USA are the silver ones in the photo below. They're a really...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How To Pen Show
 One of the things I've been thinking about for a long while is starting a How To series of videos over on my YouTube channel. They'd cover basic things like "What are the parts of a Fountain Pen?" or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ST Dupont Line D Guilloche Large Fountain Pens!
 Confession time: I started this post in May. Somehow I just never hit the "publish" button. These ST Dupont Guilloche pens were sent out for me to review by Coles of London. The short version is that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Esterbrook Aqua & Shimmer Aqua
 Written Review Esterbrook sent out a set of samples of their inks for review, and they'll be coming to the blog now that the inks are available to buy. As far as I know, these aren't limited or...
View ArticleFountain Pen Day Give Away!
I'm happy to be able to give away quite a few things this year for Fountain Pen Day! Prizes will include an Esterbrook JR Paradise pen in ORANGE (I know, I can't believe I'm giving it away, either),...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What I've been using this week! 11-13-2021 Edition
Hi folks! I've never written a post like this before, so you'll have to bear with me while I work out the kinks and get into a flow. I know that lots of bloggers have gotten into a habit of tracking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What I've been using this week! 11-21-2021 Edition
It's week two of this "What I've been using" experiment. The last post got some views, so I guess someone out there likes these. Thanks! Or hates them and reads them, anyway. That's also fine. Enjoy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What I've been using this week! 11-28-2021 Edition
 I didn't keep any good records of the pens I used this week. I know. Bad Mike. It was a busy week, though. The end of the semester is here and I'm swamped. Add to that the upcoming Inkvent videos and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lennon Tool Bar Hobe
My second LTB ink! I really like this one, too, and it's worth checking out for sure. See my video below for all sorts of details, comparisons, and other things! And thanks for subscribing!
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pilot's Tsuwario Blue
Pilot has new inks! Along with, and separate from, the new additions to the Iroshizuku line of inks, Pilot has introduced three new pigmented inks under the "Tsuwario" name. These inks are advertised...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sheaffer Coastal Blue
Sheaffer has recently introduced a new line of inks, and it seems like the Skrip line might have been discontinued. These new inks come in a 30ml glass bottle that includes the inkwell that older Skrip...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sheaffer's Bling: Shimmery Sheaffer?
This new line of Sheaffer ink is pretty great. Bling has a subtle shimmer, but it's certainly there even if you won't always see it. What you'll always see is a really nice grey color. It also works...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Private Reserve Black Cherry (the new formula)
This was one of my first inks. Maybe not the very first, but it was probably one of the first 3, and they were all Private Reserve. When I first got into fountain pens, back in the 90s, there was only...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Laban's Aphrodite
 This is the first Laban ink I used, and it didn't disappoint. I probably wouldn't have bought this ink based on the label color. It looks like it's going to be a soft, inside-of-a-seashell sort of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Robert Oster Pen Chalet Exclusive: Scorpion!
This was an ink that I just knew I HAD to have when I saw it. I like scorpions, I like weird yellow-browns, and I like Robert Oster & Penchalet. So, it was an insta-buy. Sort of. My friend Kimberly...
View Article