Quo Vadis Habana notebook

The 9.5" by 6.25" Habana along with a nifty
Quo Vadis bookmark that I picked up from Goulet Pens.

This is a review of a well-constructed, fountain pen friendly notebook called the "Habana", by Quo Vadis.  The Habana notebook hasn't always looked the same.  There have been at least three different iterations of the Habana notebook through somewhat recent history, and I'm lucky enough to have examples of the latest two versions.  In this review, I'll focus on the current version, which uses 85g ivory-colored Clairefontaine paper.  Clairefontaine paper is widely considered some of the best in the world (although opinions may vary) and in my experience it is an absolute pleasure to use with a fountain pen.  In the current version of the Habana, configurations are available with two ruling options (none or tight), three sizes (A4, A5, A6), and a variety of several rainbow-like cover colors.  The Habana is a direct competitor to products such as the Rhodia Webnotebook and Leuchtterm 1917, but I have not used either of those so I can't offer any comparisons.

Pendleton Butter Stub review

I've been happily using an old school TWSBI 540 for about two years now.  This isn't any ordinary TWSBI, though.  This one is armed with an "Elegant Butter Line Stub" nib (hereafter referred to as "BLS"), created by the nibmeister Pendleton Brown.  The BLS nib started its life as a steel TWSBI nib, size B, I can't remember if it was a "Bock" or a "Jowo", nor do I much care for such distinctions, since I'm mostly concerned with function.  And since being transformed by Pendleton Brown, the TWSBI /BLS oozes function.

2012 era TWSBI 540, originally with Broad nib, but
now with a  Pendleton Brown Butter Line Stub

Franklin Christoph pen case review

I have a problem.  Not a problem that I need a 12-step program for, but one that does affect my life negatively.  My problem is that I am always losing my stuff.  I can never remember where I leave stuff (home office, work office?), is it in the car, on top of my bookshelf, underneath that stack of dirty gym clothes (gross).  Recently I have been working on fixing that problem by making some minor, sustainable changes in my life, but for now, I am focusing on ways to minimize the effects of my problem.  Especially as it relates to my fountain pens.

The issue of constantly misplacing things is a bad problem for a fountain pen addict to have.  When I start losing pens that cost upwards of $75-100, well, that's not good.  Not to mention all the sample vials, spare Lamy nibs, micromesh pads, and other miscellanea that I've misplaced.  It's not that the stuff is lost, per se.  It's just that I can't find it when I need it.

Enter the Franklin-Christoph (FC) Zippered 20 Pen case.  FC is a well known name in the pen world, at least in the US, so I'm ashamed to admit that this pen case is my first FC product.  I picked it up about a year ago, ordered straight from the FC website for $75 shipped (via Paypal).  I also picked up some discounted prototype notebooks from a test run on the same order (I'm still using those, what a steal!  I'll review those later.).  The FC website is a little bit... umm...  outdated, but I really like ordering straight from the manufacturer, so I'm willing to overlook that, especially since they have quite a variety of FP related products available online.

Lamy 2000 Review

My Lamy 2000 in Extra Fine

The Lamy 2000 is an icon.  Much has been written about this German pen, and people's opinions of it seem to be fairly polarized---they either love it or hate it.  They find it unbearably scratchy, think the ink window is completely useless, and find that the little "wings" hurt their fingers.  Or else they think the 2000 is as smooth as butter on glass and extraordinarily functional.