Posts

Posted on

A Titanium Fountain Pen Got Me Again: Gravitas Sentry

If you know me in real life, or you have followed my videos for a while, it is well known that when it comes to items made out of titanium, I have a weakness. I love titanium, and whenever I come across something made from it in one of my hobbies, something inside my head says, you need to get that asap.

I was on Youtube the other day, and I saw a video from Drew Brown on the Fahrney’s Channel, and it was all about how Fahrney’s is now the US distributor for Gravitas pens, and that peeked my interest. I have seen other videos about the Gravitas pens, especially the one made from titanium, but I didn’t want to go through the international ordering and shipping hassle, so I had been holding out. While watching this video, I of course went to the website to look, and low and behold before I knew it, I had a Sentry in my cart and the order was placed.

Gravitas makes some other models in titanium like the Dinkey, Quark and Pocket, but there was just something about the Sentry that drew me in. I carried my Namisu Orion for a few years as I never had to worry about the pen being in my pocket, but I didn’t really have any other fountain pens that I really enjoy writing with that also don’t make me worry if just throwing it in a pocket with a knife or keys, and now the Sentry will be able to allow me to vary what pens I carry with me.

First page of real writing that was not random work notes related.

As I was making the video, I had to decide what ink that I wanted to use, and this can be challenging when not trying to match a material, so I wanted to select something that I had not used in a while, so I went with the Montblanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red. I think this was a great choice, as I forgot how much I enjoy this color, and in my experience, Montblanc ink always performs well.

I ordered the EF nib for this pen, and for being a Jowo #6 compatible housing, the Gravitas nib that I received writes wonderful. The addition of the laser etched logo on the nib adds a nice touch as well. I don’t have an immediate plan to swap this nib out anytime soon, but being able to add a ground nib to this in the future is very appealing.

The fit and finish of this pen I second to none, and while I understand that Gravitas might have had some customer service issues for some people in the past, I think that handing that off to Fahrney’s to handle is a way of them hearing that there were issues and trying to make it a better experience for customers. This was my first order from Fahrney’s, and it definitely won’t be my last.

Posted on

Interviewing The Gentleman Stationer

So when I decided to start doing interviews on the Youtube channel, I was lucky to have quite a few local people who I was able to get on the list, and as it would have it, it took a bit for our schedules to align, but Joe and I finally got a chance to record an episode. I go to the Gentleman Stationer shop an on almost weekly cadence, but it is different to be in looking around vs getting a chance to talk about some of the stationery between other customers etc.

Getting a chance to sit down and ask questions and learn the history of a website and now store that I visit all of the time was great. I love hearing how these people get started and how they have been able to grow their passion for the hobby into a thriving online store, and in this case, actually be able to open up a new physical store. Nashville has needed this type of store, and Joe talks about in the video about he saw that and decided why not me?

It was great to see a hinted new collaboration item that is in the works as well, but it was just a visual hint in the video, so I can’t really give more details here, so definitely watch to see that tease, as I have a feeling that product will sell quite well. So I do hope you enjoy watching this one as well as all of the other episodes, as I really enjoy getting a chance to showcase all of these staples in the stationery hobby.

Posted on

A Less Expensive Entry To The World of A5 Ring Binders

As I recently got my A5 Plotter, I have started the trial and error phase of seeing how and what I want to use in the Plotter and in what order. Part of this is looking into the variety of brands that are out there to find the right options, and not necessarily lock myself into a single brand.

As luck would have it, right after I got my Plotter, my local store The Gentleman Stationer posted about having just received a new offering from Laconic that was a binder and pre punched 6 ring inserts. Since I am just getting into the 6 ring A5 world, I picked up a variety of the inserts as well as a binder to see how they might be of use. The inserts that I got are Monthly, Weekly, Meeting and My Life. There are a few other options like Spreadsheet, but I didn’t think the other formats would be of use to me at this time. One big perk of these inserts is that they are undated, so they offer much more flexibility when it comes to calendars. This is going to be great for me, as I don’t have to commit to a years worth of calendar inserts if I end up not using the A5 for calendar long term.

Part of moving into the A5 is the variety of accessories. I mentioned in my Plotter video that I was on the hunt for a binder to store my extra pages, and this Laconic I think is going to fit that need. The ring mechanism is easy to open and it holds plenty of pages, so this is going to be how I start for paper storage, as I think this notebook will still be useful if I find a better option in the future. For now, it is filled with my blank sheets of the various insert styles, and with this being as inexpensive as it is, I could see getting as second one in the future to use for used pages vs unused.

I mention in the video that my initial hole punch ended up working decently, but it was punching with a different margin to the holes when compared to the Plotter paper. I was able to get a recommendation from a friend who is already into the Plotter system, and I ended up picking up a Bira Adjustable 6 Hole Punch from Amazon. So far, it seems to be a much closer margin which is what I was looking for.

I mention in the video that my A5 Plotter that I got initially was having issues with the tabs to open the rings, so I contacted Dromgoole’s and they did a warranty return. I have to say I am glad that I reached out as my replacement arrived and the rings opening are a night and day difference.

The tabs were sitting flat and never came up to allow the rings to open.
One of the rings never did fully close, so that was confirmation to me that the mechanism was faulty.

All this to say, it never hurts to reach out if you get something new and it doesn’t seem right. There are always one of issues that can slip by quality checks on any product.

I look forward to continuing this journey into the A5 Plotter world and will continue to look for other accessories and inserts to let me fully customize this setup and use experience.