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In this Goulet Q&A episode, Brian talks about Fountain Pen Day, break in periods for pens, and his every day carry items (beyond just pens). Enjoy!

This week:

Pens/Writing

1) Mackenzie H- Facebook (19:15)

The Diplomat Esteem and LAMY Studio seem like similar pens. I love the Studio and I’m wondering if you could compare and contrast them side by side.

They actually are fairly similar in style, price, size, general style, both C/C pens, snap caps, metal, both made in Germany, both great fit and finish

Lamy Studio propeller clip proprietary converter slick metal tapered grip not for everyone LAMY proprietary nibs slightly more swappable among LAMY

Diplomat Esteem SI converter #5 JoWo nib

both pens write well, not all that different from each other

Largely it’ll come down to whichever of these are more to your liking! Both good pens

2) pasteboard_love- Instagram (26:49)

Do most pens have a break in period out of the box? or should they write perfectly immediately?

perfect as a word isn’t one I like to use around pens, because they’re so subjective!

but I get what you mean, should it perform well out of the box vs need to be “broken in”

mostly, it should perform out of the box, with some slight exceptions

sometimes it benefits to clean your pen before using it, not always essential but usually recommended

everything should fit well, look good, etc

ink may take a little bit to get flowing in some pens (especially ebonite feeds), but it should work well fairly quickly

nibs are something that’s more tuned that broken in, though there can sometimes be some getting used to, adjusting your grip/speed/etc with a certain pen (flex comes to mind)

largely I feel pens should work pretty well right away, but the “break in” period comes in more on the part of us as the users!

Troubleshooting

3) Andrea P- Facebook (31:47)

Why does ink get inside the clear (or not clear) grip section above the nib? It’s annoying!

ink is mostly water and it takes the path of least resistance

capillary action is your friend, and is what gets the ink down through your pen

the grip inside every pen is often filled with ink, you just don’t see it unless it’s clear

I agree it may be annoying visually, but it serves a really important function of helping to regulate the flow of in through your pen

not every pen has ink in the grip, some have internal housings that keep the ink insulated from the grip itself, but unless there’s an o-ring there, ink may still get in the grip when you fill it

as many pens as I use it’s something I’ve come to just accept and appreciate, like nib creep, it’s just part of what makes a fountain pen a fountain pen!

it may still annoy you, but at least now you know why it’s so

Business

4) Stephanie P- Facebook (38:53)

Any big plans for Fountain Pen Day?

yes! lots of deals, for sure, though I won’t get into too many specifics here

definitely sign up for our email newsletter, or just come check out our site next Friday

we’ll have a lot of one-day only deals, things we wouldn’t normally

it’s a day to embrace, promote, and share about fountain pens, an unofficial holiday within our community

Started on FPN in 2012, with Cary Yeager really leading the charge

Cary has since changed his career to work full time in pens at Kenro (US distributor for Esterbrook, Aurora, Montegrappa, Loclen), and still manages the FPD efforts

retailers like us often run deals, help share and promote

for you, you can obviously feed your own passion with pen stuff

it’s really great to spread the love online, posting, sharing/tagging

5) Alan S- Facebook (44:46)

Besides the obvious busy times of the years (holidays), what is the busiest stationery-buying season we wouldn’t expect?

for us, not much beyond what you might expect

back to school, somewhat but it’s actually not all that big for us, I hear it’s bigger for others

new product releases, mainly and that’s about it!

Personal

6) rtylerjames- Instagram (48:01)

Brian’s EDC. Like EVERYTHING he CARRIES daily.

do I count everything in my backpack? I basically carry all that everywhere I go

this will be a long question if I cover all that!

I’ll focus mainly on what’s on my person

lots of normal stuff like keys, chapstick, phone (iphone 11pro)

always a pen, often my Homo Sapiens in a single Aston leather slip

Apple watch, wedding ring, wallet, sunglasses, Benchmade 530 knife, Airpods

I really wouldn’t consider myself an EDC guy, not like some others I know who are really thoughtful about everything on their person

I’m pretty thoughtful about a couple things, other stuff I don’t really care, it’s just stuff

The stuff that’s pretty crucial to me: phone, pen, airpods, knife, beyond that I just use whatever works and I’m okay cycling it out

for me, I spend SO much of my time and energy on pens, kids, etc, I just don’t spend much time if any on getting deep into other things like flashlights, knives, minimalist wallets, or other accessories

I get targeted ads like crazy online for EDC stuff because I fit the demo, but it’s just not something I devote a lot of my time to, but I probably would if I had more free time!

QOTW: What are the everyday carry things you that you have with you at all times? (01:01:01)

Write On,

Brian Goulet