You Can Only Keep One

[@marilyngardner4269]

For me, the most challenging one-per-brand decision would be from my Pilot collection. They are all superb!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Marilyn - oh I know - if I had to choose just one brand I'd take Pilot all my Pilot inks!!! :)

[@fountainpeninsanity3344]

“Surely if I’m going to go live on another planet, I could bring a box of nibs.” Excellent! That makes me smile so much!

[@marilyngardner4269]

You are right -- that is a classic!

[@speedbird8987]

Chris - i love your videos and your humility. This was so much fun, and I’ve watched a couple of other KZbinrs that you inspired to do similar videos. I had to laugh at your plan to take a bag of nibs with you - it seems like a cheat - lol, but a great idea - obviously with pens, it’s all about the nib! Thanks for another great video.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @speedbird8987 if I wasn't such a color addict ... I would probably be able to own lots fewer pens and concentrate more on nib swapping. :) Here lately I do consider it an advantage if a pen is neutral enough to put almost any ink into it! :)

[@kamrankambang7953]

I just got my first fountain pen and it's the same lamy you choose. I'm excited to be in this new hobby of mine.

[@Blue_Rosemarie]

There seems to be a clear color scheme with your pick. So interesting to see your favorites.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

LOL hi @Blue_Rosemarie

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

I've seen several other people; having this same; or similar; discussion. I cannot even begin. I love all my pens. They're each unique; even those of the same brand. Each one offers me something special, whether it's a special resin, a cool nib, an exceptional writing experience, a memory of when and how I got it, or who I got it from, and some are gifts. Even the one or two pens that gave me trouble have taught me patience and perseverance. Oh my, they're like children.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

LOL I know what you mean! I could barely leave any behind the first time I traveled after getting into the hobby. :) I still think it would be horrible to leave any behind in an evacuation ... I'd probably sneak an entire back pack with all my pens if my husband wasn't paying attention. Of course we have to have room in the truck for the 3 cats and all their stuff. :)

[@impish22]

well, this is a great video. But before I watch, I really need to put on my pot of coffee so that I can fully enjoy. Thanks again for sharing Chris

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @impish22 -- you are very welcome!

[@NuryPPanaligan]

Platinum vintage pocket pens are so good. That's my primary writer. I have the stainless steel body with black stripes.

[@intentionallyleftblank3016]

I’m deeply regretting not snagging one with cute little strawberries on it that Oblation in Portland had for sale a couple months back. Of all the times to exercise fiscal responsibility! 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

[@ChrisSaenz13]

I saw one of those little strawberry ones on ebay recently. :)

[@leannezzers]

I love how you say "change of planet" so nonchalantly 😆 This is such a fun activity to do! Helps us look at what we love and really speak to us Your choices are fantastic :)

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @leannezzers :) I love exercises like this!

[@raybuck]

Thanks Chris, that was a lot of fun.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @raybuck you're very welcome! :)

[@mellow-jello]

Here are my choices: Pilot Explorer - knockabout, Con-70 Platinum Preppy - reliable flow Kaweco Perkeo BLK - takes long cartridges, stealthy Lamy Vista - Cursive nib, writes Hanji FC Loom - high quality nib, perfect pocket pen Waterman Laureate - vintage flex with vintage ink Jinhao X159 - #8 nib, large pen section, comfort MV Ritma - carbon fiber pen, simple design Conklin Duragraph - in Ti, style with gunmetal trim Sailor Fude Mannen - Fude nib, brush smooth TWSBI AL 580 - reliable piston filler, ink capacity Hon. mention: Pilot VP x Lamy Studio - pair of pens for professional settings Thanks for the exercise, Chris.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @mellow-jello -- oh wow if the Sailor Fude Mannen is as smooth as the Sailor Hocoro (dip) fude is then I'd enjoy it - I am sure. Also, I am beginning to love my Jinhao X159 now that I have a M nib in it ... it's such a comfortable pen to write with!

[@sajjadhusain4146]

This sounds really fun…and pretty tough. I’ll choose ONLY the brands where I own two or more different pen models of each. Aurora : Aurora 88 Delta : Fusion 82 Montegrappa : Miya 450 Stipula : Etruria Visconti : Divina Santini : Nonagon OMAS : Arte Italiana Paragon Kaweco :Dia2 Lamy : 2000 Sailor : King of Pens Pilot : Custom Urushi Sheaffer : PFM V Waterman : Carene Montblanc : 146 Grande

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Awesome! It's fun to choose I think even knowing that we want to keep them all lol. :)

[@sajjadhusain4146]

@@ChrisSaenz13 Truly. And I reckon I will keep them all - after the drastic downsizing of the collection I’ve already accomplished over the past nearly year and a half. While our collection (yours and mine) are obviously vastly different, choosing just the one from each brand is a tough ask, for both of us. 🙂

[@SandyQueue]

Very informative, thanks!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Sandy! :)

[@MarcellHobbs]

Interesting. I’ve considered what one brand of pens I would keep if forced, but I haven’t considered one pen per category. A thoughtful challenge for sure!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @MarcellHobbs - I found it a lot of fun and something I could do to bring myself back to awareness of all the great pens I already have!!!!!

[@marilyngardner4269]

That was a fun video! I was shocked when you didn't choose your pink Jinhao X750 because I know how much you love it. I'm very impressed with the Schneider Ray. I ordered a grey one as a gift for a friend and got to try it...I so wish I had ordered one for myself at the time. I find them funny-looking, but they write so well and are just so comfortable to hold. If I ever do another international order from that vendor, I'll try to get one. I also have a few dip pens from Pensive Pens. I wish I'd gotten a few more before he closed up shop. Yours is a beautiful green material.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Marilyn! I know right ... that was hard choosing just one of the Jinhao X750s because the color choice is one of the main draws for me to have so many exact same pen bodies lol. I love the pink! Actually I love the purple too. :) The silver would definately be nice for ANY color. LOL I am seeing that the Schneider Ray's have increased in price on Amazon ... when I first ordered mine I paid about $12. It's crazy the inflation has really hit the pen market too.

[@acrophobe]

Alternatively, when the tornado sirens go off you could just throw your entire pen collection in a big ole box and skeedaddle 😅

[@menm_91]

🤣🤣💀

[@ChrisSaenz13]

LOL I'm always looking for ways to cut down on my practical carry stuff and pack more pens in my hurricane bag. :) My husband is onto me though so I have to be very stealth.

[@FountainPenNews]

I'm so happy to see your purple moonman in your lineup! So glad you saw mine! I have several vintage platinum pocket pens and I love them! Now I want to do this exercise... We'll see if I can actually get down to one each!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Wendi-Sue oh that will be great - I hope you let me know when you make your video - I want to watch! Or maybe You Tube will get me the notification - hopefully lol. :) I'm so happy that I saw your purple mini and could get one!!!!!! :)

[@ichirofakename]

Well, isn't this fun. Of the brands I own more than one of: Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Sailor 1911 KoP Lamy CP1 Kaweco Special Jinhao 82 Pilot Parallel I'm pleased to get a wide range of nibs. Of my 8 remaining student pens: Stabilo EASYbuddy

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Ichiro -- cool -- how fun seeing your selections! Yes, we're allowed to take all the nibs and nib units! :)

[@michaelstephan5272]

Another great video! Thanks Chris!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Thanks Mike!

[@Cardenio2012]

This is a fun video! Could you do one with inks? Either one per brand or one per color category? Wouldn’t that be super challenging? 😅

[@ChrisSaenz13]

You must be reading my mind -- lol -- I have been working thru how I'd go about it since I do have favorites in each brand but I also have color favorites ... I was just wondering if my dining table is big enough to hold all the ink bottles. :) Anyway ... this is on my mind and I hope to follow thru with it soon. :)

[@tictac9074]

This was great!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Thank you Tic Tac! :)

[@Tamara-pens]

Great video Chris, this was fun to do. You should suggest this one as a tag. My choices would be: Pilot prera slate grey CF Nib (plus all nibs) Platinum century 3776 shape of heart piano black medium nib Sailor pro gear slim, classic black medium nib Moonman A1 Kaweco brass sport (plus all nib units) TWSBI diamond mini (plus all nib units) Benu minima mystical green (plus all nib units) Esterbrook estie botanical gardens CSI nib (plus all nib units) Jinhao x750 with my The Good Blue fine flex nib. Kaco Retro My husband saw me doing this and asked which three pens and inks I would take to a desert island with me? Pilot prera Platinum shape of heart Benu minima mystical green Herbin Lie de The Pilot iroshizuku Kwan-yin ( my own mix of kon-Peki and shin-ryoku) Diamine onyx black

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Tamara -- oooh that takes it to another level = 3 inks and 3 pens to take to a desert island!!!! LOL I know I'd be taking at least one Benu pen! I need time to think the others thru lol. :)

[@ann-ingridhelik3056]

Hi Chris, after watching this video, i started looking at my regular pens by brand. This does become difficult in deed! Im mostly stuck in the diplomat brand! The aeros are all favourites but 40 some years ago i received a diplomat fp for a wedding anniversary that icould not let go of! This was an interesting idea/exercise to do! Take care

[@themisterchristie]

Nice selection of pens. My only Kaweco Sport is the same Mellow Blue with a medium nib. The Platinum Pocket Pen is an excellent choice for the vintage selection. I have a black one and love it. A little history, Sailor was the first to come out with that shape in 1963, Platinum followed in 1964, the Pilot came out with the Elite around 1968 or so.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @themisterchristie - thank you the history on the pen shape is so fun! 63 is my birth year so I'm going to look into the Sailor one. :)

[@themisterchristie]

@@ChrisSaenz13 you're welcome, I get on these little research binges when I find something interesting. PEI Pen Guy has one that is a early version of the Sailor with the looped metal clip which he found is from early 1963.

[@zeus52452]

That was such an interesting exercise Chris!! I'm afraid I couldn't do it. I have similar, but also unique tastes in pens. Case in point, I also have an Opus 88 Omar in Demonstrator. For Pocket pens I have one that fits the Pocket category as well as Vintage - A Pilot Stella 90S & a Pilot Myu. What intrigued me the most was your dip pen choice. I'm going to try searching to see if there is a similar dip pen available.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @zeus52452 oh I wish someone would start making a Serindipity Hybrid like dip pen again ... Riverside Pen Company makes gorgeous nib holders for the Kakimori nibs. I wonder about patent and how all that works as far as designs. But fingers crossed that someone will continue the tradition because it's too good a fountain/dip pen to do without for sure!!!!!

[@incognitoedc]

Hi Chris! I just purchased the purple Wancai Mini and I'm very happy with it. One thing I noticed though, was that these pens no longer have the "o" ring in the barrel. Did yours have one and did you grease yours with silicone grease before eyedropper filling? I filled with one of the cartridges that I emptied and refilled for now, but will probably eye dropper it the next fill....

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi @incognitoedc -- I just checked my purple swirl Moonman Mini Wancai and compared it to my green swirl (purchased several years ago) ... they both have the little silicone o ring in the barrel but the o ring on the purple one is not as fat and looks different somehow. I did NOT use silicone grease this time ... I wanted to see if it would hold and my theory has been that they don't need it ... but likely if I were going to carry the purple one in my pocket (not an option in our 100 degree weather) I'd grease it. I always have greased the green one and carried it around in my jeans pocket but right now the heat is so bad I am thinking I would invite trouble if I did that. I always eyedropper my 3 minis that have color and now I use the cartridges in my 2 clear ones. :)

[@incognitoedc]

@@ChrisSaenz13 thanks for the detailed reply Chris! I suspected as much...I will keep using the cartridge for now and see what happens... I am in Northern California so the weather isn't as extreme. Please stay safe and thanks for the info!

[@archivist17]

I tried this, and found that I have 38 pens which are alone in my collection from their brand, and 15 brands with multiples. In the end, the hardest to decide was Jinhao, but I do have quite a few! 😂

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Jinhao has so many great pens!!!! Especially in recent years!!!!

[@paulherman5822]

Since you said nib selection didn't matter, I'll go one step further: just 2 pens, one above many had in the "golden age" of fountain pen usage. 1: a 1948-52 gray Esterbrook J. My first fountain pen was a gray Esterbrook J, developing a lifetime love of vintage Esterbrook. And there's SO MANY nib options with a vintage Esterbrook. 😁 And the 1948-52 has the prettier body cellulose acetate than newer, IMO. Then, a black with the gold filled cap Wahl-Evershaep Skyline from the 1940s. I still say those are the best gold nibs I've used (across the brand before Parker killed them), and I disagree with Brian Anderson (though we agree about Esterbrook.) He doesn't like the Skyline design, and I love the Art Deco streamlined train look the Skyline has. Anything else? Frankly, could live without, ultimately. At least so far. 😁 Much as I like my Sheaffer's Junior pens, I can do without. Parker? To offend many vintage pen folks, I really don't like my Parker 51 Vacumatic. Just so dry to write with... Could include my Parker Challenger, but button fillers can be such pains to clean. Never really got into much more modern, other than some Chinese pens for "problematic" inks. And then you added dip pens... I'll add one of those as well, if I can also add the corresponding inkwell. An Esterbrook Dip-Less after they went to using the same nib units as their fountain pens. With, again Art Deco, the matching Esterbrook 407 inkwell. (No usual need for the double inkwell 427.) Not familiar with the 407? Worth a Google search. 😉 1940s design. Great topic, Chris! Makes you think! The Platinum nib in the pocket pen is an "inlaid" design, like many from the 1960s and 70s. Sometimes confused with the "fingernail" nibs from the same time period. 😉 Or the other way round. 😂

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Hi Paul - oh wow I went and looked up the Esterbrook 407 inkwell and dip pen ... that is very cool. What fun! :) Oh I'm going to write this down about the Platinum nib being "inlaid" design. I could not think of the word for the nib style to save myself. :)

[@Minminionspensandinks]

I loved that idea and had to steal and and post my own. Hope that was okay!

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Awesome! I'm headed over now to watch your video!!!!

[@Minminionspensandinks]

@@ChrisSaenz13 That is extra cool! Still new to this community, so just not always clear about the etiquette!

[@MissMarilynDarling]

I couldnt do it I couldnt decide talk about decision paralasis I think this is fun but if the house is on fire I'm grabbing all my pens all my inks all of my paper and my back pack and were gettin out of there .... NO pens left behind !!! lol JK

[@ChrisSaenz13]

LOL yes that's my thought too ... people, pets and pens ... okay we're good!

[@ssfoster95]

I am so sad. The Serendipity Hybrid Dip/Fountain pen Green by James Finniss, Pensive Pens is no longer available as he is no longer making pens. Do you know of any other makers out there that make anything similar? On another note I must be the only one on the planet who is really not a Lamy fan. Don’t care for them at all.

[@marilyngardner4269]

You could try contacting Rich of River City Pen Company. He makes dip nib holders in a variety of resins and a few sizes, but they have the circular dip nib holder that holds insertable nibs like the Kakimori or Zebra G. The Pensive Pen holders were different because they hold a Jowo nib and feed and just lack a reservoir for holding ink. I love mine and wish I'd gotten a few more.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

I agree with Marilyn -- it would be great to contact River City Pen Company -- he makes such beautiful nib holders for the Kakimori nib -- I wonder if he would be able to make something similar to the Serendipity.

[@ssfoster95]

@@marilyngardner4269 I have a nibholder from robspenworks for my Kakimori nib. I wonder if I take the metal part out if I can put the Jowo nib and feed in there. I will have to give it a try.

[@Wholelatteplans]

What a fun idea and exercise! You have me thinking about mine! I would definitely keep my twsbi diamond, pilot kakuno, Kaweco sport in white/gold, sailor pgs, jinhao 82, hong Dian 1862, and lamy safari in creme 🩷