2015 DC Pen Show Recap

The main ballroom floor. (image via @gentlemanstationer)

It's rare these days that anything lives up to, much less exceeds, the hype, but the 2015 DC Pen Show did for me.

Thursday started off smoothly for Jeff and I, meeting at the Atlanta airport around 7:30 for our 9:45 flight. Things couldn't have gone any better on the flight, with the only hiccup being us not knowing what level the hotel shuttle was on when we arrived in Dulles. Luckily the driver was late, so by the time we sorted it out he had just arrived and got us to the hotel shortly after 1:00.

The hotel atrium was already buzzing with activity but we were starving, so after check-in and several hellos and hugs with people who beat us to the show (I'm looking at you Thomas and Leigh!) we were off to find lunch. One of the nice things about the show hotel - the Sheraton at Tyson's Corner - is the convenience to everything you need for your stay within a few hundred yards of the hotel. Restaurants especially, with a slew of great ethnic dining choices. Over the long weekend we ate Indian, Thai, Japanese, Greek, various noodle bowls, and burgers, all never more than a few steps away.

Once properly nourished, we headed back over to the hotel to jump into the fray. Thursday is a scheduled trading day, with vendors staking claims to any open tables they could find. There were more than enough set up to keep us occupied for several hours. I even spied an Ernest Shin Bokashi Ishime no Tamenuri, who's work I had never seen in person, displayed nicely alongside several Danitrios at Sarj Minhas' table.

"Yeah," I thought, "this is going to be a good show."

I didn't even bother asking the price of the pen from Sarj. I had a ballpark idea, but it was Thursday afternoon and I had an entire weekend left to shop. Pace yourself! The rest of the afternoon was spent mingling and meeting, catching up with friends old and new, and grabbing dinner and drinks. The bar would become the epicenter of activity for the evening time, with several of us closing it down the first three nights around 1:00 am. Short sleep hours were definitely in play on this trip.

When Friday rolled around I wanted to get the lay of the land of the full show setup. And what a setup it was. I had only attended the Atlanta Pen Show in the past, and DC was several times larger than Atlanta. Five to six times larger maybe? And that may be selling it short still. It's as huge as people say it is.

The highlight of my day was seeing Kaoru from Bung Box set her table up. And only 30 feet or so behind Vanness Pens, which is where Jeff and I were slinging Nock Co. gear between walking around the show. The Bung Box table was packed immediately, so when I saw a break in the action I headed over for what I knew would be my first purchases of the show.

I had been eyeballing their exclusive Pliot Custom Heritage 91 Sapphire since it was launched, and I was excited to see it displayed on the table. I bought it with a Fine-Medium nib (the only option), and also picked up a bottle of Bung Box Tangerine ink and a beautiful Mt. Fuji themed pen wrap. Success right out the gate!

If my show had ended there I would have been a happy camper. Luckily, it did not.

Friday night was the Pen Addict Meetup at the hotel, or what would turn into the World Sauna Championships. The scheduled room for the event wasn't set up properly, so we moved to a smaller room next door with a better table and chair layout. Unfortunately, the air conditioning did not move with us. The 50 or so people who attended were troopers, and we all mingled, ate pizza, and I handed out some sweet door prizes as quickly as I could so people could go catch their breaths. Despite the heat I was excited with the turnout and my mind is racing with what I could do with more time to plan.

That night at the bar (recurring theme alert) was a who's who of vendors from the show, retailers, bloggers, friends, family - you name it. Pens and inks were being tried all over the place, Brian Goulet was giving a master class in using Periscope, and many beverages were consumed. I'd tell you more specifics, but what happens in the pen show bar stays in the pen show bar.

Saturday is Game Day at the DC Pen Show. All of the dealers are there and set up, and the first day of public entry spawned a line as far as the eye could see, and further. Jeff and I were property of Vanness Pens all weekend, working the table for the always amazing and hilarious Lisa Vanness. We sold a metric ton of ink that day, primarily Akkerman, KWZ, and as many of the mini Pilot Iroshizuku bottles as I could find. It was fun being able to interact with all of the customers, many who were taken aback by that voice they hear on that pen podcast and the guy with the beard who sews things.

I hadn't planned on any shopping at all on Saturday - it was so busy - but I happened by the Chatterly Luxuries table on one of my many trips to the water cooler when I saw it. What is this striking orange beauty I see before my eyes? I quizzed Bryant about it and it turned out to be an Edison Pearl Prototype made from a material known as G10. I had never heard of the material, but a few quick conversations later I realized how crazy it was to see a pen made from it. Since the maker of the pen - Brian Gray from Edison Pen Co. - was also in attendance, I went over and quizzed him about the pen and the challenges of making it. I learned a lot in the 30 minutes or so since I first saw the pen and knew it was coming home with me. This was my purchasing highlight of the show without question, and I topped it off with a cursive italic nib grind by Deb Kinney to make the fine gold nib sing my tune. This may be the most Brad pen I own.

A relaxing sushi dinner was in the cards Saturday night, and then yes, back to the bar. As I was sitting with friends the waitress came by for my order. My request to open a tab on Room 305 was met with an “Oh, I know which room” response from the waitress, and a huge laugh from the table. Pen show bar mission accomplished!

Sunday was the only unexpected day for me this trip. I anticipated a steady stream of business through the early afternoon, but the slow start in the morning never really picked up. That was fine by me as I finally got to check out the entire show space and made time to meet with people I had been promising to talk with for days. It also led to one final big purchase: An orange Omas Ogiva from Anderson Pens. I hemmed and hawed over this one, but I made those pen show justifications we all make, plus Jeff was in my ear and went and got it for me. The fine extra flessible nib on this thing is something else.

Despite the fact that Sunday was the least tiring day, the rest of the trip had definitely caught up with me. After Lisa Vanness took us out to dinner, Jeff and I had one beer by the indoor pool and called it an early night. This was the first time I had seen my bed in a PM hour this weekend. That was nice because the 6am wake up call to get back to the airport would come soon enough.

It was hard to leave such amazing people behind, but real life was calling us all. Pen shows are amazing events, and not at all because of the products.

For more 2015 DC Pen Show goodness (honestly, this post barely scratches the surface) check out these links:

#DCPenShow on Instagram

The Gentleman Stationer Thursday/Friday Recap

The Gentleman Stationer Saturday/Sunday Recap

Gorgeous Ink Thursday Recap

Gorgeous Ink Friday/Saturday Recap

That One Pen

The Purl Bug

From The Pen Cup

Inkdependence

Three Questions With Dries From The Pencilcase Blog

The love for stationery is worldwide, and it’s wonderful seeing fans and bloggers pop up anywhere and everywhere. Dries has the Belgian scene covered on The Pencilcase Blog, and I appreciate him taking the time to answer Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

As a student, I rely heavily on analog tools. During lectures, I always take notes with pen and paper, even though laptops have become the 2015 standard. Taking notes by hand helps to keep me focused (Not that lectures can be boring or anything… [COUGH]).

I have to admit that I couldn’t live without my smartphone either. My Samsung Note 4 is my music library, it helps me keep my social media up to date and check my mails. I also use it to take quick notes on the go, the stylus and large screen make it super easy and fast to jot down important stuff (admittedly, easier than pen and paper).

In my spare time, I’m a pen collector, and I try out pens for my blog. I guess about 90 percent of my daily activities involve pens, pencils, paper,… but I keep it balanced with just a bit of tech.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

I love my Ray Ban Wayfarers! I’m quite sensitive to harsh sunlight, so I decided to invest in a decent pair of shades. It makes going out on a beautiful, sunny day so much more enjoyable!

To keep things pen-related: I’m in love with my new Omas Paragon fountain pen! It’s a beautiful pen and a great writer! For EDC, I tend to lean more and more towards pencils. You can see a few of them in the picture. I love leadholders (pictured above are my two favourites: the David Hayward Hexagonal, and Parafernalia Linea), just because they look cool, and they are great to doodle with. Last but not least, I couldn’t live without Rhodia paper pads. The quality is unmatched, and they are affordable.

3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?

I recently did a re-review of my Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pen, and I really like how it turned out. I was pretty impressed with how much my opinion changed in just two years! I also hope/think that it shows how my blogging style changed and improved over time.

Graf von Faber Castell Walden Woods Fountain Pen Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I don't typically order super expensive, limited edition pens that come in boxes that are fancier than the pens they house. But Chatterly Luxuries had a good price on the Walden Woods pen, and because I'm working on an MA in English in Creative Writing (I totally need another "practical" degree), this pen appealed to me. I love the fact that the barrel has Thoreau's handwriting etched on it. I appreciate that the ash wood used for the pen is reclaimed from naturally-fallen trees at Walden Pond. I am pleased that my purchase of this pen means a new tree will be planted at Walden Pond by the American Forests organization. All these factors combined with the great price led me to purchase the pen. I bought it for $395 (retail $750), which is still quite expensive.

I waited to open this pen until I turned in my grades for Summer II. It was my reward for surviving the term (and it was a doozy). The packaging was impeccable. A thick, outer cardboard box protected the beautiful wooden box within. The lid of the wooden box is unadorned except for a small logo and the Graf von Faber Castell name.

The box opens smoothly and silently–I mean look at that hinge mechanism! And this is just the box!

A cream-colored, molded insert houses the pen and information about it. A well-designed booklet gives a brief history of Henry David Thoreau's two-year experiment at Walden Pond which became the basis for his book, Walden, or A Life in the Woods. The Walden Woods Project, which formed in 1990 to protect Walden Pond from development, is also discussed, as well as the partnership with the American Forests organization. A card with warranty information is enclosed and there's a small cloth for cleaning. The insert that houses the pen and information comes out, so with a pen tray cut to size, the wooden box can be repurposed for pen storage.

The Walden Woods pen is a limited edition of 2006 pens, each individually numbered. Mine is number 1268.

Unlike Graf von Faber Castell's yearly limited edition pens, which can be quite ornate (and cost thousands of dollars), the Walden Pen is understated. It has a beautiful platinum-plated cap with a spring-loaded clip that is easy to operate.

The finial is concave and unadorned other than grooves etched around the edge.

The Faber Castell logo appears just above the top of the clip.

"Graf von Faber Castell Germany" is imprinted around the bottom of the cap, and just above that, in tiny letters, is a credit for the quote used on the pen.

The grip is made of the same platinum-plated metal, and so is the bottom of the barrel which is convex and sports the grooves around its base.

The ash-wood barrel feels smooth to the hand. It's hard to tell whether Thoreau's quote is actually etched into the wood or just painted on (the descriptions I've read use the word "etched," but the words don't look or feel like they are carved into the wood). The quote is written in black and stands out nicely against the light color of the wood.

The quote chosen for the pen is beautiful:

"So we saunter toward the Holy land; till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perhance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, so warm and serene and golden as on a bank-side in Autumn."

~Henry David Thoreau, Walking

The nib is a two-toned, 18K gold medium. It started up immediately after I inked the pen, and I've had no problems with skipping, hard starts, or scratchiness. I inked it with Iroshizuku Ina-Ho because I thought the golden color of that ink matched the ash wood nicely. The nib is smooth, but firm without any springiness.

Because the grip is metal, it becomes slippery under my sweaty fingers. It is small in diameter (I don't have a caliper, but it's less than 10mm at the thinnest point), and my hand cramps up while writing. I may eventually have the nib ground to an oblique italic so that I can rotate the pen into a more comfortable position. Plus, the medium nib lacks personality in my opinion.

The pen is a cartridge/converter filler, but no cartridges were supplied, an oversight for such an expensive pen. I use the converter anyway, but I think cartridges should have been included for those who don't use the converter. The converter works smoothly and draws up ink without any difficulty.

At 135mm (5.31 inches) capped, 130mm (5.11 inches) uncapped, this is a medium length pen, just a little longer than a Pelikan M600 capped. The pen is fairly heavy due to the metal construction. I could not find a specific weight in any of the literature or online. In spite of this, it feels balanced in the hand unposted. Posted it is 173mm (6.8 inches) in length and is unwieldy. The cap is simply too heavy and throws the balance off.

I am interested to see how the wooden barrel reacts with the natural oils in my hand. I don't know if the ash will darken over time, or if the wood has been coated to prevent that. My main concern about the light ash wood is what will happen if I accidentally get ink on it. Will the ink wipe off or will it stain the barrel? I am unwilling to test this, even for the sake of a Pen Addict review, sorry.

This is my first Graf von Faber Castell pen. I like many things about it, and it is definitely unique. But, it's not the most comfortable pen I've written with. My hand grew fatigued fairly quickly due to the small grip combined with the weight of the pen.

Nevertheless, I can't wait to take this pen to my English classes. I hope Thoreau's spirit channels itself through the pen to make my poetry better. I can always hope, but so far no poems have magically emerged from my Walden pen.

Pros

• Simple design with understated elegance
• Fans of Henry David Thoreau would probably love this pen
• The Walden Pond ash wood and Thoreau's writing on the barrel make this pen unique
• The nib is beautiful and well-made (though I don't like the medium point and will probably send it to a nibmeister)
• For every purchase of this pen a tree will be planted at Walden Pond
• The beautiful wooden box that houses the pen can be used as a pen box with the addition of a tray (but, honestly, I'd rather just have a simple cardboard box and a lower price)

Cons

• Expensive, even on sale
• Fairly heavy pen
• The grip is metal and narrow in diameter which may make it difficult for some people to write comfortably
• Cartridge/Converter filler, which can be a plus or minus depending on your perspective, but no cartridges are supplied with the pen which seems an odd oversight
• The pen is no longer being manufactured, and remaining units are limited