I live in the North GA mountains. Everyone here has guns and they are the friendliest people you will ever meet. Lot of target shooting for fun and hunting. I dont hunt at all, but I do own 20 guns, both rifles and handguns. I enjoy target shooting and the sense of security. There is very minimal crime where I live, few burglaries as the perpetrators know that the inhabitants will likely have forearms and most importantly, know how to use them.
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Here’s mine:
Sony IER-M7s and RHA CL2. Both comfortable and together with XELASTEC keeps them in the ears. Also use them at the gym.
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Sony NW-ZX500
this is my every-thing-but-portable-sit-down listening Go To. I download (for off-line use) podcasts, old radio theater and my favorites. I use it in the car. Also, it has my BBQ grilling app, such that I can grill, mind cooking times, and listen to music. It’s small and has a rubberized case. Easy in the pocket. Easy on the dashboard. Separate from my phone. Oh, and it sounds great as well.
Finally, I’ve had absolutely no problems with the unit. It works like a dream. (Note: I bought this during my travales with HiBy…)
Stuff has been slowly building up in my backpack until my edc became a bit unreasonable…
Sources:
- P6 Pro Dap (mostly used on LO as a dac)
IEM:
- Mest MK2 (just use firectly from p6p)
Amps (in order of usage):
- WA8
- HPA-01M
- Phantasy II
- C9
- MassKobo 428
Cans (in order of usage):
- HD800S (HPA-01M or Phantasy II depending on flavor)
- LCD-R (WA8)
- Utopia (C9 or 428 depending on flavor)
- D8000 Pro (428 or 01M depending on flavor)
Tbf i did cheat slightly here. The LCD-R and HD800S live at work, and the D8000 pictured is actualy the OG for the past week but it will go back to pros after the holidays. But yes, all these amps and the utopia and d8k do go back and forth form work in my backpack every day cause I apparently desperately need to clean it…
As for ideal EDC, tbh, im torn. My favorite iem (infinity mk2) sounds significantly better with the wa8 in the chain and thats not exactly convenient to use given the battery life. For over ear I’d probabaly keep D8KP or Utopia (at least until diana closed backs come out assuming they don’t have mega fuckex FR). C9 works well enough with both but the 428 may push it out purely due to how technicaly capable it is tbh.
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Leaning the wrong direction
Mainline Florida oh yeah
Was thinking about a fountain pen, I don’t know why. I used to use them, been some years, but I used them long enough to know that they are prone to dry out if unused for few days, they can be messy, and have ruined more than one shirt when put away too quickly.
I’m looking for something mid-priced and reliable, I’ll use it at work, I’ve looked at the LAMY 2000 online and the Pineider Full Metal Jacket. The latter I’ve found on sale. Both are piston fill designs, which looks attractive, but I’ve not had that before. Just lever fill and cartridge.
In the LAMY, there is a stainless model that I like better than the standard matte black. The Pineider has a beautiful blue model.
Anybody have any thoughts? Both of these are in the $300 range, although you see the LAMY standard barrel for under $200.
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Now I just want to be told I did the right thing because I couldn’t resist. It was on sale. I hope. $299
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The Pineider Full Metal Jacket is a nice looking pen, but since I’ve only used / demo’s the Lamy 2000 and the Pineider Avatar (pre UR), I’m not very familiar with it.
I’ve owned a Black Makrolon Lamy 2000 for about five years now and it’s the closest thing I have to an EDC fountain pen. That model has a couple of well-know quirks - the sweet spot is hard to find for some users and the metal nubs that keep the cap on also bother some users - but I’m not affected by them. I’ve disassembled the 2000 a couple of times to clean it and grease the piston, which is a simple and straightforward affair.
The Pineider doesn’t seem to have these quirks so if they bothered you, I think you’re set.
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Phone, wallet, car keys.
Illegal to carry any weapons in Australia, concealed or on show 
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The pen came yesterday, and it’s very nice. The metallic in the resin is nicer than in the picture, subtle. I’d been slightly freaking out that my old Montblanc 146 wasn’t working - haven’t used it in about 25 years, it’s about a 1991 model, but I found after watching a YouTube video that I probably just stopped twisting the piston was it was beginning to engage and that the slight resistance was normal.
That done, I now have 2 working fountain pens that show the poor quality of my Jr. Legal sized notepads. I have a better paper spiral notebook that makes this clear. So I ordered some Rhodia note paper for me - and will let clients use the Staples and Office Max brand…
So there was this fountain pen catalog and I can see how people get just as obsessed with pens as they do with headphones. I’ve been thinking of something with a stub nib. Why? I don’t know. My handwriting isn’t very good to begin with. And I bought the pen as a protest because I had trouble getting my printer to print an address on an envelope…
I had a rude reality check that my favorite actual TYPEWRITER, the IBM Selectric II self-correcting is actually very expensive in good condition. I’d expected it would be cheap because in the late 70 to mid 80s, EVERY office had many of them. Apparently there are about 3000 parts in it, and it doesn’t age well. WPM Typewriter in Philadelphia has a few of them in fully working top condition with a year warranty, at (gasp) about $700.
Much less for an SCM or Royal electric with standard keys and not the spinning ball element.
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Whoever needs someone to discuss fountain pens with knows where to find me 
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Still enjoying your new pen?
I meant to post earlier but, well, didn’t - life and all that - you know how it is …
WARNING: Long-winded ramble incoming …
I’m another of those curious souls that still enjoys writing with pen on paper. When I’m writing for enjoyment, or it’s something special, it’s always a fountain pen. I won’t go into the depths of my collection, but my “EDC” is a simple TWSBI 580. I say “EDC”, as while I do tend to carry one (which is always filled with “iroshizuku” shin-kai), I have a bunch of them in various fixed locations.
They inexpensive enough, relatively speaking, to have more than one. And they’re more than good enough for enjoyable writing in almost any context. They even tolerate some of my favorite red-black iron-gall inks well, and maintain good enough flow that the end of a page looks as dark and saturated as the start.
I have some more “exotic” or “rarefied” models I use for pure enjoyment … and I have a special fondness for both my Duofold and a Montblanc 149. But those are usually used for the letters I write to my wife, our journal, correspondence chess (don’t ask why, I have no idea), and other “meaningful” exchanges/statements.
(As an aside, I probably owe @SleepyRhythms several responses on pens, ink, paper and style at this point …)
Anyway … I write … with pens … a lot …
I’m also a prolific note-taker.
When I worked, and since then for my personal projects, and the odd engagement I might still entertain here and there, I need(ed) something a bit more fluid and flexible. For the most part that has wound up being 0.7mm Pilot Frixion Gel pens. Smooth, good saturation, good color options, and cleanly erasable.
BUT …
It’s still a pain to share such notes, let alone make copies/backups, and I’ve LONG been looking for something that gave the fluidity and “feel” of taking notes with a pen on paper, but also added the benefits of modern technology/digital notes.
I don’t like to take laptops to meetings, nor fiddle with a phone/tablet … so things like OneNote and EverNote never really hit the spot (they’re VERY useful in the right context … don’t get me wrong).
I’ve tried pretty much everything going in the “use a pen, but take notes digitally” realm, all the way back to the Cross/IBM “CrossPad”. LiveScribe got close … but the need for specialty paper, and then their generation 3 pens relying on half-baked (at the time) mobile software … where once you filled the pen’s storage you were screwed (since fixed, but I’d moved on by then), killed that.
Writing on tablet screens (e.g. latest M2 iPad Pro) is very flexible, and quite fluid, but the super-smooth feel isn’t “right” and it screws up my handwriting. So no fun there … even if it is quite practical.
So … recently …
I picked up a Kindle Scribe. The primary reason for that, vs. my latest-get Kindle Oasis, was some technical eBooks that just don’t render properly on the smaller screens. In that capacity it is excellent. But since it has a pen, and note-taking capability, I figured I’d try it out.
Short version … it’s good … but really more useful for annotating books/notes/PDFs than actually taking notes and managing them. There’s no hand-writing-to-text-conversion. It’s good enough if it is all you had, and not doubt it’ll get better, but it’s still a “smoother” feel than paper, and the note-taking features are a bit basic.
Best to think of it is a high-end eReader that can does annotations well, and can take notes casually.
A keeper, but special/dedicated purpose.
…
Then … I wound up pulling the trigger on a “Remarkable 2”.
This is ALL about taking notes, at which it excels. It’s so-so as an eReader. All of the features focus on note-taking, organization, conversion and sharing. Even just reorganizing/moving what you’ve written within a single page (which can be unlimited length), is fluid and intuitive.
No front light here (unlike the Kindle), so it’s requires ambient light to see it at all. Though the benefit is that there’s minimal distance between the tip of your pen and the actual “ink”.
The display is monochrome (grey-scale, technically), but you can choose “colors” as you write, which become visible in exports to PDF (etc.). Sharing is easy. Handwriting-to-text is via MyScript, which works very well (much better than when I tried it on the LiveScribe pens - years ago now).
There’s proper cloud-sync, third-party integration (OneDrive, DropBox, GoogleDrive), and useful desktop/mobile apps as well.
The best part, however, is the feel of the thing. While it’s not exactly the same as writing on paper (which would vary by writing implement anyway), it is by far the closest thing I’ve found. It’s close enough that my handwriting doesn’t change here. It feels “right”.
Downsides?
It’s almost misleadingly priced. The tablet/notebook is $299. What you’d do with that, in real terms, beyond reading PDFs and ePubs is anyone’s guess. A pen/stylus is $79 or $129 (you’ll want the more expensive version). Consider that a requirement here. And a cover is anywhere from $79 to $169.
Go “all-in” and this is a $600+ deal.
Also, be aware of the battery life. Remarkable quote two weeks of use. That’s at 1 hour a day. It’ll hit that, with no problems (as long as you turn off WiFi when you don’t need it). If you’re taking notes for several hours a day, you’ll be charging (about 4 hours from empty) every three days or so. In contrast, I’ve charged my Kindle Scribe ONCE since the end of November, and I’ve read 12+ books, as well as done a bunch of annotations on them, all with the front-light ON, since then.
This is another “keeper” … I’m not giving up my fountain pens, but it is a much better tool for practical note taking if you ever need to share, organize or edit what you’re writing.
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Yes, I am. I am not a pen collector. I am not a pen collector. I did figure out the issue I had with my Montblanc 146, which was why I bought the Peneider anyway. I still don’t have a stub nib, but I think one is on the way in an Innova, roughly the same price or a bit less than your TWSBI. There are companies that I’ve never heard of putting out pens (no surprise), many from China.
I must stay away from EBAY. No more EBAY, keep hands off. I was on EBAY and somehow came up with the winning bid on a used silver-plate Cartier pen. So that’s on the way too.
I’m fond of the “Jr. Legal” size paper, and even the ubiquitous DocketGold pads are not that friendly to fountain pens. Just picked up a back of pads from Rhodia, I hope they’re better.
I do take notes, and it used to be on paper, then on PDAs, like the Tungsten, and then on Apple’s Newton and Newton 2000. I was in the industry when Kindle came out with the large Kindle 2 for textbooks. There were several competing e-ink and even flexible designs hoping to grab note-takers.
I now use a pad and paper for most notes, or my smaller iPad Pro. The issue has always been text or handwriting recognition. My part-time Admin favors the Rocketbook Smart Notebook Which seems to be somewhere between a paper pad and a magic slate.
As for Ink, I like a deep blue for most work, and an oxblood/brownish color for other use. I say deep blue because I have a code with my clients - if it’s signed in blue, it means I did it and really want you to pay attention.
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A proper response in a bit … but …
Rocketbook is just a microwave-safe notebook. The erasability part is down to the heat-sensitive ink in the Pilot Frixion pens they use (which you can also erase, topically, with the friction nub on the end of every Frixion pen) … which work on ANY paper. Any notebook that doesn’t have any metal in it can be used that way. EverNote and a Moleskine “Smart” notebook is as good, or better.
Loved my Newtons (owned all of them). Still have my 130 and 2000 somewhere.
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As do and did I. Was great being one of only 2 or 3 Newton users around a conference table and being able to message the others on the sly. And could take notes and download them pretty effectively.
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That was definitely a neat aspect.
Managing the “heap” was a bit of a pain on all of them, especially with third-party software, though became largely moot on the 2000 and 2100.
I still love the system font on the thing, as well as the way handwriting rendered prior to conversion.
And that was all done locally …
I’ll have to dig it out and take pictures, but I still have a 2100, in the official folio case, with its official keyboard, a 12MB PCMCIA card and a PCMCIA modem (14.4K as I recall).
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Fantastic update, Mr. Dunmore.
TWSBI pens, especially demonstraters, are quite eye catching. Can see why someone such as yourself can appreciate them with the brand pushing the message of total user control for maintaining overall product health. Love how they include a socket wrench, even throwing in bearing grease to let things stay smooth. Use them for taking apart my Custom 823! Shhhhh, Pilot doesn’t like people deconstructing their premium products, ha.
My favorites these days are still Cosmo Air Light paper. No, it isn’t Tomoe River paper. It makes up for it being almost as good for ink quality showing while having a thickness reminiscent of a painting canvas. Awesome, awesome paper for capturing a mood of creativity when passion sparks. Do you like greens? Montblanc Irish Green is a vibrant shader with black sheen. Just gorgeously mature and confident in appearance. 
Glad you’re active. You are fondly remembered at times when wanting to relax at a cafe listening to music. Perhaps a spray of Ocean Noir by Michael Malul on one wrist to keep the writing tone of the day consistent. Helps me anyway, ha.
Check out some stuff from Galen Leather if you want some timeless looking journals packed by top notch thin Japanese paper that will maximize fountain pen ink quality after it dries. Comes with tea and an evil eye charm all shipped from Turkey! 
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I like mid price Monteverde pens. And Edelstein Emerald green ink from Pelican for St Patty’s Day.
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