I bought it because I wanted to be able to keep more history of notes with me for work. I don’t need much integration with anything like One Note, just my notes, in a slim package. Oh, and no worries about ink.

Endless separate notebooks and pages, search, keywords, headings, and all the rest are really nice extras to the extent that they work. More on that later.

A month +in, and I’ve yet to go back to a paper notebook for work or my journal, or even a legal pad for my various lists. I really doubted it would happen. Will it last?

When I got my first metal pen bolt action pen I chose a Tactile Turn slim bolt in titanium. They said it was their most popular, and I thought it would be nice to have something that didn’t require any polishing. It’s been a great pen, and we lived happily ever after. Well, until I got to thinking about getting a pen in a metal that develops a patina.

I was attracted to the idea that the pen would adopt a look that was personal – meaning there would be wear marks where I hold it, or whatever. But when I saw pics online it seemed that no, the pen ultimately ends up the same color all over, and in the end you might as well have just painted it that color. Hmmm…what would be a the point of that?

In the end I decided to just give it a try, and got a Tactile Turn slim bolt in bronze. Nice pen. I like the tight clip, and I got it 4 days ago. I looked forward to seeing how long it would take to show any signs of patina. Well, I didn’t have to wait long:

I believe in a month it will be fully gray/brown. Not sure I see what the attraction is, but we’ll see when we get there!

Like a trip – do I bring my main journal, though big and heavy, and keep everything in one book or should I bring just a field notes and make the book entirely about the trip.

Books I took for just one thing feel special. They’re worn a bit more – because I take a simple Kraft-covered book like field notes or the like – and things like Museum entry stickers get stuck in or on them. But I rarely come close to filling them.

Having everything in one book feels like a more continuous history…but something is lost.

What do you do?

It’s the ubiquitous pocket/Field Notes size, and looks promising, right? Woops!

As you can see, the stitching is way off center, which means the book is going to be a pain to write in, and won’t ever lay right. So back it goes. Do I dare get a replacement? I’m guessing they’re all like this.

Mark Koester as a nice article, but it’s from 2019 and I suspect things are quite a bit different now.

I’m not going to buy a scanner to do this. I do have good lighting, and some space and a table, and I can get a pane of glass to hold things flat. I have an old iPhone 8 I can dedicate to the task, or an iPhone 14 Pro Max, or a Sony ZV-E10. Maybe the last with a zoom lens would be the best choice.

I’m not an artist so I don’t need to capture subtle shades or brushstrokes. I do want color, and I do want whatever OCR has to offer to make them searchable after the fact. I’m in the Apple ecosystem.

I’m just starting to search for ideas, so if you’ve got links or suggestions please let me know!

But now I’m thinking of moving them into my journal. Why? I’m finding what I’ve been writing is part journaling, and I find myself re-writing stuff in my journal because I feel like it needs to be in the ‘official’ record.

I’ve also thought about doing morning pages on a legal pad and just tossing the sheets. On days when they’re 80% complaining and other emotional spew, that’s probably a good idea, but when you start you don’t really know what’s going to come out.

What do you use for morning pages?

Over time I’ve been replacing all-black stuff or putting brightly colored tape on things to make them easier to see.

Pens were a little easier as they are available in bright colors, even neon colors. There are two in particular: The Caron d’Ache 849, and the Space Pen Cap-o-Matic Tradesman.

The Caran d’Ache has a more saturated color. The Space Pen is paler, almost pastel by comparison. Both are more or less equally visible, but the CdA color makes me smile and the Space Pen color makes me feel like it spent too much time in the sun. More importantly, they both jump out visually. Dropped on the ground or in a crowded drawer or pocket they’re easier to spot, which is the point.

The Tradesman feels a smidge loose and wiggly and the mechanism, like the CdA, is quiet and a bit vague. Neither gives a satisfying click, like you’d find on a Jotter. But if you’re a compulsive pen clicker, those around you will be a lot happier.

The Tradesman is made of brass and I have no doubt the pen will last, although the paint has chipped a bit. The 849 is aluminum, the clip is removable, and so far the paint is chip free.

Both pens have sturdy clips, and will fit in normal size pen sleeves. The 849 has a bit more reveal above the clip which makes it easier to grab.

Neither pen has any annoying click or clack of the cartridge rattling while writing.

In general CdA cartridges are long-lasting and a bit dry in my experience, and finer than regular ballpoints on many kinds of paper. Space Pen refills are thicker and darker by comparison, but don’t last anywhere near as long. Both write on 95% of the surfaces I come into contact with, but I expect the Space Pen to have the edge, as well as writing in different positions.

The 849 is a legendary, proven design, and I’m very fond of it. It’s the refills that tend to push me away. In theory the 849 will take a Parker refill, but in practice it is not a great fit. The Space Pen refill can also be put into the 849, but it suffers the same problems as the Parker refills. The main problem is that the point doesn’t fully retract and is more likely to mark up pockets & clothing accidentally.

Both of these pens are very competent, established designs, and either will be easier to find. If sharp, saturated body color is important get the 849, if a darker, thicker writing line is important get the Space Pen.

But when I’m in a hurry, under stress to write both fast and neat, or have simply enjoyed too much coffee, I find my grip getting quite vise-like. Then my hand and arm get tired. Not good when you’re trying to get some freewriting done or, worse yet, taking notes somewhere.

I’ve discovered a trick however. Borrowing an idea from Hogan’s golf grip, I shift my thumb and forefinger further around the pen just enough that their tips touch each other. This tactile feedback keeps me from gripping too tightly, and forces everything to relax.

The picture above shows my normal grip, the one below shows the stress-free version. Notice that the thumb and forefinger are pressing against each other rather than the pen itself.

At first it’s a bit of a funny feeling, because the pen no longer feels so firmly held. It also inhibits writing from the fingers, which is just as well when one should be writing from the shoulder anyway. Get used to it, and you will find that it gives you more than enough grip for a pen, but keeps everything relaxed.

So, I made a video instead: https://youtu.be/Q2sFfAo03uA

I hope it helps!

[UPDATE FEB 2023]

Well, maybe not. Mstdn.party, the instance where I’d made my account, was abandoned by its administrator and was beginning to be blocked. So I deleted my account there while I figure out where to go next.

If you have a reliable instance to recommend I’d like to hear about it!