TWSBI, Diamine, Midori

Even I’m tired of Pilot right now, so I took out the first TWSBI I found because I know TWSBI fanpeoples1. That was a TWSBI GO. I got out Diamine Umber. I have a lot of green ink, but I don’t think any of the rest of it is this dark without going into grey territory.

The Umber’s bottleneck was too small for anything but a dip sample on the GO. So I did that, wiped the Umber off the GO, and chose Diamine Firefly2 instead because happy holidays, and their Shimmertastic line is underrated (especially when compared to another brand3 that charges about the same price for half as much).

How to load a TWSBI GO:

1. Take the blue part in the photo below, and unscrew it. Set it aside.

2. Put the nib all the way into the ink, and then some.

3. Slowly push down that big springy plunger in the previous photo.

4. Slowly release it. You may have to do steps 2 and 3 a couple of times.

5. Set the pen aside on a paper towel and quickly clean up the mess that you slowly made.

6. Wipe the pen down because there’s probably ink on the outside of it, too.

7. Take the blue part in the photo below, and screw it back over everything.

8. Remember why you don’t use the GO very often.4

I was kidding about there being no beginner TWSBI fountain pens because at the time the GO came out? There weren’t. But now, there is the TWSBI Swipe. Like most beginners it comes with a cartridge of ink, and a converter. It also comes with a converter that has a spring inside.5 Also worth noting: the Swipe is the only TWSBI pen that uses cartridges. The GO has its wacky jack-in-the-box deal, and all the other TWSBIs (including the Diamond 580ALR6) are piston-fill.

Piston-fill and especially eyedropper-fill pens aren’t beginner pens. Their filling processes are different from just snapping in a cartridge or scaring people with your syringes, and there are a couple of other considerations. The biggest benefit to piston/eyedropper pens is that they hold a lot of ink. But they also have a tendency to “burp” when they’re running low — especially if your hand creates warmth against the outside of the pen. That’s why my favorites7 in this category tend to be pens that have some more insulation between my hand and the ink chamber.

As for Midori paper8? I enjoy it with most Pilot fine nibs, and I don’t enjoy it with other pens…like, well, the TWSBI GO. If you want paper that is matte and very slightly in the direction of fabric — especially if you really dislike Tomoe River or Rhodia, this could be your high-end go-to.

Anyway, I emptied the GO back into the bottle of Firefly. Life is too short.

Onward,

E

P.S. Boring Crap About Me Postscripts will resume in the next edition.

P.P.S. Maybe also in the next edition: Jinhaos. Many Jinhaos are great beginner fountain pens — if you’re ink-curious, I think their shark pen is a better choice than the Pilot Varsity. Want your own hot take? First person to email me (embfitz at the big G) with a continental US address gets a shark pen, hopefully before the month is over.