Pilot E95S

After some time, we now have a shipment with a small number of Pilot E95S fountain pens in. Pilot takes a while to come in and it’s a built-in multi-month lag from when we order to when we finally get things in, so it’s often a surprise when we open the boxes and poof! There are these pens that we once dreamed about.

The Pilot E95S is one of my favourite pens to slide into my Pen and Wallet Case or to slip into a pocket in a bag. I might be speaking too soon, not having actually ever compiled a top ten pens list, and probably having given that designation to more than ten pens, but this would be in my top ten pens list.

I have a small collection of pocket pens, and this is one of my favourite for a couple of reasons:

• it’s a snap cap (for convenience, and with a very smooth and satisfying opening and closing, sort of like an IKEA drawer)
• despite being a smaller pen, it holds a full-size converter (or cartridge)
• it’s a Pilot, so the nib is great. It’s gold, so a bit bouncy, and writes flawlessly every time
• looks a bit vintage, a bit unusual, but still timeless

Here’s a writing sample, medium nib, Life Stationery Noble Note paper. The ink is Dominant Industry Leaf Green. A bit too optimistic for this gloomy and grey January? Maybe.

Some vaguely lost in the queue is the dream of a blog post on Dominant Industry’s new notebooks, with the excellent TAKASAGO Premium paper, but until then, here is a writing sample from the notebook.

Here’s a size comparison with some other smaller pens (left to right the TWSBI Mini White Rose Gold, the Kaweco Liliput Copper), but its long cap, when posted on the back, adds a very nice balance and length for writing.

It is lovely to have these little pens back in stock. I love pocket pens! Other than being small, the only requirement for me is that the pen works well, which is to say that it writes well, and if you can count on a Pilot for anything it’s that it’s going to write well.

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In any case, we continue on, life barreling forwards ceaselessly and ruthlessly through the post-holiday gloom, and yet these grey days are also golden in their own way.

It’s been a good and bustling start to the year. Lots of things on the to do list that were rolled over to the next year, not quite able to finish them off in 2022, have been slowly getting checked off: emails to start off projects, appointments being made, starting up with new activities. I got these two storage units, on sale, for my abundant stationery, and am eagerly awaiting on Jon to assemble them. Jon is reluctant to get started on what seems to be a 500-step assembly process (x2), having opened one box, seen the instructional booklet, and immediately felt the need for a nap. Does anyone remember the tree pod adventure/fiasco? What can I say, my stationery treasures are small, and in need of correspondingly small drawers. Paid off some library fines, the kids and I made a trip or two to the Riverdale Branch, a special treat from our usual Parliament Street location, and Caleb and Naomi both have stocked up for January. But the kids are back in school, and the baby is back at growing teeth and waving her arms in the air to convince her adult to pick her up, now that there’s no more chaos to distract her. I am back at my futzing around my stationery, taking pictures, moving things from folder to folder.

Caleb has been talking about going to sleep away camp, for which I am both excited and terrified, Naomi has been referring to the vegetarians in our lives as “the salad people,” someone saw a picture of Junia in front of the shop and thought she was a homeless person. Ah, the spice and flavour of life.