I have had a go to knife and light for a long time now—the first unit ever of both the Small Shamwari and the Muyshondt Aeon Mk. 3. But my hunt for a pen has been long and exhaustive. I have had a go-to non-fountain pen—the MaxMadCo Bolt Action Pen, but no ballpoint can produce the results a fountain pen can, especially with the same ease of use.

But fountain pens and EDC aren’t exactly friends, especially when you do what I do for a living. As a lawyer that does criminal defense I typically go to jails and prisons, not places that are compatible with the sensitive nib and feed of a fountain pen. But I love the writing experience. For a while I used the Vanishing Point but it was misplaced (perhaps by a tiny little guy in my house that likes to hide things). I had resigned myself to a subscription to the TWSBI Eco. It writes quite well, but I really wanted something a bit nicer looking.

Then I found Dan Smith’s Nibsmith site. I have always loved, loved, loved the look and build quality of the Lamy 2000. The Makrolon body is a warm material, a lightweight polycarbonate with a texture between carbon fiber and micarta. Lamy 2000’s clip and cap are incredibly innovative and provide a unique user experience. They are also simpler than the Vanishing Point’s retractable mechanism. But, and this is a huge but, the nib quality of the Lamy 2000 has been notoriously spotty. The 2000 isn’t a cheap pen and I didn’t feel like dumping $150 a scratchy nib.

Then I listened to these two episodes (1 and 2) of the Pen Addict podcast. Dan Smith’s work as a nib grinder and his store’s stock of the 2000 gave me the perfect opportunity to get not just the pen I wanted, but one that was guaranteed to not have the endemic nib problem. Even better, I could get the nib ground into an italic stub nib.

I have had this set up now for about three months and it has been fantastic. As one poster on my IG feed noted: I could use this set up forever. Its true—there is nothing I would do to alter any of the things in this set up. Great knife, great pen, and great light. I don’t need much more than this stuff.

If you are a knife fan and CRITICAL of front flippers for some unknown reason (hint, hint), then I would swap in the old nail nick Mnandi for the Shamwari. It is very hard to find a knife, even price no object, that does what the Mnandi does BETTER than the Mnandi. Its fancy without being gauche, slim without being flimsy, and small without being fiddly. The opening method is brilliant, which makes it even more acutely painful that the new Mnandi doesn’t have the one-hand opening nail nick. Its a superb and classic knife that easily hangs with this stuff. I have a preference for Box Elder Burl, but you can choose your favorite material insert.

You can support the blog by purchasing two items mentioned in this post on Amazon:

Pilot Vanishing Point

TWSBI Eco