Favorite Pen and Ink Combinations

I've slowly developed a set of preferred pens and inks that go well together. I tend to carry several of these around with me during the day. I can group these pairs into three sets:

• Journaling and Archival
• Daily Note-taking
• Editing

The journaling and archival combinations are both fun to use and guaranteed to last for eternity (including surviving floods and extreme exposure). These work well together and complement each other. A wetter ink may work better with a drier pen while a thicker ink may help a pen that tends to spread out its line.

The daily note-taking combinations are pens that feel great in the hand for long periods of time and are easy to cap and uncap for quick notes during meetings. The matching inks dry quickly and look professional. These inks have some permanent element so that an accidental spill will not destroy my notes, but the page may stain from the wash. These combinations also provide some aspects of line variation like shading to add interest to the writing.

The last category is important to provide a semi-permanent to permanent accent ink to edit printed material. These pairings need to not only provide a clearly distinct color difference from the underlying print, but the pen needs to be able to maintain a wet nib for prolonged periods of disuse. I may only pull out an editing pen once a week. I want the pen to write immediately with no skipping.

Here's my current pairings:

Journaling & Archival

Lamy 2000 EF with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts

Pilot Custom 823 with 14k fine gold nib and Pilot Blue

Franklin Christoph 65 Stablis w/steel Masuyama fine cursive italic and DeAtramentis Document Blue

TWSBI 580 with fine steel nib and Noodler's 54th Massachusetts
Pilot Stargazer 14k fine nib with Noodler's General of the Armies
Pilot Explorer medium steel nib with Noodler's El Lawrence

Daily Note-Taking

Pilot Decimo w/18k fine nib and Pilot Blue-Black

Franklin Christoph 04 w/steel Masuyama fine cursive italic and Noodler's Lexington Gray
Pilot Custom 74 14k fine nib and Pilot Blue Black
Karas Kustoms Fountain K with EF steel nib and Noodler’s El Lawrence or Noodler's Heart of Darkness

Editing

TWSBI ECO EF with Noodler's Bad Green Gator

Pilot Prera fine with Noodler's Nikita