Pt 2

Ballpoints (Continued)

I'm gonna assume you were able to make a choice from my outlining of the difference between pressurized and low viscosity inks, so here's some options:

1. (Pressurized) Uni Tank - This is the cheapest pressurized ink pen you can get. Don't let that fool you though, it's just as good as any other, if not better. The only downside I really think this has is that it's not a mini/pocket pen but... Franky who cares. Purchase link
2. (Low Viscosity) Pentel Floatune - This is the johnny come lately of the low viscosity ink ballpoints. I can go into the history of this, but generally speaking any time there's a big innovation in the writing world, Pentel is the last to arrive on the market with their version, but their version is usually quick to find adoring fans who claim that it's the best version. This is one of those cases. Purchase link

Pencils

In the world of pencils the question you really have to ask yourself is "to gimmick... Or not to gimmick?" A lot of companies have been innovating how to make a better writing experience at the cost of making their products in some way weird, or more mechanically complex. You will have to decide if you're willing to do something a little odd, or if you just want the old reliable choice. I won't be recommending any gimmicks that in my experience have hindered the longevity of a product since this is a BIFL space, but I'll also be recommending ungimmicked options.

Mechanical

Terminology:

• knock: advancing the lead
• sleeve: the tube at the end of the pencil that guides the lead to the paper

Gimmicky

Auto knocking

These (hypothetically) will let you take notes continuously without having to think about advancing the lead in your pencil. I only actually know of one that's truly worth recommending since my recommendation for writing utensils while you're still in school is to avoid anything you'd be sad to lose, and one of the options under $10 has reliability issues. It's the Pilot Airstep. Purchase link

Rotating lead

Some of you crazy enough to read through this already know what pencil I'm about to recommend and some of you can't believe I'm bringing it up, and some of the rest of you can't believe I didn't bring it up first. This is my personal favorite pencil. I write in cursive so the rotating lead really works for me, but a lot of people see this as pointless gimmicky bullshit. I won't tell you how to feel about it, but the pencil I'm talking about is the Uni Kuru Toga purchase link

(a note. I've linked one with a retractable sleeve. the sleeve is the failure point of these models so it's best to keep it from catching on stuff)

Non-gimmicky

Any pentel drafting pencil. Sharp. Graphgear. Doesn't matter. They're all bombproof and great. No purchase link since this is a brand category instead of a single product.

Wooden

Gimmicky

Wooden pencil gimmicks come in two categories:

1. Ergonomic shapes
2. Blackwing

Ergonomic shapes feels pretty self explanatory. Blackwing is a brand. They have aromatic wood casings and replaceable erasers. They're good pencils. I just don't think they warrant the price that's requested of them. But sometimes they're just the only quality wood case pencil a store carries so you end up buying them. IDK what to say beyond that.

For an ergonomic pencil, I like Faber-Castell purchase link

Non-Gimmicky

The challenge here is getting something with the graphite centered in the casing. I kind of don't care about aromatic casings and stuff. I just want a graphite core that writes well, isn't prone to breakage due to manufacturing faults, and is properly centered in the casing. That is shockingly hard to find these days as we experience the total enshittification of absolutely everything. The only pencil I know to trust to consistently do all of this at a good value is the Uni Mitsubishi 9850. You can buy them individually on JetPens but I prefer buying them by the case. If you live in the US the only place to buy them by the case is Amazon. We truly live in a nightmare.

If you want the best pencils you can get at the store I think those are probably Ticonderogas still, but their quality has gone to shit in the past 10 years. It's just that the quality of everything else in the store has also gone to shit and so Ticonderogas are less shit.

Sharpeners

Gimmicky

I love a ratcheting pencil sharpener. It's just easier on my shitty tech worker wrists. Purchase link

Non-gimmicky

KISS. Just look for something that's made to quality. You probably want a metal enclosure and a replaceable blade. Here's something I've found good

A note about all this before we move on.

Literally all my links so far were to JetPens. I originally had hoped to spread the link love around a little bit more since I don't like buying all products from just one store. But JetPens was the only place I could find all the stationery stuff that wasn't Amazon. So here we are. This is not strictly speaking an endorsement of JetPens but they're okay. It's a soft endorsement I guess. Anyway. On to water bottles

Water Bottles

The biggest thing here is to ignore trends. Determine your preferences and ignore whatever everyone else is doing. It doesn't actually matter. All the water bottle brands are great. If you already have a water bottle, just stick to it. If you're looking to buy a new water bottle because you don't have one, bear in mind that Water Bottles are weirdly prone to trends. 5 years ago everyone wanted a Hydroflask. Then they all wanted a stanley. Now they all want an Owala. Before Hydroflask everyone wanted Yeti, and before that it was S'well. Did each of these brands surpass the previous hypebeast brand to become the cultural favorite? No. Not really. Social media bubbles just encourage these fads faster than before everyone was getting their purchasing advice from influencers. The only brand I actually factually recommend against is Yeti (if you already own a yeti, keep it, it's fine). Their ownership group has some... Ungreat political views on the world, and I would prefer not to give them money. Along those lines I recommend Klean Kanteen. They're the only B corp in this space (meaning that they actually had to prove they do social good rather than just claiming it like Hydroflask does) and have very excellent performance scores in terms of thermal retention, durability, and rebuildability (their seals are standard o-rings you can get at the hardware store). Purchase link

The other thing to consider is that maybe you don't like the flavor stainless steel imparts on water when you drink it. That's fine. I get it. Here's a purchase link for a glass water bottle. I don't really buy into all the hype that glass water bottles are healthier for you than stainless steel ones buy like... I'm also a big dumb idiot so don't listen to me.

And now for my most controversial opinion! Nalgenes are fine! They're certainly the most versatile. And they're definitely the play if you're hoping to communicate that you are in community with Queer people (along with sandals. You'll need to wear sandals to complete the message). Purchase link DISCLAIMER!!! DISCLAIMER!!! DISCLAIMER!!! I do benefit when you purchase this bottle. This is not a promotional link. However the Appalachia Water Project does donate water to the Helene Relief project that I work with bringing water to McDowell County, West Virginia where the residents have not had clean drinking water in 2 years. I would frankly rather you send $10 to POWHR or one of the Southern Alliance Mutual Aid projects, but shit, I'll take your bullshit charity money too (even though as an Appalachian I'm deeply distrustful of charity models). We're fucking desperate out here and if all the help I can get is a side benefit of a tax write off for a water bottle company donating to a charity in Los Angeles that doesn't contribute to resolving the root problem but still helps us allieviate the accute crisis, I'll take it. But I will judge you. Harshly! Fuck! Contribute to mutual aid, goddammit!

Anyway.

Backpack

This is going to be another controversial pick. Any backpack that isn't the cheapest shit from Walmart can be a BIFL choice if your lifestyle continues to match that backpack. Fjallraven is nicely versatile by offering vintage styled hiking packs. Here's a purchase link DISCLAIMER!!! DISCLAIMER!!! DISCLAIMER!!! I chose Backcountry.com as my purchase link source for a backpack because they have local operations to here and that helps us fund the post-Helene economic recovery. I want to make abundantly clear that even less than I trust the charity model of Appalachia Water Project, I trust capitalism. But I'm also a dirty little slut who will do anything to help my neighbors survive the hellscape we've been subjectect to and sometimes that means acknowledging that under capitalism all of us our whores. Just as it was when this town was a mining camp and the most profitable profession was prostitution, I'm not too good to play the game of capital