Stationery Pulse: One Pocket Notebook, a Leather Pouch, and Fountain Pen Day

November 09, 2026

New here? The Stationery Pulse is a short weekly letter for people who still think on paper. Every Monday I round up what's worth reading in the analog world: pens, notebooks, planners, and the people using them well, then close with whatever's new from Planning Engineered. The full gear catalog lives on the Shelf, linked at the bottom. One letter, once a week. That's it.

I'm still looking for a pocket-sized notebook that is more fountain pen friendly, but I do enjoy Field Notes quite a bit, just the way they look. I carry one in my pocket, along with a green pen and the recently acquired Sarasa Clip 3C with the red, black, and blue inks. That notebook is my catch-all, where I write everything down. It keeps what people call the captain's log, and it has helped a lot with my ADHD and some of the things I tend to forget. On the planner side, I think I've found a great balance between the flexibility of something like the MeePlus and the rigidity of a bound planner like the Traveler's Notebook, and I'm hoping it sticks into 2027. This week was Fountain Pen Day, so the links below run from new bag setups and daily pens to 2027 journal ideas, plus my own take on whether the NutSac Commander is worth carrying your analog kit in.

What's new in analog

Sunday Reading for November 8, 2026 (Gentleman Stationer): This is the Gentleman Stationer's Sunday link roundup for November 8, covering a look at recent fountain pen price increases, a fountain pen blog's 10th anniversary, A5 versus B5 notebooks, and a Figboot post on the Leonardo + Stilo e Stile MZ Circus. Open it for a quick tour of what the stationery blogs were saying this week, plus his note on fountain pen friendly sticky notes.
My New Analog Bag Setup! (Gare the Bear): Gare the Bear sets up a new analog bag, a Lochby Field Sling in bumblebee, and walks through its pen pockets, notebook pocket, main compartment and a zipper he hadn't noticed at first. If you're trying to build a screen-free carry so you reach for something other than your phone, watching what goes in first (a book, here David Whyte's Consolations) is a good starting point.
Art Supply Haul 🥰 Watercolour Paints & Inks (The Coffee Monsterzco): The creator treats this as an art supply haul rather than a planner video, starting with empty half pans from Jackson's Art Supplies and colors from Poland's Roman Szmal, including buff titanium and quinacridone gold. Stationery people who also paint will get a look at what's pulling this creator back to watercolor, along with a newish medium they've just gotten interested in.
Fountain Pen Day Weekend Continues: A New T.G.S. Special in Partnership with Kaleidocraft Prints! (Gentleman Stationer): Gentleman Stationer announces a special-run red and black swirled version of Kaleidocraft's 3D-printed Color Vault desk holder, which holds 42 pens plus notecards up to A6, built around the Zebra Mildliner range. Open it if you own more highlighters than you can keep track of, since it also credits dwrdnet's Derek with the original desktop holder concept.
I Took Everything I Learned From Bullet Journaling and Built This (Mark Your Pages): After years of bullet journaling and a few months of experiments with quarterly planning, new weekly layouts and wall sticky notes, this creator asks whether we build planners backwards by picking pages before deciding what they need to do. The payoff is seeing what those experiments taught them, applied to next year's journal, which they say they won't set up in full.
It’s Fountain Pen Day!!!! (Well-Appointed Desk): This is a short Fountain Pen Day greeting from the Well-Appointed Desk thanking readers for their support over the years. It also announced a one-day 15% shop coupon that ended Friday, so it's worth a click now only if you want to share in the community's hello.
Fix your planning system in 1 day. (Rachelle in Theory): Rachelle lays out a one-day reset for a planning system that has collapsed under too many planners and extra notebooks, and she compares the bloat to a closet that no longer closes. Her argument is that systems break because they get too complicated, so if yours has, this is a decluttering method you can follow along with today.
The Lochby Field Sling is the perfect bag to hold your offline gear while you’re out adventuring! (AlexanderWrites): AlexanderWrites packs an analog bag around a Lochby Field Sling Plus: the current book, a Field Journal, a Lamy 2000 fountain pen, a knife and AirPods for offline listening. The bag's stated purpose is screen-free time, so it's a short, concrete example if you want a walk, some journaling or a book to replace doom scrolling.
Top 5 Fountain Pens I Use Daily (AlexanderWrites): For National Fountain Pen Day, AlexanderWrites shares the fountain pens he uses daily, in no particular order, starting with an honorable mention for a Kaweco Brass Sport that he takes into the woods because it's durable. He buys pens secondhand or on Amazon sales rather than at full price, and he calls the Lamy Safari the perfect entry-level pen, so it's a practical pick for anyone shopping on a budget.
Kindle Paperwhite vs Kindle Aluminum 2026 (Steven Foster): Steven Foster compares the new Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Aluminum 2026 after using both on trains, couches, beds and desks, and he says the differences are fewer than you'd expect but still matter for the decision. He says he'll cover what they share, how they differ, and which one makes sense for most people, so it's a useful watch before you buy.
27 Journal Ideas for Your 2027 Setup 💜 (JashiiCorrin): JashiiCorrin offers 27 ideas for a 2027 journal setup, and the first is a flip-out tab on the inside cover holding log on and log off routines written as a simple checklist. It suits anyone who struggles to hold boundaries with work and wants a routine they can reference from any page.
Quote of the Week: This is Me (Well-Appointed Desk): This Quote of the Week post features the song "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman, which the author first watched on a flight and was moved to tears by, enough to make a sticker sheet inspired by it. It's for anyone who has felt unseen or belittled, and the author asks readers to go listen to the whole song and share their own quotes in the comments.