Best Stationery — Curated from The Hiro Report

This one straddles the line between modern art piece and functional desk tool. Craighill took the humble desk ruler and made it into a drool-worthy precision instrument. It's CNC-milled anodized aluminum, 8 inches / 20cm on dual imperial-metric scales, but the trick is the telescoping neck that slides out so it doubles as a set of analog calipers — actual depth and outer-diameter measuring, no batteries, no screen, just a satisfying machined glide and a pop of bright yellow on the indicator. I do not need this but whooboy do I want it.

Tactile Turn makes some of my favorite everyday carry pens. They're pricey, but they're all machined in small batches right here in Texas. One of the coolest things they do is seasonal releases with custom parts and beautifully Cerakoted colorways. This spring's release is a mottled sand-colored body, copper-color paint accents, and a dark gray clip carrying a multilevel laser-etched topographic pattern from an actual landscape in the mountains of West Texas. It's a limited run, ships in a commemorative box with a magnet, and is priced just right to make it really hurt if you lose it. It's going on my summer birthday list.

I've been eyeing these eInk slates from reMarkable for a while, and now they're out with a new entry-level model with a higher-contrast display, better chipset, reduced latency, and a replaceable battery that's good for about ~3 weeks of use. I've got a pretty good computer-first note-taking system going right now (see above), but I'm sorely tempted to get one of these just for doodling and for jotting down notes on the go.

Remember the multi-pens that would let you choose from 3-6 different ink colors with the click of a switch at the top? Turns out there is a cult-favorite colored pencil variant that architects and illustrators have been using since the '80s. Not sure how I didn't know about these, but I want to grab one.

Being a pen nerd and space nerd means I really had no choice but to grab one of these limited edition Fisher Astronaut Pens made to commemorate the upcoming (sadly delayed) Artemis II launch. It's made out of blue titanium nitride, giving it a unique sheen. Naturally, like all the astronaut pens carried by NASA astronauts going back to Apollo 7, it features the pressurized Fisher PR4 cartridge that lets you write underwater, upside down, or in zero gravity.

All of my fountain pens are pretty thick bois, so I grabbed this slim Muji fountain pen to try out this week, and I'm really loving it. It's super light, feels sturdy, and has great knurling on the grip. My only complaint is the Fine nib on it doesn't lay down as much ink as other nibs I'm used to, so ink colors come out lighter than I'm used to. That said, it's a really nice pen at a pretty reasonable price (~$29 on Amazon as of this publishing).

I have recently been getting back into fountain pens, and my good buddy sent me this as an added temptation this week— This is a beautiful, simple Bible-sized journal/folio that opens to hold two reporter-style slim notepads for note taking, drawing, journaling, etc.

I have a ton of pens, but this one was easily my most used this year. It’s always on my desk either nestled at the top of my keyboard above the function keys or in the beautiful wooden pen block my father-in-law made me. It’s the perfect size for my hands, and the lack of a pocket clip makes it effortless to use in any orientation. It looks great too.

Years ago when I lived overseas I used to keep a memorandum book like this—a simple journal with just a few lines for each day to let you capture just the highlights. I appreciated the constraint as only having space for 3-4 lines helped me be more consistent with my journaling habit, knowing that it would be a 2-3 minute exercise rather than a 30-minute, multi-page brain dump. These daily record books look terrific. I grabbed one for 2026 and also picked up a pack of their Adventure Logs for memorializing our travels next year. (Thanks Bobby!)

This is my favorite notebook/journal. It not only looks super clean; it has dreamy, fountain-pen-friendly paper. $

I’ve got a ton of pens from these guys, they’re all beautiful, tougher than nails, and fun to write with. This one’s fun because it’s so pocketable. $$

A timeless fountain pen that is great fun to write with and easily slips into a pocket. Love this thing. $

Texas-based Tactile Turn manufactures some of my favorite US-made everyday-use pens. I've got several of their bolt action and click pens, and now I'm eyeing these new Switch Pens pretty hard—they feature a unique light switch-style flicker on the side of the pen that looks super satisfyingly fidgetable. It's made out of titanium and comes in two different sizes, allowing you to choose between your favorite type of refill cartridges.

Austin-based Studio Neat recently launched a new version of one of my all-time favorite pens, the Mark One. The new version introduces a clip for those who want to throw the pen in a pocket or want to keep it from rolling off the desk so easily. Personally, I love the sleek, clipless version on my desk, but for folks who want an EDC version, this might be what you've been waiting for.

A very dear homie kindly hooked me up with one of these, knowing how much I enjoy a good mechanical pencil. This beautiful brass-bodied tool features a tiny mechanical claw that holds onto a very thick pencil lead, which can be extended or retracted with a satisfying click on the back. The whole thing is a delight to hold, and I love its thick, stubby nature, which makes it both unique and super satisfying to use.

I’ve had a bunch of these made and they’re such a delight. It’s an awesome (albeit nerdy) way to share your contact info with new friends over the summer. ~$65 to $165

Send your loved one down the rabbit hole of aesthetic journaling. ~$55

Give someone the best-looking pen they’ve ever had. ~$85

My favorite disposable pen—they look great and write insanely smoothly with way less feathering and smearing than most other pens out there. ~$7

Jeff Sheldon of Ugmonk is back with yet another great-looking upgrade to our desktop note-taking systems. The Capture is a stackable, modular system for capturing and filing handwritten notes at your desk, building off his excellent Analog Productivity System, with which this new system is also compatible. The new system provides a tray for holding your 3x5in Analog to-do cards, and adds a new, larger tray and premium stock 5x6.5in Capture Card for long-form notes. I particularly like the addition of a small flap at the bottom of the trays to make it easier to slide used cards into the bottom of the stack (something I've struggled with on my wooden Analog tray).

My everyday carry pen of choice is a Big Idea Design Bolt Action Pen. I love it, but it's pretty pricey and hard to recommend at an eye-watering price of $100. The big brains over at Big Idea Design recently came out with a very similar offering to the Bolt Action Pen that maintains the same fun, fidgety bolt action for just $60. It appears that the only thing you give up is the adjustable body length of the Bolt Action Pen, as the Base Line only accepts Parker-style refills… Which is just fine by me, because I'm always rocking a Parker-style Monteverde Ceramic Gel* refill in my pen anyway.

- I'm finally starting to mail out commemorative Photo Challenge stickers to all who participated, so I needed to grab a label maker to help me with addressing all the envelopes. I stumbled across the Niimbot and have been really pleased with it. It is a high resolution label printer, capable of printing to various label sizes, and is controlled via Bluetooth with an iOS/Android app that lets you use preset templates or design your own with tons of fonts, icons, and more. You can even use your own photos/images.

This is ridiculous and I think I need it. Lego made a beautiful wooden desk organizer drawer in the shape of a Lego building brick. It is made from oak, has 8 studs and a removable drawer. I want to see more furniture designs from them in this clean, playful style.

I feel kind of bad for linking to this pen because it's basically impossible to get. It just launched a few weeks back in Japan, and it's sold out across the country. The only US retailer I could find that carries it (linked) is also sold out. The Zento Signature is a premium-ish (~$30) version of Uniball's new Zento line of ink/pens. They reportedly spent 5 years developing this luscious water-based gel ink that writes ridiculously smoothly while also drying quickly without bleeding/feathering. The Signature version comes with a cool metallic body design and a satisfying magnetic click when posting the cap. If, like me, you can't wait to get your hands on the Signature version to try out Zento, you can grab a two pack of the standard Zento pens* for cheap— I just got some and love how they write.

- The Rocketbook is a really interesting reusable analog/digital notebook concept that features special paper that can be easily erased with a damp cloth, and pairs with an iOS/Android app for scanning the pages and digitizing your notes in the cloud storage solution of your choosing. At about 1/20th the price of a ReMarkable Paper Pro*, this looks like a great way to dip your toe in to Analog/Digital notetaking to see if it would work for you. *Affiliate-links to support my coffee and tech addiction.

Ugmonk’s beautiful Analog system has been one of my favorite systems for tracking tasks and to-dos over the past year. It’s essentially a sleek stack of loosely formatted 3x5 cards to manage daily tasks, long-term goals, and random ideas. The design and build quality are top-notch, as with everything Ugmonk makes. Their new Discbound version makes the system portable and even more practical for those who like to take their organization on the go.

This is my favorite notebook/journal. It not only looks super clean, but it also has dreamy, fountain-pen-friendly paper. $

This gorgeous little device is like a modern typewriter with customizable keycaps, letting you just focus on your writing and nothing else. $$$

Give someone the best-looking pen they’ve ever had. $$

We all know the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. While most notebook companies focus on recycling paper, Resketch tackles the “reuse” part. Their notebooks are made of "reclaimed"/repurposed (not recycled) paper, meaning each page is a mix of lined, graph, or even printed scraps. It’s like a paper collage, bound into a unique and highly aesthetic notebook. I love my Baron Fig notebooks, but I’m intrigued by Resketch and will definitely give them a shot when I run through my current stash.

- I’ve been using mechanical pencils more and more lately. They’re just a lot of fun, and it’s handy to be able to erase rather than scratch out my inevitable mistakes. I’ve long loved my Rotring mechanical pencils, but they are almost as fragile as they are beautiful and expensive. Lately, I’ve switched to a Uniball Kuru Toga and found it delightful. It’s cheaper and features neat technology that rotates the lead for a consistent tip size.*Amazon-affiliate link.

- This may be niche, but I love 3x5 index cards—they’re great for flash cards, taking notes on the go, and sharing information like book recommendations with friends while you’re out and about. These are my favorite: nice rounded edges, high-quality paper stock, and they are dot grid rather than lined, so you can use them for sketching, bullet journaling, etc. Keep a pack in your bag or car—you’ll be surprised how often they come in handy.*Amazon-affiliate link.

With a grandiose sweep of the hat to Ben Brown over on Mastodon for surfacing this, I fell in love this week with the idea of getting vintage poster stamps made. These stamps have no financial or postal value whatsoever, but they are a beautiful vintage throwback and would be super fun to throw onto letters just to confuse the postman.