What kind of stationery do you like?

I am a sucker for all things Muji. I have so many of their 0.38mm pens, as well as an array of pencils/sharpeners/erasers etc.

https://www.muji.com/

I would also recommend Moleskin. I know that they are expensive but they are also high quality. If you are like me and write in a journal almost every day then that extra bit of care and quality goes a long way. Plus they can survive being chucked into my bag whenever I am going somewhere.

I use a Classic Hero 565 fountain pen and have for the past 30 years almost, used it thru high school, college, grad school and still use it to this day!

When it comes to paper, I really like Tomoe River and Clairfontaine Triomphe (which is more expensive, so use it much less).

Several years ago, I started binding my own notebooks/workbooks with loose leaf sheets, they work out really well for me, rather than buying Moleskin or similar.

This video is a really easy intro into it if you want to give this a shot. Try it with copier paper you have around to see if it's something you like. The first two or three book you make may not be the best (which you can give to your kids or friends :), but it's fairly easy to make good looking notebooks. This also gives you a lot of flexibility on the size and what you want in your books.

You can also print out templates (I typically print out some calendar and day planner sheets) to be included into your textblock. I typically make 8-10 books once a year, in a pinch they are also easy presents to give out!

I'm a big believer in the "buy once, use forever" camp, so I have a Lamy Studio fountain pen and Uniball Kuru Toga pencil that both write beautifully and I know that anything more expensive is just preference.

Nothing against people who like fancier stuff, I just don't get anything out of that.

I have a few fountain pens, but my favorite is the TWSBI Eco. A clear pen that I can see how much ink is left, no disassembling the pen to refill, and a huge ink reservoir, probably only fill it once a week. All that and it is one of the more affordable options out there.

If you want stationary that is "just" functional, I would also give Muji a try. I don't think its a great pleasure to use, but it gets the job done - no excitement, no complaints. I also hear good things about Rhodia, although they seem relatively pricey for what they offer.

Personally, I always use Leuchturm 1917 A5 hardcover notebooks and will fight anyone who says that Moleskine is the better deal or that they are not worth the money. I use ≈ 2 notebooks per years, so the price doesn't break my back. Have you tried one?

For pens: I have a simple four-colour Bic-pen, a pencil, and some Pilot Frixion ball pens that I usually carry with me in the library/office. I buy knock-off ink for the Frixions, because they just fly by when you really start writing. But the fact that you can erase them is just too useful...

For the nice notes and letters I have a Waldmann fountain pen and some colourful ink to keep it interesting. The craftmansship in the pen is just phenomenal and every refill is a pleasure - no exaggeration.

An engineering notepad and a Pentel Twist-Erase mech pencil is all I need to conquer the world.

Pilot Precise V5 is one of my absolute favorites, though if you have smudging issues they may also give you a hard time there.

I'm also a fan of 0.5mm mechanical pencils and Papermate Flair felt tips, though I use those much more for sketching.

As far as stationery, I have a nice leather folio that I fill with legal pads when I'm at work.

My personal journals are the cheapest of the cheap, those dollar store composition notebooks. The paper is crap quality but I can easily dedicate one to anything I want to keep a log of, and using cheap materials helps get rid of the hesitation I have when using a nice notebook for something frivolous.

I'm not hugely into stationery or penmanship, but I picked up a bunch of Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.4mm pens a while ago after doing some research and I've been super happy with them for taking notes.

My pen of choice is a Pentel Roller EnerGel 0.7mm

I also have a Lamy Safari fine nib but I don't use it that often anymore as the Pentel is just a lot more convenient.

Notebook wise I like both Rhodia and Leuctturm 1917, probably slightly favouring the former.

I think the Uni-ball Signo UM-151 is my ideal gel pen. I use the 0.5mm in mandarin orange, although that color appears to be out of stock on JetPens (glad I bought a bunch).

For paper I switched from Field Notes to the Rhodia Reverse Book. The paper is great and I really like the square pages.

I'm a big fan of Clairefontaine for paper when i'm using my fountain pens. It's behaved well (no feathering or bleeding through the page) with Waterman, Aurora, Pilot Iroshizuku, Sailor Bungu Box, and Diamine Inks.

I mainly use a custom fountain pen with a medium stub ground Bock nib and feed.

Uni-Ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil 0.5mm for writing, and oddly enough, Tesco in the UK actually sells some really nice soft touch notebooks with quality paper in their stationary section.

I primarily use a couple of Lamy Safari fountain pens (M through EF) and a Pilot Prera (F tip) fountain pen. I find that I have a lot less issues with wrist pain writing with fountain pens than I did with other pens. When I do need a more conventional pen I usually resort to a Muji 0.38 or 0.5mm Gel Pen, and back when I did more math and physics I used a Uni-Ball Kuru Toga. Generally I also recommend many of the other Muji products, I have a pencil case among other things that I purchased at Muji.

For paper I have had good experiences with Clairefontaine / Rhodia, and Leuchtturm. I have a Midori book that I shall try as my next journal.

I also use an iPad with GoodNotes for note taking in uni classes if that counts as "stationary"