Bamf Review

[Doria Vilcan]

TheDesiderata Fountain Pen Company was established by Pierre Miller, a chemist, musician, and writer who makes fountain pens. His goal is to create pens that are well made, accept a variety of nibs, and offer an excellent flex-nib writing experience for those who desire it.

I'm on Pierre's mailing list. And when I received a notification about his newest creation, the BAMF Pump Piston Fountain Pen, I set an alarm on my iPhone, and as soon as orders opened, I placed mine. In part, I wanted this pen simply for its name--a name I cannot publish here--because when I saw it engraved on the pen, I laughed aloud, long and hard. I knew I needed this pen after the year I've had (and I'm not even talking about COVID).

But I also wanted the pen because it offers a unique combination of features: an innovative pump piston filling system that holds a lot of ink, a beautiful black ebonite exterior with a red ebonite grip and feed, and the ability to use a Zebra G calligraphy flex nib with a fountain pen system.

I've been on a never-ending quest to find a modern flex fountain pen because I have an anti-Midas touch with vintage pens. Believe me. I touch a vintage pen and it crumbles in my hands. I've also tried straight and oblique calligraphy pens with dip nibs. I am so bad at dipping, resulting in ink blobs, spatter, and all-around ugly calligraphy.

I've also tried multiple modern pens, including the Aurora Anniversary Flex Nib, the Noodler's Triple Tail Flex Nib, the Scribo Feel flex nib, and many others. My conclusion: Meh. Some are absolute duds. Others offer decent flex but aren't really calligraphy worthy. And others are just out of my price range right now (like the Scribo, not to mention the Montblanc Calligraphy 149).

There's no clip or any ornamentation on the pen other than "Desiderata Pen Company" and "BAMF" (spelled out) engraved on the barrel. This is not a pen you want falling in the hands of a child who can read and who wants to know what those words mean. I've kindly blurred them out for the photo.

It has slightly rounded ends and a small drop from cap to barrel. The blind cap blends so well into the barrel that you wouldn't know it's there. I'm glad I watched a review of the pen before I received it, because I would've tried to unscrew it at the grip end.

The filling system is all kinds of cool. Pierre calls it a "Pump Piston." You open the blind cap to reveal more red ebonite (where the blind cap screws onto the barrel), a spring, and a swirled ebonite button. Once you're ready to ink the pen, you simply put the nib into your ink and press the pump several times until no more bubbles come out. Clean off your nib and section and you're ready to write (well . . . sort of, see below).

I read all of Pierre's instructions and watched his video on how to prep the pen for writing. The first step was to remove the nib and feed (which are friction fit) and to clean both of them. I used toothpaste to clean the Zebra G nib because that's what Pierre used. I rinsed the ebonite feed well.

Then I inked the pen up with Robert Oster Red Candy, sat down at the table, and began to play with the pen. I knew from watching Pierre's video that I would have to work with the nib to get it to write properly. It took some time to get the ink flowing, and even then I encountered railroading and skipping. But I kept at it. After awhile, the pen started writing more consistently, and I could do an entire page without problems.

That said, if I paused for even a short amount of time, the ink stopped flowing. I had to start all over, drawing circles, licking the nib to stimulate the ink, flexing lines to get consistent flow. This happened every time I paused or between writing sessions.

It may just be a characteristic of using a calligraphy nib on a fountain pen. Or, I may need to clean the nib more thoroughly. Or, it may be a matter of breaking the nib in. Regardless, as fiddly as the nib is, it is so much better than having to dip it in ink!!!! I really hate dipping.

I am absolutely thrilled with my BAMF. As a beginner calligrapher, I truly appreciate a pen that allows me to practice without having to deal with dipping problems. I can focus instead on creating my letters, practicing words, and developing better spacing. Yes, having to restart the pen after every pause is irritating, but it doesn't take long, and I suspect it's user error rather than the pen's fault.

Sadly, the BAMF is no longer available. Pierre makes his pens in small batches, so it's first come first served. Let us hope there will be another iteration of this pen. Your best bet, if you're interested in Pierre's pens, is to sign up for his newsletter (the sign up is at the bottom of the About page).

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After much internal debate and spending a lot of time with all the different pouches that TactiCool was kind enough to send along, I was convinced this was going to take more than just a couple rounds of golf to fully understand the possibilities of the bag.

It took less than 5 mins of hitting balls during my warmup for the first person to come up and ask about the bag. As cools as that was, there was some hesitation in my mind. Did these people, who were incredibly fond of the BAMF bag, have thoughts in their heads that I was former or current military?

You may be shaking your head right now but let me explain a bit. When I first got the photos of the bag I was incredibly pumped up about it. Like I said and as you can see it just oozes a military product. That aspect turned several of my friends off to the bag. They felt, and still do, that I would be misrepresenting myself as a person of the military and therefore disrespecting the actual men and women who serve.

Hearing their point of view was troublesome but it was a point of view I was unfamiliar with. But, on the other hand there were also quite a few others who saw the bag and had the complete opposite reaction:

Three Guys Golf is a golf blog that seeks to provide a unique perspective for fellow golfers. In addition to golf an lifestyle product reviews, we write long form prose on a variety of topics and feature many golf instructional posts and videos. Three Guys Golf Blog was founded by Adam, Matt and Wade but also has regular contributing writers as well.

Free return shipping is available for all orders shipped within the 48 contiguous United States. These orders will include a complimentary pre-paid UPS Ground return label in the box when the order is delivered. If you use the pre-paid return label provided, please allow 7-10 business days for the return package to arrive back at Tackle Warehouse.

Orders shipped to international, APO/FPO, Alaskan or Hawaiian addresses or U.S. territories are not eligible for the free return shipping offer. Drop Ship and Oversized Items are not eligible for the free return shipping offer.

Comments: I bought Golden Retriever, and the color is not quite what I aspected. It's not bad, but just different. I did not have a 6/0 hook, so I attempted to use a 5/0 1/8oz Owner. I'd highly recommend going with the 6/0 that is recommended, and possibly even go with the VMC that is recommended on the package, as that's what the hook slot was molded to fit. If you're gonna try it, you really need an extra extra wide gap, because of the height of the bait. You may even want to bend the hook point up, because the hook tries to point back down into the bait. 1/8 oz was not heavy enough to keep the bait from rolling over. I'd likely try 1/4 or 1/2oz in the future.

Comments: Tested this once and it should be mentioned that this bait requires a pretty quick retrieve to impart any action. If you're looking for something to slow roll deep try something else. Definitely more of a specific conditions bait than an all around workhorse.

Comments: Big baits catch big fish. The detail put into the BAMF Shad doesn't go unnoticed by bass. I have multiple colors in the 5.25 in size and the bass absolutely hammer them. I vary my retrieve between bouncing it off the bottom moving it pretty slow and a medium steady return with a few pauses in my retrieve. I also have the 8 inch BAMF Shad and have got strikes on it but haven't caught anything on it yet. The action on the baits replicate a shad swimming perfectly. I highly recommend that you use the 6/0 Owner Beast hook for the 5.25 inch BAMF Shad and the 12/0 Owner Beast hook for the 8 inch BAMF Shad. I have had lots of success on the 5.25 version of the BAMF Shad and look forward to hooking into a giant on the 8 inch BAMF Shad because it's going to happen. This bait is durable and the details of the bait are very life like. This is what they mean when they say "match the hatch".

Comments: These bait definitely work well. the eyes did pop out but it seems one popped out and it left a holographic piece behind. so it actually looked good still. i do recommend installing the keepers it come with and put one in the nose across the screwlock and one at under the hook up top as the plastic in the hook channel tears.

Comments: Just picked some of these up, they seem soft but durable. The 8" pairs perfectly with a 12/0 owner beast and they have included pins that will keep the screwlock in the nose. The hook slot is huge but has enough grip on the shank of the hook to be pretty weedless. Will update this review if something goes terribly wrong.

From: Ethan: Jasper 12/9/19

There are plenty of reviews about the Desiderata out there, but most of them are from the POV of a copperplate calligrapher, which is this pen's intended use. There are few reviews that focus on drawing, which is a shame, because I think this is a nice, and also an overlooked art tool. In case you haven't heard, these are made by hand by a fine fellow named Pierre Miller in Chicago, and they take disposable Zebra G manga dip nibs. I won't re-iterate the information already available on Pierre's site, but instead I'll dive right into the stuff about drawing, that isn't widely available.

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