I can still remember the moment when Darth Maul ignited the second blade of his lightsaber. George Lucas had wisely hidden the second blade for maul’s first fight so the second fight, when we already knew Maul was dangerous, is a real level up.

While I might not have a single lightsaber blade (yet) I have been dual wilding micro pens recently with a micro 0.3 and 0.8.

These two pens were part of a set of five that I bought going from 0.05 to 0.8. I’ve used many of these pens at different times (although the 0.05 immediately broke when I first reapplied the lid) but for some reason, I seem to have gravitated to these two as my everyday carry pens.

Nestled within my Nock Spaleo Kickstarter case with a Field Notes notebook, they provide a handy portable set for jotting notes down, adding to my Hobonichi or, importantly, sketchnoting.

The 0.8 works brilliantly for header sections with its extra width and boldness. Doubling up the lines works well for titles too. It also suits icons. On the other hand, the 0.3 can provide fine text, lines for connecting ideas and small checkboxes. But the real magic is when they combine.

  • the 0.8 can provide the outline while the 0.3 adds the details,
  • the 0.8 can form the bulk of my letters while the 0.3 adds serifs,
  • the 0.3 can make the checkbox and the 0.8 can resolutely mark them complete.

I don’t need to bring a second micron along, in fact, I could use any old pen. But this set up works well for many different situations and I enjoy them.