(no subject)

[geminigirl]

I'm a pen freak. I admit it. I'm perpetually on a quest for the perfect pen. I like fine or microfine points, black ink, nice, smooth lines. If I could afford really good pens, I'd probably treat myself to one at some point, but well, they're out of my price range at the moment. A pen, the right weight, not too heavy, which beautiful lines flow from.

So tell me what your favorite pen or writing tool is. Tell me about it, why you love it, how it writes, how things flow from it. I'm half comparison shopping for pens, and half curious about how you, who all do quite a bit of writing here on the computer write when you're away from the keyboard.

And if I get good suggestions, perhaps I'll treat myself to a good pen to write thank you notes with, since this post was inspired by trying to find a decent pen to write a thank you note to Cayne's parents.

Comments

[fortryll.livejournal.com]

My favorite pen from memory was my gold nibbed fountain pen - can't remember the maker at the moment. But I had four nibs for it; a standard writing nib, and three calligraphy nibs. I got it back in '88, and only lost it during the move from my ex's house into my first single woman apartment.

I should replace it. It wasn't all that expensive, but it made my writing better (quality of content, and visual quality).

[moshah.livejournal.com]

I'm a stickler for pens myself. I like microfine points (.7 or finer), rollerballs in the dark blue vein.

The problem is I lose my pens all the time.

[sandboxdiva.livejournal.com]

I, too, insist on super-fine points. Black ink (HATE blue), and rollerball or gel (hate ballpoints). I don't have anything good - just run of the mill Bics.

I also love good mechanical pencils.

[geminigirl]

I buy mechanical pencils because they have, and keep, finer points than any other pencil, and they're great for my logic problem books.

[sandboxdiva.livejournal.com]

Exactly!!

(I LOVE logic problems!!)

[geminigirl]

Subscriptions to the Logic problems magazines tempt me, but not enough to have gotten one yet. Only because I'm afraid I wouldn't get through one before the next arrived.

[minikin.livejournal.com]

I've often been tempted, just because logic problem books are such a minority of the puzzle book genre.

I love logic puzzles.

[rockstargrrl.livejournal.com]

i'm constantly in search of a good pen because i have really bad carpal tunnel. if they made pens that were the width of baseball bats i'd be happy - but i've yet to find one. as such, i steer towards the Dr. Grip pens or similar, but only because of their size, not because of writing quality.

[arfur]

I had the Dr Grip pens (ventured into them also because of a RSI), but the round grip area just didn't stick to my hands well. Much happier with the PhD line. I'm quite grumpy that they've made them New and Improved - if you can find any of the old style, highly recommended.

(And hey, I created this usericon just for you. :-)

[rockstargrrl.livejournal.com]

I agree - the older school dr. grips are better. thanks for the phallic pen user icon. ;)

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Nicolai bought me one of these - the Lamy 2000 (model 203, the black wood one :>) for xmas last year, and it's lovely. It's incredibly smooth, and comfortable to write with, and very fine-lined, and just generally nice.

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

I prefer the Pelikan 400 fountain pen. It has a gold nib, which just feels way better than a stainless steel one to me. It also starts writing easily, unlike some fountain pens that you have to fuss with in order to get them to write if you haven't used them recently. I like it better than the more expensive higher-end Pelikan fountain pens because of its physical size. I also like that it only fills from a bottle, since that means it holds much more ink than it would if it used cartridges or a converter.

[meepkitty.livejournal.com]

I had a beautiful blue Parker fountain pen with deep blue ink. I adored it because it made me feel like that I was writing, even if it was the rent check, was important. It has since cracked down the middle and the replacement was nowhere near as nice.

[lala2.livejournal.com]

I like a pen with a medium point...it writes nicley and I don't feel like I have to press with all of my body weight (which is considerable) to get the ink to go through multiple copies of things at work. I also like a pen that is thick...easier to grip...with a squishy thing at the end. For comfort's sake.

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

I guess for nice writing I prefer a fountain pen with dark-colored (but not black) ink. I love roller balls, but I have yet to find one that's perfect. They always explode on me.

I've been on a ballpoint kick for a while, though, because. Um. Because I like the way the ink smells on the paper. Also because Scripto makes a neat little "Pogo" pen that fits perfectly in my purse or on my car keys (it's a little fatty that clicks open by pulling on the barrel, elongating the pen by a centimeter). Thus far these have proven pretty sturdy and reliable. AND I NEVER LOSE THE CAP!

You might look at Target's office supplies -- they often have stylish looking/feeling pens for cheapish, and sometimes the writing from them is even good.

[(Anonymous)]

Someone with much more free time than I have did some pretty extensive research on good (cheap) pens. Here's what he wrote up about his research:
http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/pens.html

my current favorite...

[disappearinjon.livejournal.com]

... with which I'm writing the novel I'm working on, is a Parker, with their gel ink. It annoys me that I can't get their gel ink in purple with a fine point, but I find that the writing is very smooth and comfy. I like the feel of the particular Parker I have in my hand, but all retractable Parkers can take the gel ink.

[palliddreamer.livejournal.com]

My Mont Blanc fine tipped fountain pen. Expensive (yay for gifts from mom!), but I love the way it writes. Better than the Aurora even. Just smooth and pretty.

PILOT - BetterGrip - Fine.

[rapha.livejournal.com]

Small and rubber for my little hands.
Like the Fine point.
HATE medium points.

Have to buy on the cheap side due to the fact that i lose them all the time. In fact, I went to pull one out of my pen cup and guess what...

[katishna.livejournal.com]

You're gonna laugh. Bic Round Stic, medium point. Hate fine point, always jamming them through the paper. Maybe it's because i'm too poor to own a nice pen, but I find that this poor little cheapo pen does nicely for me. Ink color? blue or black, don't care.

[messyjessy.livejournal.com]

Best pen ever.

They write smooth and are thick enough to make writing a 4 hour exam only semi-painful rather than excruciating.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I'm currently using the Sheaffer Agio Fountain Pen in black. With, I think, a fine point nib and Levenger's purple (or is it vermilion?) ink.

They're cheap, but feel nice, and are very thin for a fountain pen, and I like that in my pens. I used to use Sanford Uni-Ball pens because they came in fine-point purple, but they've stopped making them.