Pen snobbery

[Crossbow]

Ok, am I the only one here that is willing to call themselves a "pen snob?" I'm not fond of using a disposable ballpoint pen if I can avoid it. I do use the occasional rollerball (I have an aluminum body one from the Lego Store from years ago that I love), but it's nicely refillable.

I have two pens on my desk at work that I use all the time, and both are fountain pens. I'd be rather annoyed if either of them disappeared, but since they're fountain pens, that's not very likely.


So, does anyone else have a "favorite pen" that they will go to before any others if they can?

[AnaKhouri]

There is an episode of CSI where they go to a pen expert to determine if a 'suicide' note was written with a certain pen. He points out that yes it was, there is a flaw in the ballpoint that made a miniscule error in the ink flow. He says in disgust, "Cheap writing instruments."

That's how I feel. I am a writer who writes longhand and I shudder if I have to write anything, even a check, with one of those soulless ballpoint monstrosities. Writers in general seem to be obsessed with the tools of their craft, all the longhand writers I know have favorite pens and even kinds of paper.

Pilot Precise Rolling Ball Fine Point Black. That's my baby, and I get boxes of them Christmas.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I've been a pen snob for years. . . . the only ones I'd use when I was in HS were the Parker Vector roller ball pens and fountain pens (I detested those disposable Bic or Paper Mate pens. Just ugh.)

I have a pink Pentel Dr. Grip refillable that I use all the time and it is NOT loaned out to anyone. Touch it and you will die . . .

But yeah, most pens just don't write that well at all. Of course I don't write as much by hand now (have laptop that I use for my writing) but back years ago, I was either writing longhand or on typewriter.

[jedimaster91]

You know where to get the best pens? Medical conferences. I went to a conference several years ago and I picked up a pen from every booth I could. Most of them still work.

For me it has to be one of the clicky top pens. No caps. And preferably one I can jam into my ponytail so I don't lose it.

[Kheldarson]

I'm not a pen snob, but I am a pencil snob. I have to have .5 pencil, and I absolutely prefer the Bic ones with the squishy pad where your fingers rest. Divine.

[EricKei]

For ballpoint types - Parker pens. Metal(ish), refillable, last a long time.

For rollerball-type: Zebra ZEB-Roller 2000...I think I have one or two left (they stopped making them years ago), they're nice and fat to fit my chubby long and sturdy fingers, and they make my already-difficult-to-decipher handwriting all but incomprehensible to the normals The closest I've found is a later product by another company that Voldemart sells (Uni-Ball Vision Elite). White barrel with blue highlights, black pens, about $9 for a 3pack. Have to guard those puppies with my life around the office >_>

[Argabarga]

I'm the patron saint of the 10-pack of Bic pens.

Because of my special mutant ability to lose said pens at a rate that would make you think they were actually made of compressed radioactive isotopes with very very VERY short half-lifes.

Occasionally, someone gets me a very nice pen set, with holder/case as a gift, and I have to put in the bottom desk drawer and never touch it.

Not because it's unappreciated, but because the instant I try to write with one, I'm going to quickly lose the cap, pen and package it was contained in.

I'm Mr. Cheap Ballpoint.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

You may hate me for that, starting....................... NOW

[Sliceanddice]

with me to has to be a black gel ink pen
i found a brand at a dollar store i like and wont cry if they get stolen but other than that i usually get nice pens since i like to write long hand when im thinking and i like to draw really demented stuff with them and gel ink copies better.

i will admit it i want something cheap and easy ill buy a 10 pack of ball point pens write notes with them for like a week or use them as pen borrowing decoys

[bbbr]

for me its a Pilot G-2 0.7mm in blue and a sharpie (but not a "sharpei", i have on of those...) in my lab coat and in my pocket at all times. I usually kill em in less than a month filling out all the documentation for my work. It takes a lot to get either set away from me and in the event I lose one, I got 15 more stashed in my parts cabinet.

[MoonCat]

I would be a pen snob if I wrote much longhand anymore. Somewhere I have the Cross pen my parents gave me when I graduated from H.S. I also have my mom's which has her name engraved on it. These aren't all that fancy but they're nicer than the average Bic. I also have some novelty pens, one that looks like a purple pansy with a long green stem, one that's a green cat (his butt unscrews and the pen point is inside ) and one that's covered with fake "gems." Wish I still had the pen I used in high school, it was very 70's hippie-flower-power with multi-color flowers all over it.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I always buy bic, the cheap ones with the clear tube. I started buying them in school, the hexagonal shape in cross section is perfect for rewinding tapes, which my Walkman didn't do. After getting used to them I get hand cramps from using other types of pens for too long.

[cindybubbles]

Ok, am I the only one here that is willing to call themselves a "pen snob?"

I think you're more like a pen connoisseur.

Myself, I prefer felt-tip pens, as they were great for my drawings and I didn't need to scribble to get the ink flowing.

[BlaqueKatt]

For me it has to be one of the clicky top pens. No caps. And preferably one I can jam into my ponytail so I don't lose it.

Clicky or fountain pens for me, I lose or drop caps, I just wish they'd figure out how to make a retractable fountain pen, I'd die of happiness.
**Edited to add** OMG THEY MAKE THEM! now to start putting aside money as the cheapest is $125.

My current favorite is a pentel energel(mix of gel ink and standard, has the smooth flow of gel but dries like regular, and the refills come in some great colors! I've currently got sky blue)

[Crossbow]

Clicky or fountain pens for me, I lose or drop caps, I just wish they'd figure out how to make a retractable fountain pen, I'd die of happiness.
**Edited to add** OMG THEY MAKE THEM! now to start putting aside money as the cheapest is $125.

My current favorite is a pentel energel(mix of gel ink and standard, has the smooth flow of gel but dries like regular, and the refills come in some great colors! I've currently got sky blue)

I have seen a few retractables on ebay for less (not a lot less, granted), so keep your eyes open.



What I'm waiting for is a rollerball that's coming down the pipe, at least according to rumor. The tolerances are supposedly tight enough that it takes standard fountain pen ink.

[ThirdGenRetail]

I have two favorite kinds of pen - The Pilot Precie V5 Extra Fine Point, and the Uni-Ball Vision. The only catch is that, for the latter... I can never find JUST the black- or blue-ink variety on their own... SINGLE pen... For what I'd call cheap(IE, less than $8 for a single pen).

Also, why in the world does a 12-pack of black pens cost MORE than a 12-pack of BLUE pens...? FOR THE SAME BRAND.