OT: Favorite writing implement?

[DougK]

Yeah, I know, way off-topic, but what the heck, it's all in good fun.

We were having a discussion about this today at work during an idle moment, I forget how the topic came up, and it turned out to be a very interesting and lively discussion. Also, I'm curious what a poll here will show given the fondness many of us here have for older cameras and gadgets as well as other fine arts besides photography.

Myself, I prefer fountain pens. Someday, I'll get myself a really nice one even though most of my writing these days is done on a computer.

How about you?

 

[dmr]

If I have to write cursive, I prefer a felt tip pen, Flair type. I usually use a ballpoint, cuz that's what's around. I really prefer the computer for any serious writing. My handwriting is not the best, even though I am very dexterious.

 

[JoeFriday]

it depends on my purpose.. I prefer a standard #2 pencil for drawing or sketching out story ideas.. but for 'final copies' of anything, I like the feel of a Monte Blanc rollerball

other than that, who doesn't like a Sharpie? 🙂

 

[back alley]

are you talking about handwriting or writing as in creative writing?

handwriting - a nice sharp pencil with a rubberized stem.
creative writing - a computer - hands down

joe

 

[ch1]

Back in the mid-20th C. I was a kid attending Catholic grade and then high school.

In those days there were two requirements:

1) Uniforms including white shirts.

2) Fountain (or the then "modern alternative" of cartridge) pens.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY OF US KIDS RUINED WHITE SHIRTS WITH LEAKY FOUNTAIN/CARTRIDGE PENS???

As "collector" items go right ahead and start buying them. But it you are looking for a "user" tool - get a Bic.

That's what they finally let us do way back when! 😀

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Tombow pens- a brand out of Japan. Besides that, an HB pencil. Better yet - Eberhard Faber used to make pencils called "Othello." Very soft very dark leads. Great to draw with too!

Bob H

 

[SteveM(PA)]

I like things that eclipse their lowly stations, like feds, and I certainly haven't mastered a .19 bic yet, but until then I really like my Aurora Thesi ballpoint, done by Marco Zanuso in 1972. I saw it at the moma as a boy and wanted to take it home instantly, just to have a piece of the moma. I just recently got a box of refills for it from Italy. Each refill is packaged in a little box that is carefully fashioned into the shape of the Thesi pen, it's totally wild.

 

[DougK]

Interesting distinction Joe, thanks for bringing it up. I was thinking of the question in terms of if you have to record information, be it a short note or a novel, what's your favorite tool for the job?

Brett, I love Sharpies (especially the new retractable, extra-fine point ones) and a good rollerball too, guess I should have set it up as a multiple-choice poll 🙂.

 

[ErnestoJL]

If I have to write a lot, the computer hands down , however...

To start a sketch or an any technical drawing I usually use a Pilot 0.5 mm retractable pencil.
For serious writing, I allways use a pair of very old fountain pens made in Germany by Rotring, the so called "Tintenkuli". It is by far the best ever fountain pen I had together with the cartridge Parker 45 I´ve used for secondary and high school (unfortunately stolen).

Ernesto

 

[jan normandale]

About 10 years ago , I had a very good year. I know if that happens to buy something 'permanent' like a camera, a stove, a few cases of wine... in my dreams now. This time I went into a specialty shop that deals solely in 'writing instruments and supplies' I waded thru Mont Blanc, Dupont, Parker, Pelikan etc etc. finally I tried a black enamel w gold clip Waterman Le Mans. Smooth platinum tip and it just glided over paper. No pushing it just skated as fast as I could go. Bought it and it's still with me.

Once in a while I pull it out load it up and write, mostly my journals. I think I understand the Chinese passion for calligraphy!

 

[GeneW]

Although I use a keyboard most often, my favourite writing instrument is a fountain pen. One further qualification. Fountain pen + yellow legal pad.

Gene

 

[richard_l]

A cheap Shaeffer cartridge fountain pen.

 

[Jason808]

For journals & taking notes: a fountain pen. Good ones don't leak. I have a Sheaffer Balance 14k that is broken in perfectly. My daily hardware is a Lamy Safari Aluminum in fine point.

However when I write press releases and articles I have to use a computer.

 

[nwcanonman]

For every day use a good Cross ballpoint can't be beat.
For personal letters to close friends and family, I use a medium point Waterman fountain pen (great for art doodling too).

 

[doubs43]

I used to own a Reform roller ball pen that I loved but it went missing. It was typical German craftsmanship of solid brass with red enamel and gold tips/clip..... a beautiful pen. I can't replace it as Reform no longer makes pens under their own name. Or so I'm told.

My present pen is a Waterman gel pen and I prefer the medium tip blue cartridge. It's a very nice pen but I'd still like to have my Reform back!

I've inherited two classic and beautiful fountain pens from my father that will never be disposed of. One is a Parker green Tortous-shell pen that he was given in 1929 as a graduation present and the other is a Schaeffer fountain pen from the same period.... a birthday present. Both are highly collectable and worth a fair amount but they will be passed on to my children.

Walker

 

[nwcanonman]

How many of you are old enough to remember Bic pen's first TV ads? They shot the pen out of a .30-.30 rifle THROUGH a wooden board (2"x4"?).
Well, being a teenager I put a new Bic into the barrel of my air rifle and fired it into a 2"x4" pine board.
BROKE that pens tip into pieces! 😀
Does anyone know about tonadoes putting straw through a tree. It's the "speed" not the straws toughness. Same with the Bic pen, it would seem. 😛

 

[enochRoot]

paper mate felt-tips in red, blue, and black. can't go wrong. and then sharpies for larger jobs.

 

[Gordon Coale]

I've recently been converted to wood sheathed pencils. There are pencils and then there are *pencils*.

portable analog storage device

And good notebooks, too.

 

[richard_l]

I've recently been converted to wood sheathed pencils. There are pencils and then there are *pencils*.

I used Berol Black Warrior pencils for scribbling math equations and such. When Mirado took over making the Black Warriors, the quality seemed to drop quite a bit. I tried several other wood sheathed pencils, but nothing was as good as the old Berols, so I finally settled on a 0.7mm Pentel mechanical pencil.

 

[schmoozit]

other than that, who doesn't like a Sharpie? 🙂

Me. I hate the Sharpies I have; yuck! Maybe I'm spoiled by the nice pens they sell here in Japan. Seriously, most pens here are much better than the pens most people use in the States. So much so, in fact, that i get comments from Japanese saying that they hate American pens. I've learned why.