My vanilla Van Gogh is one of the early models with the patented "Three-K" locking cap. To install the cap, one places the cap on the pen and turns it a maximum of 120 degrees. This design was touted by Visconti as a flawless locking feature used by Mercedes Benz for certain applications in its automobiles. Supposedly, once on, the cap will never loosen up or fall off. It seems to me that the cap does loosen from time to time, and I'm wondering what other Van Gogh owners' experiences are with this type of cap. I think Visconti eventually went to a standard threaded cap on this model. TIA for your responses.

I have one with the 3 cam system. I agree, it does tend to loosen up, so I don't trust it in my pocket.

If I ever pull the pen out of my pocket by the cap, I get the cap but not the pen. I bet that's why they switched to normal thread. However I have heard that there are some fans of the triple cam. It's different.

Hi Paul,

I find that if I turn the cap tighter, it is less likely to loosen up. I don't trust it 100% either. It seems to be sloppy on the pen in the sense that the cap can be wiggled back and forth a little in relation to the barrel. Also when I lay it down on a desk, that's when in my mind I think the cap might actually loosen up--when it touches the desk--unless it's on really tight. I wonder if any of those triple cam fans out there who happen to be stuck with the newer threaded caps would consider a cap and barrel trade?

I have one. "flawless" is not quite the description. It holds most of the time unti... it goes through some sort of thermal cycle (cooling/heating). If you think about it, any sort of thermal expansion contraction will cause the cam system to loosen.

Take a tightened pen, put it in the fridge, and let it equilibrate and the cap will fall right off.