I have always brought my FP along in the front pocket of a shirt, thus keeping it upright. Now that the weather is warmer, how "safe" is it to place it in the front pants pocket when wearing a t-shirt, etc.; any other thoughts on how to bring it with you? The obvious worry is leakage when not upright.

John

If you wear T-shirts (either V-neck or crew neck), you can simply clip the pen into the neck opening of the shirt. I find it most comfortable to clip the pen to one side rather than in the center.

if you wear golf shirts, you can clip the pen into the placket.

Don't carry a fountain pen in a pants pocket. If you put it in a hip pocket, you risk snapping it when you sit down. If you put it in a front pocket, you risk goring yourself when you sit. In either location, the pen can also tear the pants.

John,
I've only found two pen I'm feeling confortable enough to carry in my front pocket:

The Kaweco Sport and the Pelikano Junior. They are both made out of plastic, rugged and clipless.

The Kaweco might be the best option since it's kind of short, about 10 cm long.

I've also clipped pen on a sort of strappy long key or ID holder stuff people wear around their neck. You know the type people wear at car race or back stage area.
It's a really easy option.

Samovar

Since Christmas I have been carrying my pens in my front pants pocket. I usually take them out of my pocket and put them on my desk when I get to work and the same when I get home. I have yet to have any problems like leakage, breaking, tearing of pants... I will however keep you updated.

It's simple: Don't wear pocketless shirts -- and save T-shirts for their intended use -- as undergarments. Pens jammed onto the collar of a T-shirt or polo shirt look tacky beyond belief. Your pen demands a pocket, and your "audience" deserves better than you in a T-shirt. Thank you very much.

[rant]

Ooookay...thanks for the fashion lesson.

I'm sorry, but I think that was an obnoxious and uncalled-for post.

To each their own, I suppose, but it's highly unneccessary to call someone out for wanting to bump around on a weekend in a pair of shorts and a polo.

Get over yourself.

[/rant]

I carry a notebook and attach the clip to the cover. You're gonna need something to write on anyway, right?

Simple solution.....buy a t-shirt that has a pocket. Normally I carry a backpack, so the pens are in the bag, but I just tried a t-shirt I have, that has a pocket, and it fits just fine. I was able to clip in both a Cross Townsend, and an MB 146 fountain pen, and neither seemed to have any trouble staying in the pocket.

I don't leave home without em...
Duluth Long Tail Tee shirt with pocket

Tom

Just where one of these (http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/40_Classic4.shtml) over your pocket-less tee and you'll have plenty of places for your pen.

None of my dress shirts to be worn with a suit and tie have pockets. My pen stays in an inside jacket pocket. On those occasions I do not wear a suit jacket or sport coat, my pens are in my portfolio or breifcase.

Twotone

I've kept my Rotring Esprit in my front pants pockets, but anything made of plastic goes into my bag or shirt pocket or anywhere but my pants The Esprit is wonderful, anodised aluminium hubba hubba.

Peg has designed what she refers to as the Bill Look...a turtleneck or mock turtleneck...lightweight for summer, medium weight for fall and spring, heavy weight for winter...and a sports jacket or blazer. Carry pens are clipped to the left inside jacket pocket.

When I do wear a polo/golf shirt, I take a light weight pen and either clip it to my left sleeve hem or my left collar, close to the placket.

Kaweco Sport pen/pencil set in the poly pouch for jeans. The big lead pencil is great for rough carpentry...

Bill...who also thinks Bradley's (although Barkley might be better) "dress for success" bit was off the mark. I am a successful consultant, contract recruiter, and former HR executive and have worked in environments where I was EXPECTED to be in non-pocketed shirts...and I now chose to so be. I wear my funky hat backwards. So what.

In my baggy geek pants I can carry a Tuckaway fairly easy in a front pocket.
But hey! It's springtime here in the swamp. Time for my Aloha shirt rotation!

I suggest going with the Cargo Pants look...and for shorts, the equivalent Cargo Shorts.

I think the side cargo pocket is much less likely to result in pen breakage. There's usually enough room for a writing surface such as a Moleskine cashier's notebook or a Levenger Pocket Briefcase 3x5 card holder.

ive always carried my pens clipped in my left front pants pocket, and in all those years of writing with a pen i have never lost or damaged one, injured myself nor had my pants ruined as a result. then again, my pants are all nice and loose fitting with plenty of comfortable room, a result of both personal style and functionality as i was/am a mechanic, and have no use for binding pants that choke my boys out when i move.

when i wear a button down shirt, i have taken to clipping a fountain pen or two in the shirt pocket, and a backup pen or two in the pants pocket. the pocket moleskine goes in my back pocket.

if i have a coat on with an inside pocket, i clip a pen/pens in there.

I live in Texas and wear pocketless shirts often and all year round. I do as Richard suggests and it has served me well. Trouser pockets just don't do it for me.

I usually clip the pen between buttons, on outside seam of a button-down without pockets...usually between the first and second button (if there are no pockets to be had). To heck with fashion. Do what makes you happy!

Ged--

Your Espirit has a light-weight but very strong cap and barrel, but--if I recall correctly--the section threads are plastic, so do be surprised if it breaks in your pocket one of these days!

Dan

With tee-shirts, I hang a pen from the neck. Which, naturally enough, gives Terri something to talk about. I really should see if I can just hand a pocket protector around my neck and carry an even dozen pens at once. That'd get as much comment. Sheesh!

With a collared shirt, I usually clip it to the front, below the collar. Not always, though, as I have two pens that love to come uncapped and drop down inside shirts, and my budget makes me lerry of those two.

The section thread is also metal (if I understand correctly what a section is... the nib grip part yes?) The barrel threads are also metal.

I do as Richard Binder does. Works for me.

I wonder if a pen bandoleer might work...

Ged-- The section threads are what meet the barrel threads, so I think we are talking about the same thing, and so you are in good shape.

Today, casual Friday (at my always casual workplace!), I have a Pilot Murex with me, which also has metal threads at section and barrel, but it is clipped to the neck of my sweatshirt.

Dan

Get a ring-top FP and wear it on a chain.

*If* I clip a fountain pen in my pants pocket, I always put in a front pocket, placed all the way back so that it rests in the portion of the pocket on the side of my thigh. That way, I avoid having the pen getting pinched between the upper thing and hip when I sit down. That usually works for me. However, I only do this with my cheaper pens (e.g., Phileas, Lamy Safari) to limit my financial exposure in case of an accident. YMMV.

Usually, however, I carry a laptop bag as my briefcase/murse. Inside I keep a pen case, which would hold my pens if I'm wearing a t-shirt or some other shirt unsuitable for clipping my pens.

Simple question, lots of controversy.

Anyway, if at work I always wear a shirt with a pocket as I carry a pen(s) and a PDA with me at all times, even on the odd occasions I have a 'smart' jacket it tends to stay on the back of my chair so shirt pockets are essential.

If I'm wearing a T shirt it means I am not at work, so don't really need to carry a pen, a fair number of my T shirts have pockets anyway. Just tried a few out and pockets are bit shorter than formal shirts P51 clips OKish, P61 better.

I have carried pens in my back pocket in the past mainly all steel ones which wouldn't break, maybe the solution is a smallish pen in a leather case in front trouser pocket, some of the vintage Sheaffers or a Pelikan M150 (or if you have the money M300) would fit the bill.

I fully understand that it might be perceived as shocking and scandalous to some that fashions have changed somewhat since the 1950's. I have an aunt, for example, who appears to believe that hair styles reached their ultimate zenith sometime between 1965 and 1970. However, for those of us born in more recent decades who were not programmed in our formative years to associate "t-shirts" with "underwear" -- I suggest the front pocket carry, augmented by a case of some sort. I am quite happy with a leather case I recently purchased from Levenger -- it seems to take a great deal of stress and wear off the pen during this form of carry.

I guess it's a good thing nobody asked where to keep the pen when wearing a bathing suit. We probably would have got some overly sensitive sophistication rant about how our servants should be holding the pen on a covered silver platter with one hand while fanning us with a palm fron with the other.

Seriously, I don't usually carry my more expensive pens with me unless I'm wearing a button up shirt. In that case, pocket or not, I usually keep the pen clipped to the inside of the shirt between the top two buttons because I've found that it is less likely to fall out that way. Unless I'm wearing a tie, in which case it goes in the pocket. If I'm in a more casual outfit that calls for a polo/golf/T shirt, I usually have a more casual pen that I don't care a whole lot about and it goes in the pants pocket. The real tricky thing is what to do when you have a shirt with no pockets and shorts with no pockets. Does it then go in with one of the socks you are wearing with your sandals?

I'm sure there are pen holders out there designed for belt holding too.

Barring a breast pocket, I would throw a Fisher Space Bullet or Millenium in my pants pocket. Not the best for laying down a high quality line (but adequate), and extremely portable.

Scott

I usually have one of my servants trot along side me carrying my pen. But seriously... I'd really like some kind of pen "scabbard" or little case that would clip to my belt. One of the things I really hate about pocketless shirts is precisely the topic of this thread. I've clipped pens to placket, but that doesn't feel right to me, plus when I get into my car, the strap goes right over the pen which makes me anxious about damage to the pen, and the pen getting a bit misaligned and plunging through my heart in the event of the quicker-than-normal deceleration.

Doug

No. No Fisher fountain pens that I am aware of.

I guess what I was getting at is that, in circumstances where I would be without a shirt pocket, I would ditch the fountain pens entirely and carry something more suitable for activity. This presumes the "pocketless" environment to be something other than a working one.

If I wanted to do some writing, and wanted to use a fountain pen, I would just carry the pen in whatever carried my paper. This might mean anything from a breifcase to one of those field book holsters used by geologists (Gfeller's makes nice leather ones). There are notebook covers that have slots for pens too. Pilot's kneeboards are kind of fun -- you can carry a lot of writing or art supplies in some of them.

In general, if you don't need to have paper with you, then you don't need to have a good pen.

Scott

Ah, I was afraid of that. I did some quick poking about the Internet and found nothing, but I hoped perhaps you knew something I didn't. A space fountain pen would be interesting, but it would only work when gravity was present, so it would be something of an expensive exercise in missing the point.

Wow, I can't believe how much thought this stimulated. I wonder if some folks find FP use "formal" and hence the antagonism to informal, aka "California" dress. I actually used Richard's idea of clipping the pen to the button down area of a polo shirt; I haven't decided if I agree that looks "geeky." But I think in the future I will clip it to the pad of paper, that's an obvious idea that I overlooked!

John

Discovering fountain pens has actually led me to largely eliminate non-pocketed shirts from my wardrobe; those that remain mostly see use on days when I have neither church nor school. In the case of t-shirts, I mostly sleep in them.

When I am buying a shirt, my ideal is for the breast pocket to be ablet to securely take the full length of my Parker 51. At bare minimum I expect my Pelikan M215 to be well secured in it. While I know that many people clip pens to collars, I've always been concerned about the potential for an ink spill.

I'm only a month into my new found respect for pens and pencils. In that month I have mumbled every workday morning I've not been able to wear a pocketed shirt. The great thing is that I'm on top of the laundry these days more than before.

Before, at work I always left my pen on my desk, carried one in my back pocket or used whatever was handy when away from my desk. Now I like to make a point of having my "good" work pen with me in a shirt pocket. So far my new habit has worked well except for the pocketless days.

Away from work I've never carried a pen and never thought about. So today, after reading this thread yesterday, I carried a pen (disposable clicky) out with me this morning with a pocketless shirt. First it was in my back pocket, then in my collar, then back in my pocket and back in my collar. I was test driving the two places. Only once did I have a neck itch where I scratched the offending area making the pen dislodge and hit the ground. That pretty much told me the collar thing will not work for me. I scratch before thinking. So back to the back pocket again where it will stay when wearing a pocketless shirt.

It'll take some getting used to carrying a pen with me outside of work so I'll stick with disposables for now. And just for the record, I've always kept a pen in my vehicle so it's not like I've been penless all these years outside of work.

One good thing I saw this morning about carrying a pen with me is when using those store keypads that require the use of the germ ridden stylus. Or even when using the keypads with the germ ridden buttons. Whip out the pen versus the store stylus, or never touch the keys again. That's a stretch for me and sounds like I'm a germophobe when I'm not. It's just that as I get older I seem to pick up every sniffle I encounter so this is one more precaution I can use. Very Cool.

I'm sure some of you have been doing the stylus thing for years. Me? I'm slow to the draw, what can I say. Just another personal discovery from the wonderful world of pens.

O.K. So I do live in SoCal(San Diego) so if you have never been here then you might not know how casual it is here compared to the rest of the country/world. We dress like this cause it's like a culture. what if we were all raggin on the islams for praying so much, its their culture, get over it.

I mentioned this on another thread, but it pertains to here so I'll add it...my husband tucks his pens into his front shirt pocket, which looks very nice. But because he sometimes wears a T-shirt, he'll clip it right on the neck. I've been amused because he'll do this with the Pelikan Tortoise I bought him (and which he filled with purple ink!) before he heads out to a crime scene (he's a PI). Not quite the image I had when I bought him the pen, but I love it all the same. I bought him several leather pen cases (thinking he'd use them), but no, if he's wearing a T-shirt, the pen gets clipped on the neck and that's the way it is.

I simply use a Beckel 2 Pen Case with Belt Loop - Black Leather - that I got for around $30. 2 pens safely strapped to your belt and quite stylish too!

Actually it goes on my belt right next to my leather cell phone case that I must have at all times anyway - so what's one more belt accessory?

See - after all of that - problem solved!!!