I did a search on this before I posted and was surprised to find out that no one had asked about this, at least not in my searches. I must be the only one who ever had this problem!!??!! Which wouldn't surprise me as my wife lovingly and often reminds me that I am "unique"!

I'm never quite sure what she means by that, but as I am a simple man I take it as a compliment!

What is it with the Visconti clips? It always takes me using both hands to get the thing to clip in my pocket.

Dunno. They slid into my purse pocket just fine.

I once told my lovely wife that I wanted a leather Messenger Bag. She said, "you mean a man purse". I never brought it up again.

Now it looks like I may have to broach the subject yet once more. But alas, how to do it without emasculating myself is the question.

Here's my secret method for one-handed operation of the clip:
-- hold the pen by the clip, using thumb and forefinger (don't hold it by the cap as you would normally do with other pens)
-- slide the barrel into your shirt pocket
-- just as the clip hits the top of the pocket, flex your thumb and forefinger, thereby pulling the clip away from the cap with the tips of your fingers, and allowing the cloth to slide into the gap you've just created between the clip and the cap
-- remove hand from clip
-- use newly freed hand to pick up cup of French Roast coffee and take a well-deserved sip.

U da man Charlie B! Just picked up a new Wall Street (thanks Jose!) and wondering how I would handle this new dilemma!

I learned this one strictly through trial and error. I've also had to use this technique with some older Omas pens where the roller at the end of the clip didn't want to rotate.

Clips are an interesting topic in and of themselves. I personally think Waterman makes the best clips, especially the one on their Man 100.

I actually tried this a couple of times, but felt like I was going to drop the pen as I brought it to my pocket holding the pen only with the clip. I shattered a Montblanc once by dropping it from pocket height so I am a bit timid about it. The "Visconti" engraving on the clip did make the grip more solid though.

What's wrong with guys carrying a bag for their stuff? I stick stuff in my pockets when I don't want to carry a purse and no one's ever claimed it made me seem masculine. [At least not to my face or where I could hear it.]

Hi,

Yes, it is a two hand job for most people. I've never used my pockets for my pens or my pocket clips for quite a while, but that is how I remember it.

Dillon

Well you could slide it into the pocket and then shift your fingers to the clip.

It's funny but I don't even think about this. I guess the reason is that I just tried some of my "normal" clip pens and needed two hands or some finger fidgeting to make them clip onto my pocket too. If I simply hold a pen at the top and push down, the cloth usually slides out of the way of the clip and then the pen ends up poking the bottom seam of the pocket.

Men do carry bags. We call them briefcases! The problem is that fountain pens get knocked around a lot inside briefcases. The shirt pocket really is a safer place for them.

Your clothes have pockets??? I thought women's clothes didn't come with pockets. When I was in college, I dated a girl who smoked, and she insisted that I stick her cigarettes and lighter in my pockets because her clothes didn't have pockets, and she didn't believe in bags.

She probably enjoyed retrieving her things.

I hear ya!

In Europe last fall I saw lots of men carrying "man purses" which were slung over their shoulder and hung diagonally across their chest to the other side. Especially in Paris they were everywhere. Very tre bien! But when is the last time you went to the mall and saw even one American man doing so?

There is nothing wrong with it. Its the connotation of a 6' 4" 230 lb man carrying a purse. We Americans are so, so, sooooo..... what's the word....
small-minded, biased, sectarian, narrow, obstinate, partial, slanted, opinionated, twisted, unfair, dogmatic, bigoted?

Yes any of those words will do! Just takes all the fun out of things to me. I actually think that cognac brown leather bag I saw at the luggage shop today would look very good with my jeans and expedition shirts.

Josh Bernstein, who is the former host on the Digging for the Truth series (History Channel), has perhaps broken the ice for us American lads as he wore one every episode and looked bloody good. We shall see. My wife liked him and never once did I hear "man purse" when she referred him.

Try renaissance art leather journals...don't think anyone would call your masculinity into question with one of these.
I have a STM mini courier bag that holds, my torch, leatherman, normal pen, two pen pouces wallet, iPod, mobile, first aid kit, keys, and whater else I need for the day (book, camera, binoclus, ink, sunglasses, etcetc), damn useful, I hate stuff in my pockets for some reason.
Check them out on the web-they are pricey but I suspect they would last a lifetime or two, (and apparently they guy uses FP, so will adjust the pen carry to suit).