With all this talk of FPs and huge collections and inky fingers, I sit here starring at my screen wondering how all you people use your pens. Someone who has inked penS in his/her pocket, ready for service, has to be quite serious about this.

Are you writing the next great novel, or are you a writer of some kind, say a journalist, or a technical writer, and writing is what you get paid to do. Or do you have a long list of correspondants and stay in touch with them via frequent connection. Or, like myself, do you keep a notebook or journal and fill its pages with inked thoughts? I also do a lot of brainstorming over various issues (increasing my business, working through thoughts in the current book I'm reading, exploring new ideas regarding my photography, etc.) and sit in coffee shops penning. I write a lot partly because I enjoy the sensual experience, and like to watch the flow of thoughts that come from heavens know where, pouring out onto the page, words coming and forming without intervention, without having to check my inner spell checker too often.

And I'm sure there are some of you who are diehard collectors through and through...which makes me wonder if anybody here collects but doesn't use their pens.

How do you use your pens?

As a young physician, I keep two inked pens in my pocket to write notes on about twenty patients per day. My handwritten note goes into the record for inpatients, but I dictate a copy to be transcribed for the electronic record for outpatients. I'll be sad when all records are typed - I like handwritten notes!

The two pens in the pocket today? My grandfather's Parker 75 and a Sheaffer Pen For Men IV, each filled with Aurora Blue.

Hi,
During school i used them for notetaking and even a few exams in essay format.
Now i use them for letters and postcards at home and abroad.
At work, i use a gel pen with a retractable nib. It's faster access and more carefree than fps,
and i can write through triple forms. <_<

Regards,
Jeen

I use 'em at work (rarely needing to write on those triplicate forms). I also use them to write personal notes, have been working on a "My Life" journal given to me by my sons, and occasionally write poetry. Hard to explain -- I think a ballpoint as a tool only, because of the force exerted on the paper, words/thoughts are pressed-in. I use 'em too: great for writing in data onto a spreadsheet -- but not expressing oneself. It's almost impossible when using a fountain pen to look at the subsequent sheet and see what you had written (unless the ink had somehow leaked through).


A bit "off topic":

I recall an interview with Katie Couric where she interviewed Yassir Arafat. He explained the virtues of using a fountain pen (she apparently tried using his pen and just about turned it into a fork). He had this pained look on his face -- you know -- like when teaching a teenager to first drive a clutch. Anyway, he explained how the nib just floats across the paper -- that we're used to pressing hard when we write (resulting your hand feeling tired).

Personally, I foresee a resurgence in the use of fountain pens (woohoo! -- we're trendsetters!). My boys, certainly children of the electronic age, have even taken an interest in my pens. In fact, if you look at some of the styles of jewelry and clothing: dept. stores selling shirts requiring cufflinks, "Tommy Bahama" and other vintage looking watches, friends of mine (re)acquiring vinyl records and direct drive turntables, etc.

Best Wishes to all.

Paul

well since im 16, i use it in class fot notes and i have a few pen pals

Hi,

I use fountain pens for studying, letters, and about anything that needs me to write.

Dillon

When I need to write something somewhere, I use a fountain pen. It's as simple as that, really.

Ray

Same here.

Unlike my friend Amin, I'm a "young" physician who DOESN'T use FP's at work much at all. I work in an area that requires me to write on triplicate forms all day, so most of my work is done with rollerball pens. Hence, I have a small but decent collection of RB's to get me through the day. I use my FP's at home when I'm writing letters, doing a small amount of journaling, taking notes for my self-study Spanish lessons, or just writing notes to my wonderful wife. (Hey, you gotta keep that fire burning!)

And Amin, that's a very distinguished pair of pens that you carry with you through the day. What style of 75 did your grandfather use? Was it the silver cross-hatched version?

TMann

I've been keeping a journal since I was 9 years old, using a fountain pen for most of the time. It's funny, but now that my collection has increased slightly, I'm writing letters more, which is always good. Also, I try to use them wherever I can at work for taking notes, jotting things down, etc.

Just the usual -- school stuff, grocery lists, phone messages, church offering envelopes, deposit slips, and whatever else I have to write that isn't a multpart form, as that's what typewriters are for.


Last year I tried to do Christmas present labels with a fountain pen and the ink kept bleeding away into the adhesive. Does anyone have any experience doing these with a fountain pen and know what sort of ink to use? Would Noodler's Black, as an ink that tends not to bleed on regular paper, be better for this?

At work I use my fountain pens to write thank you notes to donors. I am the director of a small non-profit agency. I use a fountain pen to sign all word processed letters that go out so even mail-merged "beg" letters have a personal touch.

I've kept a journal for close to 40 years and have always used a fountain pen for my entries. I am on the Pentrace Snail List and use my pens for quite a number of personal letters to other pen collectors.

I refuse to complete multi-part forms. When presented with one, I request an accomodation. I have arthritis in my hands and using the pressure required really is painful. Fortunately, in my work I encounter very few such documents.

Just about anytime I need to write, including: notes, lists, a bit of journaling (trying to do more of this), some class notes, editing, notes & letters to the wife, cards, letters, . . . I actually look for excuses to write to use my FPs more as I do an awful lot of my stuff on my laptop.


Is it just me or do I vaguely recall a thread about this a while back - or was it two threads? Can't remember where it was. Anyone else?

I've only been keeping a journal in longhand since about 1987, but out of the 130+ books I've filled, only one hasn't been done with fountain pens. I use them everywhere that I absolutely don't have to use a ballpoint: at work for taking notes, letters to friends, etc.

I remember another thread about this subject, too....Maybe it was in the "Fountain Pens" forum, instead of "Chatter"

Hi t-l,

Just to confuse you a little more, I will move this to Fountain Pen. This may well be chatter, but it is Fountain Pen related chat .

Warm regards, Wim

I use my FPs at work, but since adopting that practice I've gotten back into handwritten correspondence via snail mail.

I also give music lessons and do some songwriting on the side, and lately have been messing around (completely on spec) with some vocal arrangements for our chapel. Historically I've worked in pencil in those roles, but increasingly am bringing the music nib into both.

Gratuitous micro-rant: Every piece of "affordable" musical notation software I've tried was more trouble than it was worth, and much less portable than a FP and a binder full of staff paper.

More and more, I find myself looking for excuses to use fountain pens. I may even start keeping a journal, which I haven't done in decades. This may have been out of resentment for journaling being a requirement(!) in high school, both for Humanities and for College Prep English. The latter was the only HS course I ever flunked outright.

Anything. I journal and I have pen pals who may or may not write back.

I use them for note taking and school. :bunny1:

ditto! except for the school part. Note taking at work.

Hi,

Same here.

Dillon

Sort of ditto. Right now I'm using a keyboard. At work, to make carbon or NCR copies, I'll use a Pilot 0.5mm Rollerball.

Anything else, I'll be using one of the fountain pens or a mechanical pencil.

I'm a musician and a Technical Writer. I use my Parker Duofold for music scores and a Waterman Rhapsody with fine nib for editing text.

I would be amazed if this topic has never been broached before. My thinking here was that I wanted to start over with a fresh crew of posters. I really don't see many old threads that get too reignited here.

If you look at the new post button you will see a few 'old threads' that do reignite. I think this is mainly due to many people coming from a chronological board where posts and threads go off into oblivion after a time. The search tools available on FPN are rather good and the Admin team is working on a 'field guide' to show off the site.

Kurt H

Hate it when thread disappear - typically I need the info in them right after they do .

Search tools here are .

Field guide? :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1: for newbies!

Once again, our Admins show why they rock!!!

It's becoming more difficult to find occasions to use my fountain pens.

With the advent of the gel pens, I had completely stopped using fountain pens for somewhere close to 5 -10 years. Only recently, have I dusted off the old pens and began to use them.

But, the occasions for use are not as frequent as I would like. At work, where I have my pelikan m800, I find that it's primary use is to sign things, like contracts, SOP's, reports, etc. I also use it when taking notes. Since I am a bit clumsy, and have the habit of dropping things, I don't take it out of my office to meetings, etc. Amyway, most meetings, these days, have a minute taker, and so I usually don't take many notes at meetings anyway. Almost all other writing that I do at work is via a word processor.

At home, I use my Montblanc meisterstruck for writing checks (not often, thanks to electronic bill-pay), addressing envelopes (not often, since they are usually pre-printed anyway), or jotting down a quick note or two when I'm on the computer. I'll probably alternate this pen with my Namiki vanishing point, just so it gets some use. Letters? No, not really, most conversation these days is through e-mail or telephone. I don't think I've received/sent a letter in years.

Christmas card season is coming, and I plan to use a fountain pen to write some cards, but that only happens once a year. The occasional birthday or other type of card will get written by fountain pen.

The modern world is not condusive to handwriting anymore, it seems. It's a sad thing, because I really like fountain pens.

Dom

My rediscovery of the fountain pen came about from the death of my father. I found 4 letters in his desk drawer written to his father. They were all from the 50's and 60's.

They were written in Lithuanian from family members there that I didn't know I had. Had they not been penned by a fountain pen, the letters probably wouldn't have been readable 50 years later.

Eventually, someone translated the latters for me and then by what I could only describe as a miracle, the person who translated the letters had a friend who knew the family name and led them to my family.

This year I was fortunate enough to travel there to meet my long lost relatives, which brings me to the punchline.

In my correspondence to them, I use only a fountain pen and Noodlers black. Someone 50 years from now might find them important as found the letters in my father's possesion.

-Bruce

For me I use my pens to write letters to mostly other pen collectors/ users. My work involves large amounts of solvents so most pens would not fare well.


I am a diehard user and feel that a pen unused is a terrible thing.


Kurt H

I use a fountain pen for just about all the writing I do. Over the last year I have become used to the great writing experience of the fountain pen. I recently started using a less expensive (but nice writing) fountain pen at work so I would not be out too much money to replace if it got lost, stolen or broken. My work makes for some challenges for the fountain pen user. I have to fill out forms in triplicate sometimes with NCR type paper and for that I use a Kaweco eye dropper roller ball developed by Nathan Tardif that I bought from Swisher and Noodler’s Black. For a roller ball that pen is great! I love it. What is cool about it is that it allows for many ink options right from the bottle. I recommend this pen.
I also have dealings at work with unsavory people (some with oozing sores and bad manners) who need to sign forms. For that, I give them a disposable ballpoint supplied by taxpayers. I often let them keep the pen as a gift.
My cherished fountain pens do not leave the house. When I have the choice of handwriting something vs. typing it, I will handwrite it. I notice that some posters on this site will write their posts and scan them. I think that is cool, but too labor intensive for me.
I am not a luddite, but I see handwritten correspondence as my resistance to a world (luckily this forum has remained civil and people seem kind and polite) where good etiquette and respect for others seem to be diminishing.

I was just thinking how many old threads were being re-ignited lately....especially some fountain pen and ink reviews that I missed a few months ago

But back to the topic at hand...It's a really good discussion topic, too-loose.
I try to use my fountain pens as often as I can and I even take some of the more expensive ones to work...something I would never have done in my previous non-office job. I have my own desk at work so I try to use my Sheaffer desk pen and my other fountain pens there whenever I can. At home, I use them to write letters, make lists, do crossword puzzles, etc.

Unfortunately, these are the sorts of things I actually think about over a strong cup of black coffee. Perhaps I should blame the coffee?

I enjoy the sensation of writing, inherent with a certain mystique about being a self-examining human being.

I'll tend to pick up the nearest fountain pen whenever I need to take any notes. Mostly my pens get used in work when it's appropriate (a lot of the time it hsa to be pencil when I'm working around archival material). Other than that my pens see most use when I'm writing to penpals, a hobby I had before I got interested in fountain pens and one which I enjoy even more with nice fountain pens, plus I'm able to amaze some of my non-fountain pen using pals when I tell them the age of the pen that I'm writing with.

Well, I'm only maybe 2-3 weeks into fountain pens.

But I mainly use pens for the occasional to-do list, little notetaking, and little check writing.

It's so funny, when I was in school, I didn't have the money to afford prettier pens, so I stuck with $1.99/dozen papermate pens. Now that I'm working and can afford prettier pens, I don't need them as much. I still buy the pretty pens, but they're all stuck in a container because I don't write enough to finish any of it up.

Getting interested in fountain pens has gotten me to write some letters that I would normally e-mail to...just to play with the fountain pen

Maybe you could find activities so you could use your pens more...like take a night class or something (taking notes for class)?

My uses:

1. There is something perversely pleasant in writing equations on a smooth paper using FPs (many of my class notes are at least initially handwritten - power point often takes over in the later versions).

2. Caligraphy as "therapy"

I use a ball point VERY rarely.

I suddenly realize it's been months and months since I last used anything other than a fountain pen.

Fine by me.

I use FPs for journaling, writing novels and short stories, personal correspondence, doodling and scribbling, sudoku puzzles, absolutely everything. And I'm looking forward to starting classes in January so that I can take notes with an array of fountain pens.

I just love putting pen to paper!

t!

[quote=tooloose-letrek,Nov 28 2005, 01:45 PM] [/QUOTE]
Maybe you could find activities so you could use your pens more...like take a night class or something (taking notes for class)?

[/quote]
Uh.....do I really want to do that to myself? Ha ha ha...

I use my FPs whenever I write?

Journaling, research notes, story idea notes - any time I want to 'talk' to myself on paper. Since I discovered Clairefontaine paper, it's been even more enjoyable.

I still have to 'write' write with a keyboard since my typing is faster than writing by hand.

For everything that is written, and I write a lot. I write everything that goes through my mind at work. It's a necessary process for me to remember my thoughts, even if the paper goes to the recycling bin a minute later (and no, I don't have a visual memory at all; go figure...). My papers are also all written longhand before being typed. I constently write in notebooks at home, about anything, any experience of the slightest interest, any thought, thinking that may be one day it could be of use.

Thanks Ted, I don't know how I missed your post earlier. My grandfather's pen is just as you described, the silver grid pattern (same pen in my avatar). It has a nice smooth wet medium nib with more flex than most of my modern pens. I basically use this pen for anything that doesn't require me to write small or in triplicate. My mother tells me that her dad, who lived in Korea, had quite a pen collection. He gave this 75 to my father, who then passed it on to me. I wonder what other pens my grandfather used. My mom seems to think they were American pens for the most part.

The PFM is actually wonderful for writing through carbon copies. When I hold it at an acute angle, the extra fine nib with very little flex slices right through the carbon while maintaining a more reliable line than my rollerball pen.

An Excellent Thread! I think I do about everything everyone has talked about in this thread.

I use my FP whenever I can. I use BP also just for quick jotting, and I always carry a BP to loan others just to avoid saying no when people ask to borrow my FP.

Yes, I agree that writing in FP is a great sensation. I write notes when I read, write papers for scientific journals, write reports, journals, letters, notes, you name it. Even when I have to type it eventually, I would start a draft in FP I also write margin notes when reviewing documents. All in FP with different colors. Since I write in both English and Chinese, I use FP specifically to practise calligraphy in both languages.

I think I can think better if I write with a FP. So I often plan things using FP.

I like to flash my 1945 mint condition Parker 51 Vac to show how nice it writes even when it is older than me.

Yes I think we are trendsetters for the revival of something old and nice.

Hi,

I do have a Parker Vector (Louisa) with a short slit. (defective?) The short slit makes it really stiif and suitable for lending.

I normally keep one of my other pens for writing with and use Kimberly for writing signs. (2.0 MM sharp italic)

Dillon

everything - notes at work, letters, grocery lists, journaling, etc. I almost never use a roller-ball or ball-pen, though I keep a stash on my desk at work for other folks to use.

BTW a nice stiff Sheaffer Triumph nib will cut through most carbonless forms without too much trouble, though for DHL airbills I usually pull out a rollerball. I also have an Estie with a manifold nib that I use for checks and other carbonless forms. Sheaffer Lifetime nibs were actually advertised when they were introduced in the 1920s as being able to go through 3 layers of carbon-paper. Carbon paper was one of the principle reasons for the decline of the really flexy nibs of the early decades of the 20th Century.

John

My FPs — primarily low end but superb writing Pelikans — are used mainly at work. I work in a retail shop where I take notes throughout the day to help ensure my failing memory won’t keep me from honoring commitments. When a sale is made, my pen–of-the-day is pressed into service to fill out the required Federal and state forms.

Using my fountain pens across the counter from a wide spectrum of people has been quite enlightening. Perhaps 70 percent of older customers who make a comment mention that they recall the "bother" of using a fountain pen, while the balance remark with fondness about some particular pen they’ve lost or have not used in years.

A surprising number of young people state they’ve never seen such a device, and ask a variety of interested questions.

My other work involves writing for a couple of "hobby type" magazines, and while the bulk of my work is chopped out at the computer, I’ll sometimes draft out a story on a legal pad with a favorite FP. It’s less efficient, but much more enjoyable!

Jim…

Back when I had taken a quarter off from grad school to sort out some financial problems, I bought myself a black lacquer Parker 75. $100 was a lot of money in the early nineties for a poor grad student. But that pen carrried me through the end of my PhD despite some unanticipated financial and academic obstacles, and it also caught the eyes of my now wife when I whiped it out to write down something at some student association meeting. So I'd say I got a good return on that "investment"

Let me elaborate on my prevous answer too. Yes, I use FPs for every type of writing I do, which includes math/physics at work, lots of ideas and outlining at work for reports, presentations, and proposals, writing checks, taking notes at conferences, making lists (shopping, to-do, etc.), etc. Since I don't journal or aspire to be a writer, most of my writing is done at work.

I use my fountain pen for taking notes and other scribbles. I usually type my essays as it is university policy to do so.

In the past, as a newbie to FPs, i was concerned of their reliability and used ballpoints in my exams... something that i now regret!

nowadays the FP goes where i go

VH