I love to write with my fountain pens, and I'm finding that I'm drawn to write with them more and more frequently. I have been wondering, though, if that means I'll be turning my back on my treasured friends with which I've been writing for many years. For instance, I have a Must de Cartier Silver Ball Point Pen that a very close friend gave me almost twenty years ago. I treasure this pen and sometimes use it just for the sentimental value - that, and it has a great feel to it. Nothing like a fountain pen, but perfect for a ballpoint.

So I was wondering - what non-fountain pen writing instrument do you still love to use or treasure?

Looking forward to your responses.

Todd

My alternate to FP's has been pencils for many years. Although I still use wood case pencils, I have a collection of vintage mechanical pencils. Most of them have larger 0.9mm to 1.1mm leads that I really enjoy. Among my favorites are Duofold Senior MP's from the 1920's.

If I cannot use a FP, I most enjoy using felt tip pens. (But I should add that the reality is that, when I cannot use a FP, I probably use a roller ball (Uni-ball Vision Elite) even more than felt tips.)

I'm all about pencils when I can't get my hands on an FP. Mechanical, wooden, it doesn't matter. The slipperiness of graphite is always very satisfying.

My Omas Arco rollerball and Milord rollerball.

Jim

Rotring Initial RB, Rotring 600 RB, Lamy Pico

Sidewalk chalk, to indulge my OTHER creative side.

pencils

LMAO!!!!!


It's a tie between a Carene RB and a Retro 51 nickel RB with a MonteVerde fill. Both are nirvana in the non-FP league.

burnt stick.

I try very hard to always use my fountain pens but still find a Fisher Bullet Space Pen useful from time to time. It is simply so portable and reliable.

My Lamy Dialog 2.
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/2006/1...alog-2-pen.html

Same here. My other favorite ballpoint pen is the Pilot Easytouch. Very smooth.

Sharpie. It will write on surfaces most other implements slide right off, like mix console tape.

I agree 100%. They are handy and waterproof. Great for address labels and marking the small squares of wet sandpaper with the grit size that I use to smooth pen parts.

MPs - pretty much any comfy MP with 2B lead makes me happy. That includes Pelikan, Lamy, and even a couple of cheapie buy-'em by-the-half-dozen models.

Second - A Cross BP that isn't too thin and

Third - my Fisher commemorative Space pen (rubberized, triangular shape, not the bullet)

The only pen I used to write with was the Uniball deluxe micro. I had my workplace order them for me. When they were no longer available, it took me a while, but I settled on the Pilot G2 05.

I still regularly use wood-cased pencils and mechanical pencil. Sometimes use highlighters, chalks, felt pen, pastels, and a cheap roller ball(for carbon paper).

Lamy 2000 bp.

Bic 4 colous bp (childish, I know, but...it has something special, maybe that, and barrel diameter is perfect)

Edding 1200 (a bit too thick for most things, but I love the sound of the tip on the paper)

my favorite non-fp is probably a pilot g2 with a .38 refill from Japan. what I use the most, though, is probably a black or red dry erase marker (I'm a teacher).

Sanford Logo 4 0.7mm mechanical pencil in seafoam green. Had it for at least a decade, probably closer to 15 years. I want backups, but you can't find them anymore.

rOtring 600 Trio

My work is divided 50%/49% between my fountain pens and my pencils. BUt people
who say they use any old wood pencil are missing out on something special. (just as people who dont
understand why we use fountain pens are). For anyone in need of a pencil,
you must check out the California Republic Palomino line. The lead is perfect
as is the cedar smell. ALso, I am in love with my Graf von Faber Castell "Perfect Pencil".
Often it is the talk of any talk/seminar I am at. (must more so than anyone's FP).

For the final 1% missing from above I use my Graf von Faber Castell rollerball. It is my travel
pen and honestly, I enjoy writing with it more than I like to admit.

m

p.s. seriously.. try out the Palomino's!

My laptops.

Good old Cross mechanical pencils. They last forever and just keep working.

The keyboard with which I'm typing this.

I am also a pencil person - when you wear the nib just right so that it creates that perfect line....

I also like a good quality gel pen - well I say good quality but I mean a Jimmie or a Zebra - they do a great range of antique colours that I just LOVE!

Like you, I love to write with FPs but sometimes its not always practical. When I need to, I like ball points and actually prefer them to roller balls. I don't know why this is but find them overall more convenient and easier to use. BPs I like are generally MBs in almost every incarnation, e.g., Le Grande; A. Dumas; 100th Anniversary; etc.

Initial rollerball, Lamy 4 color Accent.

When I'm out and about I like to carry my Cross Ion, due to it's small size, and being a gel ink it writes pretty good, but still no fountain pen.

My Zebra Sarasa gel pens and their clones---not to mention the really really cheap Magna Tank pen (another gel-type, though not retractible) which writes forever.

2mm lead Clutch pencil. (5B or 6B )
For sketching, that is.

I have a number of stylographic pens (rapidographs and now a tintenkuli) I draw with, and use dip pens as well. I rarely write with any of those, but when I do I write with the tintenkuli.

A have a few fountain brushpens again for drawing.

Gosh, writing without a fountain pen? Is it even possible?

A Pilot Croquis propelling pencil, fat soft lead and ergonomic, the best £3 you will ever spend

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Pilot_Cro...ncils.html#a315

actually, none.

Mike

I love my \LaTeX: a mark-up language for computer typesetting. With it you can typeset sublime pdfs for every imaginable purpose with an Amiga, if you like -- tho there are excellent front-ends for current systems, of course. I run TeXShop on OS X.

I am shocked to say that I really love Parker RBs.

I bought a (vaguely cheap) chocolate pinstripe one on Ebay in a late night tired and emotional moment when I really thought I was ordering the ballpoint (to put a gel in). Imagine my surprise when I found out how much I preferred it to gels - instead of that ultra smooth slithery feel, you get a slightly toothy sort of feedback - think Platinum vs Sailor. Result: sheer bliss.

Even though I now know that I can convert the RB to a fully fledged Duofold FP for not a great deal of money, I am reluctant because I have found myself using the RB so much ....

John

I just got this one:




It is smoooooooth... and lovely. Hurrah!

P.S. encremental - Parker RB refills are teh rawk!

I actually have a few good substitutes when I'm not writing with an FP. On the more expensive side I like my Retro 51 Tornado, Cross Century BP, and Lamy Studio RB. As far as lower end and disposable pens go, I like the Zebra F-402 BP, Pilot Razor Point II porous point, and the Pentel Energel. Despite my large selection of favorite non-FP's, I still cannot find a pen I would choose over a fine writing fountain pen.

My Short List from "my life before" getting back into FPs:


Pencil - Lamy Scribble 0.7

Ballpoint - Lamy Al-Star/Safari, Lamy Studio, Lamy 2000, Pelikan 200, Montblanc lever-style ballpoints

Rollerball - Lamy Accent, Rotring Jaz, Waterman Laureat


It's all about the refill. For rollerballs, the roller refill in the Lamy Accent series is my current favorite. I also like the Lamy ballpoint refill, but am also partial to Parker fine refills and the old Montblanc ball refills.

The Scribble is a unique pencil. I love holding it. The drawback is that it does tend to want to roll off a table - and for $30 a pop, I really don't want it to roll off.

I love Tex too, although I utilize the Lucida series of fonts, which I prefer. Knuth may have spent forever designing
Computer Modern.. but I just find it a little kludgy for extended reading.

Not to side track the conversation though, I would highly
recommend experimenting with TextMate + Skim pdf viewer for your editing. TexShop is nice, but TextMate is FAR nicer
editor, with some very powerful features. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I just love my Visconti opera ballpoint!

Felix

That would be the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet series.

Glass dip pen from Italy.

Yellow #2 pencil

Palominos are great. My other favorite woodcase pencils are Musgrave HBs and Helix Oxfords. Available at pencilthings.com (no affiliations, etc.).

To answer the original question, pencils are where it's at. If I must use a ballpoint, it's a Zebra F-301, but I definitely do not love it. In fact, using one exclusively for all of last semester is what sent me screaming to wooden pencils and now to FPs.

If I can't have a fountain pen, I'm happy with a Dixon Ticonderoga (or a handful). And to echo the previous poster's signature, I heartily recommend Henry Petroski's The Pencil as a great meditation on an everyday object.

I like Parker RBs, but I prefer a Parker ballpoint pen with a gel ball refill. Unlike my RBs (Pelikan, Parker, Montblanc and Waterman), the Parker gel ball provides zero bleeding in my Exacompta journal. The RBs show some spotty and unsightly bleed through in the Exacompta.

At work I sometime have to write on things that don't take well to liquid ink or gell pens. For those times I usually use a Parker Jotter, or my favourite disposible--the BIC cristal, but only with blue ink. I will not use a ball point pen with black ink; it looks too washed out or something, blue only for me.

If writing on something that doesn't even like a ball point (microscope slides &c.) then I use a 0.5 mm cross mechanical pencil.

+1 for Sharpies. I was writing with an extra fine Sharpie on a CD the other day and found the writing experience friction-free and wonderful. It also flattered my handwriting. Who woulda thunk?

Doug