So...
For some reason I seem to have been told it's very bad to let someone else use your fountain pen. (I tend to not let anyone near mine, and most definitely not near my P51 except for a quick stroke.)

Something about the pressure put on the nib being different to the pressure you put on the nib. I have no idea if this is true or not, and considering I bought a second (or 10th, for all I know!) hand P51, I came up wondering about this.

Is it bad for the pen?
I guess constant use by someone else would be different, but... is it?

Silke - who hasn't got a clue about pens, really.

I personally wouldn't let someone who I don't trust use my expensive pens, but I don't mind letting someone try my cheapies like my Platinum Preppy. Most people are used to ballpoint pens. So they put too much pressure on the nib, which could be dangerous for the nib. Thats just my personal feeling.

The only place I feel safe handing my pens out is at home - my mum, dad, and brothers all use FPs daily (The parents have Yard-O-Leds, my brothers Safaris which). Anywhere else... Well, I'm sure there are some horror stories we'll hear here!

It depends on the setting and the pen; indoors, and a sturdy item (Safari, "51" Special, or even a triumph-point Sheaffer), and I don't mind letting a seated person try the pen. A pen with any hint of flex or softness, outdoors, or standing... well, maybe a Safari.

no
i ruin them myself!

LOL!!
O'Rly?

Silke

The biggest problem is someone pushing with too much downward force as they write with it, which could destroy the nib. Fountain pens are supposed to glide across paper effortlessly, but most people who have never used one assume that they should treat it like a ballpoint, which requires force to use. Because of this, I usually only let people use my Lamy Safari, which has a steel nib that I think is less likely to be damaged.

When I bought a Mont Blanc at a Mont Blanc boutique, the Aisan saleslady was demonstrating the nib to me by writing Chinese characters. She pressed extremely hard on the nib and splayed it like you wouldn't believe! I would NEVER do that to a pen, but to its credit, it sproinged back good as new and I bought the very same pen. I've had it for years and it has never displayed any damage from what I consider an incredible display of abuse. I tell this story to illustrate that at least that pen survived more than what any reasonable person would do to your pen. I have to admit, it is the ONLY time I have seen that done to a nib, and I can't say every nib would survive it, but I was amazed that ANY nib would.

So; Will some inexperienced troglodite, that you've loaned your pen to, apply enough pressure to your nib to damage it? Probably not. They probably won't write with it long enought to wear the nib either.

Do I loan my pens to people? Absolutely not.*

Well, ok, "absolutely" is a strong word here. My Ladyfriend can use my pen, but I personally taught her how to write with them. I have one co-worker that, when I get a new pen, will give it a whirl, but he wouldn't pick up my pen and use it, and nor would I, his.

If I ever meet anyone from this board, they are welcome to write with any pen I have.

*At least not to Troglodites.

This topic comes up frequently and I am one of the fp users who does let others use my pens.

Anybody not significantly younger than me has learnt to use a fountain pen in school and should know what she/he is doing. I give some advise concerning the cap (screw or pull) and the general comment that it is a fountain pen, not a rollerball.

I lend out anything that is in my daily pen case or is not safely stored in my chest of drawers. Which is mainly modern and vintage Pelikan 400s, Parker 51s and sometimes Lamy 27s. All of them are sturdy pens. The only pens I try to keep away from others are vintage pens with lot of flex. They will be a dissapointment: my boss once had borrowed a vintage Pelikan with a flexible OM and was very unhappy with it. Next time I gave her a M400 with an OB nib and she was happy again. I try not to discourage anybody from using a fountain pen.

"I try not to discourage anybody from using a fountain pen."

Those are good words, and I'm ashamed.

Maybe I'll have to change something in my lifestyle.

I have let a few people here at work try them along with my wife and kids. If they ask to try them I always start with "No problem, just don't shake it or press hard like your using a ball point pen". I get a knot in my stomach while they are using it but so far so good.

Some people I will let use my pens......if they are at my desk. In fact, I purchased some Reform pens just to let people use and to give away to others who are interested.

I enroll geriatric patients in research studies and all of them grew up with fountain pens so I don't really worry about "pen abuse". I do unscrew the cap however and give them the pen uncapped.

WaterBoo

I paraphrased art of piembi's post. I'm happy to let someone test drive one of the pens I bring into the office. I usually will hold onto the cap so they don't have to try and pull a screw cap off or unscrew a clutch cap, let alone post the cap. I think it's fun to introduce or re-introduce my co-workers to a fountain pen. I'm also the kind of guy who offered to teach people how to operate a manual transmission in my car.

No, I don't...because most only want to look at them, and yes I remove the cap...before hand. Usually, in my case, they are just interested that I would even want to use something that they considered a "bother". I hear comments like: So , what is the big deal?
Why aren't you happy just using a "regular" pen? My husband also ,grew up in Catholic school; and used a Sheaffer..school pen. But then, in high school and college....was perfectly happy with a bic, or whatever was handy. He has graduated to a Pilot G 2 , and feels this is good enough.
All of my Family knows I have been a FP enthusiastic, since high school. They just accept me as I am
And well yes , I do have a few Parker Roller balls, and ball points. I also Have a few Cross RB's, and BP's
But my true love is a NICE Fountain Pen, with a fine or x fine gold nib, and those I keep hidden away from the curious.

I learned the hard way to take the cap off myself and hold it. One of my best friends, a librarian, reached over and grabbed my Parker Vac with Binder nib, tried to pull it off almost stripping it before I grabbed it to unscrew. She then jammed the cap on, began to write, pressed down hard like a ballpoint, jerked the cap from being posted. Then, scewed it back on so tight I could not open it.
I could not have imagined so many things done wrong at the same time, same pen.

Since I love her dearly as a friend, I just put it back in my pocket with a forced smile.

I now keep another pen in my pocket for others.....a Lamy Safari or Reform, or Phileas. When I reach for it in my pocket, it appears I don't care which one I give them.....but I know EXACTLY where that pen is!!

If someone asks I let them but do say it is a fountain pen. No one has destroyed one yet and some have commented on wroting with it.

I refrain from letting people use my pens. To most people, pens are disposable items and they don't think twice about laying them down and walking away. In the past, I have let people use a pen while I was standing there. When they finished, they just put it down on the counter. It never occurred to them to hand it back to me. One time I lent a fairly nice ballpoint to a colleague. She needed to leave the meeting room we were in to go to the office to write something. When she came back, she brought me a different pen, that was nothing like the one I lent her (looks or cost). That was the last time I willingly lent a pen that cost more than $2.00 to someone.

To people who are around me on a regular basis, I am "known" as someone who always has a pen. My PET PEEVE is when someone, out of the blue, turns to me and says, "Oh, there's a pen," and then grabs it from my pocket. In case you are wondering, this really annoys me and I consider it one of the rudest things a person can do.

If there is someone, whom I know to be a FP user or more than casually interested in using one, I don't mind letting them try one of my pens. Believe it or not, I do enjoy sharing my love of pens with others. If someone has never used one before, I ask them not to apply too much pressure when trying to write because it isn't needed.

One more thing, I have learned to never lend a FP with the cap. There are some people, who think they are being cute or funny, who will try to keep a pen because they assume that FPs have to be expensive. Once a person tries putting an uncapped FP in a pocket, it quickly becomes a lesson they will never forget.

PTLaw

I do, but I haven't been in the situation where someone has wanted to try one of my pens very many times yet. I do tend to make strange squeaking noises when they look like they're about to do something hurtful to my pen.

I think the moral of the story is only let people use your fountain pens in a controlled environment.

I teach high school students, and have let some use my pens when they ask. The same group of students usually ask to use them. They are fascinated by them as well.

Fellow staff have also gotten to use them. Most do not ask me for a pen since they know that Frank has one of those "quirly old pens".

I do not lend my pens, except to my wife and son. I cringe every time I'm asked to to let somebody try my pen.

I only let people who know about pens and/or people I trust to use my fountain pens. If people ask specifically to try it out, I tell them how to use it and then watch them like a hawk as they write with it XD

I let one of my professors use my pen (Pelikan M1000 medium nib). She knew what she was doing. My pen has not been damaged.

Living in Europe means anybody my age or older had to use a fountainpen in school and children still do use fountainpens in school. You will find a Pelikano in any store that is carrying stationery. People do know how to use a fountainpen. They may not know how to uncap a certain model or how to refill but they know how to write with it. Colleaques that asked for a pen sometimes refused to use my fountainpen when they found out it is a fountainpen and asked specifically for a ballpoint. Others asked specifically for the fountainpen.

At home there are some fountainpens standing at my desk and in my living room so everybody who is looking for a pen has the choice between a ballpoint (if there is one at all ) or a fountainpen. Although many people do use my fountainpens occasionally nothing had happened to them so far.

But I have to admit that I do not lend fountainpens that have a sentimental value. Not a big deal because I have only a small number of those pens.

It's always better to carry a disposable BP. You don't have to worry about not getting it back nor abused.

I once lent my FP - Parker Vector (fortunately) - to a co-worker and to my horror (amusement, now) she wrote using the reversed side of the nib.

I am teaching my daughter to use a FP but the teacher disallows it as the ink seeps to the back of the page.

Brilliant!

I do not lend FP's unless it is an environment full of people who know how to use them. Otherwise, I employ "decoy pens," which concept I learned here at FPN. I have Pilot Varsities that I do lend. And, yes, they do get mangled.

Like PTLaw, when I lend a FP or RB, I keep the cap in my own hand. If the borrower keep the pen too long, I simply display the cap and ask for the other half of the pen back.

I have a metric crapload of pens on my desk at any given time. If my boss comes in wanting to try a pen, he has free reign. He seems to understand how to use the fountain pen. With time, he might even come around. I think he's nearly at the point where he's going to start bringing in his own rollerballs.

If one of my other coworkers wants to try a pen, I'd let them try most of my pens. My 100 would be off limits until I see they're not going to treat it like a ballpoint. If they're coming in to jot something down, I'll quickly suggest one of the ballpoints I keep on my desk because they're likely busy and not in the mood to be messing around with my pens.

I never lend my fountain pens until I am a dealing with a fountain pen aficionado or in someone I have an absolute trust. Yesterday, I taught briefly a coworker how to write with a fountain pen, I lent him my AD 2000 which is not a cheap pen. I told him before he use not to apply too much pressure and not to hold the pen with force, he listened to my advise and things went well.

No way. I lent a pen to someone (not an FP, but still...) and I almost lost it. Luckily I was able to recover it, but I will NEVER have that lapse in judgment again!

I have some disposable pens (Varsities) on my desk that anybody can pick.

Apart from that, I don't have too much problem to lend a FP to a colleague. I usually cary 2 of them with me when I'm in a meeting : I keep the preferred one (that one, I would be sometimes reluctant to lend), and there's a spare that anybody can use.

The funny thing is that people are often afraid to ask : either because it's a FP supposedly pricey or because they fear to damage it "I've been told that if someone uses someone else nib it will be permanently damaged"

Prefer not to, but sometimes I like to spread the word about fountain pens. It's hard to explain the magic if you don't let someone have a go.

I have a friend and fellow fountain pen that I always hand any new pen I get and let him try it and he does the same with me. I have 2 people in the company I work for that I generally do the same. Otherwise NO.

Interesting.

I try to allow people to write with my P51 and so far anyone who has was extremely careful with it. (It helps to say "It's 60 years old you know.")
One of the guys here has never held a fountain pen before, he told me. I was leery of letting him at the P51, but there were puppy eyes involved.

I think the gist of it all is, trying the pen out is okay, letting someone use it for an unspecified duration, without seeing what they do - no.

I'm sure over time I will collect a few pens I'm not as attached to, and will mind less on those. I notice a distinct possessive streak in me though, when it comes to my pens.

It's the writer in me. Take the pen away from a writer and you risk mutilation. Break the writer's pen... that's justifiable homicide, right?

Silke

If the context is someone's genuine curiosity about fountain pens, then I'll show the person how to write with a fountain pen before letting them try. On the other hand, if someone just needs a pen to jot something down real quick, then they'll receive a disposable ballpoint that they can abuse to their heart's content. This way, fewer tears are shed and less blood is spilt.

I'll bet that a number of them want to get themselves one: older hands or those with joint problems seem to have a much easier time writing with fountain pens. An older friend of mine, who has various such issues, was very happy to use my Balance (around the same age as her!). I offered to get her one, but she said she doesn't write often enough to make it worth the hassle for her. I'm thinking of getting her a cartridge pen or a disposable of some sort.

I'm rather late answering this one. I, too, was taught that one should never let others use a fountain pen because it ruins the nib. Having read various debates on the subject here on FPN, I've come to the conclusion that in most cases, this is very unlikely*. That said, it does make me a little jumpy when others reach across and borrow a fountain pen, even if it is one of my cheaper ones (which it invariably is if I've allowed it to just sit on my desk during a seminar. More fragile pens either stay at home, or stay in my pen case or hand).



*However, my Parker 51 does seem to have been worn very slightly into an oblique from years of being held that way by its previous owner. For the couple of minutes it takes someone to use one of my pens, I doubt it'll make a difference.

I freely let fp people try my pens. If someone wants to try a fp, i let them use a hero or pelikan future (or the like). If they just want to borrow a pen, i give them a disposable bp (i often neglect to ask for them back).
I like the idea of holding on to the cap while lending a pen...

I'm very possessive of my pens. I'll generally let others try one of my preppies or my safari (in front of me, while I hold the cap), but only a few trusted individuals get to try my Watermans. I simply couldn't afford to replace them right now.

I don't let anyone write with my fountains for more than a short try-me-out. After years of use, the nibs curve just so to the way I write; I don't want that effected by another's hand.