1. When you're sitting next to your boss who just pulled out a bic stic
and you have a limited edition fp.

Only in the presence of a client. And who can help your boss' "just a pen" attitude.

FP is always the best choice (this is what I would like to believe).
Perhaps it mightn't be good for deep sea research. Or in outerspace (I can't verify this though ... any astronauts here?). And perhaps not for those occasions when one needs to write upside down for more than the quickest of notes (I can't say this comes up for me though).

I thought of another - any situation in which you wanted to appear lame. FPs grant instant cool status and would detract from any chance of pulling off a semblance of the uncool .

Hmmmm....I guess weightlessness would present a problem. I hear the Russians still use pencils.

The only time I wouldn't use one is for thos stupid "carbonless" multipart forms where you have to use a 1000 pounds of pressure just to get them all to print.

-Bruce

Moments when a fountain pen is not the first choice? For me, on a regular basis, writing on a wall chart during business planning sessions is not a fountain pen moment. For such occasions, I have a Fisher space pen or a regular old lead pencil. I also like to do the word scrambles in the daily newspaper and I use a standard lead pencil for that as well.

For much of my military career I was in intelligence and worked with cryptology, what is known as "code breaking." My usual tool then was also a lead pencil. In garrison I would write many of my reports with a fountain pen, but only after the decoding work was completed. During field deployments, especially combat tours of duty, I used a pencil exclusively (for what I hope are obvious reasons).

Oh, and signing my credt card receipts at the grocery store. I use whatever the clerk hands me.

In desert island conditions and absolute reliability.

The best writing instrument for any condition is a pencil. It will write in space, underwater, under pressure, in many toxic environments etc.

Followed distantly by a ballpoint.

A FP is a luxury and used only in civilization where ease and pleasure count.

I normally rotate between fountain pens and rollerballs. On another forum, I mentioned that I find fountain pens preferable but it depends upon the situation. In meetings where I do not know the participants, I normally tote along a rollerball. Just an opinion but I don't want anything to be a distraction. I reserve any expression of "personality" for more personal settings or after I get to know people. Maybe hard to explain but I want to stick to the subject-at-hand, especially when most meetings are expensive (productivity/attendees' times/schedules/etc.).

It is surprising that a "tool" (fountain pen) can create such a discussion (usually about the cheapies used as a youth...ink stained hands....clothing disasters....etc. etc.).

I avoid using a pen when I know that pesty person that loves borrowing everything that catches his/her eye will be arround... just not to say sorry, no when he/she asks to use my fountain pen.

Alejandro

Dramatic changes in elevation: high altitiude climbing, stunt flying, parachuting,
bungee jumping. Kleenex anyone?

I've actually said, no I don't have a pen you can borrow to
someone like that in the face of 3 gleaming fps in my
shirt pocket.

That's how I view fps.

I have this reservation as well.
A big advantage of the Parker 51 is that it does not
draw attraction to itself as a fp (provided the cap is
not eye catching).

So far, the only situation I find myself in regularly that isn't an appropriate one for a fountain pen is the signing of Form CN-22, the standard international "greenie" Customs form for postal packages. The green portion of the form is colored with some printers' ink that repels water-based inks. So for that I use this pen:



(It's a Sheaffer Sentinel Stratowriter, fitted with a modern Parker gel refill.) For two-part credit-card receipts I use my FPs with no problems -- the merchant keeps the top copy, and I get the bottom copy. I already know what my signature looks like, so I don't need to see it on the credit-card receipt.

Any merchant that uses those obnoxious "sign here" electronic things can also print you a paper receipt to sign, and I require them to do that.

For the extrememly rare situations in which I am compelled to fill out a multipart form, I can use my "51" -- Parker said, in its first-year advertising and catalog, that all "51" nibs are manifold nibs. For the 51 SE, this is not true, however; that pen's 18K nib is quite soft and inadequate for use under heavy pressure.

Jeen's point about a "51" not calling attention to itself is quite valid -- frequently, people have no idea that I'm using a fountain pen when I have the "51" in my hand:

I pull out the fountain pen with no reservations under any circumstance other than the rare multipart form that my Parker 51 can't handle. Of course, my usual pens are nothing flashy -- the aforementioned 51 is kind of beat up, and a black Esterbrook J is distinctly utilitarian (though its vintageness draws some attention).

I have made it a principle not to get into any situation where a FP is not appropriate... okay, so maybe if Alan Rickman shows up and he's allergic to Noodlers, I'll put it down in less than a nano second but beyond that - nah, whatever it is, I aint doing it.

I guess that the general rule to make about fountain pen usage is not to put the pen into play in industrial or athletic situations. In my case, I don't use a pen when I am filling out forms with carbon copies beneath them. In such a case I pull out my high quality wooden pencil and let it take flight. The very presence of a fountain pen speaks volumes about our culture, though---that we are routinized and bureaucratized, rough-and-tumble that we cannot afford the individualizing effects of a fountain pen.
This reminds me of a Far Side comic featuring an Arab w/ his camel in a sandstorm. He is reaching out for a mirror and stretching his eyelids. The caption: Times and places never to put in contact lenses. Extend this to FP usage and we have some idea of what this thread is saying.

I hate to do it, but I've done the same Jeen - but is it really a lie to say you don't have a pen when you're holding one in your hand? I had a "friend" bend a vanishing point nib once; after having noted "This is a fancy pen", he proceeded to apply it to his paper as one lacking opposable thumbs would a screwdriver to a rusty screw - damned Troglodyte! Once was all it took.

Hi J.,

You can always say that this is a pen that is difficult to write with and that it has sentimental valur to you on top of that. And this just means that you won't allow anybody else to write with it.

That is what I do.

And if he killed the nib, he'll have to pay for it, IMO.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

He actually did purchase a new one for me - or gave me the money to purchase a new one, I should say. I usually just say to a person who asks to borrow an FP they can borrow a pencil, which I always keep in my bag, and if they insist then I say that its difficult to write with, and if they still insist (which has happened) I say that I'm not comfortable with them using it.

Phew! At least that is something. I guess he won't borrow another fp ever again .

Warm regards, Wim

Hi,

I lend my fountain pens to all. (Just the best writers, that is)

Most people will know how to use it by the way.

Dillon

Hi Dillon,

I only do if they know how to use a fountain pen, or if they want to learn, rather than just use. And if it is the first time they use on eof my fountain pens, I always observe, and give instructions too .

Of course I tend to be a bit dominant, so they do feel like they can't get away with mistreating it .

Warm regards, Wim

Hi,

I just say, "Hold it this way. You don't need to press down." Most people say, "OOOhhh it writes so well!"

Dillon

That is what I do. I just use a few more words . And I get the same comments . Always very nice to hear.... Another potential victim for assimilation .

Warm regards, Wim

When I'm writing fast in a reporters notebook outdoors, that's a job for a ballpoint, particularly if its raining.

If the paper's too damp for a BP, it's time to switch to a pencil. Likewise if it's too cold and the ink in the ballpoint freezes up.

I save the fountain pens for when I'm indoors writing on a legal pad while seated at a table.

My main EDC (Every Day Carry) pen is a Parker "51" vac with a sterling cap in cedar blue very much like Richard's except it only has 1 jewel. I also carry a "51" Demi black with a gold filled cap, but I have come across several situations where certain documents need to be signed in ballpoint only so I typically carry a Parker Jotter or a 3 in 1 Parker Vector as well. They also come in handy when someone at the office asks to borrow a pen for a moment.

I sometimes feel a little bad signing a credit card slip with a fountain pen. I usually fan it and blow on it a bit -- I worry that the person taking the receipt will get inky fingers, since that type of paper doesn't take ink that well ...

Stephen

Hi,

I use a dry pen for that.

For outdoor writing, I use Noodler's black is a drier-writing pen.

Dillon

Well, I guess I won't be using any of my FPs aboard the fishing boat I'm spending a week on next month.

Trying to write notes of location, hook-up time and which rod has been taken during the early moments of a blue marlin strike, whilst the skipper is gunning the engines to spin the boat and chase a line burner, and we are shipping water in 50 gallon splashes over the stern is not condusive to legibility - even with a waterproof ink!

A simple wooden pencil - 2B - and scrap pad will have to do.

I will be using an FP to write up the notes in the evening though!

Chris

I often find myself lending a pen to my fellow college students. For people I feel that I can trust, this is my fine-nib Parker "51" Aero with the admonition "it's a fountain pen, so you don't have to use much pressure." For people I don't trust with my "51," I carry a black military-type Fisher Space Pen in my bag -- not the nicest ballpoint, but I like the durability of the Fisher cartridges and the knowledge that I won't find myself covered in ink or ballpoint paste.

My boss has a sterling MB ballpoint so in meetings with her I can use about anything and not draw attention.

Otherwise, I do value both my "51"s and my little stainless Vector as they do not scream out "esoteric fountain pen" quite like a Big Red or the like.

Most of my fountain pens are actually pretty discrete, although I'm in the market for something with a little more pizazz than my current collection...

On an aeroplane, aren't FPs practically guaranteed to leak? I usually take a mechanical pencil on planes. As for desert island situations- surely an Aurora (?) Ethiopien would be the answer, with the dry ink pellets and the water chamber. Sea water would probably limit its lifespan somewhat though!

Hesnot,
I actually tend towards the more discrete as well - I think largely because I don't want to draw too much attention to my writing instruments, in a self-conscious sort of way - which probably also has to do with my being leary about people wanting to use them and messing them up. The "51" is great in this regard. My white tortoise and recently acquired Honey Almond Opera Club just scream for attention - I think at another level I don't want people to think me snooty or something. I really don't think we ought to care what other people think about the things we like that might seem a tad peculiar, but as I read your post I think it hit me that I really do make some of my pen selections with how other people might react to them in mind - even if its only with the thought that a certain pen is too flashy rather than making the decision based on whether I think the design and writing quality are nice. Sorry to ramble...

I'm French (a fact that people usually realize after I've spoken a word and a half) and my facial hair is trimmed as a Musketeer. People would barely be astonished if I drew a sword and started fencing them. Never had a remark about using a fountain pen.

I signed a slip with my Rotring Esprit the other day when I bought a book. The clerk said "Oo. A fancy one."

I don't like to carry nicer fps to busy places where I have to go through
xray surveillance. On one occasison (at Ellis Isle) I sent my fps. watch, wallet,
belt and jacket through the xray machine, and something I had on set
off the machine, and I had to remove my shoes and get hand screened.
While this was going on, i was hoping my things hadn't been stolen.
After making it through, one of the gate keepers had picked up the most
expensive pen and was admiiring it. No harm done this time.
My Pilot disposable next time.

Edit to add:
I also don't think it is wise to carry an expensive pen in full view to a
remote border crossing. It hasn't happened to me, but I witnessed a
bad situation when a gatekeeper would not let someone pass, because he
wanted the person's watch.

There are a couple of tricks with using fountian pens on airplanes.

First either travel with the pen full or nearly full. (Or empty if you will not be using it.)

Next don't write with the pen until the pen reaches cruising altitude.

I have followed these tow rules while flying and have never had problems with FP usage on airplanes.

Jim

You're talking about this one (pic borrowed from ebay/mimmiz)



found here (it is a depliant by Aurora, auctioned at ebay)
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6621117104

There is also a pic of the page with user's guide

The first page shows the answer, what purpose the pen was meant to serve and why there were pens named Aurora 'Etiopia' or (the first) Tibaldi 'Impero'



Sorry for the 'borrowing', but this is educative, IMHO.

Unfortunately for me it's much of the time--more specifically my entire time at work. I'm an electrician by trade and I spend my days making marks on wood and metal framing members, steel and plastic pipe, and various cables. For this I use Sharpie markers and pencils. Even for writing supply house lists, I'm limited to pencils because my hands are usually too dirty (covered in oils, metal shavings, plaster dust, earth, etc.) and I would never handle one of my delicate fountain pens in this condition. Even if I just brought one to work, it would probably fall out of my pocket and get lost in an attic somewhere or break if I lean up against a ladder or something. Thus my fountain pen use is limited to days off, nights and weekends. I miss my pens during the day, and I often envy those who get to use their fp's at work. But alas...perhaps absence makes the heart grow even fonder. Anyone else with a similar situation?