In Praise Of Posting

[slide13]

I'm a poster. I search out pens that post well and securely and tend to pass on pens that don't. I did have a Pelikan M805 once that was big enough I didn't post and it was okay, but other than that most pens I buy are selected for postability. Two of my current favorites are my Pelikan M215 (Pels just post so nice and secure!) and my Sailor 1911 mid-size which surprised me with how nice and securely it posted.

[KBeezie]

It really depends on my pens. I tend to try to post first if I can.

 

Of the ones I have or had.

 

That should be posted (otherwise it's cumbersome) and does so rather decently.

- Pilot Elites (they're big cap pocket pens), not an 'absolute' must but much more comfortable done so.

- Sheaffer Tuckaway

- Sheaffer Lady Balances

- Pilot Petit1

- Kaweco Sport/ALSport

 

Should be posted, but doesn't quite post that well

- Bexley Jitterbug! (requires bit of friction to secure it, and works best to post pre-tilted or it creaks/slips while writing)

 

Don't need to be posted, but feels more comfortable/balanced and posts well

- Pelikan M250

- Montblanc 225

- Pilot Murex (long)

- Parker 51 (I have a vacumatic, not sure how it is on aerometric if any different)

- Parker Ellipse (does fine unposted, just feels more 'balanced'/secure posted)

- Eversharp Skyline (Even the Demi size can be used unposted, but posting feels better)

- Sheaffer Touchdown/Snorkel

- Lamy Safari and 2000

- Platinum PTL-5000/10000

- Platinum Century 3776

- Pilot Falcon

 

Can post, but either too heavy/long or awkward

- Faber-Castell BASIC (ridiculously long)

- Taccia Momenta (cap is a bit heavier than it needs to be for posting)

- Monteverde Invincia Deluxe (primarily back-heavy, but also chips away at the paint easily)

- Noodler's Ahab (works, but feels a bit long, and not quite 'stable' on the back)

 

Generally speaking, I prefer to post, unless for some reason the cap makes it worse.

All my pens are capable of posting except the Hero 6062, cap can go over the back, but there's absolutely no friction, it would just fall off or rattle.

 

I feel like a pen that's incapable of posting period may as well be a desk pen with a designated spot for the cap (usually the same stand or 'beam' the pen was sitting on). If a pen is shown to not be able to post at all, it needs to have some kind of redeeming quality for me to consider it.

Edited November 19, 2014 by KBeezie

[pgmrdan]

I have ALWAYS posted. That must be why I cracked the cap on a relatively new Sheaffer No Nonsense but not the cap on my Parker 25 since it's a metal cap.

 

That being said I'm seriously considering not posting any longer.

 

Except for my Parker 25 I've never liked pens that have unpainted metal caps. I want the color of the cap to match the color of the barrel. So either I get pens with a painted metal cap or not post pens with plastic caps. I think I'll just stop posting altogether but that is going to limit the pens I can use due to hand size.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I had never noticed the cap irritating my skin, nor in the pens I have, the threads.

I don't have any of those step down section pens. Never will, have tried them in B&M's.

 

I post all my medium-long or smaller pens. They balance well....something posted Large pens really don't.

Vintage Standard and Medium-long pens balance very well, in they all had to balance as good as the competitors. Folks wrote with a pen all day long, 5 days a week, way back when.So it had to be nimble & well balanced.

 

Opposite of those who use the Classic tripod and complain the unposted Standard pens are too small, and the Large pens uposted just right. I use the 'fore finger up', find unposted Large pens too small, and posted often too long and heavy. Unposted standard pens are way too small.

Fore finger up.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/SAM_0418.jpg

It takes me some time to get use to a Large pen if I post it....but if I don't, they are too short except for notes.

 

Gee I might just get a giant pen, so I can use it unposted.

 

But I have a big collection of medium-short but long posting, standard and medium-large pens that allow me to admire the balance of them when posting. Only got 5-6 large pens.

 

....I was real shocked to find out my Snorkel was a Large pen. That is a good pen to post.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[KBeezie]

I have ALWAYS posted. That must be why I cracked the cap on a relatively new Sheaffer No Nonsense but not the cap on my Parker 25 since it's a metal cap.

 

That being said I'm seriously considering not posting any longer.

 

Except for my Parker 25 I've never liked pens that have unpainted metal caps. I want the color of the cap to match the color of the barrel. So either I get pens with a painted metal cap or not post pens with plastic caps. I think I'll just stop posting altogether but that is going to limit the pens I can use due to hand size.

Just how hard are you jamming the cap?

 

Also if you're irritating your hands from the cap and such... do you have a death grip on the pens?

Edited November 19, 2014 by KBeezie

[Kataphract]

It entirely depends on the pen, the length, weight and balance. For the most part, I adapt to the pen, rather than demand that it adapts to me. I bought a Twsbi Mini specifically because it posts securely since I intended it for on location drawing, but that's about it.

[siopaopei]

I never post... I only use FP at home, so no danger of rolling. The reason I do not post is because I like my pens to be as light as possible, and the cap often adds quite a bit of weight. I also prefer the pen to nib-heavy rather than the opposite.

 

Same here. I never post my pens unless they're too short to use unposted. I'm in the habit of holding the cap in one hand while writing in the other. I like that unposted pens are lighter, plus I'm not worried that the cap is biting on the end of the barrel. Of course, different strokes for different folks.

[freewheelingvagabond]

I usually prefer to post.

[brunico]

The cure for posting is to go through school using shoddy pens - various Stypens and Platignums in my case, but I'm sure we all have our favourites - and watch the ink that has leaked into the cap get onto your hand when you take the cap off the end of the barrel. The rough edge of the cap will also scratch the web between your thumb and forefinger.

 

Personally, I find posting completely pointless. I've never lost a pen cap in my life, I find posting usually makes for an unwanted counterweight at the other end of the pen, and it's more effort than just putting the cap down. I don't post biros or post those plastic brush protectors at the other end of the paintbrush or feel a pencil is incomplete without one of those erasers with a hole in them stuck on the other end.

 

But that's just me. It makes no difference to me what anyone else does, and I have no wish to give my own experience the force of universal law.

 

However, I will point out something generally overlooked when people are arguing for posting. Yes, it does mean your cap isn't going to fall off the table of a moving train, but it's still quite possible for the cap to fall off the end of the pen. The whole posting / not posting worry is exactly like the "protective filter" argument that's been done to death on camera forums. Yes, a clear filter on the end of your lens will protect your lens from flying grit, but if you drop the lens, it's possible the filter will shatter and scratch your front element. So do as you prefer, and whatever your choice, never forget Sod's law...

[wastelanded]

I never post, except for Kaweco Sports. And for a quick jot, I don't even post those. That wear ring that develops on the barrel from posting drives me bonkers.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

There is a list of things that simply never occurred to me when, several years ago, I decided that it would be interesting to try a fountain pen. One of them was that there would be fountain pens on which posting wouldn't work well, or at all. After all, I had always posted even a Bic disposable ballpoint. I ended up with a couple of fountain pens where it just didn't work, and made a mental note that all my future pens would be postable, and well balanced when posted.

 

Many future pens later, I've pretty much stuck with that, although since I've bought most of them online without trying them, there have been a couple of missteps, pens that just don't feel right posted (and don't get used much). And there are my Pilot Vanishing Points, where posting just doesn't apply. On a couple of vintage pens I've seen damage from users who had really jammed the cap on there (on one Esterbrook the wear ring is actually a groove) so I'm careful. If, however, a pen were so beautiful that I couldn't bear the thought of even a slight scratch, I probably wouldn't get it.

 

It's not a topic that really gets me heated up, though. It's not that I think a pen should be posted, it's just how I want it.

Edited November 19, 2014 by ISW_Kaputnik

[Consulting_Detective]

It's not a topic that really gets me heated up, though. It's not that I think a pen should be posted, it's just how I want it.

 

So in a Nutshell, this entire topic is essentially based on... personal preference?

 

-C.D

[WetNoodle]

Not generally a poster myself, but some pens just really work well posted - Parker Sonnet for instance.

 

I like bigger pens though and I'm definitely not posting a Gama Kuyil or my ridiculously long (when posted) Conklin Endura. Cap weight is a big factor too.

[Brian K]

 

So in a Nutshell, this entire topic is essentially based on... personal preference?

 

-C.D

 

 

Oh no...say it ain't so!

[ISW_Kaputnik]

 

So in a Nutshell, this entire topic is essentially based on... personal preference?

 

-C.D

Which is what the original post was really about, right? Just gave the reasons for his personal preference.

[ac12]

I post out of habbit, but certain pens become too tail heavy when posted, so I hold the cap in my left hand. And it usually bothers me to use the pen unposted, but that bothers me less than a tail heavy pen, which REALLY BOTHERS me. Because for me the balance of the pen is critical in writing comfort.

[Moshe ben David]

I think I really only have four pens that I routinely post; two of which were clearly made to facilitate posting:

 

• Pilot MU-90; the cap securely clicks into place. Also this is I think the shortest pen I own --- it is a pocket pen; and that is probably why Pilot designed it for secure posting.
• An Aurora TU. It's just as comfortable posted or not posted, but the cap does securely click onto the barrel so I do often post it. Key word is 'often'!
• Parker 50 (the Parker Falcoln). This is a very slim body pen; I think almost the slimmest one I have. It simply is more comfortable posted. No special design element to facilitate the posting however.
• Cross Century sterling silver fp. I don't really like posting it because that interferes with the tarnish patina I so like. However, the pen is slim (not quite as slim as the Parker Falcon) and light so I do post it. Cap just slips on the end of the barrel; no special design element to facilitate posting.

[Bo Bo Olson]

In I buy mostly old used pens..ie vintage...I finger polish with semi-chorme and that gets rid of mars and takes it up to a well maintained look. I'm to lazy to polish to so it looks NOS. Then I wax and have never had a posting mar since.

[sirgilbert357]

There is a list of things that simply never occurred to me when, several years ago, I decided that it would be interesting to try a fountain pen. One of them was that there would be fountain pens on which posting wouldn't work well, or at all. After all, I had always posted even a Bic disposable ballpoint. I ended up with a couple of fountain pens where it just didn't work, and made a mental note that all my future pens would be postable, and well balanced when posted.

 

Many future pens later, I've pretty much stuck with that, although since I've bought most of them online without trying them, there have been a couple of missteps, pens that just don't feel right posted (and don't get used much). And there are my Pilot Vanishing Points, where posting just doesn't apply. On a couple of vintage pens I've seen damage from users who had really jammed the cap on there (on one Esterbrook the wear ring is actually a groove) so I'm careful. If, however, a pen were so beautiful that I couldn't bear the thought of even a slight scratch, I probably wouldn't get it.

 

It's not a topic that really gets me heated up, though. It's not that I think a pen should be posted, it's just how I want it.

That's pretty much how I feel too.

 

But, I'll add this: Plastics can always be refinished right? So I personally don't mind all that much. If I want it perfect later on in life, there's a way to get it most of the way there. I guess one should consider resale value and all that, but I'm a user primarily. I don't expect to sell any of the pens that I get, but if it happens, I expect to take a loss because they will show signs of use (but not abuse!). So how a pen looks isn't something I get anal retentive about if I bought it new and *I* put those marks there. My Pelikan M205 is a good example. Bought it new, was my first "nice" pen and I noticed circles on the barrel from unscrewing the cap. At first I thought 'how can I minimize this?'; but there's no way around it, so I just shrugged it off and use the pen. It now has a bit of wear from posting too...meh. I love writing with it, if I want a mint example to just stick in a drawer, I guess I should buy another and never take it out of the box, lol.

Edited November 20, 2014 by sirgilbert357

[mirosc]

Given my disdain for posted pens I rather don't post in this thread