Pants Pocket Carry - Roll Call

[spaceink]

Having been been on this board a fair bit, I've often seen the conventional advice against carrying pens in pants pockets. There are many fears: the stress at the leg, the pen sliding out, the potential crotch-staining, scratches, etc. But I don't prefer clipping it at my shirt pocket, because the pen sticks out and is more visible there. Also, sometimes there are no shirt pockets.

 

So I've been carrying my fountain pens in my pants pocket, always with the pen inside a single-pen leather sleeve.

 

Maybe it's because I don't wear skinny jeans or perhaps I mostly wear flat-front pants with pockets cut like jeans, or maybe because the sleeve provides protection from scratches from other objects, my pens haven't fared too badly at all. Haven't had a single issue, knock on wood.

 

I generally put them in first thing before other objects like my card wallet or handkerchief, and deeper in my pocket, hugging the inside part of my thigh. That also helps the pen from sliding out, I feel.

 

And I carry vintage pens--Parker 51s, Sheaffer Balance 3-digits, 1970s Montblancs--in my pants pockets as often as I do my new pens.

 

Who else is also in the pants pockets camp? How do you carry yours? Are there things you do to keep your pens safe and secure there?

Edited July 7, 2015 by spaceink

[fly_us]

Having been been on this board a fair bit, I've often seen the conventional advice against carrying pens in pants pockets. There are many fears: the stress at the leg, the pen sliding out, the potential crotch-staining, scratches, etc. But I don't prefer clipping it at my shirt pocket, because the pen sticks out and is more visible there. Also, sometimes there are no shirt pockets.

 

So I've been carrying my fountain pens in my pants pocket, always with the pen inside a single-pen leather sleeve.

 

Maybe it's because I don't wear skinny jeans or perhaps I mostly wear flat-front pants with pockets cut like jeans, or maybe because the sleeve provides protection from scratches from other objects, my pens haven't fared too badly at all. Haven't had a single issue, knock on wood.

 

I generally put them in first thing before other objects like my card wallet or handkerchief, and deeper in my pocket, hugging the inside part of my thigh. That also helps the pen from sliding out, I feel.

 

And I carry vintage pens--Parker 51s, Sheaffer Balance 3-digits, 1970s Montblancs--in my pants pockets as often as I do my new pens.

 

Who else is also in the pants pockets camp? How do you carry yours? Are there things you do to keep your pens safe and secure there?

I usually put FPs in pocket, inside a single or double leather pen sleeve too. No problem so far. However, i only use with pant, not jeans.

[shawndp]

I'm guilty of leaving Kaweco's and Varsities in my pockets at various times (thankfully with no leaks). I actually walk around with a retractable sharpie in my pants pocket at work. In the summer when I switch from shirts to collar tee's I pick FP's that are pant-front-pocket-friendly. Again, no skinny jeans in my wardrobe, so it's not an issue...

[Sandy Fry]

Have carried Kaweco Sport in the front left pocket of my jeans for the last 2 years. No pen sleeve. No problems so far but yeah...no skinny jeans!

 

David

[PDW]

Kaweco AL Sport - it's proved PDW-proof so far!

[EricaTX]

I do because I don't carry my purse with me all day at work. I, too, though usually carry it in a leather pen sleeve.

 

No problems. Well, scratch that. One time I pulled a Pilot Metropolitan out of my pocket by the lid and as I pulled my arm out, the pen flew out of the cap, landing nib down on the ground. Needless to say, that nib was bent beyond repair. Luckily Metropolitans aren't pricey!

[bijou3owl]

Eyedroppered Kaweco ICE Sport in the back pocket when I need to, nib up, and I'll take it out before I sit down. Or it'll go in a purse pocket.

 

ETA: Though usually I'll carry a pen nested in a soft cover notebook (where I'm gripping it from the spine), in a pen loop on a notebook, or, most often, just nab my pen case along with my notebook and whatever else I need.

Edited July 7, 2015 by bijou3owl

[spaceink]

I forgot to include the important detail of always having the pen nib up in the sleeve. Certainly helps prevent spillage.

 

I really think being conscious of the pants you wear matter as well. When I wear pants with a shallow pocket I'd put the pen in my shirt pocket, as a precaution against slide outs

Edited July 7, 2015 by spaceink

[Water Ouzel]

A couple of Kaweco Ice Sport eyedroppers in a front pocket, or a Lilliput in a change pocket.

 

The only issues have been temporarily losing the Lilliput behind the seat of my truck after it slipped out of the pocket, or the Lilliput going through the wash a couple of times. No ink spills, no damage to the pens.

[CoffeeDaddict]

I carry either a Pilot Prera or Lamy Safari in my front pocket. I only carry my Stella 90s in my shirt pocket though. When I carry the Stella I want it to be seen!

 

Once I get some full size pens of greater value I'll probably carry them in a sleeve in my pocket still. I don't like the look of a full size pen in a shirt pocket either.

 

Josh

[Mannyonpil]

I used to carry my Caran d'Ache Ecridor in my pants pocket until I one day snapped it in half when I sat down.

 

Never again.

 

C d'A repaired it but I had to be without for weeks.

[mike.jane]

I normally carry one FP in my front left pocket. Always in a pouch with one other pen (gel-tip pen, writes perfectly fine on everything), always clipped to the seam, thus always nib up. Used to carry a P51 Special (pretty good, but cap got scratches), a vintage Kaweco (too wet though, so often ink in cap), Platinum Preppy eyedropper (a bit wet also, still decent choice), an inexpensive noodler's eyedropper (okay), and now -my newest- a TWSBI Vac 700 (judges are still out)

 

No major problems with this practice ever.

Edited July 7, 2015 by mike.jane

[blINK]

I always have a Kaweco AL-Sport in my pocket. Nib orientation is all over the place yet it has never leaked. It isn't in any kind of sleeve. It was actually neat to see the transition from all blue to what looks like their "distressed" finish. It only took a few months in the same pocket with my keys and change.

[J_MM]

I carry my Lamy 2K often in my pant pocket. No issues so far.

[benbot517]

Kaweco Al Sport raw. As mentioned before, it's a perfect pocket pen, and because the raw aluminum version is designed to scratch if you look at it wrong (being part of the raw aluminum appeal) I don't feel bad about chucking it in my pocket with my keys.

 

I always have a nicer pen on hand, and that does get carried in a hard case.

[ac12]

I only carry the short Ohto Tasche in my pants pocket, and that is only when I am not wearing a shirt with a pocket.

The Ohto Tasche was selected based on its short length and overlapping construction when closed. The longer pens have a greater potential of breaking in half.

IMHO, pocket carry is not very secure. I've lost 2 Tasches over the past 2 years. I suspect they came out when I pulled out my wallet, and fell to the ground unnoticed by me.

[SteveE]

No way! I spend a good bit of my work day seated at a desk. Carrying a pen in a pants pocket would be too uncomfortable when sitting, and too big a pain to pull it out every time I sit down. I just keep 3 or 4 pens in a zipper pen case on my desk. When I leave my desk and need a pen, it gets clipped into a shirt pocket or, absent the pocket, into the button placket of my shirt. I don't wear t-shirts to work either - no place to clip a pen other than into the neck band, which is uncomfortable.

[AG_ORD]

 

Renaissance Art leather Passport, side view

 

 

Renaissance Art leather Passport, detail view

 

I carry this leather Passport journal in my jeans, back pocket, every day. I used to carry the Pelikan M300 shown, (14K fine nib), but I have since replaced it with a brass, Loclen Tiny, (F sst Bock nib), as it is more durable. The Pelikan is a way better pen to use as the nib/feed is better; plus, it carries a little more ink than the short, international cartridge that goes in the Loclen

 

Other than that, I typically carry my other pens in a 3-pen pouch, which fits in my shirt pocket.

 

 

 

[Kataphract]

Clipped to the spiral blinding of my A6 size Black n' Red, in my side cargo pocket.

[DJNW]

I'll happily wander about with my modified V-pen in a pocket, I'm confident that's crush-proof.