Pants Pocket Carry - Roll Call

[PAKMAN]

Only pen I will carry in my pants pocket is my Kaweco Al-Sport

[tinto]

My Lamy Safari is in my pants pocket except when I'm sitting at a desk. For commuting, lecturing and everything else it's on me. I decided to change to non permanent inks as a precaution, though.

[spaceink]

The thing that most befuddles me are the reports about pens snapping or breaking in the pocket. Back pockets, yes, I can see if one sits down with one's weight on a pen, but I'm trying to figure out whether front pocket stress is enough to do something like that.

 

As I've said, I've carried my vintage celluloid pens, a la Esterbrooks and Sheaffers, for sometime now in my front pockets, nib up, with a sleeve, and haven't seen cracks or signs of damage.

[______Zaphod_Beeblebrox]

I carry my Montblanc Boheme Pirouette lilas FP in my pant pocket, just drop in in loose.

 

No problems but it is a small pen.

[Bklyn]

I carry my Edison Collier in my jeans pocket. I just seem to do Ok with it there. I am afraid to put it in a jacket pocket because I am afraid I will forget it is there and for all practical purposes, it is than lost and I hate that feeling.

[DJNW]

The thing that most befuddles me are the reports about pens snapping or breaking in the pocket. Back pockets, yes, I can see if one sits down with one's weight on a pen, but I'm trying to figure out whether front pocket stress is enough to do something like that.

 

As I've said, I've carried my vintage celluloid pens, a la Esterbrooks and Sheaffers, for sometime now in my front pockets, nib up, with a sleeve, and haven't seen cracks or signs of damage.

 

I think it depends on how it sits in your pocket. When I put a pen in a front pocket, it sits at the 'back' alongside the seam, so when I sit down it lies alongside my leg, not on top. Put it so it lies on top of your leg while sitting and there could be a fair degree of stress applied across the pen.

[maus930]

Would not consider it -- bound to break something

[SteveE]

Of course, shirt pockets aren't entirely safe, either. Many years ago I cracked a pen that was in my shirt pocket by leaning over and cracking it against the sharp edge of my desktop.

 

Hence my 4-pen zipper case on the desktop. . .

[Alohamora]

I'm a female who would rather not carry a purse for casual out and about activity. I've tried to pocket carry a pilot petit around, but something about the smooth rounded shape makes it prone to working it's way out of my jeans pocket. I have a little tiny Chinese pocket "space pen" that worked out better. Rarely, I've carried a full size pen if I thought I'd have reason for more writing than just a quick few words. The Herbin rollerball also gets used sometimes.

 

But I confess that I write so little while on the go these days, I switched to mainly carrying a mini G2 gel pen for no-maintenance convenience.

 

J. Herbin Rollerball, Petit1 FP, Yiren Space min FP, Mini G2

[spaceink]

Yes, I think that's a key consideration: making sure the pen sits along side your leg, not on top of it, where it experiences greater stress and is more prone to hit something or you leaning on it. And that also means pants with non-shallow pockets, I feel.

 

Am glad there are other pants pocket carriers, so that I don't feel like such a rebel to convention all by my lonesome.

Edited July 9, 2015 by spaceink

[FinalEleven]

Depending on where I'm going I have pens in either a 2 pen Leather case from Franklin-Christoph or a 3 pen leather case from Franklin-Christoph. I just put the pens in there and put the case right into a front or cargo pocket.

 

Currently my setup for the 2 Pen case is:

Lamy Vista with 1.1 Stub Nib inked with Montblanc Meisterstuck Blue Hour Twilight Blue

TWSBI Diamond 540 inked with KWZI Violet #4

 

The 3 pen case is the same 2 pens as before but with:

TWSBI Diamond 580 AL in Violet inked with Sailor Shigure

 

In terms of loose pens in my pocket, I usually throw my JinHao x750 or my Pilot Metro in my front pockets alongside a Zebra Sarasa Clip and a Uniball Vision Elite. Keep those in the same pocket as my wallet so I know they'll be there. They take quite a beating too.

[damonism]

Like many other people here I have a Kaweco AL Sport, which was my long-time pocket carry pen. The only problem is that a couple of months ago I changed jobs to one where I have to go through a metal detector to get into my building.

 

Remembering to pull out the pen to go through the X-Ray got a bit painful, so I stopped carrying it.

 

But it has recently occurred to me that I also have a plastic Kaweco, which probably wont set off the metal detector. Not sure how durable it is as a pocket pen – not nearly as good as the AL Sport, obviously, but probably not too bad given its size and reasonably solid construction. I should re-find it. It was also a bit of a hard starter (unlike the AL Sport, which always works first time regardless of how long it has been sitting around), so it may need a bit of tweaking too.

[JemC]

For the past 3+ years I've carried the same Vanishing Point in my right front pant pocket. It's still going strong, with no "real" damage and has never leaked. I do carry my keys in the same pocket, so much of the matte finish has been scraped and smoothed; I enjoy seeing the brass show through as a reflection of how much I rely on this pen.

 

Other pens I've frequently carried in my front pants pocket:

Metal Falcon

Metropolitan

Namisu Nexus

Karas Kustoms Ink

Lamy 2000

Parker 51

Parker 75

TWSBI Micarta

 

The only pen that's ever been a problem was the Lamy 2000 - the cap managed to slip off and stained a pair of jeans.

[Arkanabar]

I use pants pocket carry a fair bit. Some of my pens don't go in my pants (PFM-II, my Dad's "51"), but I have no worries about putting my M200, M400, Plaisir, Hero 616s, or stainless Baoer 388 in my pants. I might consider doing so with my Estie J if I tape the lever down. (I have this worry that it'll snag in ANY pocket, including shirt pockets, and take damage). I just try to not put them in the same pockets as my keys. There are a number of scratches on the end of my Plaisir as a result of not doing so, and my Dad's "51" also has scratches on its end, no doubt from living in his pockets for 20-30 years.

I don't wear tight clothes if I can avoid it. I almost never wear jeans, especially at work. All of my pockets are deep enough that the pens sit below the hip joint, even when I am seated. And I almost never put anything in back pockets; it just messes too much with my spine when I sit.

I do like cargo shorts when not working, but my wallet and cell phone are what go in the cargo pockets. Pens go into the front right pocket, and keys in the front left. There's too much movement in the cargo pockets, and pens in them always wind up with caps full of ink. If I don't have cargo pockets, pens share with the wallet and phone shares with the keys.

I have also always had pens at my desk at work. They used to sit in an opened roll my wife made for me (very similar product here), in the middle of a stack of three letter trays (phone notebook in the bottom, phone itself sitting in the top). I've lately added an 11-hole glass frog to my desk, and some of them stay there. But they aren't really secure in it, so I'm looking for something else to hold my pens, like a wooden test-tube rack, or a pipe rack ... or I might just drill some holes in a piece of 2x4 or 4x4. I have a fairly sturdy drill and an assortment of spade bits.

[BillZ]

I, too, carry a Kaweco Sport FP and RB in the Kaweco case. Never had a problem.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

Haven't carried any of my pens in my pants pocket yet, but they aren't exactly high end models so far either. So far, I only have a Jinhao x750, which is so solid I'm not at all worried about putting it in my pants, and a bunch of Pilot Varsities, which I keep out of my pocket out of fear of breakage and leakage. Generally I never carried pens in my pants pockets anyway. Right now, I keep my pens in pen slots in my messenger bag that I keep my various notebooks and other supplies for work in. Eventually, I may end up getting some sort of pen case for them though.

[spaceink]

I highly recommend pen sleeves not larger pouches or hard cases for pants pockets carrying. I have a habit of tapping my sides when I get up to make sure it's there, and I think the leather's tackiness helps prevent slide-outs to some degree, as well.

 

The leather single-pen ones available are great and usually less than $20 online, and I even love the cheaper faux leather ones that I also keep around in case I need to also have a second pen.

[Larry Barrieau]

Does anyone know of a single or double pen pouch with a belt clip on it? I say clip, not loop, because I want to remove the case from my belt without taking it off. Thanks

Edited July 10, 2015 by Larry Barrieau

[johnsi02]

I currently have a Kaweco Sport FP in my front right pocket, RB in the front left. They are the same color, so it's easier to know which I'm grabbing that way.

I have the pocket clips for them, but haven't had good luck with them, they slide around too much for dependability. I like pants pockets for these pens.

Also, these are the plastic models, and I have had no issues with leaks. I do wear relaxed fit jeans most of the time though.

JS

[PS104]

Does anyone know of a single or double pen pouch with a belt clip on it? I say clip, not loop, because I want to remove the case from my belt without taking it off. Thanks

Years ago they used to make leather holsters for pens that you could slide your belt through (much thinner than the current-day loops)(never saw a clip variety). They had a two or three pen/pencil capacity. I keep asking for it in the B&Ms but all they have to offer are the (bulky) loop variety. The holsters could lay against the side of your hip so no chance of snapping pens in two. I guess in the 50s that was a badge of a real geek. Time marches on and the holster was dethroned by the pocket protector. Try and find those today. Staples used to carry them but it seems not anymore.