Where Do You Put Your Cap?

[Pen_andy]

I do not post my cap ever, so usually have it either in my hand or put it down next (left or top) to the paper I am writing on. Now I have a clipless cap (Asa Nauka) and find that it loves rolling about and makes silly spins even if I barely touch it. So I get paranoid about it dropping down and even though there is carpet and damage is next to impossible, it serves as a huge distraction to me. Maybe I am just weird, but am wondering what others are doing.

 

I tried putting it into my pen tray, but feel it's too far away. Holding it in my hand is not always possible if I have to hold a book open or so at the same time. Any suggestions, apart from capping that is not working for me?

[Charles Rice]

Crazy Glue.

[chrisheathcote]

May sound strange, but how about a bit of Blu-Tac?

[sirgilbert357]

It won't stand up if you put it open end down? I realize this only works on a flat, level surface, but it's an option. I usually hold the cap in my other hand, or it can be inserted between the middle and ring finger of the writing hand in a pinch (that may or may not mess with your grip and writing style depending on cap thickness).

Edited November 30, 2015 by sirgilbert357

[mmg122]

I don't post either...I just hold it in my left hand and find I still can hold a book open. I doubt anyone will come up with anything you haven't thought of already.

[sirgilbert357]

I am carrying my Pilot Decimo today, so I had to improvise, but you get the idea...

 

[deepak23]

Either in my left hand or in my shirt pocket. Hand for short bursts of writing and pocket for a longer session...

[wastelanded]

I plug a nostril with it. Don't laugh, it got me out of the Army.

[dojocho]

Either in my right hand or, sigarwise, between my lips.

 

regards,

 

Hugo

[Charles Rice]

I plug a nostril with it. Don't laugh, it got me out of the Army.

LOL

[inkstainedruth]

I mostly post, so it isn't an issue except for a few pens that I can't post for one reason or another. For those few that I can't (or for pens like the Noodler's Charlie that burped Myles Standish into the cap -- and all over the threads -- just now , and I had to clean the pen and inside the cap with a damp paper towel for the time being) I generally hold the cap in my left hand (I'm a rightie).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[wspohn]

Why the aversion to capping the pen?

 

That's like refusing to drive your car with the new tires because doing so might scuff them.....

[Peppers]

I place mine in my hand. However, whenever that is not possible, I place it on top of a notebook or a soft place to avoid any scratches with harder surfaces.

 

Why the aversion to capping the pen?

 

That's like refusing to drive your car with the new tires because doing so might scuff them.....

 

When I post my pens, the center of gravity shifts away from the nib. I don't like that, my fingers have to compensate for the shift (I have small hands). I prefer to write with the weight of the pen's body on the nib, no need for my fingers to compensate. Capping a pen is personal preference. Although I won't deny, a pen capped looks sexier.

[wspohn]

Sounds like you use a grip fairly far down the section of the pen, which would explain the weight issue, which I understand.

 

Changing a grip you've used for a long time is difficult for many people to do, but you might try moving it up a bit as an expriment to see if it would balance the pen out for you when posted.

 

I use a grip somewhat further up the barrel of the pen.

[Peppers]

Sounds like you use a grip fairly far down the section of the pen, which would explain the weight issue, which I understand.

 

Yup. If you have a Lamy Safari, I place my fingers at the lowest portion of the molded grip. It is quite comfortable to me and give me much more control of my handwriting. I don't know if that is wrong to do, but it works for me.

[2n7000]

I place the cap near the top left side of the writing surface near the sheet or pad I am writing on.

[Pen_andy]

I plug a nostril with it. Don't laugh, it got me out of the Army.

No comment.

 

Posting it offsets the balance for me, even though I do not grip it at the nib (so to say). I tried putting it standing up on the table, but with multiple papers around it always falls over.

 

Well it seems there is no golden bullet... Will probably hold it sometimes as now, but the idea of the shirt pocket I have not tried yet, so might give that a go. Just concerned about minor leaks on a beautiful white shirt...

[wspohn]

Posting is good in that it tends to prevent pens from committing hara kiri by throwing themselves off high places onto their delicate nibs, something I expect all pens harbour a tendency for.

 

The only time that not posting is a virtue is if you indulge in the dubious practice of letting someone else write with your pen. Holding onto the cap usually either prevents an inadvertent pen theft when they unthinkingly put it in their pocket, or it can add a bit of humour in terms of the inked shirt should they do so.

[vorpal]

Um, move the pen tray closer? I use the lovely velvet-padded box my Platinum pen came in as a pen tray. It sits right above whatever I am writing on. I just drop the cap in there.

[Water Ouzel]

Why the aversion to capping the pen?

 

That's like refusing to drive your car with the new tires because doing so might scuff them.....

Try it just once with a Twsbi Vac700. The result is, at best, unwieldy.

 

Can't on the Edison Collier.