This Is "crazy" Many Pens? I Don't Think So.

[miwishi63]

I typically take 7-8 to work with me with different inks in each. I have had as many as 12, depending on how much writing I anticipate doing. Carry the number you are comfortable having with you and feel you need to use.

 

The pens I don't want to lose (a few heirloom pens) I leave at home. I don't worry about the rest because, really, they are just things that will one day be gone.

[flipper_gv]

I always carry two. The second is for when the first is out of ink. Ten is useless and if you lose your pen case you lose a big chunk of money.

[william2001]

I actually have a lockable pouch in my backpack where I keep my two MBs (don't want those stolen), and I'm semi-OCD, so I never lose anything (never lost a thing at school ) since I check 5 times before I leave my seat. Oh well, I'll start limiting my number of pens that I carry I guess.

 

William

Edited January 31, 2016 by william2001

[Buzz_130]

They are your pens.

 

I carry five pens to work in a 5 pen wrap. All of them have their uses and get rotated throughout the day and throughout the week. I'd be cautious about your more expensive pens!

 

Buzz

[Ink Stained Wretch]

It's not crazy. What's crazy is that millions of students can neither read nor write.

 

You got that right! And then there is the lack of critical thinking skills because no one even gave them a rudimentary knowledge that there is such a thing.

[mwpannell]

First off, that's one tremendous pen case. Envious.

Second, they're your pens, go for it if you really want to carry that many.

Third, it is risky, and happiness is sometimes overrated. You'll have to work out your own risk/loss/happiness/worth-it ratio.

Fourth, crazy? That's a bit of a moot point. We all may be crazy just having/using as many pens as we do.

Fifth, did I say that was a tremendous pen case?

Sixth, based on what's peeking over the top in the bag, looks like a nice collection. See third point.

And finally, I always carry one, and rarely more than two or three, out with me unless there's a specific reason to. Or unless I'm in an overly fountain pen-ee mood.

Edited February 1, 2016 by mwpannell

[Legal Eagle]

I actually have a lockable pouch in my backpack where I keep my two MBs (don't want those stolen), and I'm semi-OCD, so I never lose anything (never lost a thing at school ) since I check 5 times before I leave my seat. Oh well, I'll start limiting my number of pens that I carry I guess.

 

William

 

Yeah I just think you'll be better off not carrying all of them around every day. Just rotate them in & out. They'll all get equal use and if something happens you won't lose all your pens.

[inkstainedruth]

I've of two minds on this. I currently have way too many pens in rotation (I got a bunch of samples recently, plus I had some that I hadn't gotten around with trying from before). I had four pens with me when picking my sister-in-law up at the airport, and the one I showed her at dinner is one of the really pricy ones (Pelikan M400 Brown Tortoise). And I often carry as many as six or eight at a time. But I've also been in the position of having lost a penholder out of my purse -- fortunately after a fair amount of online searching we figured out where we stopped that I might have lost it, called the place and was able to retrieve it okay (it was found and turned in); but it meant a couple of hours drive each direction. And I tend to go into panic mode even when it's inexpensive pens that have been mislaid -- and that time one of the pens was my 51 Plummer, so it was a complete meltdown on my part until we retraced our steps.

I'd be pretty concerned about really expensive pens like your MBs -- and I'm often carrying $100+ USD pens without even thinking about them, if they're what I want to be writing with that day. I think the suggestion of having fewer pens in a smaller capacity case is a good one. I'm lucky in that my purse has a couple of long narrow pockets between the straps and the inner section that are a perfect size for 1- or 2-pen leather holders (and has the added bonus that the pens are kept upright), but I still lost the pen case with the 51 and another pen out of it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

I have carried several pens when I didn't know what I might want during a day. To each his his own poison.

 

I don't use pens much since retiring. I carry none.

 

Some people carry a lot of words.

Edited February 1, 2016 by pajaro

[shea2812]

I have not much requirement to write and yet I do carry more than 5 with me. They are all relatively cheap pens, 4 in a pencase in my jacket pocket and a few more in my pencil case with everything else. If I am wearing T or shirt with pocket then my battered Lamy ST is clipped there. I loath to loose any of them, cheap as they are and yet I like it less not having one that I like to use when i want to use, even just to doodle with. I suppose I better learn to live with carrying less, so far I have failed in the department. Guess I am catching up with all those years that I had gone without using them after leaving school....

In half a year perhaps I will be able to get on with my day about with just 2 or 3 FP on me.

[tragique]

I knew someone that carried 12 in a 12-pen case.

 

I only carry 2 plus one mechanical pencil in a 3-pen case because I don't see myself carrying more than that.

[Mangrove Jack]

10 seems a bit much in my book. I carry one in my shirt pocket and one in my brief case as a back-up.

However, I have far more pens than I need and far more inked than I can use regularly, so hey, to each his own. Nothing wrong with carrying as many pens as you want, or comfortable can carry.

[richila]

I'm a high school teacher and I wouldn't carry expensive pens to school. My son had his backpack stolen in the hallway between classes and he was 6'3" tall at the time. They got the backpack and his books back, but they had cut it open and then destroyed his notes and notebooks because he didn't have anything valuable in his backpack for them to steal. Be careful!

I usually have up to five with different inks, but I also keep half a dozen inexpensive fountain pens on my desk that are available for student use. So, I have over 10 pens available but the most expensive pen was $6.

Edited February 1, 2016 by richila

[Blue_Moon]

Ten is WAY too many for me personally. However, carry as many as you feel comfortable. Now, having said that, if you are in high school, I'd recommend that you not carry more than one. The reason being - you are now on some peoples' radar as a pen-carrying loon. In other settings, it'd be no big deal. They'd just talk about you. In high school, look for the pranks to begin, and you AND your backpack become a target. I'd play it safe, rather than to be sorry later. With college, you're a little bit safer (emphasis on "little bit").

[sirgilbert357]

I carry 3 and feel pretty content. Four is getting a bit much for me...I don't have a ton of different ink colors though...lol.

[REDEYEDROP]

Well It wouldn't be fair to judge since every one has thier own need yet I guess 3 pens are enough... More than that would seem to be a preference than a need (BTW, Ink really should not be an issue since If you can carry more than 3 pens I guess you can carry some ink with you as well ).

[proton007]

The word 'crazy' is relative, it is one of those terms one uses when one has no way to explain something outside of the norm. Should you be bothered by it? It's your own choice.

[Runnin_Ute]

As a person who once lost a pen wrap with the following pens in it:

Pelikan M205 F (black)

Pelkan M205 M (Toledo Red)

Pelikan M150 M (black)

Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell EF (green/black)

Parker 51 Special fp/mp set

Parker 45 - made in Spain

Parker 45 Flighter 14k M

 

It was one of two pen wraps I had with me that day. Of course this was the one with my nicer pens.

 

I still carry too many, today was about 10. I actually used about half that. Getting the right number figured out is the tricky part. I am trying to get my total number inked down too. Right now it is 15. I added one today (an Esterbrook J I just put a new sac in) and flushed four over the weekend. So going in the right direction. The goal is 8-12.

 

Maybe leave your nicest pens at home. If you regularly use 3-4 in a day, cut it to that number.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Runnin_Ute

[Bo Bo Olson]

Again ...crazy to take the MB's and P-75's to school. Double crazy and foolish.

Learn from Richila's big son....a cheap lesson for you, not for him...and as she mentioned he was a big boy...but a thief only needs a few seconds of opportunity.

A bully and pal, don't even need that to take and break your pens because they can. And there is nothing you can do about it.

[sandy101]

I usually carry two, but no more than three pens, and one of those is a biro - and I'm a teacher. I have a pen case, which holds two pens.