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Carrying Fountain Pens In Hot Climates?


FountainPenNovice

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Hi,

 

I am currently in a country with a hot climate and while I normally put my fountain pen in my inside suit pocket, I wanted to know how I could wear it in a hot climate. For example, sometimes I wear it in my shirt pocket (if it has one) and look like the proverbial junior engineer, other times I put it in the placket of my shirt (between the buttons) but when I sweat, I don't want the finish of the pen to be tarnished nor do I want to snag stray chest hair (gross I know but please don't say"wax") . Lastly, although I'm not too keen on carrying anything that looks like a man purse- I'd consider it if it looks cool (no apologies for vanity). So I welcome suggestions from those fountain pen folk inclined towards sartorial elegance to give me options.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by FountainPenNovice
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I'm sure BoBo will be along shortly to talk about how the pocket of a man's shirt was developed to carry a pen. And I agree with him. The best place to carry that fountain pen is in a shirt pocket or, as you already do, carry it in your inside suit pocket.

 

Some other alternatives might be a quiver for your notebook a folio with a pen loop to keep your pen with your writing materials. I usually keep my spare pen in my shirt pocket and my pen of the day in my writing portfolio with my writing pad. Another option is to get a two or three pen case to avoid the look of a man purse. Pelikan, Montblanc, and others make a classic style and great carrying option for your pen.

 

You should avoid carrying a pen in your front or rear pants pocket.

 

Buzz

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Not sure what you consider a hot climate but I carry my pen in my shirt pocket. Also I don't wear shirts that don't have a shirt pocket. I will admit that I am also wearing shorts year round, have not worn a jacket more then ten times in ten years and often will also not be wearing shoes.

 

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Thanks all, good suggestions. By hot climate I mean 41-48 celsius summer temperatures. The undershirt may work but the pen in placket thing is supposedly a big no-no according to fashionistas-but who cares right? The quiver idea with a Pelikan accessory might work for me too. Perhaps someone can post photos of their favorite portable pen case (with approx. price)?

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Thanks all, good suggestions. By hot climate I mean 41-48 celsius summer temperatures. The undershirt may work but the pen in placket thing is supposedly a big no-no according to fashionistas-but who cares right? The quiver idea with a Pelikan accessory might work for me too. Perhaps someone can post photos of their favorite portable pen case (with approx. price)?

There wouldn't be too many places in the lived in world with temperatures like that too often. I'm guessing the middle east? I'm Australian and have only had one day of 48C and that was the day of one of the worst bushfires we'd seen in years.

Personally I carry my fountain pen generally in my bag, a nice over the shoulder bag just big enough to fit my laptop and a couple of books. In the past have gone for the trouser pocket as I like to avoid the shirt pocket, the junior engineer look doesn't suit me (even if I'm studying to be one)

 

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I carried a Parker 51 in a shirt pocket when I was in a hot place with lots of humidity, some long time back, when the pen was prety new. No problems. I also carried it in Texas and Florida. I don't bother in Michigan. Nobody writes any more.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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If the pen has some has some sort of built in insulation like a sac from a lever pen, or a cartridge/converter and a piston should have enough space for the ink to expand if not all the way filled.

 

It's the eye dropper with no insulation that is not a hot weather pen...in some ways. It burps in use (when under 1/3 filled) and when 'closed' again from my reading from excess heat...and being body close.

 

Having piston pens, that can be filled every night before bed or right after breakfast never felt the urge to buy an Eyedropper.

Rubber sacked pens from what I read, could deteriorate in jungle influenced areas; perhaps why the eyedropper survived in India.

 

Where I live and have gotten use to it....dam Global warming, I got use to 88F or 30 C as hot....then we have had days in Germany :yikes: of 40 degrees. Being sane and retired stayed indoors, so can't help you with hot pen carrying. B)

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Aerometric "51"s have a small hole drilled into the end to allow air pressure to equalize. It was originally intended to prevent burps due to drops in pressure while flying.

 

eta: You can make a similar modification to a Hero 616. Lever fillers always allow pressure to escape.

 

and also: We ought to ask the Indian contingent how they deal. Eyedroppers are very popular in India, and they are the most burp-prone of FPs.

Edited by Arkanabar
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I'm sure BoBo will be along shortly to talk about how the pocket of a man's shirt was developed to carry a pen. And I agree with him. The best place to carry that fountain pen is in a shirt pocket or, as you already do, carry it in your inside suit pocket.

 

Some other alternatives might be a quiver for your notebook a folio with a pen loop to keep your pen with your writing materials. I usually keep my spare pen in my shirt pocket and my pen of the day in my writing portfolio with my writing pad. Another option is to get a two or three pen case to avoid the look of a man purse. Pelikan, Montblanc, and others make a classic style and great carrying option for your pen.

 

You should avoid carrying a pen in your front or rear pants pocket.

 

Buzz

Normally I'd agree but I have been carrying my Parker 51 (albeit in a Franklin Christoph pen slip) in my front pocket for the past year. I think that the idea there is to make sure it stays away from keys and is well protected. Edited by DGH_Nomad
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I am against carrying pens not made to be carried in pants pockets in pants pockets. Kaweco was invented @ 1933 to be carried in pants pockets and are small enough to lay on the bottom and not poke or break.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Thanks all, good suggestions. By hot climate I mean 41-48 celsius summer temperatures.

 

Is that measured in the shade?

 

Since taking up fountain pens again, I've only dealt with temps up to 43ºC (but it's a dry heat) so far. Neither the pen nor my shirt suffered from the pen being clipped in the shirt pocket.

 

Since moving to Minnesota, the high locally hasn't exceeded 36ºC (but it was horribly humid), I'm hoping we never get any higher than that in the near future. (When it's cold, you can always add another layer, there's only so much you can take off. Not to mention being considerate of ladies, small children, and pets.)

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From my perspective, I would suggest carrying a simple briefcase for your pens, notebook, etc. While a lot of men I know (husband included) carry their pens attached to the placket, it isn't very safe for that expensive MontBlanc, Pelikan or whatever (and as you suggested, chest hair). And truthfully, watching a someone fumble in a pocket for a pen isn't really very "business" like.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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What's with all the metric stuff ?

​Do I have to get out my slide rule to convert Celsius to real-people-temperatures ?

From Wikipedia:

"By the end of the 20th century, Fahrenheit was only used as the official temperature scale in the United States, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, and Palau. All other countries in the world now use the Celsius scale, defined since 1954 by absolute zero being −273.15 °C and the triple point of water being at 0.01 °C.[3] However, the Fahrenheit scale remains in common unofficial use in many of the current and former US unincorporated territories."

 

This would make "real-people-temperatures" to be measured in Celsius not Fahrenheit. As luck would have it, I live in a country that since the invasion of 1898 is one of the "unincorporated territories".

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10 C is 50 F

20 C is 68 F

30 C is 86 F

40 C is 104 F

50 C is 122 F

 

Every 10 C is 18 F, so 1 C is 1.8 F

 

C freezing to boiling is 0 to 100

F freezing to boiling is 32 to 212

 

212 - 32 is 180, 100 - 0 is 100

100 / 180 reduces to 5/9 hence the "5/9 (and 9/5) formula(s)" I can't remember now.

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One which is stuck in my head is 28 C = 82 F, cute because the numbers reverse, if imprecisely. When I hear a temperature in F then I want a quick way back to C without pulling out my mental or electronic abacus. You need only a few remembered reference points to do that.

 

Anyway, from where I am sitting to a nearby tree is a chain. For real. :D

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