The One Pen

[FOUR X FOUR]

I usually keep a dozen FPs inked at a time and rotate through them. But the three, maybe four that are always inked - Lamy 2000 with medium nib, Delta Horsepower with stub nib, and Franklin Christoph Panther 40 with medium italic nib. The fourth is a Delta Capri with broad nib. For business meetings, etc. these will be the pens that will go with me. But, if I am doing field work, I will likely take my Jinhao 450 or Faber Castell Loom because of their durability.

 

Ditto on the on the Horsepower

[pajaro]

Parker 51. The one that has kept on working.

[DustyR]

Not me. I have pens I like better than others, but no single favorite (me recently-purchased Bexley flat top is close, but I'll have to wait a bit to see if it stays in the top group). I do have a pattern in the 3-4 pens I have inked at any one time, though: At least one vintage pen (almost always smaller, so it's usually the pen in my pocket. This is often a P21, P51 or P45, but might be my Skyline, Volex, etc.); and 1-2 larger pens for longer writing sessions (lately a Bexley or one of the Delta's I recently purchased). Add to that any new pen that I'm test-driving or a pen I haven't used in awhile and don't want to neglect and it gets to four.

 

My issue is that in the past year I've noticed more discomfort in long writing sessions with the smaller pens I've always owned (back to the Reform I bought in college 30 yrs. ago). The thicker pens I've bought in the past year are more comfortable to write with for an hour plus, but their size can make them awkward in a breast pocket. I do have a couple of pens that are compromises, and are OK in a pocket and not too tiring to write with (my Levenger True Writer comes to mind), but they feel like compromises: not the greatest comfort in the hand and not quite slim enough in my pocket.

 

 

EDIT: I'll add that my Esterbrook J pens are also in that "compromise" category, and still pens I use and am fond of. They are just wide enough to increase writing comfort. Can't forget the Esterbrooks!

Edited June 21, 2016 by DustyR

[Raif79]

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/Raif79/FullSizeRender_zpsfqrv8pwd.jpg

[Precise]

The following is not one pen.

 

On my desk, my Omas 360 Magnum F is my most grabbed pen. I'm bonded to this one, having resurrected it from near death. But it fits my hand (now that I've rotated the nib about 25 degrees CCW) and the snap cap is a snap to remove.

 

But when I venture out into the world, it's too big. Then I prefer a lighter pen. I used to go for other snap cap pens because in a meeting the cap is off and on pretty often. But lately I've grabbed my Conklin Word Gage because even capped I can see the entire ink supply.

 

Then, like Zookie, I too often venture forth with an EnerGel.

 

Finally, sometimes I make sure that my "venture forth" fountain pen is a relatively dry fine point. I have several of these that don't bleed on the cheap paper out in the world. My 1950 Aurora 88P is one of these.

 

Alan

Edited June 23, 2016 by Precise

[da vinci]

My consistent EDC is a Pelikan 400 ballpoint, black resin with sterling silver "cap". The fountain pens get filled, put into rotation (only 1 inked at a time), emptied, cleaned and rotated out, replaced by another pen.

[sidthecat]

You wouldn't wear the same pair of earrings every day, and much of the fun is picking a different pen out of the rotation to wear every day.

[Dickkooty2]

You wouldn't wear the same pair of earrings every day,

... but I am still undecided about underwear ...

[octatonic]

For me it is my Parker '51' Demi in Plum, that came to me with a chipped hood. I took it apart and checked everything, cleaned it up, and it goes in my pocket wherever I go, in a perfect Franklin Christoph single pen sleeve. I have never left the house without it for the nearly two years I've had it. If I carry a shoulder bag, I also have a '51' Demi Plum pen and pencil set that I also take. That pen has a Pendleton Brown Butter Line Stub on it. Those are my EDC pens. This has been a very interesting thread to read, thanks for starting it!

[inkeverywhere]

I used to think your proposition was possible but in all reality, for most folk, another pen always comes along to replace that "one" pen.

 

 

Greg

[fuchsiaprincess]

Short answer is no. I always rotate my pens. Some I refill a few times so it stays in rotation longer.

[pajaro]

I used to think your proposition was possible but in all reality, for most folk, another pen always comes along to replace that "one" pen.

 

 

Greg

 

I tried to make this proposition, that another pen would come along to displace the one pen, a reality, but I never found a pen that wrote better or appealed to me more than the Parker 51 I bought new in 1970. After 46 years of use it is smoother than anything else I have used, including most of the big names.

[Proto]

Pilot Vanishing Point EF nib, it follows me around in my pocket nearly everywhere.

[verdiinpink]

My go-to pen is Lamy Joy Calligraphy 1.1 (1.5 is also in the bag, just in case). I almost always use this pen for my note taking and travel (you know, writing postcards requires a good fountain pen).

[Arkanabar]

I have no such pen. I don't write enough. I rotate pens in and out of use, like many others here.

The pen I use most is the one I've had longest, a Pelikan M200 F in blue swirl. It's a little small for section girth, but I will have and use this pen for the rest of my life.

[Tweel]

 

I tried to make this proposition, that another pen would come along to displace the one pen, a reality, but I never found a pen that wrote better or appealed to me more than the Parker 51 I bought new in 1970. After 46 years of use it is smoother than anything else I have used, including most of the big names.

 

You almost sound reluctant, as if the pen had made itself inevitable, but congratulations anyway on your stewardship of that pen. I'm the kind of person who would have a given favorite pen for 46 years, if I were old enough (I'm not quite), but of which one of life's occasional crises would have robbed me.

 

My "one" would be a Cross Radiance, adjusted and ground to suit me, which I've carried on a daily basis for 12 years.