Pinch Hitter

[calhoun tubbs]

I carry a couple of Pilot G2's, a Bic felt tip pen, and a Safari Mechanical pencil in my bag.

[inkstainedruth]

Uniball rollerball pens -- I use then for inking pencil drawings for artwork/design projects I do fairly regularly, because I have so far not found an FP ink that behaves well enough for that purpose. I need solid black (no shading) with a medium line (for photocopying purposes), fast drying, working well on crappy printer paper in -- often -- very humid conditions (i.e., no spread or feathering), which doesn't smudge when dry when I erase the pencil lines underneath). And which takes to being covered with whiteout if necessary. (Don't bother to recommend inks to me -- I probably have samples of pretty much all the black FP inks on the market at this , but only three Preppy rollerballs for tester pens). The only downside to the basic black Uniballs is that they aren't refillable, AFAIK, so that makes them disposable.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Nigh Means Near]

I've had a great deal of success with Noodler's X-feather as a drawing ink. It even brushes on nicely. The only non fountain pen ink I've used that is blacker is Talens Drawing ink.

[mcc1701]

I'm a musician, so I always have a mechanical pencil on me to mark my music in class or practice. I also have a Sharpie pen or like others have said, I'll borrow a ballpoint pen.

[Abner C. Kemp]

I have a Cross ballpoint pen that I usually keep in my bag. I have also found Dr. Grip pens are reasonably pleasant to write with and if I know I will have to use a ballpoint I will usually bring one of those. Apart from that I always have some kind of a mechanical pencil. I've been considering buying one of those ballpoint/pencil combos and calling it a day since I rarely use them anyway.

[shudaizi]

my pinch-hitters (really, just other players in the line-up as I couldn't live without them):

 

- mechanical pencil (one of: Rotring Rapid Pro, TWSBI Precision MP, or Lamy 2000 MP) or lead holder (Caran d'Ache fix pencil) -- used for marginalia in academic books (must be non-permanent for me as I must be able to erase and change as my thinking on issues, scholars, theories evolves. Some days the MPs get used far, far more than my FPs.

 

- Lamy 2000 ballpoint -- used when my FPs won't do (e.g., signing those slick credit card thermal papers) or to lend to other people

Edited March 4, 2014 by shudaizi

[Moshe ben David]

Always have a Fisher bullet pen in my pocket and one in the car. My briefcase has a Montverde bp and a mp in slots. I also keep a pen pouch in the briefcase with a Pilot VP F nib inked with Pilot blue-black, a Lamy Vista F nib inked with Sheaffer red, and a Pentel mp.