After 20+ Years, I'm Finally Allowed To Use A Fountain Pen!

[ChristineH]

You will find the FPN is a good place to hang out at times

Yes, I enjoy interacting with others that share a common interest.

 

Glad to have you as a member. Thank you for your services as a law enforcement professional!

Thank you so much for this! It's been a tough week (had a shooting incident involving several of our students and my former co-workers) so it's a great boost to feel appreciated.

[ChristineH]

Hey! (Texan for hello)

Space Pens serve a purpose, but I use mine very infrequently. Sounds like you were made to teach, your heart is in the right spot. I, too, find it frustrating that cursive is lost to our children. But to be fair penmanship died in public education before that. Luckily all is not lost, many of us have improved our hand through practice and determination.

What are you looking to give, pen wise? Also, we have several teachers amongst us who use lower cost pens as incentive and reward. You might be surprised what comes your way when we know your intent to spread the inkfection, I mean joys of fountain pens.

I, for one, would like to thank you for what you give. A life of service may not be financially rewarding, but we appreciate all you have and will do.

 

Paul

Hello, Paul!

Thank you! Yes, I have to laugh when people question why public service professionals do what they do. The only major gain from getting into these types of careers is to assist others and I warn my students that they'll need good self-esteem and the ability to pat their own selves on the back. Also, it's important to have friends and interests (like pens!) outside of the job.

 

Pen-wise, I'm thinking along the lines of a Lamy Safari and a box of ink cartridges. My seniors are a small group so it's doable in terms of price. This will change in a few years, though, because my program has doubled in sophomores so I may have to find alternatives. I'd love to get them into bottled ink but the majority of the students come from lower income households (for reference we're 93% free lunch eligible) so I'm hoping that supplying cartridges allows them to continue using the pens.

[ChristineH]

Welcome to the forum. That will be a nice gift, indeed!

 

 

Hello and welcome to FPN

Thank you very much!

 

Great wee story that! Hello from Scotland and enjoy the forum.

Hello, there! I clicked on your profile (in an attempt to figure out what was on the dog's head) and noticed that you mountain bike. I was on a women's mtb team for a while but have since become a roadie. I love the trail but found that while I'm enthusiastic, I'm also very accident prone. It's not good when you spend as much time on the ground as you do in the saddle!

[ChristineH]

Welcome !

 

In quieter, civilized environments, I use my fountain pen. That's 99% of the time. Sometimes, a fountain pen

is not practical. (Heresy !) The Fisher Space Pen would be an excellent choice. I choose a Parker Jotter.

Before the ballpoint pen, we'd reach for the pencil.

 

I have see the handwriting of an adult that looked like that of a five-year-old. APPALLING ! ! !

Keep up the good work.

Thank you! Now that I have the ability to use a fountain pen continuously I'm getting rather spoiled. The teachers were given cheap composition books to use for taking meeting and training notes. I promptly replaced it with an Apica notebook and consistently change out pens and ink colors. My co-workers tease me about it...but that doesn't stop them from trying to borrow my pens!

[ChristineH]

 

Hi! Welcome to FPN.

I'm really glad you've joined us.

Enjoy!

Best wishes from Japan,

VirtuThe3rd

 

 

 

Thank you, it's good to be here! *waves back*

 

Howdy and welcome from Texas! What a lovely story. Your students are lucky to have you for a teacher.

Thank you so much! I have family in Texas (my mom grew up in Dallas). Such a great state!

[ChristineH]

Hello and welcome!

 

I'm also in law enforcement. I carry a ball point pen to use on carbon forms or to give other people to use, and a Pilot Metropolitan that I use (because it's tough and relatively inexpensive so I don't cry if something happens to it). I left my first Metropolitan on a crime scene, though. I assume the roaches carried it off and are creating fantastic artwork in the walls somewhere. :-)

Hello! A good friend of mine has a very similar detective position to yours. Much kudos to you because I know it's demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally. I tend to forget how much I used to write now that so much of our job is digital. (My students and newer officers stare blankly at me when I tell them that we had to hand write our reports.) Now that I think about it, I don't know how our clerks managed to decipher some of them!

 

Good call on the Metropolitan. I'm horrible about losing things so if I had to do it all again, my roach would only be getting a Varsity. And I almost forgot...Go Dawgs!

Edited December 4, 2014 by ChristineH

[Daisy25]

What a lovely gift to give to a student!

[ChristineH]

Hello and welcome from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...Enjoy your time here

 

Thomas / tbickiii

Thank you, sir! Between you and Marne, I'm having location envy. Not only do you live in great southern cities, you have an SEC team in your backyard. Somehow I grew up in Atlanta but ended up in a basketball state!

[ChristineH]

What a lovely gift to give to a student!

Thank you! I've given gift cards and such in the past but I like the idea of something that's both useful and personal.

[MKeith]

Hello and welcome Christine! I am also a retired LEO after 36 yrs. service. It's always good to have another aboard here. I too remember those days of handwritten reports and thought when the day came when we could dictate them it was Nirvana. Unfortunately that first one was a rape/kidnapping case, and took me about as long as long-handing it. Well enough WS's.

 

I think that the Lamy Safari would be a great choice for a gift to your graduates. They are simple and have enough color variety to please both genders. The Pilot Metropolitan is also another good choice and a bit more rugged.

[ChristineH]

Hello and welcome Christine! I am also a retired LEO after 36 yrs. service. It's always good to have another aboard here. I too remember those days of handwritten reports and thought when the day came when we could dictate them it was Nirvana. Unfortunately that first one was a rape/kidnapping case, and took me about as long as long-handing it. Well enough WS's.

 

I think that the Lamy Safari would be a great choice for a gift to your graduates. They are simple and have enough color variety to please both genders. The Pilot Metropolitan is also another good choice and a bit more rugged.

Very nice to "meet" you! Yes, things have changed quickly in the LE world. MDT's, scanned prints, less-lethal options... All progress but I've had a good run and wouldn't change my timeline. Being more hands on definitely benefited me in the long run.

 

I agree about the Metropolitan. It will also be a better choice cost-wise as my classes grow.

[MarneM]

Hello! A good friend of mine has a very similar detective position to yours. Much kudos to you because I know it's demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally. I tend to forget how much I used to write now that so much of our job is digital. (My students and newer officers stare blankly at me when I tell them that we had to hand write our reports.) Now that I think about it, I don't know how our clerks managed to decipher some of them!

 

Good call on the Metropolitan. I'm horrible about losing things so if I had to do it all again, my roach would only be getting a Varsity. And I almost forgot...Go Dawgs!

I live about ten minutes from Athens. The Dawgs are having a mixed year. *sigh*

 

I'm a Sergeant now, and I work in the Special Victims Unit. We handle crimes against children, sex crimes, and domestic violence. These days, I also keep a fountain pen inked with red ink to correct my Detective's court supplemental reports. One of my Detectives turned in his report with a note, "let me know if I need to buy you a new red pen." I told him not to worry, I had a never-ending supply of ink! :-)

 

I'm also instructor certified, so I do a lot of teaching as well (our recruits start out as young as 20, so they seem like high school students sometimes!). I've been an officer since 2003, so we were still hand-writing our reports when I started, but only for about a year before we transitioned to typing!

[ChristineH]

I live about ten minutes from Athens. The Dawgs are having a mixed year. *sigh*

 

I'm a Sergeant now, and I work in the Special Victims Unit. We handle crimes against children, sex crimes, and domestic violence. These days, I also keep a fountain pen inked with red ink to correct my Detective's court supplemental reports. One of my Detectives turned in his report with a note, "let me know if I need to buy you a new red pen." I told him not to worry, I had a never-ending supply of ink! :-)

 

I'm also instructor certified, so I do a lot of teaching as well (our recruits start out as young as 20, so they seem like high school students sometimes!). I've been an officer since 2003, so we were still hand-writing our reports when I started, but only for about a year before we transitioned to typing!

I was just at the UK v. GA game a few weeks ago but the outcome was a given. I asked if I had to wear blue and was told yes so I decided to comply and keep the peace.

 

I have a friend (retired officer) that just finished writing his second young adult book and I offered to help edit. He told me that he'd supply the red pen and I told him that I refuse to grade my students papers in red. I figure if the grade is poor, at least it's written in a fun color! (It also gives me an excuse to use up my crazy ink samples.) Your post reminded me of a supervisor that I had in patrol. We'd turn in a long hand-written report and even if there were only a few minor corrections needed, he insisted on marking them in red so that we had no choice but to rewrite them. I suppose it made us more careful but I'm surprised no one strangled him. I'm sure you're a much nicer supervisor.

 

We have quite a bit in common! I'm an adjunct instructor for our state Dept. of CJ Training for inservice courses. Rather than enthusiastic recruits, I usually have a class full of veteran hostages. Whenever people ask how I deal with high school students I tell them that they aren't that different from the officers. Inattention, playing on devices, dozing off after the lunch break..yep, pretty close!

[Helen350]

Welcome to FPN. Wonderful idea to give your students a fountain pen for graduation. I'm on the southern end of the Kentucky border in Tenn., being a recent transplant from NY. Glad to have you on board with this wonderful community of FP aficianados.

[ChristineH]

Welcome to FPN. Wonderful idea to give your students a fountain pen for graduation. I'm on the southern end of the Kentucky border in Tenn., being a recent transplant from NY. Glad to have you on board with this wonderful community of FP aficianados.

Thank you, new neighbor! That's a big move but I've spent quite a bit of time in Tennessee and found the state and people to be most welcoming. Hope you're enjoying it there!

[ac12]

Another alternative to your gift pen so you can save a bit of $:

 

Chinese made Baoer 388 or 801 with a Medium nib.

Purchased in quantity, I bought 7 for $24, shipped to my mailbox. That was less than $4 a pen. They made great "give aways."

 

But the 388s needed checking and adjusting. I had to adjust the nibs of 4 of 5 pens, to get them to flow ink decently. So the 388 while a nice pen, may not be what you want to give away, until you can adjust the nibs yourself.

I like the 388 because it looks like a $100 Parker Sonnet.

 

The 801s that I've given away, all worked fine out of the box, no adjustments needed. So these might be a better choice for you.

 

Decent Chinese or bulk ink cartridges are also available. Makes it easier on the recipient to have ink, so they can immediately start to use their pen. And enough to last them for a bit of time.

[ChristineH]

Another alternative to your gift pen so you can save a bit of $:

 

Chinese made Baoer 388 or 801 with a Medium nib.

Purchased in quantity, I bought 7 for $24, shipped to my mailbox. That was less than $4 a pen. They made great "give aways."

 

 

This is an excellent idea, thank you! I've seen the Chinese pens for sale on eBay and other sites but hadn't thought of them for my students. There are a lot of good reviews and I like that I can order in bulk without a lot of expense. I also appreciate the advice on the models. I don't mind adjusting a nib but it would be easier to order ones that I know are good right out of the box. Thanks again!

[Wahl]

[ChristineH]

Thank you!

[Bhavna]

Hi Christine and a belated welcome to you. I am overjoyed to hear what you are doing with your young students. I would love to get to every young person and put a fountain pen in their hand and teach them about the mind-body- fp connection. Thank you for sharing your experience and welcome again.

 

PS in addition to the Boer Fps above, have you had any experience of Jinhao pens? I have (now almost double figures..) of the x450 which I find absolutely fabulous to write with. You can strip it right down for cleaning, comes with a convertor and aboout £3.99 delivered. Also available is quite a few colours. They also have the 1200 Dragon clip one, it makes a very special and functional gift.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Bhavna