Do You Really Need A Clip On A Pen?

[PAKMAN]

I'm in the pro clip crowd. I have carried many a pen in a shirt pocket including Montblanc 149 and other large pens. I know that many of my pens are still with me and undamaged due to the roll stop feature the clip provides.

[surprise123]

When I order pens to be made for me, I always ask for a clip-less version.

Unfortunately, the "normal" pen companies do not offer this - even as an after-service.

 

Do you really clip a pen to your pocket?

 

I know some of my colleagues carry up to 5 (ball-)pens clipped to their shirt pocket. But these are light-weight ball-pens.

I doubt that anyone would clip even one MB149 to their pockets.

 

So, why does MB and all the other companies offer their pens ONLY as clip-carrying versions.

 

Hey pen companies please listen: I WANT clip-less pens.

 

p.s. I guess many clips only serve as roll-stoppers. If I need one, I buy one.

I use clips on my shirt, pockets, bags, and as a simple roll stopper. They are quite functional when made right. I find the spring-loaded clips to be the best, which is why I am a vintage Sheaffer fan.

[A Smug Dill]

They are quite functional when made right.

I have yet to come across (and own) a pen, with a barrel with a round cross-section and a clip on the cap, where the clip does not functionally stop the pen from rolling when laid on the horizontal plane while either capped or posted. Whether the design of the specific clip is excessive for the function of stopping the pen from rolling is a different matter.

 

As for particular clips not applying sufficient tension to hold on to the fabric on one's (presumably not frictionless) shirt pocket, I see that more as a quality control issue than a design flaw.

[inkstainedruth]

As for particular clips not applying sufficient tension to hold on to the fabric on one's (presumably not frictionless) shirt pocket, I see that more as a quality control issue than a design flaw.

 

And in fact, I've had the opposite problem with some clips. Those Parker Arrow clips tend to hook themselves so securely that sometimes I've had trouble unhooking the clip from a shirt pocket or neckline -- I've been afraid of ripping a hem open! And for some pens, I actually clip them so the pen is inside a shirt or dress (which isn't all that comfortable).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[whichwatch]

I much prefer pens with clips, though I do have a number without clips.

 

I no longer carry a fountain pen in my shirt pocket very often, usually using them only at my desk. Clips do stop the rolling on a desk, but there are other ways to constrain pens. I think for me it's more that a clip is the traditional look and the pen somehow seems naked without one. It just doesn't look quite right to me without a clip, with a few notable exceptions like Nakaya Decapod Twists.

[icevic]

The clips also help them from slipping out of those little sleeves or loops that are built into most pen cases.

 

This might be a male-female difference. Few ladies' shirts have pockets, while many mens' shirts do. Same with interior pockets on jackets.

 

Ladies can carry their pens in purses, but those usually have convenient interior pockets and don't need clips.

 

So this could be a gender preference. In the past, ringtop pens were marketed exclusively for women, and those were clip-less.

 

I have some clipless pens and I do hate how they roll around, except for my little Kwaeco which is thoughtfully faceted.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Of course you can get MB to make you a 149 with out a clip....offer them more money and they will do it right at the factory........engrave your name in the pen too.

 

You should buy a Pelikan 1000.....the clip can be removed easier.

 

I have a retractable clip Lamy Persona from 1990, it will roll off the desk if frowned at. The 1991 version has a real tiny dot on the the clip to prevent that.

What sort of pen holder do you carry around to hold the pen so it don't roll off the desk?

 

 

Favor shirt pockets for standard to medium-long pens.....not a man's purse for Large or Oversized pens, in I don't need to carry here in Germany.

 

A suit coat/jacket can have it's pen pocket tailored for one's clip-less pen.

 

Of course no one sat*** on a pen until the Bic came in, back in the mid '60's....and only sturdy shoot them out of a rifle Bic's; not ball points or fountain pens. Jotters cost too much, cheaper plastic ball points would break......and no one wanted to risk inky pants with a fountain pen.

How times have changed....with inky pants being IN.

 

 

***Outside of Germans with the Kaweco Sport.

[surprise123]

Inky pants from ballpoints are by far the worst messes one can try to clean up. That dot on my pants from a failed Jotter conversion? Still there.

[SpecTP]

I'm ambivalent about a clip. I have pens that have them and I have pens without. I carry my pen in a leather pouch so I don't worry about it that much.

[Arkanabar]

When I'm sitting at my desk with my journal, no, I don't need a clip. I often use a 1.5mm Pilot Parallel for my demented scribblings reflection journal, to train myself to spread out my cramped and narrow handwriting. I'm also looking into an elastic pen sleeve to hold my bullet journal shut.

But most of the time, I'm writing while walking around, and so it's very much handier to have a pen clipped into my breast pocket.

There are some local glassblowing artisans who sell stemless wine glasses, similar to the Reidel glasses linked to above. I can see how they're easier to live with, but don't at all care for the aesthetic.

[A Smug Dill]

There are some local glassblowing artisans who sell stemless wine glasses, similar to the Reidel glasses linked to above. I can see how they're easier to live with, but don't at all care for the aesthetic.

I don't like the aesthetic of stemless wine glasses either, and I also don't want to be handling glasses of white other than by their stems.

 

I'm still looking forward to fans of clipless pens comment on such caps as on some of the Delike clipless pens:

 

Source: Product listing on AliExpress

 

where clipless does not mean the absence of something tangible that protrude from the side of the pen cap, except that the protrusion does not function as a clip.

[Honeybadgers]

I have that delike clipless pen in red celluloid (they say it's definitely a type of celluloid) and a brass cap/section.

 

It's a damn nice pen despite not being able to post.

 

I can honestly see the benefits of both. I just happen to be very particular about where things are in my pockets, and in a jeans pocket, I prefer a pen clip be slid over the edge so I can reach down blindly and know immediately where the pen is, and that it hasn't shifted diagonally and migrated down my pants pocket.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[dms525]

I have pens with and without clips but prefer the ones with. The pens without clips pretty much stay at home, because I almost always carry pens in my shirt pocket when I go out. This also means my larger pens tend to stay home. A Pelikan M600 or smaller pen works best with many of my shirts.

 

Years ago, when I always wore a suit or sport coat to work, the jacket's inside pockets worked fine with larger pens or with pen cases.

 

The pens without clips I do have were generally bought because of the beauty of their materials - figured wood, urushi lacquer, some exceptional ebonites. I tend to use them less than I would if they had clips.

 

The clip as roll stop issue isn't an issue if the pen has a roll stop or is facetted.

 

The only pens I carry in pants pockets were made for that, e.g., Kaweco Sports, Stipula Passaportos.

 

David

[ethernautrix]

I prefer clipless urushi and maki-e pens, cos the clip detracts from the beauty, even from simple urushi. My Pilot Customs (912, 92, Falcon...) I'll clip to my collar if that's all I'm carrying.

 

Who am I kidding. I rarely carry only one pen.

 

I've clipped a Pilot to the ring (see photo) while carrying a Nakaya Piccolo in the sleeve. And I've been known to use that safety pin to attach the sleeve with pen somewhere on my clothes, usually right side, near hip. (But only the one pen in the sleeve, not with the Pilot swinging on the ring.) (Cos that would just be cray.)

 

No pockets? I don't need no steenkin' pockets.

 

Actually, I would like pockets. Alas, I'm stuck with DIY.

 

[Marcwithac]

I fall into the category of preferring clipped pens, carrying them in my shirt or suit jacket pocket, and relying on the clips to prevent the pens from rolling off my slightly inclined stand-up desk.

 

The only issue I have is that I like large pens (e.g., Conid Kingsize Bulkfiller or vintage Parker Senior Duofold). These do not sit well in a standard shirt pocket because the clip won't slide all the way down. So about 10 years ago I started getting extra long pockets on my custom dress shirts. My fashionista wife tells me that shirt pockets are a no-no, but for me it's all about the pens.

[Runnin_Ute]

Clip fan here. I have two or three pens without them. A Esterbrook J with a broken clip, a Guider Capsule and a Kaweco sport.

 

The Guider a clip would be impractical because of it's massive size-159 mm capped. It's a desk pen. Although I wish ir had a roll stop. I use a piece of pen tray liner from gopens.com for it. Will hold up to 3 pens.

 

During the work week I usually have two pens clipped to my shirt pocket. Today it is my Pelikan 140 and M400 White Tortoise.

[chromantic]

I carry my pens in my shirt pocket, so no clip means no interest. That's the reason I'm passing on the new TWSB Go.

[nanahcub]

I think I generally agree that my pens don't need clips - notice I put in the 'my' - this is a subjective issue. We all use pens differently.

 

I never clip a pen to my pockets. Or anything else. I rarely did, but there was one issue that made me absolutely not do it. I carry my Kaweco Sport around loose in my jeans pocket. It has lived there pretty much every day for over ten years now. My Pelikan is usually carried around in a small pocket of my bag, though I have also experienced the same problem as with the clipped Kaweco, when I have clipped it to my trouser pocket.

 

Basically, I had my Kaweco slipped to my jeans pocket. As I was walking around, the movement of my leg against the trouser, against the pen moved the pen around in my pocket. That is normal. And normally, it doesn't matter. The pen moves lightly in the pocket - so what. It is a decent pen, with a good screw on lid. It stays together. The problem arose on the few occasions when I clipped the pen to my pocket. The movement of walking made the pen move, but with the pen clipped, the cap was held firm. The rest of the pen moved, but not the cap as it was held in place by the clip. The result was, that the pen gradually unscrewed from the cap and fell to the bottom of my pocket, whilst the cap remained clipped to the top of my pocket. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the result of having an uncapped fountain pen in my pocket... I never managed to remove the ink stain from the trousers! This has happened to me a couple of times when I have clipped the Kaweco to my pocket, and once when I clipped my Pelikan (the Pelikan has a looser screw than the Kaweco, and is more likely to separate if clipped).

 

Anyway, since these few incidents, I take care never to clip a pen to my pocket (and have actually removed the clip from my Kaweco. And the shape means it doesn't roll!) I - as I said above - have carried my Kaweco around loose in my trousers pockets for at least ten years. The only times that the cap separated from the body in my pocket, was when it was clipped and the body moved but the cap was unable to.

 

That is why I don't clip pens. In a shirt pocket it may be different as you don't have the same leg movement rubbing against the pen as you walk, but I wouldn't do it anyway, just in case. Besides, I find fountain pens too heavy for a shirt pocket.

 

Be interesting to hear other people's thought on this. Has anyone else experienced the same?

[Wahl]

That depends, my P51´s might go on the shirt pocket, where the clip is useful, my vintage pens always are carried in a case, so it doesn´t matter wether they have a clip or not.

[Pen_Padawan]

There is an old saying form follows function, the clip serves several functions. I also use a pen pouch that covers the entire pen, the clip helps me identify each pen.