Your Preferred Fountain Pen Length And Weight?

[bluesboy]

Do you have a preference for these, based on your favourite pen for example:

 

-length(measured from tip of the nib) to the end of the barrel

-weight

-balance point, explained here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/339600-measuring-balance-of-a-fountain-pen/

[senzen]

While I'd rather have larger pens, and have a Le Man 100, the pens I don't notice while I write are... Medium sized? Sailor Pro Gear large, Pelikan m205; which are also light pens. The balance is exactly where one can see the piston head or whatever it's called on the clear m205, which is interesting given the weight of ink.

[thesmellofdustafterrain]

I find thick pens difficult to write with. I like mine about the same width as a pencil - maybe a touch bigger. Somewhere about 1cm to half an inch across.

 

I don't like posting my pens because they feel top heavy and give the illusion that the extra length is creating drag. (I said illusion as I know it isn't really).

 

Approximately 5 inches is my favourite length from nib-tip to end.

 

I'm not sure about the balance point as it changes depending on how much ink is in it. Overall, I feel it's important for the pen to have enough heft that I don't need to add pressure when I write but not so much that I have to lift the pen up as I write to prevent it putting down too much ink. This seems to be partly the weight of the pen but also partly influenced by the nib.

 

It would be a lot of fun for someone to do a science project where they measure the length of different parts of the hand and compare it to pen preference. I once met someone who did bio-metric study of music rhythm and discovered that there was a direct correlation between speed of music the subject liked and their shoulder width (which also influences the natural stride and walking rythm).

[sandy101]

I find that the balance/grip makes the biggest difference.

 

A heavier pen that is balanced is just as comfortable to write with as a resin one.

 

Sometimes posting will unbalance a pen, and other times it adds to the balance.

 

However, I find that if I use a pen constantly for about two weeks, my hand pretty much gets used to it anyway.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Depends on when you grew up.....I grew up in Standard 400/Esterbrook/P-75 and Medium-large 400nn/600/P-51 pens so find them fine...posted they have great balance. Posted the pens are longer and thinner that wider Large pens.

 

Folks who grew up later, grew up with Large pens like an 800 or 146 or a Townsend...they are so Large that posted they are top heavy so most don't post them..........IMO what balance they have is not much.

The Snorkel is a thin Large pen and has great balance posted, good balance not posted, but is from a time when a pen didn't have good balance it didn't sell, and a Flagship like the P-51 or Snorkel had to have Great Balance.

 

Oversized pens like a 149 or 1000, are large enough to use un-posted....but don't impress me much....in I'm more into a light and nimble standard/medium-large pen than something that lacks being nimble...

some folks like a large 'stable' pen.

 

But what irritates me is someone who grew up with Large pens that are very clunky posted, refuses to post a standard sized pen that was designed to be balanced when posted.............and then complains the standard pen is too small un-posted.

Yep, a pen that is designed to be posted like a medium-small 140, is too small un-posted....to me so is a standard pen....un posted.

 

Balance has a bit more to do than just balancing the middle of the un-capped pen on a thin stick. In a standard sized pen it has also to do with the feel...how light and nimble it is, & balance of the whole pen.........not just the balance point in the middle. Posted that will be further back.....but it is the movement of the whole pen around a balance point.

 

Ivory slapstick's didn't have any GI-GO....balance was a top requirement. Later in green-screen computer days...............Big and Bling was the top requirement. It had to be seen easily across a conference table or used to sign something............not for a full day of writing.

[ethernautrix]

Top favorite: Nakaya Piccolo Cigar.

 

However, my favorite nibs are Pilot, so my favorite Pilot model is the 92 (possibly (also?) 91, but I haven't tried it yet). I love the weight and size of the 92 (& 91?) and haaaaate that Pilot doesn't make a #5 PO nib.

[WLSpec]

Length: Average

Weight: Just above average, slightly heavier

Edited March 17, 2019 by WLSpec

[ScarletWoodland]

I like to post my pens and have smallish hands (being smallish in general) so I like:

 

A little shorter than average

A wee bit of heft so 18-25g inked

Balance point towards the nib so it's well balanced when posted.

 

Balance is really the most important thing to me though, so as long as it's under 38g and not too hugely wide in the section I'll be happy enough.

Edited March 17, 2019 by ScarletWoodland

[osallent]

I love Pelikan pens because of their light weight. They are balanced both posted and uncapped and will never tire your hand no matter how much you write.

 

My Pilot Custom 823 was relatively light and well balanced both with cap posted and off. I also found Aurora Óptimas to be well balanced despite being stubbier pens.

 

I can't stand pens that are back heavy when posted. Some modern pns are so unbalanced as to be tiresome after a hike even if you don't post the pen. My old Monteverde pens were horribly balanced. I'm talking about back in 2005 or so. Not sure how their pens are these days.

Edited March 18, 2019 by osallent

[bluesboy]

This is quite useful information. The next question would be how one can achieve a pen that's perfectly balanced for the average user.

[sandy101]

A convex grip helps, that allows the user to grip the pen where they find it most comfortable. S T Dupont & Italix have those.

 

Another option is to have a resin barrel and a metal section - as Visconti does on the Rembrant. This means that the weight is at the writing end - and the steel section counterbalances the cap when posting.

 

The Cross Townsend has a tapered barrel - which means that the back of the pen is lighter than the front - to compensate for the cap being posted on the back.

[redbike]

I prefer pens that are at least 127mm or about 5" in length. I do have a couple of shorter pens, which I acquired because they looked nice, had nice nibs and were good buys - a M&K 120, for example. I prefer standard size P-51's over the demi's, even though the demi's are over 5". As far as diameter, an Esterbrook J or P-51 is about my limit. Pens that are thicker are less comfortable in my hand.

[minddance]

for me, about 20g uncapped, section diameter 11mm, without taper please, no metal section. length: 13cm tip of nib to end of barrel.

 

but there are exceptions. I have also been comfy with section diameter less than 11mm but it has to be 10mm or more.

[richardandtracy]

127mm length, 20-23g uncapped, 70mm from point, 12.7 max diameter.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[thesmellofdustafterrain]

I've been giving some thought to posted caps.

 

Some pens I do post my cap, but that is because there isn't a big jump between pen body and cap. Like the muji pen where the cap fits into the end of the body and just feels like more body, or my cross pen where the lid is made from fairly thin material.

 

Other pens, the cap is too big and it hurts my hands to write with it posted.

[Arkanabar]

I like them light. 25g or so is about my weight limit.

 

I like them short enough to fit into my breast pockets, which fashion designers have been shrinking for years (alas!). I'm okay writing with an unposted Pilot Prera, which is only 107mm long. A little longer is nicer. And I am generally willing to post if the pen if it posts securely, but I often do not bother.

[Bill]

..I like them short enough to fit into my breast pockets, which fashion designers have been shrinking for years (alas!)...

 

That's why my big MBs and Pels and such ride in pen cases and one of the Bexley Poseidons is almost always with me.

 

 

 

Edited to fix a grammatical error.

Edited March 30, 2019 by Bill

[Karmachanic]

Do you have a preference for these, based on your favourite pen for example:

 

-length(measured from tip of the nib) to the end of the barrel

-weight

-balance point, explained here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/339600-measuring-balance-of-a-fountain-pen/

 

I do.

[katerchen]

My perfect size/weight is the M800 and measure everything against it

[jmnav]

 

But what irritates me is someone who grew up with Large pens that are very clunky posted, refuses to post a standard sized pen that was designed to be balanced when posted.............and then complains the standard pen is too small un-posted.

Yep, a pen that is designed to be posted like a medium-small 140, is too small un-posted....to me so is a standard pen....un posted.

 

You are, of course, free to your opinions, but I find you to be utterly wrong, at least with this your very humble sample unit.

 

My first pens were either what you'd consider standard size (like my first cheap Daniel Hetcher) or light pencil-likes, like the Parker Vectors, or an Inoxcrom model I can't remember that was basically an aluminium cylinder just wide enough to accomodate a universal short cartridge and about twice as long (you couldn't put another cartridge as reserve), and I never ever did posted my pens. I always found any pen that I used terribly unbalanced when posted, be it a Vector, or a Pelikan 100 or a Montblanc 149, or any other pen I happened to have tested in-between. I have not tested that many pens, so I won't discount that there's a pen overthere I'd feel comfortable when posted, but I have to say I still didn't find it.

 

Now, back to the issue, I find the weight, girth and balance of Montblanc 146 of the fifties to be perfect but, unluckily they are a bit too short for me (and yes, I also find them to be unbalanced when posted), so I figure I'd want a 50's MB 146, only the lenght of its modern sibling.