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Too Old for a TWSBI?


Rroberrt

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I’ve been looking for a pocket pen. Unfortunately, my personal bias is getting in the way of my judgement.

 

The TWSBI Vac Mini Smoke Fountain Pen, nib stub 1.1 has a terrific reputation and meets my wants beautifully, except….I’m uncomfortable with its appearance.

 

Its closest competitor, to my mind, is the Kaweco Lilliput Fountain Pen, brass, medium nib.  Now that, also well respected pen doesn’t sport a couple of my wants, but…I’m comfortable with its appearance.

 

Are any other older FP users stuck in time too?  Or did you, eventually, get used to transparency?

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I bet there are other pens out there that could work for you.

 

List your requirements for the pen you want and lets see what people recommend. You might find something besides those two pens that works for you.

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Have you looked at a kaweco sport or alsport?  Small pens. Not transparent. 
 

i like the transparency in pens. Makes it easier to see how much ink is left. And what ink is in it (In case you have more than one, or have forgotten)

 

we have several twsbis in the house 6 or 7 ecos and a “go”

 half with 1.1mm stubs. Great nibs. Very smooth. (I dont like the feel of the “go”, but my wife does)   But i have no experience with the vacs. 

Just give me the Parker 51s and nobody needs to get hurt.

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I have a Vac Mini inked up at the moment.  I find the vac system finicky with maintaining good ink flow into the primary chamber for long sessions.  Despite relatively recent modifications to the rubber at the end of the vacuum rod, simply unscrewing the rod doesn't allow flow as with my Pilot Custom 823 and Conid Minimalistica.  I have to pull back on the rod a bit and the rod is a bit stiff.  

 

Otherwise, the pen has great ergonomics when posted.  The cap screws on to the barrel to post.  I'd be mindful of that.

 

The Kaweco Liliput is a lot smaller than the TWSBI vac mini.  It's significantly thinner and will only take ink cartridges.  It also screws on the post.  I have to say that I prefer a Kaweco Sport in terms of size and secure posting without having to screw on the cap to the barrel.

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I'm not sure it's an age thing - people have strong opinions pro- and anti-demonstrators (transparent pens).

 

I'm generally not a demonstrator fan. My small pens are all Kaweco Sports (an AL-Sport, a couple of Classic [plastic] Sports, and a vintage Sport). I've had mixed success with Kaweco nibs, but have swapped most of them out and am relatively happy with what I've got now. 

 

If I were looking for another small pen,  I'd check out the Schon Dsgn Pocket 6.

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Can’t believe what I just did!

 

Broken Clay; I’ve identified with many of your posts, went straight to the Schon site, watched a short video on the pen you suggested, selected all the features I want, and ordered the  d…… thing.

 

I suspect that FPN is catching.

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46 minutes ago, Rroberrt said:

Can’t believe what I just did!

 

Broken Clay; I’ve identified with many of your posts, went straight to the Schon site, watched a short video on the pen you suggested, selected all the features I want, and ordered the  d…… thing.

 

I suspect that FPN is catching.

Great choice in the Schon DSGN Pocket Six! The Pocket Six is a very well thought-out design.

 

After using one for a while, I also bought a Kaweco Supra, which is a similar idea, and it also comes with a body extension for use with full size cartidges or regular converters. The downside of the extension on the Supra is that the pen is not as convenient to stuff into a pocket, and with the extension in place the pen is very awkward to use posted.

 

A pocket pen with a larger (#6) nib ticks a lot of boxes for me, and I use both pens a lot more than I would have thought.

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3 hours ago, Rroberrt said:

Can’t believe what I just did!

 

Broken Clay; I’ve identified with many of your posts, went straight to the Schon site, watched a short video on the pen you suggested, selected all the features I want, and ordered the  d…… thing.

 

I suspect that FPN is catching.

Ooh, cool! What colors did you pick?

 

Edited to add: I feel so honored to be your enabler :-).

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dear enabler, the colors I chose were black, black and black.

(I had no trouble getting a job at Ford’s.  :))

 

tmurfet, so far asI could see, no converter, only short std cartridges.

 

(Aside - could someone please explain to this dope how to SELECT for a quote,withoutstarting a fire alarm?)  :) 

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14 minutes ago, Rroberrt said:

Aside - could someone please explain to this dope how to SELECT for a quote,withoutstarting a fire alarm?

 

Are you using a computer or a phone/tablet?

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Me, too (at the moment).

 

There are two ways to do it.

 

1. Quote the entire post, then edit it down to the selection you want.

Go to the post you want to quote, and find the "Quote" link:

large.83FC9FFF-7691-49F6-8CD6-BE5845E0EFD9.jpeg.00d727bde7f98872dc122c1dff46cd6b.jpeg

 

Click on it.

 

2. Select some text, and quote it. With your finger, select the text you want to quote. When you lift your finger up, in addition to the usual iPad Copy/Look Up/etc options, you will see a small "Quote Selection" link:

large.B17F8F16-8BF0-49DF-8129-FF22493A8DBA.jpeg.3604d6a0d213393fb9e6f20bba8aa2da.jpeg

 

Click on it.

 

After doing either of those things, scroll down to find your reply in the editor, add whatever you want to add, and hit "Submit Reply".

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15 minutes ago, brokenclay said:

With your finger, select the text you want to quote. When you lift your finger up, in addition to the usual iPad Copy/Look Up/etc options, you will see a small "Quote Selection" link:

 

… and, if you don't see the ‘Quote selection’ button appear as shown while the text fragment is highlighted, then tap once on the text fragment.

 

By the way, on my iPad the text selection only works once per page, at least in the default (Safari) browser. OK, that's not entirely accurate or strictly true. I can go to another browser tab and then return, or switch to a different app and then return, and I have the opportunity to select another text fragment; rinse and repeat, if I want to insert multiple text fragments (from a single post or several different posts on the same page in a thread) for quoting.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Thanks for the additional info, @A Smug Dill! I hadn't gotten deep enough while using the iPad to notice that (and I'm using the Duck Duck Go browser, so that might be different).

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tmurfet,  Correction, I just saw a small squeeze converter that apparently Fits.

 

”Clay and dill” thanks, it warrants studying.

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4 hours ago, tmurfet said:

I'm curious, does the Schon DSGN Pocket Six take a converter?

I have only used short cartridges in the pocket six. A standard converter will not fit. There are apparently some really small converters on the market, but I have never tried one. I believe Kaweco makes a short squeeze-type that might work. I also believe the ink capacity is quite small.

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Pen Boutique sells, “Kaweco Squeeze Converter (Fits sport and lilliput fountain pen.”) - for $5.

 

Since the Kaweco pens use the same short converter, I imagine it fits a Pocket 6?  (Only cost $5 to find out.)   Oops, having trouble finding out if the above statement is true…Do the Kawecos use the Standard short?

 

Just found it - yes the sport uses the International Short.

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The Kaweco squeeze converter is, in my humble opinion, a horrible little gadget. Refilling short cartridges via a syringe is a better solution. Or just using short cartridges.

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All very interesting, but I didn’t see any comment on my original question - How many elderly ladies or gentlemen of FPN have taken eventually to “Demonstrators”.

 

MODERATOR: If the folks get too rambunctious, please shut this down.

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