Is your Grail pen your Favorite pen; Is you EDC you favorite or your grail?

[amberleadavis]

 

My dear penpal @mrcharlie sent me a letter recently, and I got to thinking.

 

My Grail pen is always the next pen I am chasing, so it is a moving target.  My EDC pen has been at times, an Ohto Tashe;  the pen about which I am most obsessed is the Sheaffer Legacy with a stub nib.  And my dream pen is currently being made by Jim Hinze of Hinze pens. And then there are my bucket list pens: I wanted a skeleton pen, I now have a Laban skeleton, the next bucket list pen will likely be the Aurora Nero.

 

So, what about you?

 

Bucket List pens

Dream Pen

EDC pen

Favorite Pen

Grail Pen

Pen about which you are most obsessive?

 

Why is a particular pen on your list and do you have any crossovers?  Do you have one pen that completes all those categories?

[Mark from Yorkshire]

I have my dream pen, and grail pen. I don’t have an every day carry fountain pen as what I do for a living would result in it getting totalled or lost. My favourite pen is also my grail pen(s) I have a wish list of sorts currently chasing a Parker 25 more to do with sentimental reasons than anything. I broke one when I was probably too young to have a good fountain pen. The threads separated from the section 

[corniche]

Is my who is my what? Or is my what my who?

 

 

Actually, I do not have a grail pen anymore. I've come to the understanding that pens are no different than any other manufactured item; in that, bliss or perfection DO NOT exist in this realm of the universe... and in coming to that conclusion, I have found my blissful contentment.

 

In other words, I've learned to be content with my Parker 51s, Leonardo's and Pelikan Sovereign 600s. They are both my "grail" pens and my EDC.

 

- Sean

[Rebbe]

Fun topic!

 

Dream Pen - Cigar Shaped body, brass or terracotta, with a Noodler's Triple Tail style nib and a sweet vacuum filler mechanism.

EDC pen - Right now a Lamy Studio I picked up from Larry at Dromgooles. Smooth little writer and works well in an office environment.

Favorite Pen - Noodler's Ahab, it's too much fun to write with and was the first impulse pen buy of mine. Worked out great!

Grail Pen - Sailor 1911 Wicked Witch - the color, the shape, it speaks to me and would hold up well to a crushed velvet smoking/dinner jacket.

 

I don't know about a bucket list pen. The Visconti Homo Sapiens with the volcanic stone resin looks handsome and keeps bobbing up into my idle thoughts. My subconscious might be telling me something. 

[Doug C]

41 minutes ago, Rebbe said:

Fun topic!

 

Dream Pen - Cigar Shaped body, brass or terracotta, with a Noodler's Triple Tail style nib and a sweet vacuum filler mechanism.

EDC pen - Right now a Lamy Studio I picked up from Larry at Dromgooles. Smooth little writer and works well in an office environment.

Favorite Pen - Noodler's Ahab, it's too much fun to write with and was the first impulse pen buy of mine. Worked out great!

Grail Pen - Sailor 1911 Wicked Witch - the color, the shape, it speaks to me and would hold up well to a crushed velvet smoking/dinner jacket.

 

I don't know about a bucket list pen. The Visconti Homo Sapiens with the volcanic stone resin looks handsome and keeps bobbing up into my idle thoughts. My subconscious might be telling me something. 

Crushed velvet smoking/dinner jacket?      Huh?

[Rebbe]

3 hours ago, Doug C said:

Crushed velvet smoking/dinner jacket?      Huh?

A yearly affectation for our Christmas parties, and an excellent excuse for another pen.

[Doug C]

3 minutes ago, Rebbe said:

A yearly affectation for our Christmas parties, and an excellent excuse for another pen.

Aaaaahhh.

[inkstainedruth]

Dream/"grail" pen for me is a Yard-o-Led Viceroy Victorian Standard -- because those are just SOOO beautiful.  But it's also the "when I win the lottery" pen -- because that's the only way I'm ever likely to be able to afford one.... 

That and possibly a full size Parker 51 in Plum (but since I have the Plum Demi, I'm not looking all that hard -- because again, the prices of those are more than I can currently afford.  Other "OMG I wish!" pens are also pricy -- a Pelikan M620 Piccadilly Circus; and a vintage Pelikan 100 (preferably the blue binde); and one of the smaller size (M700-ish?) Pelikan Toledo pens.  And there's a couple of colors of Parker 51s I'd like to be able to get ("Yellowstone" looks nice) -- but I'm perfectly okay NOT getting every color(the same way I'm okay with NOT playing the Pokemon "Gotta get'em all!" game with Vacumatics -- I have most of the colors I want at this point (including two different sizes/styles of Azure Blue Pearl -- which I originally thought was only a 3rd Generation color).

But I've been able to get a lot of the pens on my "wish list" -- including a Parker Vector "Looney Toons" Tasmanian Devil pen (it's not the original design, like the one I gave a friend -- but I actually like the background color on mine better) -- and of course the Vector "Shrek" Puss in Boots pen (I don't know if they ever made one depicting Fiona -- but if they did I'd want that one too...).  And the advantage of those is that they are fun and inexpensive....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[51ISH]

48 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Dream/"grail" pen for me is a Yard-o-Led Viceroy Victorian Standard -- because those are just SOOO beautiful.  But it's also the "when I win the lottery" pen -- because that's the only way I'm ever likely to be able to afford one.... 

That and possibly a full size Parker 51 in Plum (but since I have the Plum Demi, I'm not looking all that hard -- because again, the prices of those are more than I can currently afford.  Other "OMG I wish!" pens are also pricy -- a Pelikan M620 Piccadilly Circus; and a vintage Pelikan 100 (preferably the blue binde); and one of the smaller size (M700-ish?) Pelikan Toledo pens.  And there's a couple of colors of Parker 51s I'd like to be able to get ("Yellowstone" looks nice) -- but I'm perfectly okay NOT getting every color(the same way I'm okay with NOT playing the Pokemon "Gotta get'em all!" game with Vacumatics -- I have most of the colors I want at this point (including two different sizes/styles of Azure Blue Pearl -- which I originally thought was only a 3rd Generation color).

But I've been able to get a lot of the pens on my "wish list" -- including a Parker Vector "Looney Toons" Tasmanian Devil pen (it's not the original design, like the one I gave a friend -- but I actually like the background color on mine better) -- and of course the Vector "Shrek" Puss in Boots pen (I don't know if they ever made one depicting Fiona -- but if they did I'd want that one too...).  And the advantage of those is that they are fun and inexpensive....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

(More than?)   A little 'off topic'? But talking of Parker Vectors, I have a rollerball that was a 'freebie/gift' at a Conference with the company logo on.  The (Blue) Parker refill still performs just as it should... (I've just checked) So what?  Well, the company was sold in 1995 !!!  😲 😮   I guess you don't have to worry your rollerball refill is going to dry out in a Parker Vector any time soon......

[inkstainedruth]

Well, since all my Vectors are fountain pens, except for one rollerball I bought in a attempt to find a matching blue barrel for my first one (after the barrel cracked at the threading ) I don't have to worry about rollerball refills.   And I've gotten the twist/piston converters for all of them at this point (I really hate the slide converters).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[51ISH]

8 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, since all my Vectors are fountain pens, except for one rollerball I bought in a attempt to find a matching blue barrel for my first one (after the barrel cracked at the threading ) I don't have to worry about rollerball refills.   And I've gotten the twist/piston converters for all of them at this point (I really hate the slide converters).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

I've only got one 'slide converter' it's in a (Chinese) copy of a Dolce-Vita Najanja. I had always used cartridges with the pen previously. I had to swop the nib when the old one got damaged and it refused to play with cartridges.  The 'slider' was the only converter I had that would fit. I filled the pen with Aurora Black, and the pen wrote better than it ever has....😍

[kestrel]

I have cut WAY back on buying pens and spend most of my play time restoring stuff that was in those "lots" of pens for repair or parts I bought back when I was learning to restore my own pens.  This will be a bit monotonous.

 

Bucket List pens:   This:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/134104596454  but the chances of my owning one are about as likely as ever owning the second pen on my bucket list pen, a vintage Parker snake pen.  I'm a biologist.  Anything snake or squid draws me like a flame draws a moth.  I don't usually go for blingy pens but Squid pen is so elegant that I overlook that.  The one pen on my bucket list that is possibly achievable is a vintage Conklin S4 crescent.  My entry into vintage pens came about when I discovered that I could own and use the same models of fountain pen that one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain, used.  Over the years I have acquired a MacKinnon Stylograph similar to Twain's that works, sort of.  At least it works as well  as Twain's MacKinnons did which means it's a better aggravation/profanity inducer than a writing instrument.  I have some nice early Wirt pens (including one originally sold by Twain's favorite New York jewelry store) that are better writers than the MacKinnon and Conklins, Twain's favorite pens and mine are a joy to use.  A couple of references claim that Twain used an S4.  I have never seen one for sale but...

Dream Pen:  Same as Bucket List for the same reasons.

EDC pen:  Pelikan M800 Souveran with Binder Italifine nib.  For my hand and my writing it is the perfect pen.  Second favorite is a 1929 Oversize Sheaffer's Balance in Black and Pearl.  Same reason as the Pelikan.  Number 3 is a vintage Conklin Crescent 50 that is always inked but, because of its age it never leaves my desk.

Favorite Pen:  Same as EDC.

Grail Pen:  Same as Bucket List.

Pen about which you are most obsessive?  Squid pen and the S4.  Most my attacks of  SPL (Spontaneous Pen Lust) go away after a few days or, at most, a week or two and the pen goes to somebody else.  Squid pen and the S4 have been nagging at me for years.

[amberleadavis]

9 minutes ago, kestrel said:

I have cut WAY back on buying pens and spend most of my play time restoring stuff that was in those "lots" of pens for repair or parts I bought back when I was learning to restore my own pens.  This will be a bit monotonous.

 

Bucket List pens:   This:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/134104596454  but the chances of my owning one are about as likely as ever owning the second pen on my bucket list pen, a vintage Parker snake pen.  I'm a biologist.  Anything snake or squid draws me like a flame draws a moth.  I don't usually go for blingy pens but Squid pen is so elegant that I overlook that.  The one pen on my bucket list that is possibly achievable is a vintage Conklin S4 crescent.  My entry into vintage pens came about when I discovered that I could own and use the same models of fountain pen that one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain, used.  Over the years I have acquired a MacKinnon Stylograph similar to Twain's that works, sort of.  At least it works as well  as Twain's MacKinnons did which means it's a better aggravation/profanity inducer than a writing instrument.  I have some nice early Wirt pens (including one originally sold by Twain's favorite New York jewelry store) that are better writers than the MacKinnon and Conklins, Twain's favorite pens and mine are a joy to use.  A couple of references claim that Twain used an S4.  I have never seen one for sale but...

Dream Pen:  Same as Bucket List for the same reasons.

EDC pen:  Pelikan M800 Souveran with Binder Italifine nib.  For my hand and my writing it is the perfect pen.  Second favorite is a 1929 Oversize Sheaffer's Balance in Black and Pearl.  Same reason as the Pelikan.  Number 3 is a vintage Conklin Crescent 50 that is always inked but, because of its age it never leaves my desk.

Favorite Pen:  Same as EDC.

Grail Pen:  Same as Bucket List.

Pen about which you are most obsessive?  Squid pen and the S4.  Most my attacks of  SPL (Spontaneous Pen Lust) go away after a few days or, at most, a week or two and the pen goes to somebody else.  Squid pen and the S4 have been nagging at me for years.

 

OH wow that squid is something special.

[sandy101]

No. They are not. This is because my MB William Shakespeare and Nakaya are rather large pens- and do not post. They are my desk pens though. 

 

My EDC tends to be a Pilot Falcon, a Parker Sonnet or a Conway Stewart. They fit in the pen case and take cartridges  - which means I can keep a spare hanny in my wallet just in case. 

 

I found after a few years that for writing on the fly, a pen that posts and remains balanced it the best. Otherwise you end up with the pen in one hand, the notebook in the other and the cap bounces off onto a chewing gum littered dirty floor on the bus. Urgh. 

 

[A Smug Dill]

My choice of EDC pen was, and is, driven by the conditions that apply in the overlap between the contexts of “everyday” (pen use) and “carry” (on account of the potential or actual need to hand-write, away from my base of operations, i.e. home). When I was working in an office, and had to jot down notes sporadically in meetings, as well as write things down at my desk, it was a Pilot Capless. These days, I only carry a “sh***y” tiny pen in the pocket of my cargo shorts, wind-blocker jacket, or even a running belt from time to time that is compact, lightweight, and entirely ‘expendable’ should it get lost, damaged (from being jostled against other hard objects in the pocket), or deformed or even crushed; that's usually the cheapest of my Moonman 80 mini-e pens (with a plastic cap instead of a metal one).

 

They aren't nearly my favourite pens, my most-prized pens, or my ‘grail’ pens to end my ‘quest’ or even so much as quench my thirst; but I enjoy using them well enough, and they're competent writing instruments.

 

My most-prized fountain pen is a (sadly now-discontinued) modern Pilot ‘Hannya Shingyo’, acquired almost a decade ago — long before fountain pens was a ‘hobby’ to me, but long after I first owned and used fountain pens — with no sense of the landscape of the marketplace or the scope of The Hobby, and not even the faintest concept of a ‘grail’ pen. For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not a Buddhist (or at all religious); and, in any case, the text of the Heart Sutra is not readily comprehensible to people who are fluent in (modern) Chinese, even though the scripture is written in Chinese and every character is easily recognisable today. I had to do far more than look on Wikipedia to have some superficial understanding of what the sutra preaches (enlightenment through detachment from human foibles, emotions, desires, and concerns). Writing with the pen, and feeling the text of the sutra in very shallow-relief on the barrel pressed against my hand with every movement, is like meditation in motion for me, in a shut-the-world-out and focus-on-what-you-are-experiencing sorta way. It just happens to also be among the three most costly pens in my fleet, even though what I paid for it in the first place doesn't concern me now or anyone else. I've used it at the office before, but the shut-the-world-out thing isn't really so compatible with being present in the workplace and ready to deal with crises and/or do my employer's bidding.

 

I have no ‘grail’ pen, that is seen subjectively as either ‘perfect’ or the ultimate pen (among a sea of all, or mainly, imperfect products), any more than I have a ‘dream’ woman in mind. (My wife, however, would tell you that she harbours no illusions but knows I deem Charlize Theron to be the most beautiful woman in the world, even if she isn't my ‘dream’ to possess or so much as meet.) Pens I lust after that I can afford, I would probably have already bought; and that which I can't afford (or just can't find), are not going to be on my ‘bucket list’ on account of that, waiting for me to find a way to secure them.

[sirgilbert357]

EDC: I use all of my pens, so my EDC is whatever I'm currently carrying! LOL. Right now, its a navy Pilot Decimo and a Lamy Al-Star Petrol L.E. I also keep a Wing Sung 601 at work because it never dries out and holds a ton of ink.

 

Grail: I've seen this term defined different ways, and to me personally, it just means a rare, expensive pen that I would have to save a long time for and search very hard to find. So far, I haven't found a desirable pen that fits that criteria for me.

 

Dream Pen: I guess this would be one I would personally dream up and design myself. I've thought about this before, but I haven't settled on a design. This would require much thought and soul-searching -- something I would never really put the mental energy into unless I had the budget to actually make it. It would have to have a unique filling system. Whatever I designed would have to hold a ton of ink, but not have the burping issues that eyedroppers deal with. I think a two chamber pen, with a shut off valve (similar to the Pilot 823) could solve that issue, but I don't want it to be a vac filler. I've also always thought a pen with adjustable ink flow would be amazing. Have no idea how such a thing could be made a reality, but it would be fun to try and engineer something.

 

Bucket List: I'm not really sure how to interpret this...maybe this is the final pen(s) you'd buy if you were exiting the "hobby" and planned to just write with what you have until you die? I told myself for awhile that the Pelikan M1000 would be my hobby "exit" pen. We'll see, I just ordered it last night and I should have it by the weekend...

 

Favorite pen: I have a small, focused collection, but this is still hard for me. I really love my Pelikans, but I don't think I could pick a single favorite from them. My Visconti Medici Rose Sovrano is gorgeous and has an incredible nib, but if I'm being honest, I wish it were a piston filler instead of a vac filler. Each pen brings something unique to the table, but none of them are perfect. Hard to pick a favorite when I ink a pen based on "what I'm in the mood for."

[Penguincollector]

  Dream pen: a maki-e Pelikan M600  with penguins all over it and an emerald on it somewhere. 

  On/off Grails since teens: Parker 75 Cicelé- I keep putting it off, then regretting it. W. German Blue Pelikan Souveran, 14c nib.  

  EDC: whatever pen is the least expensive of the currently inked pens. 
 Grail of Grails: Chiharu Sakazaki x Sailor and Sailor 1911 Creatures of the Deep Penguin.

My pen consumption is the visual and tactile equivalent of the See Food Diet; I see it, I want it, like Mario collecting coins.

 

[amberleadavis]

24 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  Dream pen: a maki-e Pelikan M600  with penguins all over it and an emerald on it somewhere. 

  On/off Grails since teens: Parker 75 Cicelé- I keep putting it off, then regretting it. W. German Blue Pelikan Souveran, 14c nib.  

  EDC: whatever pen is the least expensive of the currently inked pens. 
 Grail of Grails: Chiharu Sakazaki x Sailor and Sailor 1911 Creatures of the Deep Penguin.

My pen consumption is the visual and tactile equivalent of the See Food Diet; I see it, I want it, like Mario collecting coins.

 

 

 

Have you seen Hinze mermaid pens?

[Penguincollector]

55 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

 

Have you seen Hinze mermaid pens?

I just looked them up- the blue marbled one with a blue nib is so dreamy! 😍 

[Arkanabar]

Bucket List Pens:  The Bucket List is all those things you want to make sure you do before you kick the bucket (die).  I like fountain pens, but none are on my bucket list.

 

Dream Pen:  Like your dream lover, about whom you fantasize, but have absolutely no expectation of ever encountering.  The first pen I fell in love with and lusted after was a black and pearl Duofold Centennial, but my wife went and bought one for me.  No other pen has ever just taken my breath away like that, and as I've sort of cultivated a Pauline detachment from my circumstances as I've aged, I doubt that anything ever will again.  So nothing there that persists the way the Duofold Centennial did.

 

EDC pen:  Every Day Carry.  I have two tiers of this, one for "I am doing something that can reasonably be expected to risk damage the pen in my breast pocket" and one where I have no such concern.  For the former, it's generally a Jinhao 51A XF with opaque resin, and most often the emerald acrylic FP Revolution Himalaya with a stub nib and a syringe filler, usually both running whatever black ink I am using.  They behave well and they're comfortable to write with.  For the latter, it'll be something inked with color in all likelihood.  Today that's my recently acquired Parker c/c pens, a blue 25 F, running Noodler's Brown, and a pearl and black Duofold Centennial F, running Noodler's Purple.

 

Favorite Pen:  This is my aqua Pelikan M205 F, always inked with Iro Ku-Jaku.  Both are Christmas gifts from my wife.  I got the ink first, and didn't really like it until I got the pen, and had to ponder what ink to fill it with.  They are a delight together, and I use this combo for all the billets-doux to my wife.  The affection is at least as much due to her insight in getting it for me as the delight in use, as prior to this, my favorite was an M200 F with a blue binde that I'd bought in the 1990s, often described here as "my first Pen of a Lifetime," but I had a tendency to add, "I wish it had white metal instead of gold."

 

Grail Pen:  Similar to the dream pen, but you quest for this one.  I used to quest for a fine point Sheaffer school pen and a durable, inexpensive Parker c/c pen, but I now have a Sheaffer with a clear red barrel with the conical end and a round topped chrome cap and the Parker 25 mentioned above.  In 90% of cases, I want my pens to be comfortable, well-behaved, inexpensive, and durable.  They both write quite a bit finer than the Jinhao 51A.

 

Pen about which you are most obsessive:  Honestly, it's probably the aqua M205 mentioned in "favorite pen" above.