Caps that screw vs caps that click

[Clydesdave]

No it is NOT true that higher end pens have screw caps and lesser pens have click caps. That is not true. No. Nine. Nyet. Nichkoba. I have some fairly expensive pens with both click and screw caps. I have some very good pens that didn't cost as much, with both click and screw caps. Click or screw is not indicative of quality (and neither is price, for that matter).

 

 

[langere]

I second that! Correct! Es stimmt! C'est correct! E verdade! Es correcto!

 

Erick

[chibimie]

I have had several screw caps come off fountain pens while transporting them inside a soft pen case (which I keep in my knapsack or briefcase), while that has never once happened with the ones that click on.

 

 

[succubus]

I have a vintage pen that I've been using as a snap-on since I got it. In fact, my only complaint with it was that it didn't snap as securely as I'd like; I didn't feel comfortable clipping it to my shirt, for example, although I have clipped it into a shirt pocket with no trouble. Well, I took a closer look today, and that little stripey design on the barrel is actually threads. I've been carrying this pen around for a month half-capped. Duh! It screws down quite securely.

 

For me this is the best of both worlds. I can snap it closed when I pause in my writing, but when I'm done, I can screw it closed completely for travel and storage.

 

It's almost as convenient as a capless.

[Tweel]

I guess I prefer screw caps, but I have screw-, slip-, and snap-caps, and assess the pens by how they write. However, I've noticed that the nibs of my snap-cap pens seem to be the most likely to scrape the inside of the cap as I'm re-capping.

 

-- Brian

[WillAdams]

As I've noted before, my inexpensive Platignum calligraphy pen which I used for _years_ eventually wore to the point that the cap wouldn't stay snapped on and started coming off in my pocket --- that said, I replaced it w/ a Sheaffer Agio which is also a snap cap (though occasionally I carry an Esterbrook).

 

William

(who is back after a long hiatus caused by more personal matters than anyone should be bothered about)

 

 

[leprechaun]

Slip caps perform better when it comes to the risk of uncapping in your shirt pocket when compared to screw caps. I have had several accidents resulting in ink stains when using pens with srew type caps (vintage pens). I never had similar accidents with slip cap pens.

 

Ruud

I've only had problems with Esterbrook pens (and only a couple) unscrewing in the pocket and causing a stain. I have 3 Esterbrooks I do not worry about unscrewing. My Vacumatic and Tuckaway never budge.

 

Never had a problem with a slip cap.

[Sketchy]

I recently bought a Libelle Autumn Leaves fountain pen and the eyedropper preppy from Noodlers Ink. Saturday morning I was sitting at my desk enjoying the sunrise and writing my morning pages. The house was quiet, even the dog curled in bed barely opened one eye to see if food was a possiblity. I was really enjoying the feel and the color of that Libelle pen, the flow of the mellow brown ink onto the cream colored paper. Slowly unscrewing the cap while gazing out the window at the countryside writing a thought or two then replacing the cap while the next lines formulated in my mind. I found the act of twisting the cap on and off very much an intrigal part of the experience. It was all really quite lovely.

 

After I finished writing I set aside my notebook and pulled down a pad of grid tracing vellum to sketch some house design elements floating around in my head after an evening reading a book on Eichler Homes. Recently my favorate pen with which to sketch has moved from Micron Technical pens to that little preppy eyedropper pen which appeared for free along with my bottle of ink. Nice, crisp fine lines, good ink flow. Continuing on in the same mood I slowly unscrewed the ........!!!!!.. what a mess! The barrel of that preppy pen sure can hold a fair amount of ink.

 

I like both the click on and the screw on caps but I really should pay better attention to which is which.

 

Fred

Edited August 4, 2008 by Sketchy

[leprechaun]

I recently bought a Libelle Autumn Leaves fountain pen and the eyedropper preppy from Noodlers Ink. Saturday morning I was sitting at my desk enjoying the sunrise and writing my morning pages. The house was quiet, even the dog curled in bed barely opened one eye to see if food was a possiblity. I was really enjoying the feel and the color of that Libelle pen, the flow of the mellow brown ink onto the cream colored paper. Slowly unscrewing the cap while gazing out the window at the countryside writing a thought or two then replacing the cap while the next lines formulated in my mind. I found the act of twisting the cap on and off very much an intrigal part of the experience. It was all really quite lovely.

 

After I finished writing I set aside my notebook and pulled down a pad of grid tracing vellum to sketch some house design elements floating around in my head after an evening reading a book on Eichler Homes. Recently my favorate pen with which to sketch has moved from Micron Technical pens to that little preppy eyedropper pen which appeared for free along with my bottle of ink. Nice, crisp fine lines, good ink flow. Continuing on in the same mood I slowly unscrewed the ........!!!!!.. what a mess! The barrel of that preppy pen sure can hold a fair amount of ink.

 

I like both the click on and the screw on caps but I really should pay better attention to which is which.

 

Fred

I find myself trying to screw off the cap of my 51 Aeromatics, but that would not make the kind of mess a Preppy would. You just have a sort of "Oops" moment.

 

I personally have never done the opposite, but my wife has tried to slip the cap back onto my Vacumatic after using it briefly. That is a terrible sound to hear. It's like trying to start a car that is already running.

 

[ethernautrix]

I personally have never done the opposite, but my wife has tried to slip the cap back onto my Vacumatic after using it briefly. That is a terrible sound to hear. It's like trying to start a car that is already running.

That's a great description!

 

As for screw v. cap, the only pens I've clipped to my collar and lost were screws.

 

I generally don't have a preference. I really like the way the Visconti Metropolis screws, for instance -- way up inside the cap as opposed to the usual bottom area on the nib section.

 

For daily users, though, the pens I keep clipped to my collar (and therefore am less concerned about dinging), I prefer the snap or slip-on cap, cos I'll use the pen intermittently throughout the day for short and long notes and like saving that 1.03 seconds of unscrewing the cap. We might be talking about... close to a minute in all... but the accumulated aggravation of being hindered, even slightly, throughout the day... I mean, who needs that?

 

[BBailey]

Yup, I prefer my Waterman Liaison and Phileas for that reason. But, it has to be a solid and tactile feel. I had one pen (can't recall what it was) that I was never certain it had fastened in place because it didn't really 'click'.

[bran]

I like the screw cap. I know it is going to stay on the pen and it has a specific place to fit on the body of the pen. That way it does not leave any scars on the body as a clip cap can.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

My personal order of preference is: screw cap, slip cap, click cap. In meetings I can cap and uncap the screw cap over and over again as necessary and it won't make any sound. The constant clicks of a click cap would rapidly become a problem. The click cap, as found in e.g. the Sheaffer Imperial IV and other fountain pens, isn't quite as secure seeming to me as a screw cap but they're okay. I have plenty of click cap fountain pens but I am never thrilled with the prospect that the cap could fail pretty easily. Some have assured me that those caps won't fail for my lifetime, but I still have a little concern when I need to put the cap on and off a lot during time at home.

[lancekatigbak]

I prefer click caps-- they're easier to remove. Screw caps take a lot of time; and if you screw it on too tight...

[Nihontochicken]

For quick action, I like a click top ballpoint pen. Click or slip cap fountain pens would seem to be faster to use than screw caps, except that when I just grab the opposite ends and pull, the uncertainty in the parting force will from time to time cause me to bring the two ends back together, sometimes jamming the nib into the edge of the cap and potentially damaging the nib. And so now I grab the cap and barrel with thumbs and forefingers just over the split, and push the tips of my fingers against each other, resulting in only a quarter inch or so of movement, max. So, for me, a click/slip cap is no faster than a screw cap to get into action.

[Zeroblade]

Overall, I prefer click-on / slip-on caps, though having only used these, I'm rather biased. It really depends on the situation though - for outdoor use and times where speed is key, a click-on/slip-on is best for me. When I'm at home, writing a composition or something rather lengthy, a screw-on would be better, seeing as there's not much time pressure, and because it stays in the house most of the time, the screw-on lets in less air to contact the nib (helping to prevent dried nibs) than the former choice.

 

It's really just a matter of preference though - pick what you will and enjoy.

[Orval]

Overall, I prefer click-on / slip-on caps, though having only used these, I'm rather biased. It really depends on the situation though - for outdoor use and times where speed is key, a click-on/slip-on is best for me. When I'm at home, writing a composition or something rather lengthy, a screw-on would be better, seeing as there's not much time pressure, and because it stays in the house most of the time, the screw-on lets in less air to contact the nib (helping to prevent dried nibs) than the former choice.

 

It's really just a matter of preference though - pick what you will and enjoy.

 

I can second that. I have both types. The click on caps are more convenient for quick notes (after te VP). Their disadvantage is that soon or later they wobble a little bit. In my experience, with som practice you can learn to cap them without noise in a meeting if you use just one hand, holding the pen in your fist and smoothly capping using your thumb and the side of your forefinger.

As for the screw caps, all of those I have (Pelikan, Omas, Récife) except one unscrew soon or later by accident in my jacket or shirt pocket. If this happens in the special narrow pocket for pens, there is no harm for the FP can't turn upside down. But my Pelikan ruined at least one jacket that had not such a narrow pocket. The only pen that never unscrewed accidently is the all silver metal Montegrappa that gives a little 'click' at the end of the screwing.

[stevlight]

The only click cap I have is the lamy2000 and VPs. I prefer the screw cap. I know it is secure. I don't lend my screw cap FPs to people that don't know what it is.I have rollerballs that I lend out.

[Zeroblade]

Imagine a non-fountain pen-proficient person who, thinking that the pen's a clip-on, uses a screw-on cap and forces the cap right through the threads.

 

Oh, the agony.

[Sam P.]

Imagine a non-fountain pen-proficient person who, thinking that the pen's a clip-on, uses a screw-on cap and forces the cap right through the threads.

 

Oh, the agony.

 

That's why I explain it's a screw-on before something bad happens. They seem to get it.