Personal Pen Rules

[FredRydr]

What rules that you find yourself following in your pen adventure?....

I forgot one, a major one: Try before you buy. Compliance is made easier by attending pen shows or visiting brick and mortar shops.

[Sailor Kenshin]

What rules that you find yourself following in your pen adventure?

A couple that I observe:

1. Cool Design, Looks, Nib, Filling System. In that order.
2. I like pens whose brand I've never heard before.
3. Woodgrain Ebonite, Celluloid, Filligree, BCHR, Resin. In that order.
4. I can upgrade the nib (most of the time). I can't upgrade ugly material.
5. I don't like cigar, boring flat-top even less. I like finials with character.
6. I'm at peace owning never-inked pens.
7. No, to super-slim pens.

Of course my pen boxes are peppered with exceptions that breaks one or two of the above rules.

1. NO metal sections.

2. No skinny pens.

3. No heavy pens.


A couple of years ago, I'd have said no vintage pens, and no Snorks (eww! creeepyyy!), but then we started restoring vintage pens. Rabbit hole, anyone?

And like you, I have one or two that break the rules.

[rluka]

What rules that you find yourself following in your pen adventure?

0. Lusting and typing credit card numbers are mutually exclusive.

1. Don't like the subs
2. No marbles or glitters, maybe demonstrators too
3. Easily replaceable cartridge/converter
4. I like woods, but they're not as common as plastic or metal
5. Limit the ink colours, and limit the pen count

Pretty much just that

[Marsilius]

Nice thread.

One rule I add to all the preferences of pens is to ask a couple of cautionary questions:

"Will I be sorry I bought it later on this whim?"
(I learned the hard way about spending too much on eye candy, or worse, trading a pen I liked for something else.)

"Will I feel like i have to hide it when using it?"

I don't always listen, but I try.

Preferences in order:
0. In budget?
1. Nib
2. Feel in hand
3. Looks
3. Piston fillers preferred
4. Something special or cool or different

[fqgouvea]

I thought a little about this, and decided that I have guidelines rather than rules, i.e., issues to think about as I consider a pen. None is a hard and fast rule, but they do have some weight.
1. What is the nib like? I like line variation, oblique CIs, some flex.
2. When I put it in the shirt pocket, will it reach all the way to the bottom? I've had too many caps slowly uncrew themselves if the pens' little butts aren't firmly anchored.
3. Where are the threads? I hate getting ink onto threads when I fill the pen. It's very hard to get off!
4. Is it pretty? I can enjoy black pens and nice colors equally well, but have trouble when things start striking me as garish.
5. Is it worth the price? I find that some pens cost way more than seems reasonable for what they are.



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[Paddler]

A couple of years ago, I'd have said no vintage pens, and no Snorks (eww! creeepyyy!), but then we started restoring vintage pens. Rabbit hole, anyone?

And like you, I have one or two that break the rules.

So what is creeepyyy about a Snork? Do you mean creepy like the extensible pseudopod or prohapter on a parasitic worm? The creepy atmospheric analyzer on a cyborg?

[Sailor Kenshin]

A couple of years ago, I'd have said no vintage pens, and no Snorks (eww! creeepyyy!), but then we started restoring vintage pens. Rabbit hole, anyone?

And like you, I have one or two that break the rules.

So what is creeepyyy about a Snork? Do you mean creepy like the extensible pseudopod or prohapter on a parasitic worm? The creepy atmospheric analyzer on a cyborg?

It's that whole creepy extending insectlike tubey thingy. Now I have three of the things, and they all write.

[penwash]

I thought a little about this, and decided that I have guidelines rather than rules, i.e., issues to think about as I consider a pen. None is a hard and fast rule, but they do have some weight.
1. What is the nib like? I like line variation, oblique CIs, some flex.
2. When I put it in the shirt pocket, will it reach all the way to the bottom? I've had too many caps slowly uncrew themselves if the pens' little butts aren't firmly anchored.
3. Where are the threads? I hate getting ink onto threads when I fill the pen. It's very hard to get off!
4. Is it pretty? I can enjoy black pens and nice colors equally well, but have trouble when things start striking me as garish.
5. Is it worth the price? I find that some pens cost way more than seems reasonable for what they are.



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I like how you phrase the definition of your personal "rules".

And that No.5 is a good topic for a thread of its own.

[catbert]

Almost every rule I’ve ever applied has a potential exception:

• no huge pens (interested in Omas 360)
• no heavy pens (I like the look of minimal machined metal pens)
• no swirls (then I saw whichwatch's Franklin-Christophs in another thread)
• no excessive ornament (actually I think this one will stick for a while)

Some rules that have reversed over time:

• no gold trim - one of the first to go
• no broads, stubs or obliques
• nothing over $100
• no more than (n) pens (it’s a moving target )

So all the above are more like preferences, and the real rule is:

• any rule can be broken for a sufficiently attractive or interesting pen

[FredRydr]

So what is creeepyyy about a Snork? Do you mean creepy like the extensible pseudopod or prohapter on a parasitic worm? The creepy atmospheric analyzer on a cyborg?

I'll have you know the Snorkel was chosen as the official fountain pen by the Dalek Empire.

[amk]

Rules are there to be broken. I would say I have tendencies rather than rules.

Tendency to micro-collect particular models.

Tendency not to like metal pens (except... Parker 75... Parker flighters and insignias... Waterman CF)

Tendency to prefer less bling (except Jinhao Pearl Windows)

Tendency to like wet and broad nibs (except Platinum 3776 UEF)

As Oscar Wilde said, I can resist everything but temptation.

[Stickler]

My rules

1. They are pens I will actually use (not ultra collectables)
2. I dislike pneumatic filling systems
3. No broad nibs or medium/broad
4. I prefer pens that are the M400 size rather than the M1000 size (regardless of make)

[Paddler]

OK, Sailor and Fred.
I promise not to buy a pen with a plumber's friend on it (with apologies to the trumpet players out there).

[Bisquitlips]

At one time I hated touching metal when writing with a FP.

Over the last few years I opened up a bit and I have to say that I have at least 1/2 dozen pens with metal sections that are really nice to write with.

Silly me! I guess as you get older you get wiser.... or at least less obtuse!

[picautomaton]

My rule is with the nib, something unusual or something usual a nib that has been finished of very well.

[fqgouvea]

I thought a little about this, and decided that I have guidelines rather than rules, i.e., issues to think about as I consider a pen. None is a hard and fast rule, but they do have some weight.
1. What is the nib like? I like line variation, oblique CIs, some flex.
2. When I put it in the shirt pocket, will it reach all the way to the bottom? I've had too many caps slowly uncrew themselves if the pens' little butts aren't firmly anchored.
3. Where are the threads? I hate getting ink onto threads when I fill the pen. It's very hard to get off!
4. Is it pretty? I can enjoy black pens and nice colors equally well, but have trouble when things start striking me as garish.
5. Is it worth the price? I find that some pens cost way more than seems reasonable for what they are.

Amazingly, I forgot one quite strong rule: no demonstrators. I don't even like the tinted Platinums and Pilots. Not sure why, but it turns me off.

[penwash]

Amazingly, I forgot one quite strong rule: no demonstrators. I don't even like the tinted Platinums and Pilots. Not sure why, but it turns me off.

I have to agree with this one.
I can't bring myself to try the Pilot Custom 92 because of exactly this although I wanted to try their piston filler.

[fqgouvea]

Amazingly, I forgot one quite strong rule: no demonstrators. I don't even like the tinted Platinums and Pilots. Not sure why, but it turns me off.

I have to agree with this one.
I can't bring myself to try the Pilot Custom 92 because of exactly this although I wanted to try their piston filler.

Exactly. I have a Platinum Century on order from Japan, but I had to go for black, not Chartres or Bourgogne. Next in line is a Pilot, but it can't be a 92. The 8xx models, maybe.

[Wahl]

Only oversize pens from the 1920/30´s

[TSherbs]

Only one rule: don't upset my wife