How do you feel about "step downs"? why?

[vdiantonio]

Curious how others feel? I personally would not buy a pen with a significant step down, as I think its quite uncomfortable to write with. I would consider more than about 1/16th inch to be significant. I know that some people want absolutely no step down whatsoever. But lots of pens have very significant step downs, and apparently they sell.

[An old bloke]

I'm not a fan since my pen hold is higher up on the feed with my thumb and forefinger resting on the junction of the feed and barrel.

[Chrissy]

Curious how others feel? I personally would not buy a pen with a significant step down, as I think its quite uncomfortable to write with. I would consider more than about 1/16th inch to be significant. I know that some people want absolutely no step down whatsoever. But lots of pens have very significant step downs, and apparently they sell.

I feel exactly the same as you do. I can cope with a slight step down but don't like any significant step downs either for aesthetics or writing with. Montblanc seem to have come up with more than their fair share of "significant step downs". Not sure why.

[bunnspecial]

My worst is on a Ranga "Giant" 9B.

To be honest I don't hate it as much as I was originally afraid I would, but it's still uncomfortable.

I've sort of sworn off pens with flush caps. The step-down of course is necessary to make it work, and I'm also not particularly fond of how they look capped. My Ranga is a dark red ebonite with some green, blue, and other colors thrown in that give it a sort of light brown look until you look closer. It honestly looks like a gigantic cigar...

[FredRydr]

Curious how others feel? I personally would not buy a pen with a significant step down, as I think its quite uncomfortable to write with. I would consider more than about 1/16th inch to be significant. I know that some people want absolutely no step down whatsoever. But lots of pens have very significant step downs, and apparently they sell.

This happens to be one of my biggest annoyances when it comes to contemporary pens. The designer demands that the cap be flush with the barrel, an admired styling goal. But it's a pen, and the cap comes off when I write. And when I write, I don't want the discomfort of that drop-off, or step-down, or ledge.

[elaineb]

I have no problem with a step-down, due to the small size of my hand and the position of my grip. The bump doesn’t rest on my hand. I never feel it.

[TSherbs]

not a fan of step-downs

deal-breaker for me in most cases

[fountainpenkid]

I am frustrated to see so many modern designs with them, even if their ergonomic impact is minimal provided you hold the pen on the section and that section is long enough...it's an aesthetic thing for me, an intimation that the designer prioritized the pen in stasis instead of in use.
The Leonardo pens, for instance, intrigue me--especially their new faceted model--but the step down is unsightly.

[fountainpenkid]

I'm not a fan since my pen hold is higher up on the feed with my thumb and forefinger resting on the junction of the feed and barrel.

Does your positioning depend at all on the length of the section or the nib itself? I find for me it does....

[An old bloke]

I'm not a fan since my pen hold is higher up on the feed with my thumb and forefinger resting on the junction of the feed and barrel.

Does your positioning depend at all on the length of the section or the nib itself? I find for me it does....

No. I prefer holding any writing instrument at about a 30 Deg angle to the writing surface. Holding the pen or pencil higher allows for that. Admittedly, that angle doesn't work for Biros. I will add that writing angle also means that I'm not fond of short pens that won't post.

[christof]

I had this Nakaya, and while the step down bothers me from an aesthetic point of view, I have to say it didn't bother me when I was using the pen.




What I find more disturbing from a users point of view is, that fountain pens with this concept of step down, often do not allow to post the cap properly. As with this Nakaya....

[mizgeorge]

They only bother me if I can feel them - which tends to happen with metal pens (but I avoid these most of the time anyway), where the step is often quite 'sharp' or when the section is just too short to take both threads and a step down.

The only pens I post are pocket pens which are threaded to allow for this.

[FredRydr]

...this Nakaya....

Those are about the worst examples of the ledge, but they seem to embrace it.

[Chrissy]

I had this Nakaya, and while the step down bothers me from an aesthetic point of view, I have to say it didn't bother me when I was using the pen.
What I find more disturbing from a users point of view is, that fountain pens with this concept of step down, often do not allow to post the cap properly. As with this Nakaya....

That sort of step down bothers me enough that I would never seek to own a pen like that. It almost looks like something mechanical where the bottom part is made to slide into the top part.

[Cyril]

Curious how others feel? I personally would not buy a pen with a significant step down, as I think its quite uncomfortable to write with. I would consider more than about 1/16th inch to be significant. I know that some people want absolutely no step down whatsoever. But lots of pens have very significant step downs, and apparently they sell.

I am too thinking the same way as you do.
I hate very shot section and a significant step down added to that. This will increase /encourage a kind of death-grip for sure.
It is also important to be able to change holding the pen away from the nib. This could make easy on your work in wrist movements for neat strokes ( white out wriggles ) specially in neat cursive writing.
So this step down is a big concern in any pen for me.

[Parsimonious]

I have a Moonman C1 that I dislike for this very reason. It has a very sharp step.

[MKeith]

I don't care for step downs as a rule. I tend to want to grip tighter on those big step downs, causing pain when writing for any mid to long periods.

[Lloyd]

I never ordered an Opus 88 Pocket pen due this despite it looking good in all other ways. I had an Edison Pearl that mimicked the Nakaya which wasn't comfy due to this.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[Chrissy]

I have a Moonman C1 that I dislike for this very reason. It has a very sharp step.

I believe this is something they fixed with the issue of the C2. I have a couple of C2's and they are nice writing pens.

[Parsimonious]

I have a Moonman C1 that I dislike for this very reason. It has a very sharp step.

I believe this is something they fixed with the issue of the C2. I have a couple of C2's and they are nice writing pens.

The C1 writes really nice too. But the step bugs me.