[CaptBubba]

I was just wondering what type of pens and pencils everyone likes to use. Please pick the type you like to use the most.

If you want to eleaborate on your choice (ink type/lead hardness), feel free.

 

[disturbed]

I voted for .5. I use the Uniball Waterproof Rollerballs most often at University

I find most pens VERY uncomfortable. I wish a company made something that writes VERY smooth with a VERY nice feeling grip.

I cant describe how much pain I feel when I have to write a lot.

 

[hongda]

I'm an EE. Mine's a keyboard.


what's a pen?

 

[Vertigo-1]

Heh, my other craze besides headphones is collecting cool mechanical pencils. I have a pencil box full of nothing but mechanical pencils. Recently I ordered a Faber Castell Twice from Pencity.com. It's an absolutely beautiful writing instrument with its wooden body, and very high build quality. Highly recommended.

disturbed: you might want to try getting a Sensa. They have this highly conforming Plasmium grip that just molds to your fingers. And they're just nice.

 

[disturbed]

Sensa?
Hmm just looked at their website. Nifty little creatures

They have a distributor near me ... I'll go check em out

Thanks ... I wonder if the search ends here ...

 

[rohorn]

Whenever I have an article to write, I get out my 25 year old Parker fountain pen. It got me through high school and hasn't let me down, yet. It is a chore to clean if I put it away with the ink still in it. Anyway, it was the only type of pen I could write endless pages and not get cramps. I hear that some of those new fangled ball point pens are the cat's pyjamas...

I half expected to see two other choices on your poll:Standard crayons or the big'uns with the flat on the side. Not that anybody here is that young and/or immature....

 

[zzz]

large variety of color pens. freaks out profs and TAs and students whose stuff I mark, but that's half the fun.

 

[jpelg]

What about the stylus for a PDA?

 

[aeberbach]

Pelikan M1000 'F' nib fountain pen. And a good collection of mechanical pencils and other pens of all kinds. You wouldn't believe the variety on sale in Japan.

 

[PianoBlack]

..got a fetish for fountain pens once. Went ebaying and found first this slim out of production Mont Blanc Noblesse:

I also scored some esterbrooks. Note the lovely desk pen (bottom most):

I use the desk pen to code C. I don't know why, but my code feels more legitimate that way. It's also less buggier.

The pens I use most often? Sanford Uniball Micro very cheap wholesale at Costco can't be beat--when you first use it (and on the right kind of paper (roughish)), there's this almost sketching/watercolor feel to the ink. When it's about to run out of ink though, it's disappointing.

 

[HighwayStar]

I haven't used a pencil in years... Love rollerballs, (Montblanc, Pelikan, Aurora, Monteverde and Visconti.) and large smooth ballpoints (again Montblanc and Parker Golden Touch refills no longer made)

 

[ai0tron]

Chalk and my own saliva. Take a piece of chalk, chew it up in your mouth then spit it on paper. You can then mark in the chalk with your fingers. If youre famous you should sign autographs like this, I would.

No seriously, i don't do that, but I have a friend who does, just kidding. No one I know does that and i certainly don't. I mean, could you imagine writing checks at a wal-mart? heh heh....

My favorite pen right now is a simple all stainless steel parker jotter with a gel ink refill.

I also really like my DR.GRIP gel pen. Its big fat and ugly and cheap looking but its cheap and it works.

I hate pencils in general.

 

[CaptBubba]

Sorry to you people who solely use computers. I've always written stuff on paper first to give me a better idea for how things will work out.

The reason I posted this is because I got a pair of Sensas earlier this summer (a silver "classic" pen and .5mm pencil). I used to get really bad cramps when I would write over about three pages in one go, and while the Sensas solved that, I just didn't like the medium point that was on the included cartridge. Once I got a fine-point refill, I was happy.

I was wondering if anybody else felt this way about a certain size tip. I should have added "No preference" to the poll, but it is no big deal I guess.

One a side note, Sensas are awesome. I have yet to get a cramp from writing with them. I kind of dislike the twist-advance on the mechanical pencil though, and I know it is only a matter of time before I loose that little cap that goes over the eraser. So far I have managed to keep it by not using the pencil's eraser, but I'm not sure how long that will last.

 

[AssafL]

Old Parker fountain pens (from the 50's) write the smoothest (without the ball bearing feel). They are expensive now, but parent and grandparents stashed them away when ballpoint pens arrived.
Added advantage: in those days the pens were designed with a round nib that didn't have to be aligned perfectly (like those big, rhodium, nibs aavilable today).

Pelikan, Waterman and Omas fountains are just not as smooth.

Pencil - Rotring Tikky 0.5. Broke and lost at least 15...

 

[slindeman]

Fountain pens. My current favorite is an inexpensive Sheaffer Triumph Imperial, next in line is a Sheaffer Balance Classic with modified nib. I got a Lamy 2000 for my birthday but haven't tried it out yet. Hero 330 Dragon & Phoenix (Parker 51 clone) is quite nice to write with also if you need a very fine line and want something that never skips or dries out. I don't like ballpoints or rollerballs but do use them when I'm not near a fountain pen. I don't use pencils much.

re: point size I like Medium for writing prose, Fine or Very Fine for taking notes.