I don't know what the proper name for this, but Im curious to know what other folks think.... I've attached a photo, for purely illustrative purposes: the part where the barrel and the nib unit and grip all come together. Like a "step". I find pens with this to be very uncomfortable, difficult to hold....but that might just be because my hands are relatively small, though long fingered, and my joints are hypermobile and headed towards arthritis. Any thoughts or opinions very welcome. I'm trying to distract myself from some things about which I can do nothing, and I find that thinking/reading about/using my pens, plus listening to Leonard Cohen, is a very good way of at least taking the edge off somewhat.... Alex