Edc: Which Pens Do You Carry Around?

[Mongoosey]

In the last year or so I've gone from carrying two pens, to three, to six, and, starting today, back to three. Which may become four tomorrow?

 

I use one of the new formula Franklin Christoph Penvelopes, in brown -- though it looks more like a charcoal-y black to me.

 

In it I have:

- Pilot Vanishing Point Tropical Turquoise inked with Colorverse Gravity Wave

- Pilot Custom 823 Amber Inked with Sailor Yama Dori

- Sailor Realo Tenku Gensou inked with Sailor Oku Yama

 

I have a Galaxy Raden Vanishing Point coming in today that may usurp the Realo, which I haven't been using as much. I loved the variety of carrying six pens, but over the last few months I never emptied anything but the Vanishing Point and the 823 -- and I was flying through those fills -- so I thought it was time to downsize.

 

lol, that was me before I inked Kiwa-Guro in a PenBBS 309-Goulet-Fine. The ink flowed well with that combo, I could take it anywhere, it wrote beautifully on any paper I tried it on, smooth or feedbacky, premium or cheap, 52 gsm TRP or Mead, and I got into a mindset of not worrying about pens or inks, bobbing my head out of the Rabbit Hole.

 

That didn't last for long since the nib didn't fit quite well enough, but the idea lasted.

 

It also helps that my favorite ink color is a Dark Matte Black lol. And I just love the tactile feel of Kiwa-Guro; that's what finished me off lol.

 

Unfortunately, Kiwa-Guro doesn't like the other pens in my collection I prefer, so I have a Sailor 1911L among other pens for consideration for my "next pen" oriented around using Kiwa-Guro.

 

Besides that I maybe keep an eye-out for a secondary ink, sometimes for fun, sometimes for necessity, but the "Desert-Island" performance of Kiwa-Guro set a standard for me that jaded me from much else lol.

[txomsy]

Me, it is a super-cheap brass clone of a Delike Alpha, which is itself a clone of the Kaweco brass sport.

 

The thing is, I carry it on a pants pocket, so it is always at hand, it is noticeable, but not conspicuous, so I don't forget it, but it does not get in the way, its soft octagonal shape helps it not damage the pocket, it being brass can go in with keys or anything, the threaded cap does not unscrew and it is tight closing, no leaks, I keep it at hand for when I am not using other FP or have no other FP close, so I do not resort too much to it, but it never fails to start, never dries, uses a standard C/C, and best of all, it was kinda 3 USD or less, so if I lost it, it wouldn't be a major issue. Next time I clean it I'll try and see if I can do a nib exchange for a stub or flex nib.

 

For a very long time, my EDC was a Montblanc Noblesse. It has been displaced by this one mainly because of price.

 

Other than this, currently, other pens are, more or less, in rotation. I try to always keep inked a set of Kaweco sports with stub nibs, each loaded with one ink colour, and some vintage pen with a flex nib (usually a Garant piston filler).

 

The only other pen that could become an "hegemonic" EDC is a Salz Bros.Peter Pan, with a flex nib, which is by and large, likely the most pleasing pen I have, were it not a vintage, hundred year old, ebonite, ringtop, eyedropper pen, which I would sorely hate to see suffer any damage. It it weren't for that, that one would also always be in a pocket to be kept at hand as my main writer.

[Astronymus]

For work a Lamy Safari umbra. Filled with whatever is available. If it falls into a machine and gets crushed, cut, smashed i won't get a heart attack.

 

Otherwise a gray Kaweko Sport Skyline. Filled with black or Lie de Thé (J.Herbin).

Edited March 2, 2020 by Astron

[Gord K.]

This is my EDC: a Parker 61 with (I believe) a fine nib and a Cross ballpoint. The pens are carried in a home made 2 pen sleeve, on a home made passport-sized leather cover. The leather cover has an inside flap for receipts and papers, a card pocket for a debit card, a month on two pages yearly calendar and a notebook.

[bemon]

This is my EDC: a Parker 61 with (I believe) a fine nib and a Cross ballpoint. The pens are carried in a home made 2 pen sleeve, on a home made passport-sized leather cover. The leather cover has an inside flap for receipts and papers, a card pocket for a debit card, a month on two pages yearly calendar and a notebook.

Looks like good workmanship. I've been playing with the idea of learning how to make some of this stuff myself.

[Gord K.]

Thanks bemon. I have been dabbling with leather work on and off for awhile now and my work is getting a bit better. Why buy if you can make.

[Tasmith]

 

That's where I think I would like to be. Using only one pen. I am not sure the VP is the pen for me, but I have had one, and it's as good as any really good pen. Just seemed a bit large for me. It is a good choice for an only pen in use.

I had a VP that I found was too large and heavy for me too. I purchased a Decimo and is thinner and lighter. Decimo's size and weight are perfect for me.

 

[bemon]

Thanks bemon. I have been dabbling with leather work on and off for awhile now and my work is getting a bit better. Why buy if you can make.

Makes perfect sense. I just ordered a single pen case from Sonnenleder, but I may still try to make my own down the road.

[Mongoosey]

 

I have a Pilot Prera fine. A very sticky pen, anguished ink flow. Does Noodlers get good flow in these pens?

 

I apologize I missed your post.

 

Yes, I have the same problem with the Prera:

• My Air Corps Blue Black, which is normally a vibrant yet deep dark color, even wrote bland dry feeling lines,
• Noodler's Walnut, which is my go-to-ink for my Lamy Vista, even wrote with slightly sputtering lines very much lacking a solidness or consistency,
• Noodler's Black is not much better IME,

Which is where Heart of Darkness comes in handy! HOD will flow well and write a consistent line in anything and still feel pretty darn smooth. It normally writes a line 1/2 to a full nib size larger because if flows so freely, so for the Prera, it's a great match, IMO.

 

With the Prera-F I can even use HOD on Mead paper and get zero bleed through and only a little feathering making it a fairly versatile pen-ink combo and descent as an EDC : )

 

 

That's where I think I would like to be. Using only one pen. I am not sure the VP is the pen for me, but I have had one, and it's as good as any really good pen. Just seemed a bit large for me. It is a good choice for an only pen in use.

 

 

I had a VP that I found was too large and heavy for me too. I purchased a Decimo and is thinner and lighter. Decimo's size and weight are perfect for me.

 

Decimo-Shin01Web 400px.jpg

 

VP was too heavy for me too : (

[DrAtomic]

As others have said, I rotate through my collection to keep both the pens and ink used. I carry a small(ish) 12-pen zippered case in my bag with a variety just in case meetings get boring.

Today's three pens in use are:

Visconti Van Gogh Maxi (old style) with Edelstien Olivine,

Aurora Talentum (probably one of my favorite pens of all time) with De Atramentis Alexander Hamilton, and

Parker Duofold Centennial with Sailor Yama Dori.

 

I need to take more notes!

[inkstainedruth]

I had a VP that I found was too large and heavy for me too. I purchased a Decimo and is thinner and lighter. Decimo's size and weight are perfect for me.

 

Decimo-Shin01Web 400px.jpg

I had the same issue. Found a used VP in an antiques and collectibles store for 1/3 the price of a new one, but the pen just didn't work with my small hand. But a Decimo? Perfect! I keep wondering whether I should get another one at some point; not sure it's in the budget at the moment, but definitely on the back burner; much as I loved some of the exclusives that were released in conjunction with some of the pen shows in Japan last year, it's just way too expensive for me to get one of those here in the US (even if it were possible to). So I'd probably settle for the Dark Blue at some point, and maybe with a B nib, just to be different (although I do really love the F nib on the Grey one).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[loganrah]

I just carry whichever pens I've got inked and feel like using. Recently that has been a MB 149 Calligraphy Flex and a Pilot 823 FA. While these are expensive pens, and I can't afford to replace them immediately if I lose them, I figure nice things are to be used. There is no point having a nice pen if I barely ever get to use it.

I've also recently taken to carrying a ball point (a nice wood one I was gifted years ago) with me in my 3 pen case. This means I can only carry two fountain pens instead of three, but it also means that I don't have to be rude and say no when someone asks if they can borrow a pen, because there is no way I'm handing any of my flex pens to someone whose fountain pen skills are unknown. That happens a lot in my line of work. It also comes in handy on the rare occasions I have to write on something that fountain pens can't deal with, like the plastic shipping envelopes that I use to send packages.

Edited March 3, 2020 by loganrah

[SashK]

TWSBI eco or 580ALR for work and meetings etc. Some work-appropriate ink.

 

If it's just me then maybe a Lamy 2000.

[WLSpec]

I don't carry any around right now!

 

On a normal day, I would choose a less expensive pen. Maybe my trusty AL-Star.

Edited April 27, 2020 by WLSpec

[N1003U]

I've also recently taken to carrying a ball point (a nice wood one I was gifted years ago) with me in my 3 pen case. This means I can only carry two fountain pens instead of three, but it also means that I don't have to be rude and say no when someone asks if they can borrow a pen, because there is no way I'm handing any of my flex pens to someone whose fountain pen skills are unknown. That happens a lot in my line of work. It also comes in handy on the rare occasions I have to write on something that fountain pens can't deal with, like the plastic shipping envelopes that I use to send packages.

 

I also typically carry a ballpoint in addition to whatever other pens I happen to have on hand, for the same sorts of reasons as described above. Sometimes a fountain pen is just not appropriate, sometimes not practical, and sometimes neither.

Edited April 28, 2020 by N1003U

[Precise]

As a lover of fountain pens, I first preferred lightweight pens which didn't sag in my pocket, push cap, or vanishing point for rapid deployment, and fine nibs which didn't bleed as much on the cheap paper in the world beyond my desk.

 

But it was a loosing battle with cheap paper and now I've succumbed to a rolling writer or gel pen like EnerGel.

 

Alan

[GoldenArrow]

Currently, I carry two EDCs: in my bag, there is a Sonnenleder "Grass" case with a set of Caran d´Ache Ecridor (FP/BP/Pencil), all in chevron design. The FP is filled with Herbin Eclat de saphir, the BP is the 125th anniversary model and the pencil is just that. When I "go light", I take a Lamy 2000 ballpoint and pencil in a Lamy double leather slip case.

[carola]

I carry around virtually every pen I own, usually in batches of three, always in a leather pencase, from my oldest (a Parker Duofold from 1929) to the youngest (umm... good question... perhaps the Pelikan M815 Metal Striped) without regarding scarcity or price.

[mana]

These...

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL6u0mQBbmA/

 

 

[GoldenArrow]

Very nice flock of Pelicans - outstanding! My only Pelican is an early (1980s) M800 with a BB nib. At one stage, the piston system wouldn´t work properly, and it took several returns to the factory to get it in order. I then retired it for many years, but have used it intermittently recently. My modern users are Lamy 2000, Caran d´Ache Ecridor and Graf von Faber Castell Classic Guilloche and Intuition. In earlier days, I used to take the widest nib available - now, I find even Medium mostly too wide. Things change - and tastes too...