Pens for People Who Pause

[Djehuty]

I admit it: I'm a pauser. I pause frequently, between lines, between words, sometimes between letters. If I'm writing notes on an idea, or character notes for a story, the pauses may only last a few seconds every other line. But if I'm translating a text or working on a poem, there can be significant pauses after every word. Some pens handle this better than others. My Pelikan M805, for instance, braves the longest pauses without complaint. My Namiki VP does as well, if I remember to retract the nib. But most of my other pens wind up drying out with annoying regularity.

 

So what are the best pens for people who pause, apart from the Pelikan 800s?

 

A related question, since I'm considering buying one: How would the Lamy 2000 react to prolonged cogitation in mid-sentence?

 

Finally, how likely am I to erode something vital in my VP if I keep clicking it?

 

[RevAaron]

I'd go with something hooded for sure- the Lamy 2000 and Parker 51 being the finest examples. I pause all the time, though usually after sentences, not words. It'd never occurred to me that most pens were horrible pausers until I read a review of some very expensive pen, which included a 'pause test' in 5, 30 and 60 second wait times. The pen got high marks for starting after "only" an inch or so of writing... Ha! I've had no pause/start gaps and I faze out, forget to cap, think or stare at my 2000's pretty nib for 3-5 minutes, and I do very often. Plenty of times after my PDA/phone has gone to sleep, which takes 5 minutes.

 

Can't say I've ever had slow startups like that even in my ope-nibbed Safari.

 

/me shrugs

[Paladin]

I cap my pen when I pause. This serves two purposes:

 

1. prevents ink from drying out

2. protects the tip

 

My everyday writer is a Pelikano Junior and it has a clip on cap. I just put it on without fully clipping it. That way, it does not make any clicking noise when I uncap it to write. Overall the Pelikano behaves well with Pelikan ink. However when it is filled with Parker Quink, it is really dry and pauses cause the ink to stop flowing!

[FrankB]

I do much the same as Paladin. I usually write with the cap in my left hand and the pen in my right. When I pause, which is very frequently, I simply place the pen in the cap as if it were a desk set pen. It is ready to go when I am ready to write. - Just a suggestion.

[donwinn]

If you want a low-cost trial version, a Hero 616 is a low budget Parker 51 type pen. I use one on a daily basis, and although I generally recap when I pause, on a few occasions I have absent-mindedly laid the pen on the desk posted, rather than capped, and after several minutes, it still started immediately.

 

Donnie

[Djehuty]

I'd cap the pen with every pause, but I'm worried about adding unnecessary wear and tear. How many thousands of cappings and uncappings (or clicks, for the VP) are these pens designed to take before they start to scratch, erode, break, etc.?

 

[Have Fun]

I did a test with a Lamy Studio which lays dormant & unused for most of the time on my desk

I wrote one word left it for 10 minutes & tried again & it worked fine - the ink was a little darker but absolutely no problems

 

It was part filled with Quink Blue Black ~ NB I had drying up before when using Pelikan Blue Black in a shorter time period

 

Never used the 2000 so can't be accurate but on the basis of the Studio it looks OK

[FrankB]

DJ wrote:

 

"I'd cap the pen with every pause, but I'm worried about adding unnecessary wear and tear. How many thousands of cappings and uncappings (or clicks, for the VP) are these pens designed to take before they start to scratch, erode, break, etc.?"

 

I have the same concern. I know I did not explain myself well. For example, today my primary pen is my Delta Soiree, which has a screw cap. I was working on a budget and I had to pause frequently. I held the cap in my left hand with the opening facing up. When I paused, I simply placed the pen back into the cap (and held it in my left hand), but I did not screw it the whole way on. - I tried to use the analogy of a desk pen with a base. A desk pen does not screw into the base, one simply places it into its slot. That is what I do when I pause. - I only screwed the cap the whole way on when I had finished using it.

 

I hope that helped a little.

[JJBlanche]

I've investigated this topic before, and many people recommend hooded pens, or Namaki VPs. However, I've left my Pelikan M600 (with MB Racing Green ink) uncapped for 10, sometimes 15 minutes at a time while thinking or tabulating and at worst it requires a half stroke to get it going. Plus, MB Racing green dries fast, about 5 seconds out of this wet nib.

 

From my own experience, I'd say that the nib drying issue is overblown. In the case of the Pelikan, if you have a total dry nib (which I did one time after leaving it uncapped for about 2 hours) all you have to do is twist the piston knob slightly counterclockwise, until you can just see ink filling the feed, then twist back down and you're good to go.

[Djehuty]

FrankB - Thanks, I figured that was what you meant. I'd still be concerned, though, especially with my nicer pens. I can't help thinking the cap wasn't designed to be used that way. Also, I'd be worried about turning my hand accidentally and flipping the pen out.

 

I guess I'll stick with hooded nibs and the VP when I'm most prone to pausing, and just hope I don't wear out the VP's mechanism.

 

[weemeng]

Check this thread out about rollerball fountain pens:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...11707&st=30

 

The one that I got recently to try out is a pocket version from Herlitz (about US$5):

http://www.herlitz.de/en/products/schule-n...ntenroller.html

 

One can use one's favourite ink, get shading, pause as long as one likes, but alas no line width variation.

 

rgds

weemeng

[Have Fun]

Another test with a Lamy Studio Linea / Balance / Reform & a Wahl

 

Wrote one word / leaving for 10 mins all worked / leaving another 15 mins & the first stroke of the first letter drying in all but the Wahl / leaving another 20 mins first letter dry in the Studio Linea & the Balance whereas the Wahl & Reform wrote normally

 

I reckon this is not unreasonable & I'd say its as much down to choice of inks the Wahl had Watermans all other pens Quink Blue Black

[manolo]

What I do to avoid this is the following:

 

while writing I leave the cap on the table, on the right from the paper (I am right-handed), so that I can introduce the pen into the cap when I stop writing. This prevents it from drying and also from rolling if I leave it carelessly onto a not-perfectly-horizontal table. I don't really cap the pen, just place the nib inside.

 

It works for me!

Cheers

 

[Djehuty]

Perhaps the problem is that I have a couple of high-end pens, and a fair number of cheap ones. My Pelikan, VP, and Parker "51" all handle pauses well, but none of my $30-or-less pens do.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Robert Hughes]

Parker 51 - it's capped, and stays damp. I have a daily meeting at 9AM where I check off lists; open nib pens tend to dry out if they aren't exercised. But if they dry up I lick them or cap them and pull out another pen.

[the hobbit]

Hey! I'm not the only one that licks dry nibs. Though I'm always a little concerned about it. What the heck is in Noodlers Bulletproof Inks anyways.

 

I usually leave the cap lying near my writing surface. Whenever I pause (for more than a second or two) I slip the nib into the cap. Noodlers seems to stay wet for a while though, and my Vista tends to keep a wet nib for a good amount of time (I broke it in with a heavier hand than I normally write with to ensure a good flow to make up for the fact that it's an EF) so it's not usually a big problem for me.

 

If it does dry out, I either cap the pen and tap it nib-side down on the writing surface, or give the pen a quick lick. I try to avoid that because I end up with a Legal-Lapis blue tongue until I get to a water fountain.

Edited July 9, 2008 by the hobbit

[griffin2020]

When doing schoolwork, I will pause while looking up the answers in the text and have not had any issues with the nibs drying out on either my Taccia Staccato or Waterman Charleston. Both pens have fine nibs. The longest that I have left the Taccia uncapped was 15 minutes, and it had no problem. The longest on the Waterman was just over 10 minutes. If the pauses are longer than that, I tend to recap them, but not screw them down tightly.

[Djehuty]

Thanks again for all the good advice!

 

Given the wide range of pens that can handle pauses mentioned here, I think it really is a matter of getting what you pay for. My pen-purchasing budget hasn't always been terribly large, so I only have a very few high-end pens (and for me, the high end starts in the vicinity of $100, possibly a bit lower). My cheaper pens are the ones that tend to dry out quickly during pauses, but they're also the ones I tend to use when I'm more likely to pause -- taking notes, translating, fiddling with textbooks, and so forth -- because I've a terrible fear of turning to check something in a reference book and knocking one of my best pens off the table.

 

Not that I'd ever really do something like that. Not that I've ever, for instance, reached for a dictionary, knocked my Pelikan spinning across the table, and saved it from certain death only by diving across the floor and making a desperate catch, thus thoroughly disrupting class and making everyone wonder what the heck is wrong with me. Nope. I'm not that clumsy, not at all.

 

I'm just going to have to work harder on de-clumsifying myself, and risk a few of my nicer pens. But not the Pelikan. The poor thing has already had one fright.

 

[duna]

I agree with the 'hooded nibs handle pauses well' faction. I use my Hero 100 (knockoff of the Parker 51 Flighter) every day at work and frequent long pauses are involved. Phones and computers conjure against the much beloved pen, hiding it under paper pouring from the printer or allowing wide digressions, talking, mailing, browsing... When I'm able to rescue the pen, it writes immediately, or if very long pauses are involved (many minutes) after a half-inch stroke. It is my understanding that other pens of mine with exposed nibs (even Hero pens) are more prone to drying. Worst case is the Pelikan M140 (but a small action on the piston's knob solves immediately the problem... Pelikans are piston fillers.. marvellous system). But it's an old pen, never restored, and very dry even after uncapping.

[David R Munson]

I am definitely a pauser, sometimes for 5 minutes or so while my brain goes on some sort of tangent. My Rotring doesn't like this very much, but my Waterman Expert deals with it admirably.