Love Jetpens! Those Uniball Signos are wonderful. I love the white one for mixed media work, which is surprisingly opaque and easy-writing, one of the best white gel pens I’ve ever used. I have a set of 20 of the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners. I got them from Target, believe it or not. I use them to color-code when I’m studying Korean.
I have a slight bit of a thing for fountain pens. I have a Lamy Vista, which is currently using Diamine Ancient Copper, a beautiful burnished orange-gold ink that I love for sketch and wash techniques. I also have a couple of TWSBIs: A Diamond 580, and a Mini, filled with Diamine Sapphire, and Iroshizuku Kon-peki inks, respectively. Periodically, I lust after a Namiki Falcon with a somewhat flexible 14k gold fine point nib, but it’s not likely to ever be in my budget. =((
PS. Does anyone buy pens from the Goulet Pen Company? I still haven’t, though I subscribe to their Youtube channel and get their email newsletter. They a subscription program for regular ink samples that look kind of fun. I don’t know what I’m waiting for—Oh, wait. Yes I do: money. :))
OMG, how could I forget my famous “transcript” pens?? I use the Staedtlers to do my famous color-coded credit checks and academic plans. Some of my kids like those pens so much that I have given the 20 pack as graduation gifts.
Is it selfish that I keep boxes or paper mate and bic stick pens, for when my kids need a pen because I don’t want to give away my favs? But I end up folding and give away a lot of my pens to my kids.
I was a long time fan of the Pilot gel pens but fountain pens are my favorite. I have an old Sheaffer that I got as a kid so don’t like to use it outside the house because I’m afraid I’ll lose it. A couple years ago I bought a plastic Lamy that I carry with me. They come in colors and have a window in the barrel so you can see when you’re running out of ink. Very fluid line with that pen, and only about $40. Love the Ticonderoga pencils, too. I keep the work-supplied pens and pencils in one holder and don’t care what goes missing. The good supplies are in another holder that goes into storage if I know I’ll be out.
I wait until Staples or Target has a big “Back to School” sale, and look out for the multiple pen packs & stock up. Last year I bought packs of 5 or 6 for $4 or $5. Usually they charge way too much. I bought 4 packs of black and a couple of of packs with the colored inks. I’m also a nerd for calligraphy pens with cartridges - writing with turquoise blue or viridian green always makes me so happy!
After working with kids at school, I have come to appreciate a good pencil. I hate most of the pencils the kids have. They don’t sharpen well, they break easy and are just a pain. I wish most kids had a good Ticonderoga #2.
Have to third (or fourth) the Pentel Energel. My boss is a huge pen nerd and he gave me one of them (I normally am too cheap to bother with nice pens) and it writes so smoothly. Also no smudging.
I may have to try those. My pens and mechanical pencils I love are the Dr Grip. I have pretty bad arthritis in my hands and they make a world of difference. Available in stores but the jetpens site has a wonderful color selection I haven’t seen anywhere else.
Others who make fewer mistakes probably don’t want to bother with the extra item…like they don’t want to borrow my ancient HP 15C because so few know how to work with Reverse Polish Notation.
I love mechanical pencils - really not a fan of regular pencils!
I absolutely LOVE real fountain pens, with the real ink cartridges. When I was in high school, I saved up for one that I saw behind a glass case, on display in Staples. My friend got me a really fancy fountain pen in college. Now, I don’t really use pens or pencils much any more, but this thread has inspired me to take out my fountain pen and buy some nice ink and start using it at work - just have to make sure not to let anyone borrow it
I prefer mechanical pencils, too, acollegestudent - but I did just buy another box of the triangular Ticonderoga pencils for DS, who will take the SAT on Saturday. He has awful printing and these pencils are supposed to help.
A box of Xiggi’s pens is now in my Amazon shopping cart. I own no jewelry, other than my wedding ring, which I don’t wear. I don’t like it. So I shouldn’t feel guilty about spending $10 on pens, right?
MommaJ, I don’t know if the Uniball pens from Staples are similar to the ones I get from Jetpen. I’ll have to pick one up next time I’m in Staples and do the comparison.
Regarding “real fountain pens with real ink”: I wanted to love them but those never ended well with me. While I could undo the mistakes of my pencil work with my trusty companion eraser I could never erase the seemingly endless damage I did with leaking ink cartridges. For me, the only safe place for those pens remained behind the glass case.
I used to love pens with real ink (cartridges, anyway) until one day I had one in my shirt pocket when I was appearing in court. When I sat down, I noticed that the pen had broken in my pocket and I had a giant blue blotch all across the front of my shirt.
Which brands do the mechanical pencil lovers recommend? I would love to get my math kid some. I’m hoping it might solve the problem of him stockpiling his unsharpened Ticonderogas.
Thanks @MamaBear16. I see that they are highly recommended on Amazon.
Are there any opinions on the lead size? Probably just personal preference?
I am way over thinking this because I know he won’t care. He is such a low maintenance kid, so it would make me happy if he got some pleasure out his writing utensil. Goofy, I know.
My favorite mechanical pencil is the Autopoint All-American pencil with 0.9mm with soft 2B lead. I doubt anybody on this board would use it. It is an old style that needs to be twisted for the advancement of the lead. I love the fact that it is rugged with the lead being never wobbly, but I have never seen anyone using it. In fact, I was afraid of them being discontinued, so I have stocked up more about three dozens of those (plus a couple of dozens of the Autopoint twin-point models) for my life-time supply.
