 January 14, 2011 - 12:56pm | Ok. Had someone come by my desk to borrow a pen. I know the guy, used to be my manager, so, I do a quick glance around, and all I have in eye-shot is my favorite pen. It *WAS* a Pilot Precise V-5 RT (Retractable). These pens write like glass on almost any paper, and in a very thin line. I like thin lines. Reluctantly, I loan him the pen. He has a meeting with a vendor and lets the guy jot something down, and he walked off with *MY* pen. Yes, they come as a 2-pk for $3.75 at Wal-Mart. Yes, I may have been dumb to loan it out in the first place. But, I find it very disrespectful to not return someone's pen. I buy my own pens, because, they buy crappy pens for the office supply cabinet. Crappy and THICK. Ok, yes, I'm OCD. I collect pens. My pride and joy is a Waterman pen that 18 years ago retailed for $90. It has long been discontinued and has went up in value. I don't care how much it goes up....it's my pen. Every job interview that I've taken that pen to, I've gotten the job. It's my lucky charm. Maybe I'm crazy, but, that is really irritating. BTW, yes, I have its pack-mate at my desk. The other one still had at least 3-5 months of life left in it though. Did I mention I'm OCD with pens? I can quit anytime, I just choose not to. Nevermind my other, equally favorite Zebra F-301. Stainless Steel barrel, plastic knurled grip and a writes like a dream on everything down to icky 18lb copy paper. NO ONE gets my 301. I guess I should mention my OCD-ism with pens. Do they have pens in the future? If not, I don't wanna go.... You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 January 14, 2011 - 1:32pm | The Pen is mightier than the Android! The frontier future has light pens that not only record your signature they record your finger prints when signing documents. A special pen used for dral physiology scrapes a piece of skin and records the DNA strands. |
 January 14, 2011 - 1:35pm | I know how you feel, I'm like that with my mechanical pencils to the point I have a spare mechanical pencil with me and if any one asks they get the old crappy one. I do that with my pens as well. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
 January 14, 2011 - 2:29pm | I know the feeling, since high school I have been using uniball fine points, and can not stand using any other pen. This obsession is to the point that I will pay 15 dollars in cab fare just to go to the nearest Staples outlet in Woodstock Ontario in order to buy my pens. Also I get these pens as stocking stuffers during Christmas which makes me very happy. Oh and to put things in perspective I've been out of high school since '83, so that's a long time to be obsessed with using a single type of pen. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
January 14, 2011 - 3:27pm | Deryn, Yup. I had those too, but, one thing I don't like about those is a cap. I'm a retractable kinda guy. I used to work at an office supply store when I was MUCH younger, and I got to know the Faber-Castell rep quite well. She'd always bring me an extra box of them, in black. I despise blue ink. Blue ink is for sissies. Did you know they use permanent ink in the Uniball Micro's? The ones with the metallic sparkle barrels? They're a sweet pen.....but for the cap. Oh, I graduated in 84 =) When I was in school, my favorite (all I could find in my podunk town) was the Bic Accountant Fine point, in black. Blue is for sissies. I could write an entire book report on a post-it note with that.....I did too =) You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 January 14, 2011 - 6:01pm | I feel you on the pens, Droid. My favorites, and the best pens ever, are the non-retractable version of the Pilot Precise V5 in black ink, of which I have, at last count, sixty-five. Five I bought at Wal-Mart, and four cases of fifteen from Office Depot. They are the best pens for drawing and writing, cos they produce smooth, thin even lines without the blobbing you get from those damn gel pens. Of which I have two. I let people borrow those. P.S. I even have a couple of Pilot pens in my van, to sign my paychecks with, before going to Wal-Mart. Don't get me started on the pencil collection, or why each pencil simply must be sharpened to a fine point and have an eraser cap on it. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
January 14, 2011 - 7:25pm | Ah Faber-Castell I like their art pens/markers over the other pigment pens. Good stuff, nice dark lines. Although I've been thinking of giving those Copic refillable pens a try. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
 January 14, 2011 - 7:57pm | At my office I keep a drawer full of bic and various cheap stick pall point pens that I give out to folks who come to me un-prepared for their work day begging for a pen to "borrow" which I know I will never see again. I have a very nice cross pen that i carry around in case inside my brief case that only sees the light of day for important signings. Up until 2009 I did field work and carried various "globby" gel pens so that if they got lost or broken it made no difference to me. The G2's were ok for writting field reports and were dark enough to read in low light. And when it came to taking criminals into custody while awaiting police back up my pens got broke alot. Now I work at a desk job doing corporate security so I get to enjoy using VR-5's too, I do like them but not to the point of an OCD yet. I appreciate good pens but do so hate having to go buy ink refills. I too, detest, people's inconsiderate behavior to other peoples pens. One time I even scolded a visiting CEO from another company for attempting to pocket my pen after he signed for his access badge with my writting insturment. I explained in length, shamming him on the difference between a fine writting insturment and a "pen". I handed him a bic stick pen for his meeting and said he may keep this "pen". Sometimes you just have to keep the brigands at bay. |
January 14, 2011 - 9:45pm | I also had a couple of those silver ink/paint pens when I was in high school. Came in real handy when I had to write "I would've picked you flowers, Mrs Duke, but the car was going too fast," 1,600 times for my world history teacher(who was truly OCD). 1,600 sentences, written on a single sheet of paper in silver ink...she never made me write sentences again....  " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
January 14, 2011 - 10:01pm | At my office I keep a drawer full of bic and various cheap stick pall point pens that I give out to folks who come to me un-prepared for their work day begging for a pen to "borrow" which I know I will never see again. I have a very nice cross pen that i carry around in case inside my brief case that only sees the light of day for important signings. Up until 2009 I did field work and carried various "globby" gel pens so that if they got lost or broken it made no difference to me. The G2's were ok for writting field reports and were dark enough to read in low light. And when it came to taking criminals into custody while awaiting police back up my pens got broke alot. Now I work at a desk job doing corporate security so I get to enjoy using VR-5's too, I do like them but not to the point of an OCD yet. I appreciate good pens but do so hate having to go buy ink refills. I too, detest, people's inconsiderate behavior to other peoples pens. One time I even scolded a visiting CEO from another company for attempting to pocket my pen after he signed for his access badge with my writting insturment. I explained in length, shamming him on the difference between a fine writting insturment and a "pen". I handed him a bic stick pen for his meeting and said he may keep this "pen". Sometimes you just have to keep the brigands at bay. My favorites(not)are the ones who like to chew on anything they get their hands on, especially other people's pens. When I worked at Waffle House, I made the mistake of letting such a person borrow one of my beautiful Pilot pens. By the end of the shift, there wasn't a spot on that pen that didn't have deep bite marks all over it. Needless to say, I let her keep the pen. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 January 15, 2011 - 1:29am | Micro Uni-Ball and mechanical pencils are my mainstay, I have a thing for drawing fine lines. As such my prize is a 0.3mm mechanical pencil. I must confess how much I enjoy a quill and ink. Imagine the dismay of someone receiving one of those... |
January 15, 2011 - 5:27am | I think that pen biters should have a special place in Hell. A special place where rats chew on their legs for eternity. You can't tell the difference between my 6 month old pen and a brand new one in my drawer. I'm sure that soon, you'll see me on an episode of "Hoarders". Oh and yes, Gel pens are the spawn of the Devil. So is blue ink....it's for sissies. Oh, Sargon, I'm close to the same with mechanical pencils. I still have 5 of one type that I can't find anywhere around here, Pentel's "Quicker Clicker". I don't let my kids use them, I don't let my wife use them. My wife is a pen chewer. I used to get #4 pencils, because I like thin lines that don't smudge. I had maybe, 20 of them? I found 3-4 of them in a cup, chewed beyond recognition. I got very irritated, but, she didn't get it and I was a meanie. I keep my pens/pencils put away now. Did I mention that she chewed the front off of two TV remote controls? Completely serious. You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
January 15, 2011 - 9:02am | I have the perfect deterent for pen bitters, but I don't like to loan the pen out. I have a tactical pen much like this one. Try bitting that and you're going to be chomping on hard thick aluminum, your teeth will not like it. Mine could use a better quality ink cartridge however, maybe when it runs dry. My prized mechanical pencil is a Rotring 500 .5mm, expensive as hell, there are more expensive ones out there. But for an all metal barrel, I'm tired of the plastic barrels being the first part of my pencil's that breaks. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
January 15, 2011 - 10:31am | I think that pen biters should have a special place in Hell. A special place where rats chew on their legs for eternity. You can't tell the difference between my 6 month old pen and a brand new one in my drawer. I'm sure that soon, you'll see me on an episode of "Hoarders". You and me both, Droid. You and me both. Oh and yes, Gel pens are the spawn of the Devil. So is blue ink....it's for sissies. Anyone ever noticed how people take you more seriously when you write in black ink? Your writing could be total incomprehensible chicken scratch barely legible only to experts in ancient Sanskrit, but if it's done in black ink, you still look like someone serious and competent. Maybe that's just me. Still, blue ink doesn't convey that impression, and only teachers and accountants use red ink. Oh, Sargon, I'm close to the same with mechanical pencils. I still have 5 of one type that I can't find anywhere around here, Pentel's "Quicker Clicker". I don't let my kids use them, I don't let my wife use them. My wife is a pen chewer. I used to get #4 pencils, because I like thin lines that don't smudge. I had maybe, 20 of them? I found 3-4 of them in a cup, chewed beyond recognition. I got very irritated, but, she didn't get it and I was a meanie. I keep my pens/pencils put away now. I've never been big on mechanical pencils(lead snaps at the wrong times for me), but I am crazy about good, old-fashioned #2 pencils, of which I have countless dozens, all sharpened to a fine point and capped with an eraser. These come in handy for many uses, most important of which is filling out and adjusting information on paper character sheets. That, and the black magic marker I use to write a big, fat X across the sheets of players whose characters have died, cause erasing the name from the sheet and writing in a new one gets old after the first five, ten thousand times it's done.... " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
January 15, 2011 - 10:46am | Now, the pens I like the least are those Scripto erasable pens. The ink is crap, laying down pale, thick lines, turns good penmanship into chicken scratch, and chicken scratch into something vaguely resembling, but quite unlike, ancient Klingonese, which only ancient Klingons are able to read. Also, it's been my expirience that the ink in erasables tends to run dry much quicker than in ordinary pens. All in all, I much prefer drawing lines through mistakes(liquid paper is messy and looks crappy on paper, especially when you have to write in the whited-out spaces) and concentrate on making my writing near-perfect the first time. Gel pens are my second least favorite. The ink blobs, and the pens have a drop height of precisely zero inches; even the act of putting them down on a hard surface makes the ink blob worse, turning chicken scratch into the scribblings of a drunken, dyslexic toad who just licked himself. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 January 15, 2011 - 12:26pm | Maybe that's just me. Still, blue ink doesn't convey that impression, and only teachers and accountants use red ink. And editors. My copies of the Star Frontiersman look like they were bleeding from a thousand wounds when I'm done with them the first time through  . But you guys don't ever see those versions. I'm a mechanical pencil guy and use the Zebra M-30 0.5mm pencil for everything. I only have three: one on my desk, on in my coat and one in my computer case with a Pentel Clic Eraser to go with each of them. I just never got into pens. I guess I make to many mistakes  .Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
 January 16, 2011 - 8:20am | Well, I'm not OCD about pens but I do like good tools and pens/pencils are tools When I use to routinely do calligraphy I liked having a stable of calligraphy markers- they have shaped heads similar to calligraphy pens and are a wonderful time saver and aid to the craft. (of course metal nibs and ink cartridges are a must too) Micron markers- this is an awesome tool. came across it in Bible college when I interned with a pastor who insisted it was the only pen that you should write in your Bible with. its permanent, drys instantly, wont smudge or bleed through the thin paper they usually use for a quality Bible and it comes in very thin sizes- I love the 001 Micron markers have come in handy with doing a fake calligraphy that I do as well as a cheat for doing miniatures- I use em to "dot" my eyes; Like Mrs L always told me dot your i's and I do- every miniature gets its eyes dotted and people wonder how I do it with a paint brush. Plus I've managed to draw a logo on a space ship mini using the micron with good effect. Sharpie markes- whats not to like they're everywhere. They were the perfered tool for drawing on animal balloons (something else I did during a ministry internship). Also if you give paper models a try or download some World Works product you'll find them invaluable to "dressing" the cut edges of the paper for a better end product in your paper models.- I keep a stable of colors. cheap crapping paper mates or bics- I buy em by the package and keep them in my bag of maps for delivery and catering driving- if I forget one somewhere, no problem, if someone keeps one after signing their invoice np. They're not a great tool just a disposable one and for that reason I like em. packages of cheap mechanical pencils- a must for pen and paper RPGing- I buy em by the package and bring them to the game- even if I'm not the GM. no sharpening needed and they write thin and erase easily and most players and GMs forget to bring em. They're not valued for their capabilities but for their disposableness. @ droid: bummer about your pen man and you're right its disrespectful to do that. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 16, 2011 - 3:17pm | Sharpie markes- whats not to like they're everywhere. Check out what one artist did with his Ducati and a handful of black Sharpies - http://www.cycleworld.com/first_motorcycle_ride/special_features_articles/10q3/sharpie_ducati_-_special_feature    But hey, why stop with an Italian super bike when you can go all the way with an Italian super car?  |
January 16, 2011 - 7:01pm | Whoa. That is awesome. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
February 28, 2011 - 1:16pm | New Update: I lost my F-301 down a storm drain. Fell right off of my notebook and down the drain. I nearly cried. So, I went out and bought a Zebra F-701 ($5.50 @ Walmart) full Stainless Steel body...ooo...chew on this...I dare you. http://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Pen-Ballpoint-Stainless-Knurled/dp/tags-on-product/B001HB4NQ8 Uses the same refill as the F-301 and still writes like a dream. Also, like Sargon's tactical aluminum pen, you could jam this one through the skull of a pen chewer or thief. Oh, wait, was that out loud? You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 February 28, 2011 - 4:15pm | As an artiest, I can get quite "sensitive" with regards to my delicate and/or expensive implements. |
February 28, 2011 - 6:16pm | no, no, they fell on it. Oops, did i say that out loud |
June 2, 2017 - 9:48am | Reviving an old, dead thread with a new discovery...in gel. (OMG, I feel dirty). The Zebra Sarasa in .4 mm. https://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Sarasa-Clip-Black-JJS15-BK/dp/B000IGVTAQ I've been using it for a week now ($2 at a local Japanese item shop) with much success. It's so fine that it doesn't glob. I wrote the Pledge of Allegiance on a 1 by 1.5 inch post-it note...3 times. If you have a Black-and-Red notebook, it...is...amazing. If you're a writer and pen lover, get a Black and Red. The paper is polished and as smooth as 30 yr old Scotch. Of course, it's clicky...clickyclickyclicky. Did I mention I am OCD with pens? No? Well, I am. You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 June 8, 2017 - 6:36pm | Maybe that's just me. Still, blue ink doesn't convey that impression, and only teachers and accountants use red ink. And editors. My copies of the Star Frontiersman look like they were bleeding from a thousand wounds when I'm done with them the first time through . But you guys don't ever see those versions. I'm a mechanical pencil guy and use the Zebra M-30 0.5mm pencil for everything. I only have three: one on my desk, on in my coat and one in my computer case with a Pentel Clic Eraser to go with each of them. I just never got into pens. I guess I make to many mistakes .Yes, editors use red ink. And I know about story copy bleeding before it goest to print. Joe Cabadas |
June 8, 2017 - 7:16pm | Yes, editors use red ink. And I know about story copy bleeding before it goest to print. And my wife, when grading student papers. She's had some where there was more red ink from corrections on a page than there was black ink of the original paper. It was pretty sad. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
