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My rootbeer Esterbrook Dollar pen and the green J model.
I don’t think it’s too bad, and I have a 9 1/4" hand span. For comparison, here are my most-commonly used pens laid out:
Left to right:
1) Pentel Rolling Writer - I don’t actually use these, but it’s what the Noodler reminds me of.
2) Noodler - a wee bit smaller than the Pentel.
3) Zebra Orbitz - the best throw-away ballpoint pen for my money.
4) Waterman Phileas - great for making notes in margins.
5) Sheaffer Prelude - great for signing things and general writing.
6) Esterbrook SJ - great nib, but just too small for general writing. Would be great for a check register with a finer nib, and if I can locate a full-size J someday with a fine nib, I will probably switch them.
A pen should be able to just write, you shouldn't need a separate pen for activities like one for writing notes in a margin, and one for signing checks, one for writing in a journal etc... These all basically cheaper entry level pens, you should sell all of them and buy one good pen that does everything you need.
I'd say that i need several pens. Sme are more dressy than others, some are vintage designs that i love to use, some have different nibs so I can select something that will write they way i feel like i want to write. I use my music nib Platinum for addressing envelopes or my italic Binderized Pilot Vanishing Point for writing my Christmas cards.
One pen may be all you need but I would find that way to (self) limiting for my tastes. I am a collector and a user.
The best all around pen is a Sharpie because you can write on glossy photos or even write on aluminum foil wrapped stuff like leftovers that are going in the freezer. Not my favorite pen but the most versitile pen going.
A pen should be able to just write, you shouldn't need a separate pen for activities like one for writing notes in a margin, and one for signing checks, one for writing in a journal etc... These all basically cheaper entry level pens, you should sell all of them and buy one good pen that does everything you need.
Hi Doc,
Fine if you don't like my collection (an accumulation, really), but I'll be the judge of my writing needs. Even if I decided to pare down, I'd still keep the Waterman and the Sheaffer. The Waterman is too fine for my handwriting and turns it into chicken scratch if I'm writing a document out longhand, whereas the Sheaffer is perfect for that but too coarse for making legible notes in margins and between lines.
You should ditch the FP and just buy a decent ball point where you can write longhand and take notes in a margin. Again I think this idea that you need a different pen for every relatively pedestrian activity you do with a pen a bit odd, and I believe it's all in your head. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to try and determine what activities you may be doing that day and which set of pens you'll need on hand throughout the day. Imagine being stuck with the Sheaffer and having to write a quick note in a margine? The horror! I can see having multiple pens for ease of convenience (traveling and you want a cartridge pen etc...), large big swinging **** pen for your office to impress all your easily impressed friends and co-workers etc.. But are we really at the point where we need separate pens for writing out Christmas cards and signing checks? Any decent pen should be able to accomplish both those tasks without a problem.
Further Edit: And this is the last I have to say on the topic. I'm sorry I ever posted a picture to try and help a fellow Lounger. Had I realized I was going to be insulted and interrogated, I'd have PM'd him.
Not a justification, just a preference. They're all adequate for any task.
Edit: I take it back. It lies somewhere between preference and necessity. My handwriting is far less legible with the wrong nib, and since I write for my secretary as well as myself, I don't think I could get along with just a single pen. The fountain part of the equation is certainly preference, however, as I despise buying cartridges and fear discontinuation of my preferred brands.
Further Edit: And this is the last I have to say on the topic. I'm sorry I ever posted a picture to try and help a fellow Lounger. Had I realized I was going to be insulted and interrogated, I'd have PM'd him.
So I decided to try the Cross ATX, I ordered it and recieved today. Waiting for the converter so I can use the noodler's eel blue that I got as well. But figured I would use the cartridge to see how it wrote. Answer was it wouldn't. I could get ink on the page if I laid the nib against the paper and it would come out of the hole on the front, but the ink wouldn't go down to the end to write.
Called cross and they suggested cleaning it, which I am trying now, but you would think a new pen would work... Hoping this fixes it and I don't have to send it back or in for repair.
I do like the way it feels in my hand though.