A pen is here to stay. Isn’t it?

Now days, that using computer programs to document various everyday activities from to-do lists to studies, one can ask whether there is still a need to have a pen in your arsenal. What’s the value of having such a heavy companion that requires paper to be functional and can’t be that easily corrected or deleted as a text in a word processor? It seems like there is no obvious answer that satisfies everyone, but definitely there’s one for me. Personally, I like to use a pen for writing to feel how I actually produce words in an antiquated analog way, instead of using discrete machines, except for this post. Text written with a pen does not require electricity to be useful, though it requires light to be seen. 

A pen to stick to

Having stated my affection to pens I personally recommend to stick with a pen that is durable, has a long lasting refill and has a beautiful embodiment. I think about fifteen years ago I found such a pen in the form of one of Parker’s low end models that are quite inexpensive, but deliver on refill longevity and durability. The pan in hand was Parker Jotter Originals Ballpoint Pen since 1954.

It’s slim and thin for touch, it’s small in size and its refill lasts almost forever even if you document lectures on history at the university. To these days I have one, but I actually prefer an older brother of this one.

A fountain pen, won’t last long enough

Generally speaking pen refills have a number of main types which are

• Fountain using a refillable liquid ink
• Ballpoint uses oil based ink
• Rollerball uses water based ink

It was funny to actually try to write with a fountain pen such as, low end similar to Sonnet Stainless Steel.

What’s nice about a fountain pen is that it feels like writing in XIX century, but with the style come a number of drawbacks. The quality of written text  depends on the angle of the pen tip to the paper. A fountain ink is easily solvable by water drops which is unfortunate and the ink doesn’t last long enough, to say the least.

Is there anything else?

The true love of mine is another low end Parker pen which is a thicker version of the Jotter Originals one, and it’s Parker IM. It’s a little bit heavier than Jotter, but actually it feels nicer to handle it. It’s thicker and doesn’t press very hard against the fingers. And it has fancier finish than the Jotter. All in all this is the pen I value the most.

 

Does it really matter what pen it is?

In my opinion, what is the make and model of a pen doesn’t matter that much, but consider this.

• The pens described in this post are reusable ones that are durable and can be used for dozen of years if not longer in comparison to plastic ones that get thrown to the garbage most of the time.
• The refills that they use come in metal containers that can be recyclable or can degrade naturally unlike plastic ones, that again most of the time thrown into garbage.
• Lastly, they may provide you with a real satisfaction from the writing process unlike the simpler plastic ones that merely do the task in hand.