The Pen Collection

If there is anything I will steal from you it will be your pen. That is, if you have one worth stealing. I collect pens. I haven't quite got to the upper end of Mont Blanc and Waterman, but there is time.

At the top is a handmade fountain pen that my wife bought me for Christmas. It's the fastest thing that runs on ink. This is for writing for the sake of writing when the  gap between thought and written word has to be really short.

The second one down is a new addition. In fact, I picked it up yesterday when I was at the pharmacy. It's a Pilot Precise V5 RT. I have had pen's like this before, but this is the first time I have seen a click one. This thing writes smaller than any pen known to man. I carry it with me for use with my Moleskine. It is great for sketches and when I am really anal about being neat and precise.

The next one down is the old standby Pilot gel pen. It has been my tool for the longest time and the one I go back for. Nothing writes smoother and leaves you with the feeling that you really put some lines down on paper like a gel pen and Pilot makes the best disposables.

The next pen down is a Pilot Uniball. I pick it up every so often. It also has a very fine point. It also is more violent on the paper. The ink is thinner and it embeds itself if you let it.

The fifth pen is a Sensa gel pen. I had a ballpoint version at one time too, but that squishy gel pad is not fingernail proof. It started leaking gel eventually.

The sixth pen is for the Bamboo Fun. Depending on the software I am using, it can have ten's of thousands of colors and erasing is as simple as flipping it over.

The seventh is a Cross Ion. I had wanted this pen for a while. But when I got it, I found it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It is clumsy to write with, so why use the fast gel ink. The ink dried up fast. I don't quite get how a cheap Pilot will write after months shoved under crap in my trunk. But the Cross refill dried up after a month in my pocket. I can see the ink sloshing around. It just stopped writing.

I think seven is good. If you noticed, there are no ball point. I have found quick writing ball points sloppy as hell and ball points that drag, a drag.