A collection and some insight into the pens I use and love and a few of the dead ones as they pass their last drops of ink to paper from a pen junky.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Multi Pen Hell (and new contest tease)
I own at least three multi pens. I do not love any of them. There are some things that can be combined nicely. For example:
1. Mp3 player and a phone--Check -I use those.
2. Baseball and peanuts (der)
3. Bacon and Everything. -awkward silence- (Sorry, I just wandered off for a few moments for a stroll down Bacon lane.)
The problem is that I am picky about individual pens and when you add the opportunity for multiple bad pens in one pen housing. I suddenly lose interest and wander back to the pens I know will write red when I ask. Did my friend George S. Parker back in the day as he was about to put the finishing touches on a Parker 51 say "you know, we should add a stylus to this?" No. he. did. not.
It's also sort of a pen lotto when I click the button to see which tip might pop out. I don't even own anything that uses a stylus anymore. I know there is a new breed of multi-pens out there and I probably should give them a shot and I might one day. But these three are going back into the drawer neatly labeled "Do not talk about."
Ok, sorry for the rant. There will be a new contest coming this week or Monday latest with some fun new rules in place (as soon as I think them up) and a cool prize. More to follow.
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7 comments:
Multi pen are a love/hate thing for me. I keep buying them hoping I will find the perfect one, but i am more disappointed than not. The only one I use regular is the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto, mainly because I can choose my own ink cartridges. I think I have 4 or 5 Coleto barrels right now with a wide selection of ink cartridges.
Outside of that, not many have really grabbed me. I definitely need to stay away from the ballpoint ones.
I feel your pain on the multi pen. I've got a Zebra Sarasa3 multi pen that I keep in my laptop bag for emergencies. No stylus, just red, black, and blue ink. I do like the Sarasa gel ink, so I know the pen writes well, so I like having something that I know for emergencies, but given the choice I have other individual pens that I would rather use.
I have a Niji QuadPoint that seems to work okay if the icon for the point I want is facing up when I give it a push. And speaking of bacon, my daughter and I found a candy shop on the way home from skiing that sells chocolate bacon!
She loves it.
There are two basic problems with multi-pens, I think. First, the fatter barrel most have makes them inherently less comfortable to write with for many or most. Secondly, they often look very silly. At least the ones that have the three or four plungers. I have a few of these and put them to good use. However, I would never put one in my shirt pocket and head off to work. I’m no fashion plate, but I don’t feel the need to look like a dork either. ;-) The type of multi-pens where the clip section rotates or gravity does the work are certainly preferable from an aesthetic standpoint.
Agree with you about the multi-pens; most that I have used suck because there is no easy way to consistently click for the point you need to use.
But as for bacon . . . have you seen the The Bacon Explosion?
you are using the wrong multi-pen. You'll want to try the excellent Uni-ball Jetstream Multi. It comes either as a 3-way pen or a 5-way with 0.5mm pencil.
But my current fave is the Zebra Sharbo X. It let's you choose the point size of the pencil (mine is 0.3mm) and you can get gel in k rollerball refills for it. Pen is a metal body with a nifty twist deploy mechanism.
I know this is an old post, but here's hoping you'll still read this as I have a proposition (:
First; you are using your multi pens wrong.
Click top pens have a fixed "pin" that will push the ink tube down the barrel to protrude from the tip. Older click top multi pens such as these ones have a floating pin to push the ink. This pin moves freely like a pendulum. So to choose your ink, all you have to do is point the ink indicator (near the top end of the pen) towards the ceiling, it doesn't even need to be completely horizontal, just slightly slanted, and then push. It'll give you the color that's looking towards the ceiling. I don't know about the other two pens, but the black Niji pen also has a mechanical pencil which you seem to ignore..
Second: The pens use standard pen refills which means you can choose any brand you'd like, in any color you want, and any tip thickness available.
Now, that black Niji pen is now long out of production and I'd like to buy it from you. I'm not willing to offer anything out of the ordinary for it as I own two of them, but it'd make for a nice gift for someone
Let me know through by commenting if you're interested in selling and I'll send you an email (:
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