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by twojacobtwo 850 days ago
Having gone through a pen collecting phase, i think you need to give some details.

1. A budget. 2. Writing preferences and handedness. 3. Preferred writing surface/media. 4. Body type

For 2, that would include:

a) tip type - rollerball, ballpoint, fountain, or 'marker'.

b) tip size/diameter (essentially contact surface area) e.g. 0.17mm-1.0+mm

c) 'ink' type - gel etc.

Handedness matters mostly because left handers typically want the fastest drying ink.

Writing surface (paper) is important because it can drastically change how a pen writes (especially for fountain pens).

The body type might include approx. thickness (compared to an average pencil maybe), body material (metal, plastic, wood), contoured grip (yes/no, material?), and retractability.

If you don't know any of those, I would say just try to define what quality would mean to you.

1 comments

> retractability

As someone who always carries a pen in my pocket when I leave the house, I've come to find this one surprisingly important. Retractable pens have a habit of accidentally engaging and scribbling over the pocket fabric. I exclusively use capped pens for my daily carries now.

> left handers typically want the fastest drying ink.

Heck yes!