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The cheap pen that changed writing forever

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Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#51

Post by Wistar »

godelmachine wrote: post #48
Wistar wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may like the Bic Velocity. They are offered in medium 1.0 and, my favorite, bold 1.6mm. Very smooth and probably my favorite writing instrument. Everyone I have ever turned on to these pens have become fans. I prefer the blue ink but the black is just as smooth. Oh, and not of Chinese origin. https://us.bic.com/en_us/bic-velocity-bold-retractable-ball-...

Thanks mate Just looked them up on Amazon and 1.6mm looks awesome!

Oh, it is. It can get a little clump of ink on the ball from time to time but that is a small annoyance in relation to the excellent writing feel and quality. It lays down a lot of ink.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#52

Post by Symbiote »

egypturnash wrote: post #28
virtue3 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you lift weights along muscle systems designed to handle load. Your wrist/elbows etc are relatively weak. See tennis elbow, etc. The other issue is that you end up writing 4-6hrs a day in school 5days a week, wheras the gym is something like, maybe 20 minutes per muscle group? depending. And that doesn't tend to be more than 3-4x a week. I used to weightlift with a much lighter ex. The one thing I noticed was that ev…

It also doesn't help that nobody teaches you proper form for holding a pencil. You start a sport, you're gonna be made aware that there are ways to do the sport that immediately hurt, and that there are ways to do it that won't hurt immediately but will fuck you up for sure in the long run, or even the medium run. There are ways to hold a pen or pencil that will fuck you up in the long run for sure, and most people h…

I remember being taught how to hold a pencil correctly when I was 5. When I was about 8/9 we had to use fountain pens.

However, I don't think the advice was ever repeated.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#54

Post by wombatmobile »

Shared404 wrote: post #40
1996 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> greatly disappointed to find it was of Chinese make. May I ask why, as it is not among your requirements? > Am now searching for something that’s of non-Chinese origin Any specific reasons?

I personally try to avoid things manufactured in China due to ethical objections [0]. I don't expect everyone to do so, but I think it's the right thing to do, where possible. [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/03/05/china-move...

I understand how you could feel compelled to take action against the perpetrators of forced labor camps. Slavery is abhorrent.

I am with you in wanting to contribute to ending slavery, and other race based methods of oppression. Certainly I do not want my consumer dollars to support oppression.

With respect to the subject of this article, is a China pen boycott an effective way to protest treatment of the Uyghurs?

The Forbes article you link to says "According to a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, China’s been accused of forcing Uyghur Muslims to work at factories that produce goods for well-known global companies including Apple, Nike, BMW, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen."

Shouldn't we be boycotting those companies which knowingly benefit from the oppression? I imagine you would say yes, and practice such a boycott, aided by some investigation of which companies are knowing beneficiaries.

How about the Australian government, currently run by the party in power that is supported by the "think tank" that is the source of your Forbes article's information about the Uyghurs?

Australia was one of only two nations to vote against a Jordanian draft resolution designed to hasten a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Palestinians suffer a different but equally dismal fate to Uyghurs. They lose the right to earn an income when Israeli soldiers destroy olive farms that have been in their families for generations, and lack alternative employment because the Israeli occupiers deny them freedom of movement and freedom of importation of goods required for industry.

Should we be boycotting Australian made pens too?

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#55

Post by falcolas »

zasz wrote: post #49
ginko wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How anyone can enjoy writing with fountain pens is completely beyond me. They were the bane of my childhood.

Fountain pen technology has come a long way! I've never had any problems with leaky pens. You can get some very nice fountain pens for around $20 these days.

One of my favorite fountain pens is the Pilot Varsity - it’s a disposable fountain pen. Lots of ink combined with one of the best nibs out there, no matter the price. There’s an entire set of users out there dedicated to figuring out ways to refill these so they can re-use the nib. I haven’t had a single one leak on me, either.

They go for around $2 each.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#56

Post by asib »

woofie11 wrote: post #30
criddell wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference between the kind of strain you get from pressing harder with a ball point pen and the kind of strain you get from lifting weights in a gym? I guess what I'm really asking is if your body will adapt to the increased hand strain? Is it a short-term problem?

Intense, short loads, with long recovery breaks in between build muscles and strengthen tendons. That's lifting weights at the gym. Writing and typing is continuous, repetitive strain with no recovery. That's the killer.

Wouldn't you describe cardio as continuous, repetitive strain with no recovery? I would've assumed writing is more of an endurance type of strain, but perhaps the strain due to writing occurs at an intensity that is analogous to lifting weights.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#57

Post by Symbiote »

throwaway201101 wrote: post #23
yoz-y wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my school we had to use a fountain pen up until fourth grade (lefties had an exception). The day I could finally ditch the fountain pen was a happy one indeed. Nowadays I use gel pens, best of both worlds. I definitely agree that ballpoint pens are hard on the wrists.

This is strange to me. When I was in school (1970s/80s in the USA) we used pencils almost exclusively. Rarely, the final draft of an essay might be required in ink (pen type immaterial), or typed, but not below grade 6-ish. I do like the feel of writing with a fountain pen but never used one until I was an adult. I still prefer pencil for note-taking and rough draft writing.

From my point of view, writing prose in pencil is for little children. Under 8 years old, ish.

I also don't see much appeal in fancy, expensive pens. The cheapest ones here are about €5 from a supermarket, so something for €15-20 is usually decent.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#58

Post by wombatmobile »

Cancan82 wrote: post #6

I recently switched to a fountain pen - way easier to write with and way less tension. Neil Gaiman suggested it and so I gave it a shot. Never going back - my handwriting is better (but I write cursive) and it is easier to write longer without strain. That said - super cool story.

I love fountain pens too, and recently tried to switch back to my classic Parker 45.

Sadly, the plastic lining of the reservoir had perished, so the pen wouldn't suck ink up. I tried a replacement reservoir, but it didn't work. So I tried a different type, with a screw based impeller mechanism, and got ink all over my fingers and desk. Some of the ink went up into the reservoir, but wouldn't flow back down through the nib for the purpose of writing.

I don't like disposable fountain pen ink. The plastic is bad for the environment, and the experience is half of what I am trying to get away from by returning to the mechanism of the refillable apparatus.

I tried buying a new fountain pen, for $50 from Officeworks. It has a screw based impeller mechanism that has the same shortcomings as the one I tried with my Parker 45.

Has anyone seem a replacement reservoir for Parker 45 that works?

Can anyone recommend a non-refill fountain pen?

I'd love to return to using a fountain pen! Not just for ergonomic reasons. The writing looks better too.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#59

Post by klodolph »

asib wrote: post #56
woofie11 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intense, short loads, with long recovery breaks in between build muscles and strengthen tendons. That's lifting weights at the gym. Writing and typing is continuous, repetitive strain with no recovery. That's the killer.

Wouldn't you describe cardio as continuous, repetitive strain with no recovery? I would've assumed writing is more of an endurance type of strain, but perhaps the strain due to writing occurs at an intensity that is analogous to lifting weights.

The type of muscles in your heart are quite different from the types of muscle in your hands.

The muscles you use to move around are called skeletal muscles. One of the ways they get stronger is through a process where you exercise and use them, and this causes damage to the muscles (microtears), and the body responds to these microtears by rebuilding the muscles stronger. This is why you need a recovery period when strength training... the strength training is actually damaging your body, and your body becomes stronger after recovery.

It's also why you don't want to overtrain. Too much training and you get too much damage to your body, and you won't be stronger afterwards.

With enough overtraining, damaged muscles will die off, releasing cell contents into your bloodstream and causing rhabdomyolysis, which is quite serious, but fairly rare.

Re: The cheap pen that changed writing forever

#60

Post by ascar »

kaonwarb wrote: post #2

One side effect not discussed here: how the shift to ballpoint pens increased hand strain [0]. Writing with a fountain pen is relatively effortless - not to deny it has several other drawbacks. I imagine this is part of why, as an elementary school student in France, I was required to write with only fountain pens. [0] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/ballp...

On the other hand, using a fountain pen is incredibly frustrating and exhausting for left-handed people (in a left to right writing system). I had to unnaturally bend my hand above the line I wanted to write so I don't immediately smear the ink. Basically mimiking a right-hand draw position with the left hand while having your hand above the line instead of on the same level. It hurts.

We were also forced to use it in German elementary school and I remember very well that my dad went to the dean (successfully) demanding that I am allowed to write with something else and abandon cursive training. Thanks again dad!

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