There's an old article from The Atlantic [1] that makes the case that the ballpoint pen killed cursive: they require much more pressure to write with compared to rollerball or fountain pens. Like the author, I started using a fountain pen and it makes so much more sense why you would write in cursive with that thing. If you like taking analog notes, I highly recommend getting yourself a starter fountain pen and some…
Handwriting is meant to be legible. My impressions is that those who can write legibly with a ballpoint pen can write legibly with a fountain pen and vice-versa. I say this as one who took up typing as soon as he could.
Are you suggesting their lighters are bad? That’s certainly not my experience. I have a Bic mini that has been packed inside my camping stove kit (a small titanium pot containing an iso-propane canister, stove, and rag) for nearly 15 years. Since I use barely any of its fuel, it hasn’t run out yet, and I suspect it could continue to work as a striker whenever the fuel does run out.
Yeah, I'm a bit confused if GP is saying their lighters are bad. Every single person I know who uses a lighter many times a day generally uses a Bic[0] - if they're not, it's one of these cheap plastic ones[1], very similar to the pens GP is referring to. A few of them have Zippos, but those are relatively rare among people I know, at least for everyday use. [0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/…
Back when I smoked, yes, Bic was the one true path. The "cheap plastic" second one you mentioned were the dollar-store lighters, they generally fell apart pretty quickly. Zippos were neat but too much of a pain in the ass to keep refilling and remembering when you last refilled. But the fat Bics were indestructible and lasted forever.
Did you know the inserts would fit prior to buying the pens? I love the Pilot V5 RT, but constantly have stains around my pockets from them deploying as I move. I don’t carry Precise V5s because I’ve had one too many explosions with them.
This, and the ergonomics of a lighter pen, is the reason I prefer the capped Pilot Precise BeGreen pen, which accepts the same V5 cartridges. I'm surprised how relatively rare these have stayed when the retractable V5s are everywhere.
Thank you! I was completely unaware these existed!
So true. I hated using BIC ballpoint pens for this reason. I found the Pilot Rollerballs are my favorites to use. The 0.5mm size writes really smoothly. I picked up a couple bolt action pens for some more heft and put the Pilot rollerball fillers into the pen to get a really pleasant writing experience.
Did you know the inserts would fit prior to buying the pens? I love the Pilot V5 RT, but constantly have stains around my pockets from them deploying as I move. I don’t carry Precise V5s because I’ve had one too many explosions with them.
I did know the inserts would fit prior to buying the pens.