Also, if you hear of people ‘posting’ or ‘not posting’ or ‘posted’ or ‘unposted’ pens, this refers to putting the cap on the back of the pen while you use it (posting or posted) or leaving the cap on the desk or holding it in your hand (not posting, unposted, or non-posted). Apparently Americans and Europeans have different habits, with Americans posting and Europeans holding the caps in their hands. Having thought about it I think I usually do not post though I tend to leave the cap on the desk. Being a leftie and having a problem with wet ink smearing, I tend to only use fountain pens at home though.
Hello Janet! As I was searching for a special italic nib for one of my pens I found an American page and while looking through I also found a helpful part on left hand writing with fountain pens and the problems finding a well working nib. I instantly thought of you and that I could imagine you being interrested, since as I think I can remember you are lefthanded. They also have a lot of pen accessoires which are really useful. It is: nibs.com . It seems to be a little Mekka for fountain pen lovers……!
Thank you! Yes I am left handed.
I used a fountain pen at school, but it was a really poor quality one, did terrible things for my handwriting and got my hands covered in ink, and nearly put me off for life. When I started getting into stationery I decided I needed a fountain pen, so I got a fairly cheap decent quality pen (a Kingsley Buckingham at £12.50, because it was half price) and fell in love with it. A few months later I got ridiculously lucky and found a Waterman Carene on a flea market stall, boxed and unused, for just £15. I nearly took his hand off buying it from him, although it took me a while to choose which of the gorgeous and ridiculously cheap pens I was taking home. Should have taken the lot, but I only had the money for one.
The Kingsley I use posted because it’s quite short without, but the Carene is long and heavy enough to use unposted, so it depends more on the design of the pen for me.
I have been a fountain pen user since l learnt to write… a long long time ago as we had no choice at school but to use a fountain pen.
Since then l have always used fountain pens as l find it more difficult to use anything else axcept mmabe pencils when necessary. Even when l do crosswords during my daily bus or underground trips l use a fountain pen.
Being a teacher l ask my students to use a fountain pen too. Most of them do it naturaly, others are more reluctant.
For my translations or my writing of articles l occasionally use a pencil but most of the time it is a fountain pen.
And as it happens l always post the cap! I use several brands: Parker, Cartier, Dupont or Montblanc but whatever their weight or their size l never leave the cap on the desk. l don’t know why but it’s a fact.
Useful, I find with some of my fountain pens if I ‘post’ the cap when I’m using it (I had never heard that term before) then the pen just feels wrong to me. And some of the caps don’t stay were they are either.
My sight (or lack of it) causes issues with writing anyway, but I continue to use a fountain pen for my daily journal, even if it is a little brief somedays!
Hello Janet,
Since I am a Pelikan Fountain Pen addict I think your post is interresting. To put on the cap on the back of the pen depents mainly on the size of your hand and second on the size of the pen itself. Usually the pens are better balanced when you put the cap while writing on the back of your pen. The only pens which don’t need this necessarily are the “tall” ones by Pelikan, like the ‘Ductus’ for example or most of their Size 1000 which are mostly found in the Limited Editions.They are better balanced when used without cap.
I guess this should also be the case with other considerable manufacturers of fountain pens.