Welcome to- The Fountain Pen Community!

WriteAway · Seasoned

Ergonomic Pens: Do they help?

Chthulhu · Rawr.

My wife has tried both types, and was unable to find any benefit in either. We've found, after rather a lot of experimentation, that she does best with a fairly heavy, fairly fat liquid-ink pen. Currently a Retro 51 Tornado with the rollerball refill in it. The girth of the thing makes it easier for her to grip (arthritis *and* tendonitis), and all she really has to do is steady it and guide it around the paper; it's own weight keeps the ink flowing nicely.

I tried her on a few fountain pens, but never got the right balance of weight and girth for her comfort.

Me, I've mostly been using pencils lately.

WriteAway · Seasoned

I've come to pretty much the same thought - Such pens require that you adopt a totally different manner of holding the pen, and for me, I am just too slow when I use them. I take them out for a spin every so often, but I've yet to run out a refill on either pen of mine.

Plus, I note that Yoropens are disappearing online...and the Yoropen website has been "undergoing renovations" for quite a while now. http://www.yoropen.com/order/index.html. Not much longer for this world, I think. Refills for my Superior model are already scarce.

I thought about getting an UgleePen http://www.ugleepen.com/, but I've got other pens I'd much prefer to spend money on.

Medium sized pens like the Parker Sonnet, Cross Century 2 or any grip-fitted rollerball are nice for my regular writing.

Hubert

-- Edited by WriteAway on Saturday 2nd of March 2013 11:16:08 PM

Chthulhu · Rawr.

The Yoropen was designed with notion that a ballpoint pen must be held perpendicular to the paper in order to work correctly. I don't know where that came from, but I've never found it to be true. The design was meant to allow the user to hold the pen at an angle while keeping the refill perpendicular to the paper, but it just doesn't *feel* right.

So far, I can still use just about any pen or pencil, but I prefer a heavy, moderately plump pen as well. What ends up in my pocket, though, varies greatly.

WriteAway · Seasoned

My shirt pockets cause me no end of grief in carrying some of my nicer pens. I typically wear casual golf shirts that often have no pockets - so, no pen that day. Then I get some with pockets, and the pocket edge is sooo thick, it tries to spring the clips on many pens. So I carry only those with a clip that opens wide, or one that I really don't care about - plastic Pilots, Uni-Balls, no-name ad pens, etc.

I only have a few really small pens that I'd even trust to fit in my pants pockets. Plus, I carry so much other pocket junk, I really don't want to ruin any pens grinding them against pocket knives or keys, etc. But I always have something to use floating around.

Chthulhu · Rawr.

I guess we need to start wearing vests. For the watch and pen pockets, of course.

WriteAway · Seasoned

Thought about using a pocket protector, but I fear that most would wind up marking the finish on the pens. I do have a two-pen leather case I use, but it falls out of the shirt pocket if I bend over, so I have to worry about two pens hitting the floor, not just one. It's no big deal, just one of life's little annoyances.

I used to wear out left front pants carrying too much stuff. Stopped carrying a light and knife, cured that.