I am new to IAP and hope that this is the correct forum. I make pens as gifts, so not too many so far. I have shied away from kits that seem to have polished (and slippery?) grip areas, such as PSI Gatsby and Majestic Squire, and Woodturningz Gallant, etc. Such pen profiles seem as though they would be OK for short note taking, but would need a death-grip for more lengthy writing. Have you received negative feedback from customers or gift recipients? Thank you.
Pen kit grip
- Thread starter JBarry
- Start date
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duncsuss
Member
Welcome to IAP!
I've never had anyone raise "slipperiness of grip" as a concern when buying a pen. (That said - I once freaked myself out by using an automotive "anti-sticky-bug" treatment on a pen and could barely keep hold of it, let alone write anything.)
Death-grip is usually proportional to how crappy the ink refill is. A good ballpoint refill requires only a little pressure for the ball in the point to engage against the paper surface and roll, delivering ink. Crappy ones might have thicker ink or badly fitted parts that make it feel like you're carving the paper instead of writing on it.
Schmidt make some of the smoothest ballpoint refills (I get them from Exotic Blanks, one of the forum sponsors, think they are called "EasyFlow 5888" or maybe it's just 888) to replace the freebies that come in the kits.
There are also "Roller Ball" style pens (typically with a removable cap rather than extender mechanism), these are also normally very smooth writing with little pressure required.
But for close-to-zero pressure, try a fountain pen with a properly tuned nib and quality ink (such as Waterman or Pelikan or Parker). Literally no pressure required - the weight of the nib against the paper is all it takes, and you need to hold it only so the tip moves where you want it to go.
I've never had anyone raise "slipperiness of grip" as a concern when buying a pen. (That said - I once freaked myself out by using an automotive "anti-sticky-bug" treatment on a pen and could barely keep hold of it, let alone write anything.)
Death-grip is usually proportional to how crappy the ink refill is. A good ballpoint refill requires only a little pressure for the ball in the point to engage against the paper surface and roll, delivering ink. Crappy ones might have thicker ink or badly fitted parts that make it feel like you're carving the paper instead of writing on it.
Schmidt make some of the smoothest ballpoint refills (I get them from Exotic Blanks, one of the forum sponsors, think they are called "EasyFlow 5888" or maybe it's just 888) to replace the freebies that come in the kits.
There are also "Roller Ball" style pens (typically with a removable cap rather than extender mechanism), these are also normally very smooth writing with little pressure required.
But for close-to-zero pressure, try a fountain pen with a properly tuned nib and quality ink (such as Waterman or Pelikan or Parker). Literally no pressure required - the weight of the nib against the paper is all it takes, and you need to hold it only so the tip moves where you want it to go.
wouldentu2?
Member
I agree the kits that have smooth metal in the grip areas are too smooth for me. Also, kits that are not round in that area such as hexagonal shapes are not comfortable to me. Lots out there to choose from.
In my opinion, slippery is what's in the hand of the holder. The pens you're listing are all variants of Sierra style pens. I'm not 100% on this but given the fact that nearly every sale location has their own version of a sierra I'd say it sells fairly well for them.
I use a diamond knurl (Exotic Blanks version) as my daily writing pen on my desk and have never found that it's too slippery for me to hang on to. I'd encourage you to give the style a try and see how it works for you but more importantly offer a couple to your customers to see if they like them or not. I have a pen binder that I keep various styles of pens in when having conversations with customers and it's got probably 8 or 9 different styles of pens out of 12 slots and many of my customers seem to gravitate towards that particular pen style. Of course, it's also a style my wife is not a fan of but she loves click pens and stuff that is a narrower diameter.
I'd encourage you to give it a shot. As far as picking, I think the diamond knurl version is one of the better sierra style pens out there because of how it goes together and I like the method for changing the ink cartridge much better.
duncsuss' comment above about which ink cartridge you're using may make a big difference too. I use the same refill he mentions in all my pens that take a parker refill because they write so nicely.
I use a diamond knurl (Exotic Blanks version) as my daily writing pen on my desk and have never found that it's too slippery for me to hang on to. I'd encourage you to give the style a try and see how it works for you but more importantly offer a couple to your customers to see if they like them or not. I have a pen binder that I keep various styles of pens in when having conversations with customers and it's got probably 8 or 9 different styles of pens out of 12 slots and many of my customers seem to gravitate towards that particular pen style. Of course, it's also a style my wife is not a fan of but she loves click pens and stuff that is a narrower diameter.
I'd encourage you to give it a shot. As far as picking, I think the diamond knurl version is one of the better sierra style pens out there because of how it goes together and I like the method for changing the ink cartridge much better.
duncsuss' comment above about which ink cartridge you're using may make a big difference too. I use the same refill he mentions in all my pens that take a parker refill because they write so nicely.
WriteON
Member
PSI had a Comfort Pen. Front end has a rubber grip. Not sure if still available. As for any pen… if it's a gift it will loved/appreciated.