recommendation for ball point with cover

[scottmlew]

I know this is sacrilegious, but I prefer ball point pens to fountain pens.

<pause for laughter to stop>

I love my MB's, but would like to find a "luxury" ball point with a cap -- either snap on or screw on. I really like the rubber MB Starwalker, but the only ball point variant is the traditional MB screw type.

Any suggestions?

Alternatively, you could try to convince me away from the ball points ;)

[Kapture1]

I do love ball points... I was gifted a MB BP... but if I were to buy, It would be a Roller Ball hands down.

[JBat]

Scott, have you spent some time with a fountain pen? There is an adjustment period coming from ballpoints or rollerballs, but I think if you gave it some time you'd come to love them. They are so smooth and a joy to write with.

[Taffi Abernathy]

Originally Posted by Kapture1

I do love ball points... I was gifted a MB BP... but if I were to buy, It would be a Roller Ball hands down.

I'm with you in that I'd take a RB over a BP anyday. The ink is more intense, and looks beautiful. Therefore, permit me to recommend a Pelikan BP in which regular ink refills are interchangeable roller ball refills. You can every purchase a Montblanc BP which also uses regular ink refills and another company makes gel refills expressly for the MB BP. You didn't mention what you wanted to spend. (Also, Aurora makes great pens.)

[Shangas]

I hate to break this, but there really is no such thing as a 'luxury' ballpoint pen. A ballpoint pen is no more than the refill cartridge. And one cartridge doesn't write any better than another. The extra money you pay only goes into the pretty casing of the cartridge. That is, the barrel, the cap, the clip, the diamonds and gold...

If you want to blow your money on a good pen, buy a fountain pen.

[Lion]

Shahan, remember that we all have choices so everyone can find what they like, use and enjoy!!!

[Shangas]

True, but I'm not aware of any current-production luxury ballpoints which have screw or click-on caps. Such a thing would be pretty hard to find...

[shandy]

Hi Scott,
Not sacrilegious at all mate.Heck in this day and age of everything being texted, typed and phoned using a pen at all is a bonus

I have scowered the usual online pen stores I go to but have not found one maker who does ball points with caps!

I do not know much about the ball point refils but I would guess they are similar to roller ball refils so I wonder if you got a rollerball and simply replaced it with a ballpoint refil, does anyone know if this would work?

If you can go the rollerball route then they are all pretty much capped and so lovely styles out there. I was looking at the Montegrappas, sheer beauty!

I will keep looking and will pop into my local pen store to see if they know of any and will report back

[scottmlew]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts! I am sorry I sort of abandoned my own thread...things have just been crazy with work.

Originally Posted by JBat

Scott, have you spent some time with a fountain pen? There is an adjustment period coming from ballpoints or rollerballs, but I think if you gave it some time you'd come to love them. They are so smooth and a joy to write with.

Honestly, no. I've written in very limited contexts with fairly inexpensive fountain pens. So you're right, I should probably give a higher quality fountain pen some time. With that said, the writing I do is usually very quick notes, and I fear that the drying time required for a fountain pen will be a problem when I scrawl something on a scrap of paper and put it in my pocket.

Is there a pen you'd recommend that is a minimal financial commitment but that will demonstrate the pleasures of writing with a good fountain pen?

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

I'm with you in that I'd take a RB over a BP anyday. The ink is more intense, and looks beautiful. Therefore, permit me to recommend a Pelikan BP in which regular ink refills are interchangeable roller ball refills. You can every purchase a Montblanc BP which also uses regular ink refills and another company makes gel refills expressly for the MB BP. You didn't mention what you wanted to spend. (Also, Aurora makes great pens.)

Thanks for the suggestion -- I'll check it out! I don't have a specific price target in mind; as long as I'm getting some "value", spending a few hundred on a pen is certainly not a problem, and (significantly) more than that isn't an issue either, as long as I'm getting something I will enjoy over the years.

Originally Posted by shandy

Hi Scott,
Not sacrilegious at all mate.Heck in this day and age of everything being texted, typed and phoned using a pen at all is a bonus

I have scowered the usual online pen stores I go to but have not found one maker who does ball points with caps!

I do not know much about the ball point refils but I would guess they are similar to roller ball refils so I wonder if you got a rollerball and simply replaced it with a ballpoint refil, does anyone know if this would work?

If you can go the rollerball route then they are all pretty much capped and so lovely styles out there. I was looking at the Montegrappas, sheer beauty!

I will keep looking and will pop into my local pen store to see if they know of any and will report back

I'm glad I'm not completely crazy :)

I was shocked that I couldn't find anything with a cap, but I'm glad I wasn't missing something obvious. I would be interested to know if anyone can comment on the BP/RB interchangeability issue you brought up. That might be an interesting compromise.

I had not seriously investigated Montegrappas until now -- some truly stunning pens! Thanks for pointing this out!

If you do find anything at your pen store, pls do post -- I'd be most appreciative.



Again, thanks everyone for the replies!

[Taffi Abernathy]

Is there a pen you'd recommend that is a minimal financial commitment but that will demonstrate the pleasures of writing with a good fountain pen?

This is interesting in that most people view having to take the cap off and on a pen as a chore. Moreover, you have the added worry of losing the cap. But with that said, here goes, the only pen I know of which fits your criteria of having a removable cap and can convert from ballpoint to rollerball and even to a felt tip (Magic Marker) is the Selectip by Cross. I can hear some objections already but the truth is it does fulfill all the criteria and there is a lifetime warranty on all Cross pens. Also, there is a tremendous selection and they write nicely. Here is the link, best wishes and let us know what your final choice is www.cross.com Cheers, Faith

[shandy]

Hi Scott. I went to both pen stores downtown today and asked and they could not think of any ballpoint with a cap and between them they carry most brands high and low end!

From what you say about pen usage a fountain pen might not be the best way to go at the moment but man oh man it really makes writing a pleasure!

I think if you want capped and something of nice quality then rollerball it is going to be and I know Montegrappa make some very beautiful ones that are a little out of the ordinary all black!
Here is a link to one that is very similar to my Historia limited edition fountain pen but rollerball!
http://www.montegrappa.com/product.p...n&colour_id=88
You can click on the colours to see the different shades and all the metal work is stirling silver

To give you an idea of what the grey celluloid is like here is a picture of my fountain pen, it has ground mother of pearl in the celluloid to give an amazing shimmer to the grey! Celluliod by the way is a natural product made from cotton and was very popular in past times, it really has a very luxurious look and feel to it!


Oh yes, and by nature of Celluloid no two pieces are alike!

[Lion]

Ian, that is a beautiful Fountain pen you just posted and was made by Montegrappa. So what does a pen like that cost? I'm drooling.....

[scottmlew]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

This is interesting in that most people view having to take the cap off and on a pen as a chore. Moreover, you have the added worry of losing the cap.

Yes, I have those concerns -- plus it requires two hands to jot a quick note. However, I thought it would be unique to have a capped ballpoint. Apparently, it would indeed be very unique!

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

But with that said, here goes, the only pen I know of which fits your criteria of having a removable cap and can convert from ballpoint to rollerball and even to a felt tip (Magic Marker) is the Selectip by Cross.

Thanks for the pointer. I will check it out, but I will say I've had more than my share of Cross pens as graduation gifts, so I'm likely to shy away from this...

Originally Posted by shandy

Hi Scott. I went to both pen stores downtown today and asked and they could not think of any ballpoint with a cap and between them they carry most brands high and low end!

Thank you so much for checking...I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by shandy

From what you say about pen usage a fountain pen might not be the best way to go at the moment but man oh man it really makes writing a pleasure!

I will probably select one to try, as a novelty if nothing else. As a computer security consultant, I don't do much writing at all, so I sadly am likely not a good candidate for a fountain pen, much as I may want one.

Originally Posted by shandy

I think if you want capped and something of nice quality then rollerball it is going to be and I know Montegrappa make some very beautiful ones that are a little out of the ordinary all black!

My word, those Montegrappas are nice! That 1930 is amazing! I would probably get it in black, but the brown and green are so unusual...true attention-getters I'm sure!



Well, now I'm in hot pursuit of a new pen...I will keep you all posted with what I come up with. I may well end up with another twist-type BP. What got me hooked on this cap idea, btw, is a colleagues black rubber and platinum Starwalker fountain pen. I loved the feel of the pen itself (not the feel of writing with the fountain pen) and it's form factor. I started thinking about how nice it would be to have a compact pen with a cap that was relatively durable, so I could put it in my pocket or laptop bag without worrying about it. I think this translated into "I want a pen with a cap" a bit more strongly than it rationally should have.

Oh, FYI -- my current pen is the MB Starwalker 100th Anniversary edition (with the floating diamond), received as a gift from my wife. We were out together and I mentioned it was neat and she thought I had to have it, so when we got home, there it was! It's a nice piece, but certainly doesn't have the gravitas of the 1930...I think the 2 would look good in rotation with each other!

[jimbones43]

What about an Omas 360 Mezzo? I believe it takes rb and bp refills and is capped!

[D O C]

Why a capped BP? More risk of dropping or damaging the cap. A BP is really made for the heavy pen user I think. It goes out of the pocket, twist and write, twist and place back in coat/shirt pocket. Done.


D O C

[Frosty]

As a computer security consultant, I would stay with an BP. I have several MB RB, but stopped using them because of the limitations on what they will write on. A BP will write on almost anything.

I bought a MB Classic BP from a friend of mine. It seemed to write better than my other BP. When I took the cartridge out it was a Fisher Space Pen Cartridge (seemingly discontinued).

I liked the way it wrote so much that I bought a couple of Fisher Space Bullet Pens. They are small, write very nice, and with the cap posted are about full size:

http://www.spacepen.com/allpens.aspx

I do like fountain pens, too. I keep the BP in my shirt pocket and the FP in my desk.