I like writing utensils. Especially those of the pen variety. It used to be a thing with me in college. It was very dangerous for me to go into the university bookstore because I would almost assuredly walk out with some new writing instrument. Generally a pen, but sometimes something else.
For the last several years, my main writing utensil has been a multi-function from Yafa because I didn’t want to carry 238912837912873 different writing utensils with me. I started out using a Quad-point, went to a Quin-Tek, got another Quin-Tek because the first one broke, went back to a Quad-point (but a grippy kind) because a part went missing on the Quin-Tek I was using and made it annoying to use, and now…I have none. Because my last Quad-point was inadvertently stolen by someone. And my mom took my backup pen, which is fine. She can have it if she really likes it.
Now, I really liked my Yafa pens. I like the multi-functionness of the pens. I really liked how smooth the pens would write. I liked that you could replace the ink barrels. I liked that I could have so many different colors including something that could function as a highlighter. I even liked the weight of the Quin-tek, which was on the heavy side.
I also really liked the gravity feed feature of the pen. It generally meant that no one understood how to use my pen and made it less susceptible to theft. The fact that my last pen was stolen from me was at least equally my fault and really, the girl who took it had way bigger problems to deal with than remembering to return the pen to me.
But, I really didn’t like the pencil portion of the multi-function. The tip was constantly working itself loose. And the lead barrel of the Quad-points were never upgraded to be like the ones on the Quin-tek, where you could replace the pencil with another pen. And customer service wasn’t really the greatest. The tech that I spoke with way back in the day with my first Quin-tek broke was very pleasant and tried to help as best he could, but the corporation wasn’t really making it easy for him.
So now…I’m in the market for a multi-function pen again. I’m not going with another Yafa because…well, they don’t really offer anything I really want anymore. The Quin-tek is probably discontinued, even if they don’t actively say that it is. The Quad-point can still be found in places like Fry’s and online, but I really don’t want to go into Fry’s. It’s one of my least favorite stores ever. EVAR.
I’m thinking maybe a Pilot or maybe a Uni. But for the time being, I got myself a set of Papermate Ink Joys. They write really nicely and there are lots of colors to choose from. If only they made them as multi-functions…
And…this was a whole post on pens.