Knives vs Flashlights

[Monocrom]

I tried fountain pens for awhile but even aside from my bad hand writing Ive not found them to be convenient. Turned out I just dont use these pens enough to keep them from drying out. Also the risk of ruing my shirts with ink stains. Ive had vintage Montblancs & a few Lamys. Still own a stainless Lamy 2000 in board. Ive switched to roller balls since. Or a typewriter.

When I was in school we were still taught (more like forced) to write script with a fountain pen. Anything that wasn't written in script with ink wasn't even graded. So I guess I dont quite have the romantic feelings towards these pens that others (especially in the US) seem to have. Later on I used a typewriter for school work whenever I could. A Olympia report deluxe from 74. Still works.

LAMY 2000 is a very nice fountain pen. Have had mine in the polycarbonate body style for quite a few years now. Use my fountain pens every day at my night-shift job. Otherwise, yeah; not worth the trouble. Thankfully modern-day fountain pens almost never leak.

We had one miserable excuse for an English teacher in High School who thought he was clever and knew everything. The fact that he was an older teacher with two adult sons made it even worse. Definitely not the type of miserable excuse for a human-being who should have reproduced. The type of individual who got into teaching ONLY for the job security. One day we had a transfer student. Only knew Russian, didn't speak a word of English. Looking back, it was ridiculous he was tossed into a public high school that taught French and Spanish. And, one where all the students only spoke English or Spanish. Student still used an old-fashioned fountain pen. Miserable excuse for a teacher called him out mercilessly in front of the class for not using a ball-point pen.

Felt sorry for him. But later on, turned out the student was a low-life who almost got expelled for stabbing me in the hand with a dart. Well, guess who the only other student in the entire school was who spoke Russian, sat next to him, and was helping him with translating. All the teachers had to move our seats far apart. He ended up flunking out. Yeah, there were some bright students and teachers at Flushing High School in the 1990s. Not too many during that era as I recall.

 

[Poppy]

Distinct look, can get 100s of colors of ink.
Used to all the nibs were flexible and you could really add some cool characteristics to your writing.
The downside to them is you really need quality paper to bring out the best of the characteristics.

Do you do calligraphy type printing style? OR is it just that when you hold it at the same angle, even if you write in script, it still looks cooler?

When I was a kid my dad had some fountain pens. They took a cartridge. IIRC the inking was inconsistent, and they would leak. The nibs would also cut into the paper, sometimes.

 

[jz6342]

Last weeks lightweight carry; SAK 84mm Tinker and a Nitecore Tube

 

[jz6342]

 

[Fuzzywuzzies]

This is an interested thread with a fascinating "philosophical" opening.
Elmax is a fine steel. I have put extensive use on an Elmax folder, and rate it very highly, close to 20CV. The interesting part with knife steels is that it takes more than a steel to make a knife - it takes a good heat treatment, a good shape… a skilful hand.
Don't get me started on knives! Or torches. Or watches. I like good tools.
Now there was some trouble though, when I sat down to research a replacement watch…. The one my father gave me for my 12th birthday was clear worn out and would not hold time. Several months later, I almost wished I hadn't opened Pandora's Box. I ended up with the Bertucci A-4T, which is a lovely rugged tool and looks great.

 

[Monocrom]

I made the mistake of dipping my toe into the ocean that is the High-end Luxury watch segment, several years back. Thankfully I managed to escape (mostly) unscathed.

 

[gimmealight]

For me there isn't a knives vs. flashlights discussion. If you think about, these are at the top of the list of the most useful items you can carry. I carry a knife everywhere I go and I use it many times a day. It can do double duty as self defense and so can the right light.

 

[vicv]

This is an interested thread with a fascinating "philosophical" opening.
Elmax is a fine steel. I have put extensive use on an Elmax folder, and rate it very highly, close to 20CV. The interesting part with knife steels is that it takes more than a steel to make a knife - it takes a good heat treatment, a good shape… a skilful hand.
Don't get me started on knives! Or torches. Or watches. I like good tools.
Now there was some trouble though, when I sat down to research a replacement watch…. The one my father gave me for my 12th birthday was clear worn out and would not hold time. Several months later, I almost wished I hadn't opened Pandora's Box. I ended up with the Bertucci A-4T, which is a lovely rugged tool and looks great.

I'm not a watch guy but I did just look that one up. That's a pretty cool, simplistic watch