[Pens] Annotating First Aid - What kind of pen?

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DizzyNT

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a bit of a :laugh: question

So started writing in my fresh copy of FA (hopefully itll be worn & beaten by the end) anywho, what kind of pen are you guys using? using your typical ballpoint pens is fine, but they write so fat, and there's not a whole lot of space to write in FA... i bought a couple of fine tip liquid pens but they smudge very easily, even after 3-4 minutes of drying...

i'm looking for something that writes smoothly (ink doesnt randomly stop), has a fine tip so i can write small & neat, and won't smudge or bleed... was using pencil but kind of hard to read and I worry if itll last/smudge

so tell me fellow med kiddos what kind/brand of pen do you guys use??
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DizzyNT said:
a bit of a :laugh: question

So started writing in my fresh copy of FA (hopefully itll be worn & beaten by the end) anywho, what kind of pen are you guys using? using your typical ballpoint pens is fine, but they write so fat, and there's not a whole lot of space to write in FA... i bought a couple of fine tip liquid pens but they smudge very easily, even after 3-4 minutes of drying...

i'm looking for something that writes smoothly (ink doesnt randomly stop), has a fine tip so i can write small & neat, and won't smudge or bleed... was using pencil but kind of hard to read and I worry if itll last/smudge

so tell me fellow med kiddos what kind/brand of pen do you guys use??
Click to expand...

My personal favorite is the multicolored BIC pen (made in FRANCE!) with the red tube (0.5mm). It's hard to find these days, but whenever I see them available I buy them in bulks. I use blue to write normally, to contrast the black ink on text, red for important terms, and green to highlight associations. I can't imagine how people write with one color, especially a pencil 😀
 
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I used a pencil since there always seemed to be more stuff that needed to be put under a heading (whether I learned it from Goljan, UW or other stuff). I tried leaving spaces under each heading for future notes but sometimes that was not enough.
Important points etc were highlighted after all the note taking was complete.

Also, spelling mistakes 😀
 
Last edited:
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well to anyone wondering i went for the uni-ball jetstream & i likes :clap:
can get em at office depot or office max (& probly elsewhere)
they have 3 pack of all black, or 1blue 1black 1red, get the fine or 0.7mm
writes smooth, dries after a second (no smudging) and i can write fairly small and still legible👍
 
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For what it's worth I use a BIC and I love it
I am so proud of my First Aid book I want to hug it at night.
 
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I recommend mechanical pencil, 0.5 mm.

If you want to use a pen though, I recommend my favorite pen: Pilot P-500 pen.

This pen is perfect because you can write extremely small. Also, the ink flow is a PERFECT balance between smoothness and not being runny. Usually available at Staples, but not usually at office depot/max.

432710111.jpg
 
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Solarium said:
My personal favorite is the multicolored BIC pen (made in FRANCE!) with the red tube (0.5mm). It's hard to find these days, but whenever I see them available I buy them in bulks. I use blue to write normally, to contrast the black ink on text, red for important terms, and green to highlight associations. I can't imagine how people write with one color, especially a pencil 😀
Click to expand...

I just ordered a 12-pack assortment with 6 blue barrel (1.0 mm) and 6 orange barrel (.5 mm) pens. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
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laxman310 said:
Heavy Black Ink Fountainpen --> Guaranteed 275/99+.
Click to expand...
lol I love it. I used to be all about pens when annotating, but I started to try out a mechanical pencil and it really works quite well. I can't write as small, but at least I can erase if I jack up. So mechanical pencils get my vote.
 
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nothing

I used a hilighter for really really really really really important stuff

I kept annotation to a minimum

I liked using my FA as a quick 1 week review at the end. It won't be a quick 1 week review if you're thumbing through all your notes (which, in all honesty, WON'T be as high yield as what's actually written in the book)
 
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Wow, have we as a species reached the level of analness to have 16 posts on what freaking pen to use?
 
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Yes that's exactly right. I won't lie though, there were a few moments while reading through the posts that I said to myself "hmmm, I shoud look into that pen."

The analness has affected us all.
 
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I don't mean to go from hater to participator in such a short span of time, but a friend once told me these Staedtlers are really good for FA...I'm assuming the $125 price tag is a typo.
 
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thanks for the posts, I never really put that much thought into which pen I should use, but now at this moment, thats all I can think about 😱...
 
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Captopril said:
I don't mean to go from hater to participator in such a short span of time, but a friend once told me these Staedtlers are really good for FA...I'm assuming the $125 price tag is a typo.
Click to expand...

I bought the larger set of these (15, I believe) for maybe about $20 including shipping. They are thin-tip markers. I also bought some hi-tec-c pens which I am really liking--very thin and dry very quickly, though i haven't tried them in first aid, and I have a set of slicci pens coming (set of 15 colors...they come in .25, .3 and .4)--these have wonderful reviews and the colors look beautiful, I think I'm going to be pretty happy with them. I think I've satisfied my pen-seeking behavior for now 🙂
 
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I use a ball point pilot pen. Its a click pen, fine point. I think its a A12, thats what's printed behind its pocket clip thingy.
 
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YEA PENS PENCILS UNREALLLL BUT I GUESS IT ADDS SOME EXCITEMENT TO PEOPLE LIVES DURING THIS PROCESS IN WHICH SOME SAY A NIGHTMARE OF HUGHEEEEEEE PROPORTIONS!!!!😱😱😱😱

AND DO YOU ALL SEE MY 2 YR MEMBERSHIP AWARD IN THE LOWER LEFT HAND CORNER DO YOU,,,? DO YOU ?? HAHA

NOW IM IMPORTANT AND I WILL SOON BE GENERAL
 
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DizzyNT said:
a bit of a :laugh: question

So started writing in my fresh copy of FA (hopefully itll be worn & beaten by the end) anywho, what kind of pen are you guys using? using your typical ballpoint pens is fine, but they write so fat, and there's not a whole lot of space to write in FA... i bought a couple of fine tip liquid pens but they smudge very easily, even after 3-4 minutes of drying...

i'm looking for something that writes smoothly (ink doesnt randomly stop), has a fine tip so i can write small & neat, and won't smudge or bleed... was using pencil but kind of hard to read and I worry if itll last/smudge

so tell me fellow med kiddos what kind/brand of pen do you guys use??
Click to expand...

I love this thread!!! I'm so relieved to see that there are other people that share my OCD with things like this!!!
My .02... I haven't used a pen in years for my notes. I'm in love with mechanical pencils!!! If you think the lead is too light/dark, there are a variety of shades you can buy for your pencil. You can also choose the diameter of the lead!! They're great!! Believe it or not, they also have multi colored pencils!!!

Pens write too fast, they smudge and they don't erase. All of my notes are nice and neat!!

Good luck!!!
 
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This is a hilarious question but quite legitimate. The Precise V5 (Pilot) is really a spectacular pen but bleeds through the pages.

A Bic or other ballpoint is pretty much the way to go for the sake of posterity. However, they frequently require that you rapidly scribble them on an accessory sheet of paper before proceeding to use them meaningfully.
 
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I'm using Pentel RSVP, fine point. It smudges a little if you touch it immediately after writing, but otherwise it's perfect. I can definitely cram a lot of words in a small space. 🙂
 
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I'm using a well-sharpened pencil since I find that I need to make various erasings in order to cram in all the info I wanna write. Too lazy to go write on separate sheets since I end up writing too much crap to try and relate it to something.
 
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