# Which lasts longer - pen or pencil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816 "2003-04-29T00:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alextrebeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/839c29/32.png) [@alextrebeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alextrebeck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/1 "2003-04-29T00:11:42Z")
In order to best preserve your writing in a journal, which is the best medium to write with - pen or pencil? Does pencil last the longest on paper? Does pen prevail? If so, does the variety of pen matter or the type of ink? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/2 "2003-04-29T02:00:14Z")
In my experience, pencil fades _much_ faster than pen, on any type of paper. Pages rubbing in a journal cause pencil to get fuzzy, and it gets pale pretty quickly (I’m thinking of even the course of a semester - notes at the beginning of the semester look worse than those at the end). As for which pen is best, or which type of ink, I wouldn’t know. Something tells me that black ink will at least be legible longer, but I could be totally making that up. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/3 "2003-04-29T03:58:55Z")
I don’t know about pure aging, but I would avoid fountain pens and flairs because their inks aren’t waterproof. I once dropped a notebook in a puddle a few weeks before finals… If it had been in ballpoint, I could have still read the notes after careful prying apart and drying. Since I used flairs, well, I had blotchly tinted blank pages to study from. ☹ Yeah, I know you don’t intend to drop your journal in a puddle. How about the time you knock over that drink? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/4 "2003-04-29T04:45:53Z")
If you want archival-grade permanence, load up a fountain pen with India ink. That stuff seems to last through just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/5 "2003-04-29T05:18:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \* > \*\*If you want archival-grade permanence, load up a fountain pen with India ink. That stuff seems to last through just about anything. \*\* No, no, no! India ink will _D_E_S_T_R_O_Y_ your fountain pen – it contains lacquer or something. Fountain pens should ONLY be used with water based inks. If you want to use India inks, you have to use a dip pen, like a metal nibbed one or a glass pen. ---
**Author:** ![summerbreeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@summerbreeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/summerbreeze)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/6 "2003-04-29T17:54:48Z")
My great-grandfather kept a journal in pencil during his two years with Stuart’s Cavalry during the Cival War. I have it. It is perfectly legible (people had good handwriting in those days, too). ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/7 "2003-04-29T21:53:31Z")
I keep a journal in my computer. Barring electromagnetic anomalies or physical damage to the computer, the files’ll last for pretty much forever :D. But I also write a lot with pencil and notice that it does fade in frequently-used notebooks. No fading if I write a little note and then dump it somewhere where I won’t peruse it for a while. ---
**Author:** ![summerbreeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@summerbreeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/summerbreeze)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/8 "2003-04-30T03:34:52Z")
Sorry about the typo in Civil War. The journal is a cheap notebook that Grandpa wrote in whenever he had the chance – I’m sure he stuck it in a pocket & took no special care with it. A lot of his letters home also survive – also in pencil. ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/9 "2003-04-30T05:41:22Z")
My chem teacher had us use pencil in our lab books because it was less susceptible to reacting with any chemicals we might spill on the pages. I guess graphite’s good for that. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/10 "2003-04-30T06:50:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lodrain \* > \*\*I keep a journal in my computer. Barring electromagnetic anomalies or physical damage to the computer, the files’ll last for pretty much forever :D. \*\* So, whats the MTBF on your harddrive? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-lasts-longer-pen-or-pencil/171816/11 "2003-04-30T13:03:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lodrain \* > **I keep a journal in my computer. Barring electromagnetic anomalies or physical damage to the computer, the files’ll last for pretty much forever :D.** I have some old WordStar files for you!