Literally writing in the Disciplines (Note taking)

There are many important things you as an individual need to look at to be an effective note taker. For most people, right handed people, the pen quality, if the ink is fast drying or slower, how easily the ink smears doesn't really matter a whole lot.For left handed people, like me, it makes a huge difference. There are also a large number of criteria that a pen has to met for me to be just right.

For instance, I can not use gel pens without the ink smearing all over the page. I also need to have a ball point pen due to left handed people push along the paper where right handed people tend to pull/drag the pen along the paper. I also will not be winning any best penmanship awards any time so I have to have a pen that will not smear at all so that the small differences between my a's and o's or my e's and c's stand out. I also need it to be a click pen so that i can open the pen one handed if needed for easier access while i am taking out my note book at the same time. I also need the clip on the pen to be strong enough to stay in the pocket without falling out, while also being able to be easily taken out without pulling or snagging on my uniform. I also would prefer it to have a grip on it so that if i am writing with my handing being sweaty or wet, furthermore the pen can not have to much grip or so large of a grip that it gets caught on my uniform as it is being taken out of the pocket. I would prefer the pen to not cost so much that i will be having to take out a loan on my car in order to buy more pens because I will lose them. There is also a Crime scene tech joke that you can tell how old a tech is by how cheap his pens are, the cheaper, the older he is because they have realized that all of the gross stuff from the crime scene that is on your gloves is on your pen now too because you were just writing your report with the same gloves on. With that in mind, I would like to have a pen that i can buy in reasonable bulk and that will not cost an arm and a leg, that i will have no issues with throwing away or not getting back from someone at the end of the day.

Now I have tried every pen that you can find in the pen section of Walmart, CVS, Walgreen's, and other store that i would normally think of selling pens. The closest thing that i had found was a pen that had a very weak clip that would routinely break off and would also bleed through the page. I thought this is what I would have to deal with, I thought this was as good as it got. Then came the day this semester that i stumbled into the Target pen and pencil section, not thinking that it would be any different than the other big box stores. I was so wrong, the paper mate Ink joy gel 0.7 mm medium point pen came to my rescue. This pen has everything that I could have ever wanted. The thickness of the ink that comes out is a bit to bit for me, but during my research on amazon, I found that it comes in a fine point variation with a 0.5 mm fine point tip. I have already ordered on amazon prime a  box of 12.

https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-InkJoy-Medium-Point/dp/B019QBOG4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490931297&sr=8-1&keywords=papermate%2Binkjoy%2Bgel%2Bpens%2Bblack&th=1

Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword, but the pen needs some paper to write on. I know there are countless different sizes of pages and bindings. Like I said before, my penmanship is probably making my grammar school teachers shaking their heads. Having my paper ruled is a must, I am far to sloppy to not have it ruled. I also like to have a many many replacements so that I am not worried about flipping to a new page, writing an address or phone number and giving it to someone without worrying about tearing other pages out, along with not thinking of how much that one sheet of paper cost. Like with most things, I buy them in bulk so that they are cheaper that way. I have found that again Target is where I have been able to find the best supplies for law enforcement. I have found for me that the 3x5 in. memo pads work the best for me and fit into my uniform picket the best. Again, taking a little bit of time, I have found that on amazon, I can buy them much cheaper and with more ease.

https://www.amazon.com/Mead-45354-Memo-3X5-Inch-sheets/dp/B002YM1IT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490932747&sr=8-1&keywords=3x5+memo+pads

I hope this will help some people on choosing their best note taking pen and paper for law enforcement writing.

Now for normal note taking that is not for law enforcement, I prefer the legal pad with normal ruled 8.5x11 ruled paper for a number of reasons. the biggest plus for someone that is a left handed writer is that I do not have to have a metal spiral dig into my arm half the time i am writing notes. The second reason for me is that they are much cheaper and easier to find on the weeks when school starts and everyone and their mother is buying up the ruled notebooks.

https://www.amazon.com/Tops-Legal-11-75-Perforated-White/dp/B000PU1LIU/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1490933672&sr=1-1&keywords=8.5+x+11+paper+pad





And as you might have guessed,
Stay Vigilant, Stay Awake