There are a lot of amazing information about pens, generally. There are the noticeable and glaring ones and there are the ones no one really cares about or wants to know.
We are certainly not interested in knowing how pens work or the diverse functions of each compartments because we see them as writing tools and not a thing more. Well, there are a lot more to know and understand about pens, and that brings up the question:
Why do pens have caps? We are obviously going to talk about pens with caps only and leave the retractables out of it, alright? You see, I have always been a curious lad so, at certain points in time, I thought about the mystery of pens with caps.
Basically, the cap of a pen protects you, yourself and all other things from ink. We all know how sticky ink is and how terrible it gets when we are stained on our clothes or palms. It’s plainly embarrassing.
Also, the cap of the pen protects the nib as well, you must understand that. And if you would like to know how the nib is protected, I will tell you.
Pen caps protects and prevents the nib from exposing to the atmosphere so that the ink will not get dry.
You may also be wondering, especially if you have used several brands of capped pens before, why the caps have holes in them. Well, let me tell you what happens if they do not before explaining why they do.
When you cover the nib of a pen with a pen cap and it is tight, it creates some kind of vacuum inside the cap so it could be really tough to get it opened.
Now, why do the caps have holes in them? Originally, the hole on pen caps is to prevent you from asphyxiation. Isn’t that huge?
There has been quite a number of peculiar people with peculiar attitudes of chewing or licking on pen caps. So, if they swallow it mistakenly and it gets stuck in their throat, the hole would allow air to pass through so they can breathe until they get to the emergency room.
Records say that at least a hundred people die in the United States Of America each year from choking on pen lids! What?!!!
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Contents
What Is A Pen Cap?
Well, I believe everyone knows what a pen cap is but if you have lived under a rock all your life, then this one is for you.
The pen cap is a cover that goes over the top of a pen to stop the ink from escaping. They are called lids, covers and stoppers. And here is an additional name from me—a pen hat. LOL.
Do pens dry out without a cap?
This is a huge question and I am very sure you are so interested in this as a lover and user of pens. First, you must understand that pen ink contains volatile solvents that evaporates. Even when your pen is capped, the solvents are still going to evaporate but the cap will subsidize the evaporation.
In addition, the hole in the pen caps are there to force stop the air in the pen due to temperature variations through cycles of pressure.
At this point, the air in a sealed cap might just contract during a cooler period without any additional pressure. And, what happens when it does not have any pressure is that the ink might be sucked out through the nib and into the interior of the cap.
This means that, by the time we reach into our bags or pockets for our pen, you will have an ink mess to worry about.
But here is a certainty; the hole in the caps of your pen is there for a reason—even more than a reason. But this ink mess we have been talking about only occurs to pens that have not been in use for a long period of time. If you use your pen regularly, you will not have to worry about your pen nib drying out.
What I’m saying, in a nutshell, is that it is the pen that is kept in storage for weeks that are most likely to suffer from the inconveniences of the nibs drying out.
The hole is the pen caps does not really allow for much air going through. The trapped air on the inside of the cap rarely moves, so the speed of evaporation is really low since the vapour itself is almost stagnant, almost!
Alright, here is something you can imagine. How about you get a cup of hot coffee, look into it and you will see stuff that looks like clouds on the surface of the coffee.
And when you make attempts to cool down your coffee by blowing it, you simply blow off the saturated vapours from the surface of the coffee and that will allow the evaporation of new vapours.
Why do ballpoint pens have caps?
Okay, we talked about this already. But let us now focus on a particular type of a common pen—the ballpoint. The caps on ballpoint pens function as seals for the point of the pen where the ink is exposed to the air.
When you seal the pen with its cap, the ink will be kept from drying out through the tip of the pen (that’s the nib). Make sure the cap is tight enough in such a way that it won’t just fall off by itself.
I understand that we are talking about ballpoint pens but if you also own a fountain pen, make sure it is always kept clean so the ink will alternately be kept wet; don’t you forget to seal the ink bottles as well.
Apart from capping your pens, the best places to store them afterwards are drawers, boxes or other storage areas; the goal here is to keep them away from air as much as possible. The best is to store them at room temperature because cold air dries out more ink in a short period of time than warm air.
Why do gel pens have caps?
Just like other pens mentioned above, the reasons stay exactly the same. No difference.
Every GelWriter pen comes with a colour-coordinated cap that is not only extremely in vogue when we are talking about fashion but also keeps the pen from leaking or the ink drying up.
As long as the cap is on the pen as it should be, a vacuum seal is formed in the pen and what that does is that it keeps the ink suspended safely inside the pen.
There is a particular clicking sound the cap makes that tells you that it is completely tight and secure. You can always purchase your durable GelWriter pen here on Amazon
Why do pen caps have holes?
This has already been answered but it is very important to understand this. When a hole is in the cap of your pen, it allows you to close the lid properly without encountering issues of air pressure. But also, it greatly reduces the risk of choking deaths—when swallowed by either kids, teenagers or adults.
You must have thought it was just a random feature that aids in the regulation of air pressure and at the same time, stops ink from drying out.
Want to know what is just ridiculous? Records say that a whole lot of people chew lids of their pens. I have no idea what the exact percentage is but it had to be astronomical. LOL. Alright, just kidding.
But when people chew the caps or lids, they might get swallowed accidentally and stuck in the truth with extremely dangerous consequences!
So, when the giant company, BIC, added a larger hole to the caps of their pens, the chance of people being able to breathe after swallowing the cap got high. Credit where it is do, BIC liters saved lives and they continue to do so.
How do you preserve a pen without a cap?
Okay, let’s assume you lost the cap of your pen by mistake, is there any other remedy? Do you have to dump that capless pen and purchase a new one? Absolutely not!
If you have lost the cover of your pen, keep it in a Ziplock bag and make sure it is sealed tightly in such a way that the tiniest amount of air will not penetrate the bag.
You can get an affordable and long-lasting ziplock bag on Amazon. And just in case, when you get it back from your ziplock bag, you realize that it has dried out, don’t panic, you should be able to get it up and running again by putting the pen nib inside hot water—that is generally known to restart the flow of ink.
Why Do Pens Have Caps – Final Thoughts
Most people purchase pens and lose the caps. I am certain that this will change henceforth, especially after acknowledging the importance of these tiny plastic, aluminium or metal kinds of pen caps. The caps support your pens as we have already learned, and they can actually minimize smearing and clogging.
If you have any more questions, be sure to leave them in the comments section and we’ll respond to them as soon as possible.
