Pen spinning part names you should know

### Grip, decorative grip, tip — confused?

You hear these words all the time when spinners talk. They are shared vocabulary in the pen spinning community, and without knowing them it is easy to misunderstand each other. Let’s go through what each part is called.

### What do you call the part that joins two barrels?

Many mods join two or even three pens to add length. The piece in the middle that joins the barrels is usually called a connector.

### What are the tip, grip and decorative grip?

The tip of a pen is called the tip (or metal tip), and the rubber covering it is called the grip.
There is no limit on how many tips or grips you use — many mods stack two or three grips. Words like “inner grip” and “outer grip” help others know which one you mean.

Many mods also add grips or rings in other colours on the outside for decoration. These are called decorative grips and decorative rings (also called O-rings or tect rings). Metal rings are often used too — just saying “metal ring” is understood.

### What exactly is an O-ring?

“O-ring” is a general name for O-shaped rings made of soft rubber; the picture above shows two sizes. In mods they are often used as decorative rings, usually chosen to match the barrel’s outer diameter. A common one is the ring on the Zebra Tect 2way, usually called the tect ring.
Only the O-ring and tect ring are covered here, but rings from many other pens are used in mods too. They are usually called “___ ring” with the pen’s name in front, so once you know one, you can read them all!

### Cap, small cap — and where does the backplug come from?

Many pens have two different caps, called the cap and the small cap. In the picture above, the front one is the cap and the back one is the small cap.
The part that joins the small cap to the body is called the backplug (the green part below). Because it is often used to join barrels, it can also be called a connector — the picture below shows a ColorTwin backplug, so it is called a CT connector.

### Summary

Knowing these terms makes talking with other spinners easier, but there is still plenty that can be confusing. Read more mod tutorials and get to know different materials when you can — naming the exact material makes communication much smoother!!

### Chinese–English terms

| Chinese | English |
| -------- | -------- |
| 筆嘴 | tip |
|筆膠、裝飾膠|grip|
|裝飾環|ring|
|連接|connect|
|尾蓋|backplug|
|大蓋|cap|
|小蓋|small cap|

Photos: Jing