Once you start using good fountain pens, you stop losing pens. Your pen-related behaviors will change accordingly. Think about the fact that in past eras, people owned one pen and used it for decades.
As for why to use fountain pens at all when a Bic Stic will make marks on paper for 10 cents a pop - well, there are a lot of reasons, some (or all) of which you may or may not care about. Here are some of mine:
Using a wonderful pen brings beauty and joy to my everyday mundane tasks.
Unlimited variety of inks and nib styles, which adds to the above. It’s just fun to take meeting notes with a flex pen. (And funny to see people’s reactions to my using “calligraphy” to take meeting notes)
They are much better and easier to write with. Since you use no pressure on the paper, you can write for hours without getting a cramp in your hand.* Many people report that their handwriting improves when they start using one. That was definitely true of me.
They’re little works of art and/or bits of history and/or splendid examples of modern design. They’re just plain interesting! Here’s a fun bit of info: Ulfreida mentioned she has an Eversharp Skyline, which is a truly iconic pen. It was designed by Henry Dreyfuss, who also designed the legendary 20th Century Limitedlocomotive. Hmm… Here is a pic that I happened to have on hand of a few pens from my collection.
Hopefully the above helps a little in understanding why some of us love pens.
ETA - Horatio Hellpop’s post snuck in. His Cross may not be a FP, but I totally get why he uses a $200 pen.
ETA 2 - My coworker just walked in an handed me a Hannukah present. A Cross Aventura! I didn’t have any Cross FPs. Now I do. Pretty pen, and with a little tweak to the nib, very smooth.
The one pen that I think offers a near-fountain pen experience in that regard is the Uniball Vision Elite. If you have to take a lot of notes and aren’t interested in fountain pens, please try the Vision Elite. Not having to put pressure on a pen really really helps.
** If you’re interested, from left to right, they are: Parker 51, Rotring 600, the handmade one I mentioned in my post above (I call it The Yoshi, 'cause it was made by a guy named Yoshi), Lamy Studio, Pilot Metropolitan, Esterbrook J. The words were written with the Esterbrook, which is fitted with a flex nib.
Vacumatics (the ring-striped ones) are celluloid as far as I know. Pelikans have celluloid barrels but not caps or sections, in that era. Burnhams of the 1930’s-40’s are, indeed, celluloid. Skyline has a celluloid cap but probably not barrel, I’m guessing.
Hm, looks like the iconic ring-striped Vacumatics were indeed celluloid, and a few very early “Skyliners” did have celluloid caps. I bow to your knowledge, and apologize for my incorrect correction.
And I need a Skyline. It’s such a classic. I don’t like writing with them, though, as the balance seems off to me, whether posted or un-posted. I’m sure others love them. Vive la difference!
By the way, Green Bean, I know I told you that I am not into colored inks, but I may have to reconsider my stance. I wrote some Christmas cards last night with a cheap calligraphy set, and ran out of black. So I switched to a dark green, and it was gorgeous.
Ah, this is the only area in the FP world where there is some consensus! The info on ink/cartridges/converters may be a bit incomprehensible, but I’ll explain in a new post below.
3 Great Beginner Pens
Pilot Metropolitan. ($14.50)
This pen is an absurdly good value. How Pilot manages to offer such a solid and well-writing pen at such a price is a great mystery. It includes a gift box and converter too. It’s good looking and has a nice weighty and expensive feel due to the metal barrel. It comes in fine and medium nibs and in a variety of colors. I do not know of anybody who does not like this pen. Unfortunately it uses proprietary Pilot cartridges, but the included converter eases that pain.
Lamy Safari. ($28 + $4.50 if you want a converter)
I asked Ed Fingerman of Fountain Pen Hospital “If you could only have one pen for the rest of your life, and it had to be non-vintage and under $100, what would you choose?” He did not hesitate for even a moment before he said “Lamy Safari.” It’s a workhorse and a half. It comes in a wide variety of colors and nib types, and the nibs are easily interchangeable too. There are a few cons, however. It has a triangular grip, which is really a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing, though it does help you keep the nib aligned correctly. I personally dislike this pen because of the grip. YMMV. The styling is not everybody’s cup of tea either. It takes proprietary Lamy cartridges.
Pilot Varsity ($3) This is a disposable FP that writes surprisingly well. It won’t compare to the above, but it’s a great way to try a FP for only 3 bucks. The ink colors are really gorgeous too. They’re not supposed to be refillable, but there’s a hack. You can usually find these at Staples. (Stay away from the Bic disposable FP. It’s awful)
Another Option
Kaweco Sport. ($23.50)
Oh, Kaweco Sport, how do I love thee? The Germans sure knew how to design stuff in the 1930s, ya know? The Kaweco sport is ultra-compact when closed. You put the cap on the back to make it a normal length. It comes in a variety of colors, nib types, and materials. I just got two of these for beginners as Christmas presents, one in mint green and one in raw aluminum. It’s just a super-cool little pen. I love the styling, but it may not appeal to everyone. The Kaweco Sport takes standard international cartridges, so you have a lot more ink choices than the above pens. The con is that it’s so short that converters are barely feasible. There are a couple out there that supposedly work, but reviews of them are mixed, and they hold almost no ink.
TLDR Version: Try a Pilot Metropolitan.
As for where to get good beginner information, try Fountain Pen 101 from Goulet Pens. You’re probably thinking “I don’t want to sit through a video,” but Brian Goulet is strangely mesmerizing. The whole Goulet site is a treasure trove of information. If I’m mail ordering, (I usually buy from there or JetPens.)
Do modern fountain pens require blotting? I remember desk sets that had large pads to protect the desk as well as rocking blotters. I’ve seen references to blotting paper sheets and (older) to shakers filled with blotting sand.
If modern ink dries fast enough not to need blotting, one reason for avoiding fountain pens is gone.
I was once taught how to turn a goose feather into a quill. I still have one of them. They don’t carry much ink. It can take multiple dips to finish one letter, sometimes. So “civilized” is definitely some time after the quill pen. I can’t speak for the other end of the era.
The old-fashioned blotting paper and powder (pounce) was for india ink used with a dip pen or quill. India ink dries more slowly than modern fountain pen inks, and a dip pen usually throws more ink on to the paper than a FP. I use a dip pen sometimes, and it takes* forever *to dry!
I’ll amend this a bit - the above is true of most modern inks, but if you have a really juicy nib and/or non-absorbent paper, the ink might take a little longer to dry. If drying time is a concern, there are some inks that are particularly quick-drying. (Please take care if using the linked inks with vintage pens. Not all modern inks will play nicely with vintage pens.)
Left-handed people often don’t think they can use FPs because of smearing, but with a little attention to nib and ink choices, they frequently find success.
Blotting paper can come in handy if you’re writing in a journal and want to close it up right away. You just stick the blotting paper in between the pages when you close it. I don’t ever see it being used otherwise.
Is that a Meisterstück in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
I would say, conservatively, that yes, you do like pens.
I wish I had a wet noodle but despite owning several BCHR 52s at least a few of which were claimed to be such, I don’t think they are. Very flexy, yes, but not what is described as a wet noodle. I am trying to get my whole cigar box of vintage pens that I don’t seem to use, out there and sold – so as a true pen lover, I can use that money to buy more pens. A wet noodle for one.
How does that compare to a Pilot Precise V7? I always thought they had a fountain pen feel to them and they work well with lefties. The ink dries extremely fast and the tip flows very consistently.
I just experimented with a Varsity, and the ink dries extremely quickly. I could barely produce a smudge.
I never cared for the Pilot Precise. I find them scratchy and unpleasant. I know others swear by them, but based on my experience, I wouldn’t say they have a fountain pen feel. Then again, a Varsity doesn’t have quite a full fountain pen feel either, but that’s to be expected at the price.
I have never run into any non-FP that offers the complete absence of paper drag that you find with a FP with properly aligned nib tines. No matter how smooth a rollerball is, you still have to roll that ball inside the nib to get the ink on the paper. A fountain pen just floats along on a cushion of ink.
Oh, yes indeedy. FPGeeks is also a popular site.
If you’re interested in pens, see if there is a local pen club around you too.
Thanks, Slow Moving Vehicle and Green Bean. I haven’t used a fountain pen in decades, and hearing that blotting is no longer necessary makes it slightly less likely that I’ll avoid them in the future.
I received a Montblanc Meisterstuck as a graduation present from my parents almost 20 years ago and (sadly) I only use it three times a year: To write birthday cards to my parents and when writing Christmas/New Year cards. (Finished this year’s batch a couple of weeks ago.) It doesn’t get used that often but I’m still amazed at the beautiful wavy lines it’s capable of with the original nib, which has only been re-ground and polished.
Thanks I’ll check it out, and thanks for the recommendations. As far as sitting through a video… well as soon as I wrote my post I went to youtube and watched a bunch of fountain pen videos. In the mean time to get me started I bought a disposable Pilot Varsity on Amazon. It should arrive today.
I didn’t have any Cross FPs. Now I do. Pretty pen, and with a little tweak to the nib, very smooth.
