More stuff in my pockets.
I noticed while Christmas shopping that Amazon is full of cheap, import fountain pens. Some look obviously cheap, but others appear to be of higher quality. Does anyone know if there are serious reviews of them by pen afficianados?
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If you like the 51 your should try a 61. Out of all the 51s, 45s, Duofolds, Vacumatics, etc (and Watermans, Fabers, etc) my single sea foam green 61 is the smoothest writing fountain pen I have ever used. Its capillary filler work much better than tradition would have you believe, so long as you stay away from permanent inks. Stick the back end in the bottle for a few seconds, let it drip dry for another second and screw the back on.
I have not tried a 61. I love my Duofold. I prefer Parker to my other pens.
I’m not an aficionado, but I’m delighted with my intermediately priced pen, a Pilot Metropolitan ($15). It’s not out of aesthetics or principle. I just like it because I get hand cramps when writing and it helps because it barely needs to touch the page, and it’s fairly cheap so I don’t freak out about losing it.
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Tell me it has -zero- chance of leaking in my shirt pocket and I’m interested.
I haven’t carried any fountain pen but a factory-welded Pilot Varsity for the last ten years. May well have saved my marriage.
Pulp Fiction II will feature a hit man who can’t believe someone would pay $5 for a pen, that’s just a knock-off of some more expensive pen.
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You want to look at this, it is not $5:
…meanwhile, Russians use pencils…
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+1. I use one every day.
TWSBI Diamond is, by far, my all time favourite pen (but they are significantly more expensive than $5)…
I have a Noodler’s pen ($14) I like except for the diameter being a bit too small…
http://noodlersink.com/writing-instruments/piston-fill-resin-fountain-pens/
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My personal favorite pen is the Sakura Micron. They come in different sizes (my favorites are the really thin ones, like the 005, because my handwriting is miniscule).
the ink dries almost instantly. As a lefty, this means I can relax my hand a bit more when I write.
They’re also quite cheap (like 2 or 3 euro).
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Absolutely love my Vanishing Point, but of course it is comparable in price to the Parker.
My preferred drawing pen. A great low-maintenance alternative to technical pens.
Great pen, but I couldn’t use that. Like so many Germans of my generation I used several of those all the way from 5th through 13th grade. That association is simply to strong.
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Thanks: now I don’t have to do it!
Wait…seriously? A fountain pen for lefties? Are you part of the hook generation?
That joke is wrong. Here’s why:
A ) NASA didn’t invent a zero g pen. Fisher did, and they did it without any contact with NASA.
B ) Russians bought the same pens as NASA for $6 a piece.
C ) pencils are dangerous in space.
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It’s not a fountain-pen, it’s more of a sharpie, but much much better.
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Pencils are dangerous in manned space vehicles because (a) carbon is conductive and could cause problems if it got in the electronics and (b) Russian spacecraft used mechanical timers and getting pencil shavings in those could mean, in the language of XKCD’s Upgoer 5, that you will not get home from space today.
Those Russian timers were inherently rad-hard, so not a stupid design decision. A bad solar flare during the Apollo missions could have had unfortunate consequences.
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