How fast drying are we talking about? Fast enough for right minded (i.e. left handed) users?
As a hipster who is also lazy, these should appeal to me. Sadly, as a hipster, I only liked writing until it sold out and became popular. I’m going to have to abandon typing soon, too. Then I’m going to mime. That’ll never be popular!
Pilot Varsity pens write surprisingly nicely, esp. for the price. Ink flows well, nice light touch, ink dries quickly, and I didn’t have problems with leaks and only hit a rare smudge when I was being careless. I’ve mostly shifted to mechanical pencil for writing notes, but these aren’t bad for drawing/writing when you don’t want to worry about an expensive writing tool.
I’d like to get some of these for myself. I have a small collection of fountain pens that, while not expensive, are nice enough that I don’t want to carry them everywhere. And even if the feel isn’t the same at least they’ve got the look.
Happens, it’s never a surprise when we like the same stuff.
A few years ago, I inherited a pretty big collection of fountain pens (75 pens IIRC). I really, really tried to become a fountain pen guy, but failed.
For me, cheap rollerball pens are the way to go. The two big advantages for me are being able to write on cheap paper without bleeding through and being able to vary line heaviness with pressure. For artistic purposes (like calligraphy) fountain pens are a good choice but for my day-to-day writing needs, give me a modern, cheap pen.
I’ve never found fountain pen ink that dries that fast. Not even close.
These are great because they never leak in my shirt pocket or on my hands. The ink is decent, the nib is not the equal of a Montblanc or a Parker but it beats the hell out of a Bic, and they don’t leak. Oh yeah, did I mention that they don’t leak??
Pilot Varsity pens are excellent. You can refill them with your favourite ink once the original runs out. I did this myself, using Noodler 's bulletproof black ink.
Have you tried Noodler’s Bernanke Blue and Bernanke Black? They’re ideal for left-handers because they’re specifically formulated to dry almost immediately. The catch is that Bernanke is a very wet ink that feathers like crazy: you have to use high-quality paper or you’ll get a thick, feathery line. They also have a blue-black ink called Q’Ternity, also ultra fast-drying, also very very wet.
Private Reserve also has a line of five fast-drying inks that set almost instantly: haven’t tried those, though. You can and maybe should get samples of all eight of these (http://www.gouletpens.com/ISP-QuickDry/p/ISP-QuickDry).
My current inks are Noodler’s Heart of Darkness (Black,) Noodler’s Blue Nosed Bear (Blue,) Noodler’s Red Black (guess,) and Parker Quink.
I haven’t tried Noodler’s Bernake inks, hadn’t even seen them in the catalog/website. I’ll check and try to get a sampler so I can review.
Thank you!
Here are some instructions on how to refill your Pilot Varsity http://peninkcillin.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/how-to-refill-your-pilot-varsity.html
I have found that the lids are not always durable enough to outlast the ink. Maybe I ended up with some from a bad lot but the lids would get very fine cracks that meant they would no longer stay on the pens. Other than that they work well.
These are a treat. I buy them in bulk. They’re the only pens I use on a daily basis, and they’re cheap enough not to be concerning if they get lost.
Well, I shall certainly hop on my velocipede, and journey down to the corner chemist and acquire this product. [twirls obnoxious hipster handlebar mustache]
The Varsity’s aren’t bad at all. However, for the money (or very slightly more) I prefer the Zebra V-301. The V-301 uses cartridges (and comes with an extra), has a sturdy stainless steel body, and writes better for me–especially since I like fine nibs.
Different strokes, I guess. I despise my V-301, and it’s banished to the flower flog/cheap pen holder of Ill Repute. Proprietary cartridges instead of using International end doomed it, and the weird rubbery cap-closing really bothers me. I wanted to like it given how their ballpoints got me through school, and how I’m a sucker for a stainless steel pen in general.
I’ve got scads of Varistys around, though, most refilled. They hold tons of ink, and I’ve yet to hit a bad one.
I’m a southpaw myself and love Noodler’s inks. They’re great for writing. I have a knack for getting ink on my hands whenever I refill my pens but consider that the badge of a fountain pen writer. And the colors are just as nice on skin as paper.
