Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/20/pilot-v-disposable-fountai.html
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It seems I get ink stains on my fingers from my fountain pens from just looking at them lying on my desk…
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It may seem like a minor quibble, but I have my qualms about anything that is “disposable”. There are enough biros and felt-tips littering my drawers, I don’t need to buy more things that will be eventually tossed into the rubbish.
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I love these. I buy them in bulk and go through far more than five a year (but then again, I do a lot of hand writing). I once had a colleague borrow one during a meeting, and being unfamiliar with fountain pens, she made a little forward stabbing motion with it, cap off. My heart jumped into my throat, because with other fountain pens that’s the exact motion you don’t make if you don’t want a comet of ink to fly across the table. But it stayed dry and clean. They write nicely too, with just the right amount of fountain pen scritch. I guess I don’t much like that they’re disposable, but they’re cheap and I’m bad at keeping track of matter, so I end up losing them long before I throw them out anyway.
Came here for this (though I don’t think any of those characters was the pilot).
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I know this labels me as a meddling grouch, but I can’t let the recommendation of anything “disposable” get by without some sort of comment.
I suggest you give Platinum’s excellent “Preppy” fountain pen a try. Standard method is refill by cartridge and the pen itself costs a startling US$4.00 each for the .3 and .5mm nib sizes or US$5.00 for the finer .2mm nib size. They also ship in a rainbow of colors (but obviously you can fill with whatever ink you want).
The pens have a springloaded seal in the cap that Platinum claims will prevent the pen from drying out for about a year!
I’m not a shill, but JetPens.com is my favorite shopping destination for sweet sweet pens.
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I’ve gotten a couple of pretty decent low end Lamy pens in the last couple of years.
My go to place is ipenstore:
Mainly because of the sales…
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You can find instructions online on how to easily refill them. I might not take a refilled Varsity flying but for other use they should be just fine.
One of the more bizarre moments I had working retail was a customer seeing my Lamy pen and asking why I would own a fancy pen. Not as in, “why would anyone,” but “why would a lowly retail clerk.”
Um, actually this was $15, and with refills, I spend less on pens/ink than if I would using disposables…
(you elitist presumptuous prick!)
The funny thing is I’m management level at my company, and when I whip out my $20 fountain pen, it’s like “ooh la la! someone’s fancy!” It’s a bloody $20 pen that I use because it’s refillable with a reusable cartridge…
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Why the hell not?
Mine was around that. It was even advertised as good for a student. I like the clip. I think my Fisher space pen cost more for an objectively crappier writing experience. (The inks have similar lightfastness.)
I dunno. I’m probably part of a story where “This clerk is spending his money on fancy pens and is probably complaining that he doesn’t make a living wage!”
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Probably.
For uber resistant inks, I’ve been really happy with Noodler’s Bulletproof line, particularly the “polar eel”. I write small, so I use EF nibs, and the “eel” inks have good flow.
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A Lamy isn’t fancy (well depending on the model). You could always use a Platinum Preppy which is $5 and quite nice for a daily use pen.
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