Another way to keep people from taking your pen: keep the cap when you let them borrow the pen.
Don’t take a fountain pen on a plane. Learned that one the hard way.
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Or nib-up if you do. And bagged. And, honestly, empty.
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I generally just take a pen from my doctor’s office. Or the bank. Almost all my pens have business names on them. Some of them are crap. Some of them are good. Most are ok. All are free. And if you think I’m stealing…why do you think they put their names, addresses, and phone numbers on those pens? (seriously…ask them, they really don’t care if you take one)
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Certainly makes sense if your pen use is infrequent or you want something loseable. I have a freebie ballpoint tucked in my train-commute soduku book for that reason. A moment of sadness and guilt for Yet More Plastic into the waste stream when it dies, and then swap for a new one. As you say, businesses order imprint pens by the 100s, usually. It’s cheap advertising.
If I’m writing anything of reasonable length, or importance, though, out comes a FP. Not a fancy too-nice-to-use I’m-showing-off model like this one, but a $25-30 Lamy Safari, or the bit more spendy Lamy 2000 (holds tons of ink), or something between like a Twsibi Eco.
The smoothness of a decent pen cannot be denied, I find the wider barrel much more comfortable in my larger hands, and it’s an excuse to fuss around with paper and inks (both of which I am making an effort to reduce before replacement.) It’s like using a Harbor Freight tool versus a better brand. Both get the job done, but quality does matter if you do the job a lot.
I feel that dropping that much on a pen gets into the realm of collectors and not users and that’s not my personal jam. I can easily feel the difference writing for 1-2 hours with a FP versus my Doctors Without Borders freebie.
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Huh. I know not Wes but immediately thought, “Exorcist puke green?”
So that anyone who finds one can return it Obviously.
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I got one of these in the mail as a promo for something. I don’t remember what, but I do use the pen quite a bit.
Basically, I don’t buy pens. And that’s for one reason. I lose them. It’s just something my brain can’t be bothered to take care of or keep track of. If I buy a nice pen, I will lose it. If I buy a cheap pen, I will lose it. Freebies, for some reason, seem to not get lost. It’s a mystery to me.
IMO, this pen does have a muted and subtle beauty to its simplicity. I appreciate Montblanc pens and enjoy Wes Anderson movies, but I wouldn’t pay $2500 for it.
As an earlier commenter mentioned, there are many mid-range fountain pens that write very well, are considerably less expensive, and can be found to match nearly any style.
However, if expensive, limited edition fountain pens are your thing, there’s none better in quality and beauty than Namiki Maki-e pens by Pilot. The artistry and skill required to make these pens requires years of experience and apprenticeship. For example, the Emperor Goldfish or my favorite, White Rabbit.
You can see them by searching for Pilot Namiki Maki-e and visiting their website. It shows all their collections. If you’d like to know how much they cost, Goulet Pens is where I purchase most of my pens and pen-related items. Goulet also has an excellent blog entry with an overview of Namiki Maki-e pens and art.
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A friend and colleague will not write with anything else!
Totally agree. These limited editions are not made for regular use. They are collector items.
For regular use I want to second your list (I have all the same pens 
)
The Lamy Safari is really a bargain and writes very nicely for a steel nib. I can’t recomend them enough as a gateway pen.
But yes the Lamy 2000 is that much nicer. Very smooth, especially when paired with good paper.
For people that want to diver deeper, getting your nib reshaped by a good nibmeister can really change the pen. I have a Mont Blanc Boheme which was very nice when I got it, but it was a bit scratchy after a few years. I sent it to “Mike It Work” and had it reshaped a bit finer, and it’s better than brand new.
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Where is the line between ‘design something’ and ‘pick a (new?) colour scheme’ for something that already has been designed’ ?
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I’ve used quite a variety of expensive (but not this expensive) fountain pens, and the best one ever is an unbranded rando from a grab bag at a church sale that I got for a fraction of a dollar. It’s heavy, green and writes like a dream.
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I know it’s all in my head but I like heavier pens because I feel like they really do add something extra.
Although as a southpaw it’s not so much the pen that matters as the ink. Quick-drying is important both to avoid smudging and so one side of my hand doesn’t end up whatever weird color I’m using.
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