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I enjoy a good fountain pen. If you are interested in an inexpensive practical fountain pen, you should look into the Lamy Safari. It is easy to maintain, writ
by KC8ZKF 9y ago
I enjoy a good fountain pen.
If you are interested in an inexpensive practical fountain pen, you should look into the Lamy Safari. It is easy to maintain, writes smoothly, and feels good in the hand. It is my every day pen.
Quick drying "document" inks are also good for everyday use. They don't fade or smear.
- tolien 9y agoUsed to use Parkers and Watermans (Watermen?), got a Safari a few years ago and upgraded to a 2000 (rather more expensive piston-filler). Now I've got 3 (in a mix of nibs and stainless steel/Macrolan).
- sg47 9y agoWatermans is correct. Lewis Waterman invented the capillary fountain pen.
- gjvc 9y ago+1 for the Lamy Safari. It's an excellent writer, and if you lose one (an everyday hazard with an everyday pen), it's going to have cost you about 20 USD. See also Sailor and TWSBI for good everyday fountain pens.
- RedOrZed 9y agoEven as a left-hander, the Lamy Safari just writes so well, it's a joy.
- DanielleMolloy 9y agoI can't believe that Lamy Safari is still on market. I used mine up to Abitur (German A-levels) and must have bought it almost 20 years ago. By the end of grammar school I found Online Rollerball, which is a ballpoint pen with standard ink and ink cartridges. I still buy the latter from time to time. As for ballpoint pens, during stays in Japan I accumulated a small collection of multi-color ballpoint pens with extra thin tips, most of them from Mitsubishi. Small sketches and notes tend to look a bit tidier and the thin Japanese pens made for kanji writing are superior for this. Also changing colors is quite nice for note-taking.
- innocenat 9y ago+1 for Lamy Safari. But if you want something real cheap, I find that Platinum Preppy ($3) is also quite good.
- Latty 9y agoI wrote with a Lamy through my schooling, they did well for me for sure. Of course, the most I write by hand these days are notes or a shopping list, so no need for fountain pens for me.
- jmcgough 9y agoA bit more expensive ($30), but the TWSBI Eco is excellent and highly recommended by the fountain pen community. I traded up from a Pilot Metropolitan recently and use it daily now. Lamy Safari is generally recommended as well.
- brandall10 9y agoAnd if you want to move up toward the top of the heap without totally breaking the bank a Lamy 2000 is worth checking out. Great nib out of the box, but can be tuned to perfection for a bit more $$.
- CaliforniaKarl 9y agoQuestion for the Lamy and TWSBI users: Does it work as an "in-your-pocket" pen? In other words, can I use it on the go, or is it meant to be kept at a desk?
- ijonas 9y agoI’ve got both and they’re both excellent workhorses. I use Lamy mostly with Twsbi as alternatives for different inks. Paper is a bigger issue with fountain pens. Avoid Moleskine, choose Rhodia.
- mrob 9y agoThe importance of paper quality depends on which ink you're using. I like Noodler's Black, because it writes well even on cheap paper. It starts reliably and it doesn't feather (spread horizontally) or bleed through the paper easily. I've tried many other inks, trading samples with other fountain pen users, and I never found anything else so trouble-free.
- cli 9y agoI have a Mont Blanc fountain pen, which I want to use as my main pen but cannot due to the ink spreading and bleeding through cheap notebook paper. Thank you for the ink suggestion.
- mrob 9y agoI should point out that I use a Lamy Safari, which has moderate ink flow. If your Mont Blanc is an exceptionally wet writer, and you don't want to get the nib adjusted, you might want to try Noodler's X Feather, which is a version of Noodler's Black with even lower feathering (at the cost of longer drying time). But I suspect the drying time could be annoying, because Noodler's Black is already somewhat slow drying.
- hessammehr 9y agoInk spread and feathering on cheap paper is unfortunate and frustrating. I would also add pretty much any pigment or iron gall-based ink to your suggestion. Unlike dye-based inks, i.e. the vast majority of your vibrant colors on the market, these contain tiny particles that are (with a little bit of oversimplification) permanently trapped in the cellulose fibers of paper as you write. The end results is that these inks are waterproof and don't show the dreaded feathering/bleeding on cheaper paper. I recommend the Rohrer and Klingner Salix and Scabiosa, two inexpensive iron gall inks (blue-black and purple-gray), Sailor Kiwa Guro and Sei Boku (pigmented black and blue) and the Platinum pigmented inks (available in blue, red and black IIRC). The Salix and Sei Boku have worked wonderfully for me on copier paper with no clogging/cleaning issues so far.
- rwmj 9y agoI love my Japanese Sailor fountain pen, but for every day use you can't really beat the Lamy.
- themodelplumber 9y agoFor real inexpensive, try a Jinhao x750. I have one with a Fine nib and with that single pen I can get every width represented in a set of Micron technical pens. Currently using a bottle of Parker Quink from my local Staples. Addictive hobby!