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I bought a hand turned fountain pen recently for around £100, and it is really nice to write with. A little bit like the article author, a nice fountain pen has

I bought a hand turned fountain pen recently for around £100, and it is really nice to write with. A little bit like the article author, a nice fountain pen has made me enjoy writing again and I’m probably writing more than I have in years. Maybe it’s one of those things, but I’d never considered buying a “good” pen before, and now I have I appreciate how poor all the commodity pens are.

tartoran 4y ago
You can buy a great fountain pen for much less than that. Lamy Safari costs around $30 and is pleasant to write with. I got 2 with different nibs and played with them for a while till the novelty wore off.
- christophilus 4y ago
  Muji has a good one for something like $20. I use mine daily.
  - euroderf 4y ago
    Can you say that it has lasted long enough to be value for money ? I've had Muji products that did not last.
  - CiceroCiceronis 4y ago
    I bought the Muji one just recently after thinking that I wanted a fountain pen, and I definitely recommend it.
- dumpsterlid 4y ago
  Or the pilot metropolitan! I think the pilots have the best nibs on lowcost pens. Stay away from most german fountain pen makers, they are superrrt inconsistent with whether their nibs are tuned well out of the box.
- DrBazza 4y ago
  It’s hand turned, profiled, and lacquered. It’s really nice. And the nib is fantastic.
- bikenaga 4y ago
  I have two Lamy Safaris (fine, extra fine) and they're good pens. I think the barrels are ABS plastic - very durable, good if you're going to toss the pen in a backpack or aren't too careful about how you carry it around, easy to clean. The converter was saving me roughly 5 - 10 times over the cost of ink cartridges. The drawbacks: The grip seemed a little slippery, even though it's sculptured. The extra fine nib produced a line that was a little wider than I wanted. The converter doesn't hold much ink. I switched to the TWSBI Eco extra fine. The line is tight and precise (good for subscripts with subscripts), the pen is easy to grip, the piston fill gives roughly 3 times the ink capacity as the Lamy converters, and the clear barrel allows you to see how much ink is left. The TWSBI is roughly the same price as the Safari. I do much more writing since I started using fountain pens, and it's changed my work habits. I think better when writing than when typing (maybe) - but in any event, it's fun to write with good instruments. Reading physical books and writing with pen and paper are good ways for me to resist the urge to stare at a screen. (I get my pens from JetPens. I noticed a while ago complaints on Amazon about some of the Lamys possibly being counterfeits - no way to confirm, don't know if it's still an issue.)
- ThePadawan 4y ago
  It's really funny how culture can shape perceptions. I grew up in the 90s in Germany, so every single child between 6 and 12 had these - before you became "too cool" for them and started using anything else to rebel against the system (tm). So while I believe you that it's a good product, and I see that there is nothing obviously childlike about the design, I still can't separate it from that image in my mind.

tartoran 4y ago

You can buy a great fountain pen for much less than that. Lamy Safari costs around $30 and is pleasant to write with. I got 2 with different nibs and played with them for a while till the novelty wore off.

christophilus 4y ago
Muji has a good one for something like $20. I use mine daily.
- euroderf 4y ago
  Can you say that it has lasted long enough to be value for money ? I've had Muji products that did not last.
- CiceroCiceronis 4y ago
  I bought the Muji one just recently after thinking that I wanted a fountain pen, and I definitely recommend it.
dumpsterlid 4y ago
Or the pilot metropolitan! I think the pilots have the best nibs on lowcost pens. Stay away from most german fountain pen makers, they are superrrt inconsistent with whether their nibs are tuned well out of the box.
DrBazza 4y ago
It’s hand turned, profiled, and lacquered. It’s really nice. And the nib is fantastic.
bikenaga 4y ago
I have two Lamy Safaris (fine, extra fine) and they're good pens. I think the barrels are ABS plastic - very durable, good if you're going to toss the pen in a backpack or aren't too careful about how you carry it around, easy to clean. The converter was saving me roughly 5 - 10 times over the cost of ink cartridges. The drawbacks: The grip seemed a little slippery, even though it's sculptured. The extra fine nib produced a line that was a little wider than I wanted. The converter doesn't hold much ink. I switched to the TWSBI Eco extra fine. The line is tight and precise (good for subscripts with subscripts), the pen is easy to grip, the piston fill gives roughly 3 times the ink capacity as the Lamy converters, and the clear barrel allows you to see how much ink is left. The TWSBI is roughly the same price as the Safari. I do much more writing since I started using fountain pens, and it's changed my work habits. I think better when writing than when typing (maybe) - but in any event, it's fun to write with good instruments. Reading physical books and writing with pen and paper are good ways for me to resist the urge to stare at a screen. (I get my pens from JetPens. I noticed a while ago complaints on Amazon about some of the Lamys possibly being counterfeits - no way to confirm, don't know if it's still an issue.)
ThePadawan 4y ago
It's really funny how culture can shape perceptions. I grew up in the 90s in Germany, so every single child between 6 and 12 had these - before you became "too cool" for them and started using anything else to rebel against the system (tm). So while I believe you that it's a good product, and I see that there is nothing obviously childlike about the design, I still can't separate it from that image in my mind.