Do you write with a fountain pen?

[am_mread]

I love fountain pens!

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by pking36330

Or you could be like me and a good fountain pen becomes an excuse to write more in a journal or jot a letter to a friend.

Considering how bad my handwriting is these days that would still be a bad plan, not to mention both pasttimes would cut into my reading time.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by M0zza

I own a couple of fountain pens. But at work I do use a faux fountain pen.. A Pilot V4 Disposable Fountain Pen

What are the Pilot disposable pens like? I'd like to get one but the local stationary store will only sell them in bulk orders of $55 or more...
My Pentel is very nice and possesses a double-sided nib with different properties! Very nice

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

What are the Pilot disposable pens like?

Like more junk for the landfills.

[Juliette]

Originally Posted by pking36330

Getting a crooked nib could be from letting someone else write with it.

One of the 'rules' of using a fountain pen is that you never let anyone else use it...at all, ever. As i recall this is because the affect of your writing style (pressure, angle, etc.) as it becomes imprinted on the metal nib can be ruined by loaning it to someone else that presses harder or uses a steeper angle and thus flexing the tip differently and creating new metal memory.

Might just be tribal lore, but I never let anyone write with my main fountain pens. I keep a couple of nice ball point pens on my desk for the times someone motions for me to hand them the fountain pen I'm using so they can jot something down. I just point to one of those. For people who say they want to try writing with a fountain pen with the idea of using my Vanishing Point, I pull out a very nice fountain pen that I personally never use and let them write with that. I'm careful not to be rude, but very adamant about never letting anyone else write with my good fountain pens.

Oh, no, pretty sure it wasn't from lending them (even if I didn't know it was a rule, but it does make sense )- people I know are actually a bit scared about using a fountain pen, how to grab it and so on. Which is kind of weird. Anyway, I'm quite possessive of them too which is strange, given that I never have this kind of feeling with any other kind of writing implement. (Apart from the dip pens- but then I hardly use them anymore, and nowadays people of my age wouldn't usually know where to begin with them, and older people, i.e. parents, would scream at the memory.)

Originally Posted by Slite

Penna being the word that is still used in Sweden

The same in Italian. Penna is a pen.

As for disposable pens, er, ugh. No. A fountain pen is forever- cheap or not. Actually I think that if the product is good (time- and stress-resistant) one can save money. I'm not talking about the 50 euro range of pens, even the 10 euro range can last for years and years of intensive note-taking!

[krisk]

Originally Posted by pking36330

Look for refills and pens at Joon Pens of New York (CAUTION: do NOT go to this website if you really enjoy pens like people in this forum like ebooks and ebook readers. This site WILL cost you money!)

I have a couple of good fountain pens I write with when I write letters on occasion. I have a very nice pen I use for signing important documents in meetings and on special occasions. But I settled on the Namiki (Pilot) Vanishing Point fountain pen as my daily writer because it lets me use a fountain pen with the convenience of a ballpoint. I've carried it for the last two years and used it every day at work and it has never leaked or let me down. I got the carbon-fiber body version (just because I'm not willing to spring for carbon-fiber hood and fenders for my rocket sled).

I've bought several times from Joon with prompt service and no glitches, and wish I hadn't seen this thread that made me think of their site because I think I see a new Graf von Faber that would look good on my desk.

DAMN you!

[wodin]

I will sometimes buy several dozen cheap disposable ball points and scatter them in every nook and crany throughout the house. Then I can always find a pen nearby when I need to jot something down. The first time I can't find a pen handy, I'll go buy more!

[krisk]

didn't you know that they are kind of like cheap wire hangers from the dry cleaner? they all collect in a dark corner and breed, and then when you are least suspecting, they take over the house!

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by krisk

didn't you know that they are kind of like cheap wire hangers from the dry cleaner? they all collect in a dark corner and breed, and then when you are least suspecting, they take over the house!

...and pen you in on all sides?

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Like more junk for the landfills.

You'd think so, but there are stories of people refilling these disposable pens.. http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...pic=7263&st=15

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Like more junk for the landfills.

Steve, Though not as good at recycling as I could be, my fountain pens have certainly reduced my junk out put as I refill rather than puchase disposable pens.

[Juliette]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

You'd think so, but there are stories of people refilling these disposable pens.. http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...pic=7263&st=15

Most interesting... thank you for the link!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

You'd think so, but there are stories of people refilling these disposable pens.. http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...pic=7263&st=15

Argh! I had to stop reading that forum, it was causing me to spend too much money!!

[Bob Russell]

I went through a fountain pen "phase" in high school. Used all kinds, from actual "quill" pens that were basically a feather, to the pens you dip in the ink bottle, to the lever pen refills, to the cartridge refills that use the ink well, to disposable cartridges. They were rarely nice to write with because they either smeared ink, or leaked, or just scratched on the paper as I wrote. Still, I stuck with many attempts because it was, well, fun.

I'm more practical now, and use disposable pens. I'm like wodin - I keep a lot and scatter them around. I'm absolutely convinced my wife eats them. Come to think of it, she must eat my umbrellas also!

Anyway, I've tried expensive pens, gel pens, fountain pens, etc. I really like a nice pen. But in the end, my own personal taste seems to fall toward certain mass produced cheap disposable pens. I'm glad because they are cheap, but I'm disappointed that (in my experience) the more expensive pens only seem to look nicer, not function better. And, in fact, seem to be less consistent in the quality of the refills.

Btw, I'm really impressed with those of you that always write with a fountain pen. I couldn't deal with it all the time even if I liked it better. But with all that use, you must certainly have found some nice ones, or you would have given up by now.

As an aside, for some reason I really also like those small metal "half-size" pens that fit easily in your pocket or purse, and have a metal cap that goes halfway down the pen. Hard to describe, but the only place I've found them is from my realtor, who was kind enough to give me several!

[Bob Russell]

Okay, now look what you've done to me... I've gone and signed up for a Joon pens catalog.