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Best beginner fountain pen

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
After fountain pens, pens that take G2 inserts are what I have most of. I'm sure I have at least a dozen, although I think I only have about eight to hand. They're convenient, reliable, and inexpensive, and refills are very easy to source.

I'd rather have a fountain pen (or wooden pencil) for extended writing sessions, but they're still damn good pens, particularly for intermittent writing... phone notes, wading through kitchen cupboards to do shopping lists, and other tasks where a fountain pen would be uncapped and not flowing for too long. Not to mention for use on greetings cards and paper that isn't fountain pen friendly.
 
I can not abide the G2. I realize it is one of the most popular and I don't understand why. It's a scratchy pen with non permanent ink. Any fountain pen writes nicer, save for a disposable Zebra. While the G2 claims archival ink, it is non acidic, but not water resistant to any degree. IMO if you want a Gel pen get one of the Uniball 207 series with "super ink". It's 100% permanent ink and the pen has a much nicer feel when writing.

Most of the time if I'm not using a fountain pen, I'm using a pencil or ball point. To me gel and roller balls are for the most part not as good as a bog standard ballpoint. Uniball vision are probably the only non fountain I would use in front of a ballpoint.
I never much liked gels and rollerballs. I still keep a couple Fisher space pens on hand, and their cartridges were/are the best ballpoints I've found for smooth, clean writing over the lifetime of the cart. Zebra second probably.

picked up a Jotter recently and didn't realize it had a gel cart. it's performed impressively well comparatively in the limited use it's gotten to date. and my fisher cart didn't fit this model, which was a surprise. I thought they used to on older models.
 
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A Parker Jotter which takes a Parker G2 insert...? Or am I on completely the wrong train of thought?
mine came with a labeled Parker gel cart (France). I don't know if it's a relabled G2 (Pilot I thought. probably shows what I know).

now I'm going to have to see why the fishers don't fit with what I have now. and I just came in and started relaxing... see what you've done? :letterk1:

88912867-E803-4AF9-91EC-3FCD709F44BE.jpeg


so yeah, move the plastic clicker-spinner piece over and I should be set. and that shows the depth of my knowledge in this space.

and if I can find a .5 or .3, I might just be happy as all get out with that gel, if that's a G2.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
mine came with a labeled Parker gel cart (France). I don't know if it's a relabled G2 (Pilot I thought. probably shows what I know).

now I'm going to have to see why the fishers don't fit with what I have now. and I just came in and started relaxing... see what you've done? :letterk1:

View attachment 1426378

so yeah, move the plastic clicker-spinner piece over and I should be set. and that shows the depth of my knowledge in this space.

and if I can find a .5 or .3, I might just be happy as all get out with that gel, if that's a G2.

Yeah, that's a G2 refill, sometimes just called a "Parker style" refill, because other companies make them now too. You can get them in regular ballpoint, pressurised, gel, and hybrid variants from the various manufacturers. Not sure how fine they go though.
 
yeah, I was thinking of the multi-pack sold, Pilot G2s. they make a .5 "extra fine" cart in blue and black. still need to move the clicker spinner over it looks like. all the others only seem to go down to .7 with a quick scan.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Yeah, that's a G2 refill, sometimes just called a "Parker style" refill, because other companies make them now too. You can get them in regular ballpoint, pressurised, gel, and hybrid variants from the various manufacturers. Not sure how fine they go though.
Correct me if I'm wring, but there is a G2 which is a standard size refill and a Pilot G2, but the the gel cartridge in the Pilot G2 is not actually G2 sized.

I do know that there is an adapter to make a Fisher space pen refill work in a Parker Jotter.

Scheider make a G2 sized refill, the slider 755 which is a really nice writing ballpoint.
Info on the Scneider copied from the product
Giant metal refill in ISO format G2
· Viscoglide ® technology for smooth and gliding writing
· Waterproof according to ink standard ISO 12757-2 (except red)
· Line widths Medium (M) and Extra Broad (XB)
· Wear-resistant stainless steel tip
· Plug+Play series universal fit
· The writing dries quickly and is smudge proof when highlighting it later on
· Produced CO₂ neutrally
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Correct me if I'm wring, but there is a G2 which is a standard size refill and a Pilot G2, but the the gel cartridge in the Pilot G2 is not actually G2 sized.

I believe the Pilot G2 is a completely different animal... but not one I am familiar with.
 
I took out a 149 yesterday, first time that I have used it since 2008, it was a gift and as I had others it just did not get used.

I use fountain pens on a daily basis but the Montblanc was astonishingly good. On that logic a 149 could be a good beginner pen on the basis that they will be amazed at how good a fountain pen can be.

No idea what the new price is, perhaps north of $1000, the way inflation is going, who knows?

I was talking to someone about pens, he said he never ever uses a pen at work or home, even when helping his children with schoolwork.
 
Really? North of $1000.00 is a beginner pen? This is a crazy as the people recommending $600.00 razors for beginerd.

The logic was that if you buy the best then a beginner may be convinced.

I would normally recommend somethin CCC, cheap cheerful and Chinese, typically a Jinhao X450/750 and if they like that then they would end up buying 10 other pens before they decide on a 149. That was my history anyway, I started buying and repairing pens in 1964, usually Parker 51, it was years before I bought a Montblanc, my first 149 was in 1976. If I had bought a 149 as my first pen then I may not have bought another pen.

Not sure that I like being called crazy.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Really? North of $1000.00 is a beginner pen? This is a crazy as the people recommending $600.00 razors for beginerd.

Indeed!

And I'm afraid to say that with my limited experience of pens, and personal preferences, that's not a pen I would pay $20 for, never mind $1000!!! (I'm really not a fan of threads on the gripping area, or plastic/resin bodies and caps). If a collector/enthusiastic likes them, then fair play, but I really don't see the logic of recommending that as a first pen.
 
Spending $1000 on a beginner fountain pen IS crazy, unless you live a rockstar or moviestar salary and way of life.

Most of is are middle class lifestyle on here, from what I've seen.
 
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Lots of good Pilot G2 related information above, thanks gents! Also, I was unaware that the G2 is a somewhat divisive pen around here, looks like you either love it or hate it. Kinda like Arko I suppose 🤷‍♂️
 
The logic was that if you buy the best then a beginner may be convinced.

I would normally recommend somethin CCC, cheap cheerful and Chinese, typically a Jinhao X450/750 and if they like that then they would end up buying 10 other pens before they decide on a 149. That was my history anyway, I started buying and repairing pens in 1964, usually Parker 51, it was years before I bought a Montblanc, my first 149 was in 1976. If I had bought a 149 as my first pen then I may not have bought another pen.

Not sure that I like being called crazy.
I completely understand your logic, thank you for laying that out the way that you did. I had a similar journey with razors. Started out with more accessible razors and now my two favorites are the Karve CB in SS and a Timeless in Ti.

Now my question for you sir, had you started with the best would you have appreciated it as much, or known how good of a pen (sounds demeaning to call a $1000 writing tool a pen lol) you really had? I’m curious.

For myself I know the journey was when it came to my DE razor journey. Not sure I’ll get to the $1000 fountain pen at the end of this journey 🤷‍♂️, I’m having a ton of fun with my $20-$30 pens right now! YMMV and all that jazz! 🤙😎
 
Really? North of $1000.00 is a beginner pen? This is a crazy as the people recommending $600.00 razors for beginerd.
Indeed!

And I'm afraid to say that with my limited experience of pens, and personal preferences, that's not a pen I would pay $20 for, never mind $1000!!! (I'm really not a fan of threads on the gripping area, or plastic/resin bodies and caps). If a collector/enthusiastic likes them, then fair play, but I really don't see the logic of recommending that as a first pen.
Cheers gents! Thanks for chiming in! I am having a ton of fun without spending a bunch of money on pens. Not sure I could see myself spending big bucks on a pen ever. Highly unlikely for me anyways. YMMV though and to each his own. 🤙😎
 
I still keep a couple Fisher space pens on hand, and their cartridges were/are the best ballpoints I've found for smooth, clean writing over the lifetime of the cart.
And another great example of the YMMV thing.

I'm a fan of Fisher and their pressurized cartridges do a great job holding up in extreme conditions, but, to me they don't feel smooth at all. The ink feels kind of "pasty" or "rough" as I write, quite unlike the Uniball Jetstream for example which (to me) is the epitome of a smooth ballpoint.
 
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